Bose SoundSport Wireless, Sweat Resistant, in-Ear Headphones, Aqua

In spite of Bose's reputation, I was a bit skeptical of these headphones, not for any particular reason, but perhaps only because a link over Bluetooth did not inspire confidence in me concerning final sound quality. Looking at the photos of the headphones, too, made me somewhat concerned that these would be a bit uncomfortable in my ear, due to their design and my sensitive ears.Well, I was proven wrong on both counts the minute I tried out these headphones. Without a doubt, these are the best earbud-style headphones I have ever heard. From the moment I started testing them, I was extremely impressed with their clarity, dynamic range, "presence," and, yes, even comfort. Most earbuds I have used over the years require a few days of use before they start to "break in" (and, yes, I know there is controversy about this issue, but I have experienced it myself on multiple brands of headphones at all price levels), but these sounded wonderful right from the first moment of play.If it is helpful, let me be clear and say that I am pairing these with an iPhone X and using high-resolution (24-bit, 192kHz) files, and so some individuals might attribute my reaction to those factors. And there is, of course, a sonic improvement with high-resolution files, and the iPhone X certainly has a good onboard sound system. But after those initial trials, I "downgraded" to lossless rips of CD's (16-bit, 44kHz), and then, finally, moved down to mp3 files (128 bps). Although I could certainly hear the sound quality reduce as I went "down the chain," the earphones themselves continued to sound wonderful, bringing new life to even those relatively low-quality mp3 files.All of this led me to conclude that these headphones sound so good, and are so comfortable to wear, that they are very likely best-in-class. Sure, you can spend over $1,000 on a set of earbuds, but I wonder if there might be a great diminishing of returns, where the tiniest incremental increase in sound quality carries with it a hefty, NON-incremental price hike. The sound from these Bose headphones is rich, easily covers the range from the lowest bass to the highest highs, has an exceptional presence, adds no noticeable noise from the Bluetooth connection, and presents a natural sonic quality that truly makes the headphones "disappear," leaving only the sound. I must say again, I was deeply impressed, so much so that I will now plan to use these with many of my audio players, not just my phone.Some of the information that is easily available in the product section I will briefly mention here, as well. The length of the cord, which goes around the back of the neck, is just about the right length so that when you take the phones out of your ears, the earpieces hang in front of your chest, but don't go so far down that they become a nuisance. A nicely-placed small clip attaches to the back of your collar to further secure the headphones (and is easy to attach, remove, even when reaching behind you because it is shaped for a "rear-handed" grip) A very intuitive and easily-accessible volume and microphone control are on the right side of the cord in a single housing (see the photos), and a single button for on/off, paring, and charging indication are almost invisible on the one ear housing, but still easily accessible without having to look. Charging is accomplished but pulling a discreet rubber panel open on the earphone body and plugging in a micro USB cable (supplied, but perhaps too short for a lot of situations: you might want to use a different cable). Battery length is rated at about eight hours, although I have not yet been able to absolutely verify this value as of yet, it appears to be accurate.The photos of the earbuds which led me to wonder if they would be uncomfortable in my ear (the skin of my ears, including my ears themselves, are sensitive, making many earphones uncomfortable for me to wear). Bose here has done a magnificent job of developing a form fit that is both comfortable AND secure. The curved plastic you see in the photos by the earbuds is actually not plastic at all, but a very flexible and gentle silicone. You simply put the earbud near your ear, press in and twist a little back and forth, and the curved silicone piece pops into the outer ear with just enough "grip" (for lack of better word) to very securely hold the earbud in place, yet are almost unnoticeable. In fact, since this curved silicone piece bears some of the body's weight, it turns out, unbelievably, that these are actually more comfortable than most all of my traditional earbuds which have nothing but the ear canal components (and which I have used for years because on-the-ear headphones hurt my ears in just a matter of minutes).All I can say is that, after testing these out, I thought to myself that there is a reason that Bose has built a reputation as it has. I do not have any other Bose equipment (I did have some of their speakers back in the 1980's), so I cannot speak at all to their other devices, either good or bad. They certainly have maintained an excellent reputation over these years. What I CAN say that these headphones have easily won me over, and I am truly impressed with their ability to put our truly good sound. Seeming a bit expensive when I ordered them, I now view them as a "bargain" of sorts, due to their sound reproduction. Truly an EASY Five Stars, and well worth your consideration, fully understanding that headphones are a very personal choice. But I recommend you try them out if you have not already, because they truly are amazing, particularly at this price point.NOTE;These headphones come with the Stay Hear+ tips, not the standard Stay Hear tips. You will currently (mid 2018) not find replacement buds on Amazon. However, you can purchase replacements directly from Bose at a very reasonable $10 for two pairs of replacement buds, with free expedited shipping. Make sure you get the "+" version when ordering replacement buds!

I have had the Bose Soundsport Wireless Headphones now for three days (as of 9/20/2016). So far, this has been my best experience with bluetooth headphones to date. My past experience was with the Jaybird Bluebuds X and the Master and Dynamic MW60's. Neither the Bluebuds X, nor the MW60 were capable of passing what I call the outdoor back pocket test, but the Bose Soundsport Wireless do. This test consists of placing my phone in my back pocket and walking outside into an open area where the headphones cannot rely on the bluetooth signal bouncing off nearby walls. Both the Bluebuds and MW60's would quickly start losing signal and dropping out (this in direct contradiction to the Jaybird marketing material, and which they later admitted was an issue in emails - ahem, false advertising?). The Bose Soundsports deal with this situation no problem; maybe the very, very, very occasional hiccup, but it's almost unnoticeable since the signal is dropped and regained so quickly.I have taken the Bose headphones on several bike rides now paired to an iPhone 7 in both my back jersey pocket and rear pants pocket while commuting around town and on sweat-drenched rides in the hills with interval training, and they've hiccuped only a few times. Again, in each case the signal was regained so quickly that I wasn't certain it was even dropped at all. The Bluebuds X, by comparison, dropped out so frequently I couldn't use them for cycling at all without being incredibly annoyed. Same for the MW60's used outdoors; walking around outside with them on drove me nuts.The open ear nature of the Bose headphones is great for cycling because it lets enough sound from the environment reach your ears so that you can hear cars approaching from behind. While the design of the earbuds on the Bose are a little fiddly to get into your ears correctly the first few times you use them, once they're in they seem to stay in just fine and block enough ambient noise to make the music stand out. The Bluebuds, by comparison, with their in-ear design provided a lot more sound isolation, but that also felt disconcerting at times and unsafe when used on the road. The design of the Bose earphones may not appear as sleek as the newer Jaybird Freedoms or X2's, and would seem clunky, they are still very light and I don't notice them while wearing them. So, while perhaps not as aesthetically pleasing for others looking at you, functionally Bose gets the job done perfectly.If I have one knock on the Bose Soundsport Wireless Headphones, it's that they aren't particularly loud, meaning at full-volume they are not as ear-splitting as a set of Apple earbuds plugged directly into my phone. The sound quality, however, is much much better; somewhere in between Apple earbuds and a high quality over-ear headphone (like the Sony MDR-1A). Definitely pretty great for Bluetooth! However, if you're looking for a pair of headphones you can use in a noisy environment and achieve total sound isolation, these Bose headphones are not it due to both the open-ear design and inability to really crank the volume. For bike rides I have the Soundsports at three to four notches from full volume, and in a loud coffee shop I need to crank them all the way up to drown out the surrounding din (and sometimes wish I could go higher).Lastly, from what I understand, the first run of these headphones had some issues for people who sweat a lot. I'm one of those people (literally rivers of sweat roll off me when I'm cycling and working out), but so far I haven't had an issue with the Soundsport Wireless. However, I assume that the ones I received are the updated version that had that issue corrected. So, I guess we'll see if that changes as I use them more, but so far, so great!