Having mastered the art of high-end audio delivery, Bose, like many of its rivals, is now banking big on mobile. Its latest slew of products has the smartphone or tablet as the core source for content. They have also been designed for the use cases being thrown up our ever-increasing dependence on smart devices.
Bose QuietComfort 20i Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones
For instance, Bose's popular AE2 on-ear headphones now come in a Bluetooth avatar optimised for the iPad. The wireless headphone, which has a control pod behind one of the ears, lets you take calls even as you are listening to songs or watching a movie on the tablet. The AE2w is lightweight and has a comfortable fit. The controls are intuitive and easy to manage. The sound quality will at no instance make you feel that you are using a wireless device.
But the biggest leap forward for Bose seems to be in the technology-intensive QuietComfort 20 in-ear noise cancelling headphones. The company claims this single headphone has more patents than any of its rivals. And it won't take you long to understand why. Put these in your ears and you could be in the middle of Chandni Chowk being lulled to sleep by a Jagjit Singh ghazal. The noise cancelling, powered by a controller at the end of the chord, is without doubt best in class. But it can be a bit too powerful if you are in certain surroundings and do want to hear a bit of what is happening around you. So, Bose has introduced a new 'Aware' mode that lets you hear some types of sounds like flight announcements or someone talking to you without pulling out the earphones.
Bose QuietComfort 20i Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones
Except for some models from Sony, noise cancelling has traditionally been an on-ear, power-hogging affair. With this new in-ear model Bose promises about 16 hours of noise-cancelling on a single charge. And when the battery is drained you can use this as a regular earphone - a feature no other company offers at the moment. The device has two tiny microphones in each ear bud, one sensing the sound approaching and the other measuring the sound inside. An electronic chip in the controller uses these measurements to create the opposite noise cancellation signals before you realise a lag.
Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Mobile Speaker
The other big launch from Bose is the fit-in-your-palm SoundLink Mini speaker that undoubtedly produces the best sound you would hear in a speaker of this size. While there has been a spate of mini boomboxes in recent months, none offer a full-range of sound. Weighing almost as much as a tablet at 680 grams, the SoundLink Mini speaker uses two new passive radiators and custom designed high-efficiency transducers to reproduce the entire range of frequencies. The sound reproduction has an unprecedented wow factor that has to be heard to be believed.
Though launched globally, only the AE2w will be available in India next week at Rs 19,013. The SoundLink Mini will become available in August at a price point of Rs 16,200. The QuietComfort 20 and 20i (with remote for Apple devices) will be sold for Rs 22,388 from September.
