I remember my first piece of really good sound tech. It was a Bose docking station for my iPod. It seemed so sophisticated. My mind still hadn’t adjusted to the idea that a small rectangle that fit in my pocket could store thousands of songs that I could listen to on demand. Now there’s a speaker system that the rectangle attaches to so I can project my tunes throughout the house?

Anyway, the docking station had a good run. But in the decade since it started to really collect dust, the iPod died, streaming services made collecting music (either physically in the form of records or digitally) more of a niche hobby, and wireless and Bluetooth technology made listening on the go easier than ever before.

Enter the Bose QuietComfort Wireless Headphones. I stuck with a familiar and reliable brand in this space to try to find a truly immersive over-ear audio experience. I wasn’t ten seconds into my first song with these headphones when I knew I found what I was looking for. And two years after they came out, the QuietComforts are still a good buy.

A versatile listening experience

Once paired with your phone or computer, these headphones pipe out music that is crisp and clean. But what’s really cool is that the Bose app makes it very easy to adjust your settings. With just a small swipe of your finger, you can blow out your ears with bass if you’re so inclined. I love messing around with these settings and find that hip-hop sounds best when the bass is up, while pop or anything with electronic sounds really lends itself to cranking up the treble.

The headphones also have a setting called “Aware,” which uses a microphone to amplify the sounds of your surroundings into your headphones. It doesn’t sound like it would if you didn’t have the headphones on at all. It’s meant to make it so that noise is no longer canceled, only dampened. And the headphones mix the sounds around you with the music you’re listening to in a way that makes you more… well, aware.

Aware comes in handy sometimes, particularly when I’m inside the house. But I very rarely use that setting when I wear the headphones on a walk because the microphone tends to uncomfortably amplify any breeze—my biggest complaint.

A comfortable design you can wear all day

A layer of cushioned faux leather around the speakers makes these feel better than other headphones I’ve used. The QuietComforts never rub uncomfortably or leave red marks around my ears. I could wear them all day and not think twice about it.

The rest of the design is pretty low-profile. There aren’t many buttons on the headphones themselves, and they’re all inconspicuous. One is an on/off toggle. There’s also a series of three buttons to turn the volume up, to pause what you’re listening to, and to turn the volume down. Those are on the right can. The only button on the left can is a toggle that switches between Quiet and Aware modes.

The headphones come in eight different colors. Mine are sandstone. You can also pick them up in black, gray, white, pink, green, and two shades of blue.

The upshot

Bose also makes the QuietComfort Ultra Headphones, which offer the same features as the version I own but add an immersive spatial audio mode. Senior Editor Stefan Vazharov recommends the QuietComfort Ultras as the best noise-canceling headphones, and they’re an excellent choice considering how close they are to the QuietComforts I own. The question, then, is whether you want to spend an extra $80 or so for the Ultras.

Ultimately, if you’re content with your Apple AirPods for your listening needs, I don’t blame you. Mine are never far out of reach. But I find there are times when I really want to tune out the world. And that’s when I take out the buds and place my Bose headphones over my ears.