Microsoft’s Surface headphones: Not
Bose killers, but worth a listen
Microsoft had never built a pair of headphones before its
engineers started on the new Surface headphones three years ago. The
headphones, which the company unveiled on October 2nd along with other new Surface
gear
, are a departure from the PC-centric nature of previous
Surface-branded products. After using them for a few weeks, I found them to be
comfortable to wear and reasonably good-sounding, if not especially
good-looking.
The audio team that built the headphones got some help from both
the Xbox group and the Skype group–teams whose products depend on hours of
headset wear by users. Microsoft told me that the Surface headphones were meant
for creatives who might need to do long hours of video editing or design work
on a Surface Studio desktop computer or one of the Surface hybrids or laptops.
They’re wireless, so you can feel free to get up from your desk and walk
around, as well as take phone calls.
These headphones feel like they’re aimed squarely at the
digital-nomad market–people (like me) who spend a lot of time working on
laptops in coffee shops or shared workspaces. So I was naturally inclined to compare
the Surface headphones with the wireless headset that I and many other digital
nomads use: Bose’s QuietComfort 35.
Microsoft and Bose both offer the basic requirements for the
digital nomad: noise cancellation, good sound, hands-free calling, and
comfortable fit. And they both cost $350. (Note: Bose now has a new
model called the QuietComfort 35 II, but the company tells me that the noise
cancellation technology used in the product is the same as in the original
QC35.)
NOISE
CANCELLATION
Both the Surface and the QuietComfort headphones fit over the ear,
which provides some natural passive noise cancellation by physically shutting
out sound. Active noise cancellation uses a series of small microphones (on the
Surface headphones, two on each side) to constantly analyze the sound of the
outside world. Based on that data, the drivers inside the phones emit an equal
opposite audio signal to cancel out the sound.
While my Bose headphones offer just one setting of active noise
cancellation, the Surface headphones can dial through 13 different noise
cancellation levels. The settings range from one that shuts out the maximum
amount of sound from outside to one that amplifies the outside ambient sounds
inside the phones (you might use that setting if someone suddenly started
talking to you). All the settings in between are varying mixes of inside sound
and outside sound. That many settings seemed like overkill to me–I used only
the cancellation levels at the far ends of the spectrum.
With either product’s noise cancellation technology, I can still
hear enough ambient coffee shop noise to distract me. Both systems seem to take
a scoop out of the low to high-mid frequency ranges, leaving much in the mids
and highs easily heard. That’s why I have to listen to white noise while I’m
working in public.
I give the edge, however, to Microsoft. The Surface headphones at
maximum noise cancellation seemed to block out more sound from the outside
world than the Bose. But that could be because the Surface headphones grip your
head a little more tightly, which might give them a little more passive noise
cancellation.
AUDIO GOOD,
NOT GREAT
The Bose headphones are somewhat louder than the Surface
headphones, although I think the volume produced by the Surface headphones will
be enough for most people. Listening to music on the Surface headphones was
enjoyable, although I immediately could detect a somewhat “boxy” quality to the
sound. Also, I didn’t have quite the volume ceiling that I like.
It was only when I compared the two headsets head-to-head that I
could hear some shortcomings in the Surface headphones. Wearing the Bose
headphones, I felt immersed in the music, while the same music played back
through the Surface headphones sounded a bit more remote and contained. Bose
created a crisper, punchier reproduction. Vocals had more presence; snare drum
hits had more impact.
I noticed that the drivers inside the QuietComforts are angled to
match the curvature of the outside of the ear. As far as I can tell the Surface
headphones’ drivers are not angled.
HANDS-FREE
CALLING
Digital nomads also need to take and make phone calls hands-free,
often in noisy environments. I’ve not been happy with the Bose headphones on
this score–phone calls are serviceable, but I often hear delay on my own voice,
and people on the other end sometimes say they can’t hear me well. My
experience making calls on the Surface headphones was slightly better than with
Bose. The delay issue, at least, did not seem as pronounced. Call quality
problems can’t be attributed only to the headset. It depends on the Bluetooth
connection from the headset to the phone, and then on the quality of the
cellular connection.
THE “DON’T
NOTICE ME” AESTHETIC
I’ve never been a big fan of the Microsoft industrial design
group’s taste. But there is an aesthetic; the whole line of
Surface products uses a clear and consistent design language. It’s sleek yet
muted (or “quiet,” as the designers say), with polished metal and various gray
tones. Surface products are anything but flashy. On the contrary, they seem to
want to shrink into the background.
That describes the look of the Surface headphones too. They’re
light gray pretty much everywhere, save the bit of silver showing on the band
and the metal yoke pieces that hold each headphone. The phones are perfectly
round. They look very different on one’s head than the Bose QuietComfort
headphones. My QuietComforts are all black and the earphones themselves are
shaped like eggs, which I find pleasing. I neither like nor dislike the look of
the Surface headphones, and that may be exactly what Microsoft was shooting
for.
COOL LITTLE
THINGS
Some of the coolest parts of the Surface headphones are the small
things–stuff you might not appreciate until you’ve used the product for a
while.
They have a large touch control area on the outside surface of
each phone (the touch controls are the same on either side). Tap once for play
or pause, tap twice to skip a song, tap and hold to activate the Cortana
assistant. I found the controls far easier to locate and use than the physical
rocker button used for those functions on the Bose.
With the head detection feature, the music pauses when you take
the headset off, and resumes when you put it back on.
When you plug in the USB-C charging cable for just five minutes,
the Surface headphones charge up for an hour of playback time. A full charge to
20 hours of use takes two hours. The female voice in the headphones tells you
how many hours of use you have left, which I found more useful than the normal
“percent of battery” metric you get from your devices.
The Surface headphones are slightly heavier than the
QuietComforts, but they also seem well balanced so that they sat on my head
comfortably. Still, the persistent pressure of the phones themselves on my ears
caused some fatigue after a couple hours of wear. I can wear the Bose for three
hours and more without feeling much discomfort.
Overall, I liked the performance of the Surface headphones. While
the noise cancellation has too many settings for my needs, the “full
cancellation” setting does work relatively well. If the noise cancellation is
the most important feature in your “work headphones,” you might well choose the
Surface headphones over the Bose QuietComforts, especially if you use
Microsoft’s Cortana. I’ll be sticking with my Bose for the time being, mainly
for the sound and the more polished look.
https://www.fastcompany.com/90278584/microsofts-surface-headphones-not-bose-killers-but-worth-a-listen
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