The latest QuietComfort 35 firmware update has borked the headphones active noise cancelling (ANC) abilities, accord to widespread reports.
The issue was spotted soon after version 4.5.2 was released last month with many of the complaints being logged in the Bose community forums. One unhappy customer wrote that the new update had “severely lowered the quality of ANC” and that the noise cancelling function was nowhere near as effective as it used to be.
Related: Best Headphones
Another claimed that Bose had rendered their headphones pointless. “Very disappointed with Bose as I only purchased these headphones in April”, they wrote. “They are basically useless to me now on my commute and in the noise open office”.
One user argued that the ANC on high level is now identical to that on low. “I can not hear any difference when I toggle between them now. The same amount of sounds go through to my ears”.
Not everyone who updated their QC35s felt the need to complain though. Some users suffered no issues following the firmware update. Other community members did discover problems with the noise cancelling feature following the update but shared their solutions on the forum for other users.
Community member and QC35 owner Ferdi recommended that users reboot their headset and reinstall the update via the Bose BTU updater to overwrite the firmware and improve the ANC as well as the overall sound of the headphones.
Read our review of the Bose QuietComfort 35 II
Version 4.5.2 was released to add support for Amazon’s Alexa, fix bugs, improve performance and stability with Bose Music Share and improve the volume control. However, it seems as though the update has done more damage than it has good.
If the above fix doesn’t work for you, you can always channel your frustrations into the petition one upset user made to get rid of the update for good. While there’s no guarantee that Bose will look at it twice, it might be the one thing the company needs to convince it that the update is to blame for the degraded ANC.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.