Bose QuietComfort 3

Pros: Good noise cancellation, good form factor, acceptable sound quality

Cons: Uncomfortable for long use, carrying case design is not optimal

Summary: I have used noise cancellation headphones from other brands and by comparison, this QC3 performs pretty well overall. I like the fact that there is no additional electronics dongle or box to worry about when wearing the headphones and also not hvaing to worry about the soft earbuds disappearing on me, making the earphones useless.

However, this headphone can certainly improve to make this the best choice possible.

The headphones do not sit well inside the carrying case and that's a bit annoying when putting them back in place. However, due to enough space the case allows, it's not critical to sit components inside the case exactly, I found out. Bose should redesign the insert inside the case and allow for a pocket to put the extra cables, adapters and etc separately, allowing better fit for the headphones in a bit larger fitting holes.

After using the headphones for more than a couple of hours, my ears felt a bit uncomfortable and it's not from the pressure in the ear drums but physical discomfort around the ear caused by the pressure from the headphones. Senheizer headphones didn't have such discomfort, although QC3 performs a little better with noise cancellation. But, I would still choose QC3 instead of the other one simply because I don't want to have to deal with the additional noise cancellation circuitry dongle.

QC3 is a pretty good product but not at the $350. I only got it because it was free after exercising my credit card reward points. If I had to spend my own money, I would have seriously re-considered in-ear headphones again instead, especially at that high price level.