Bose QuietComfort 35 II (2017) vs Sennheiser HD 800 S (2016)

The Bose QuietComfort 35 II has done great in a couple of roundups conducted by highly trusted sources that perform objective in-depth testing, like PCmag, SoundGuys, Tom's Guide, and Wirecutter - it earned the "Best for Noise Cancellation" title from PCmag, "Ranked 1 out of 5" from SoundGuys, and "Ranked 1 out of 8" from Tom's Guide. Any product that's held in high regard by such reliable sources should be considered by anyone that's looking for a Open-Back Headphone at this price point.

Returning to the Sennheiser HD 800 S (2016), it managed to impress reviewers from two sources that are considered to be some of the most highly trusted on the internet, thanks to their in-depth hands-on testing - AVForums and Rtings. It performed great in their respective Open-Back Headphone roundups - it was named "Best Headphone 2018" by AVForums and "Best Audiophile Headphones" by Rtings. That's quite an endorsement, especially coming from such high-quality sources.

For a direct Bose QuietComfort 35 II vs. Sennheiser HD 800 S (2016) comparison, we took a look at sources that tested both and found that the Bose QuietComfort 35 II got reviewed better by SoundGuys, whereas the reviewers at What Hi-Fi? and Rtings preferred the Sennheiser HD 800 S (2016). Reviewers at Expert Reviews and TrustedReviews haven't shown a preference for either.

We also took a look at which sources liked these two products the most. We found that the Bose QuietComfort 35 II received its best, 10, rating from Expert Reviews, while the Sennheiser HD 800 S (2016) got its highest score of 10 from Expert Reviews.

Finally, we also compared their review scores to the rest of their competition - the Bose QuietComfort 35 II earned an average review score of 8.9 out of 10 points and the Sennheiser HD 800 S (2016) received an average of 9.2, compared to the 7.8 average of Open-Back Headphones in general.