Bose QuietComfort 35 vs Parrot Zik 3

Bose's noise cancelling tech is quite effective at blocking ambient noise. This will help you fully enjoy the music with little to virtually no outside noise interfering.

With these, you won't have to deal with long and dangling cables that can be difficult to manage.

The QC35s can play music continuously for up to 20 hours. This should cover most of your trips' duration before needing to recharge.

Bose QC35 connects to 2 devices (for media and phone calls) allowing one to listen to music on the laptop and get calls from the cell phone. Allows to change the music provider (laptop or cell phone) automatically. With Sony or Senheiser all you can do is connect media on one device and phone on the other device... functional but really restricted one you get used with QC35.

The QC 35's ear cups and headband feature quality memory foam material which are soft and supportive so they do not pinch on your ears or apply too much pressure to the top of the head. These contact points are also covered with a quality leather material which feels nice and smooth on the skin.

Despite having internal batteries, these headphones are still fairly lightweight, coming in at 235 grams. This makes the QC35 really easy to wear for extended periods and even while traveling.

You can easily control playlist functions using the buttons on the right ear cup. These functions include volume control as well as the play, pause, next track and previous track commands. The on/off switch for the headphones is also on this ear cup.

Aside from Bluetooth connection, you can also connect the QuietComfort 35 to a source using a 3.5mm cable. This makes the headphones usable even with the battery depleted.

Bass is full and punchy. While the sub-bass is not pronounced, there is good and fast bass extension, and this is what gives the music punch and a sense of tightness.
The mids are full and slightly forward so vocals and guitars can be clearly heard.
The highs are clear and do not distort at high volumes. There is a peak on the upper treble which helps to add more detail and clarity to the music, but some may also find the high frequencies to be quite harsh at times.

Multiple microphones are strategically located on both ear cups, allowing for great voice quality when taking calls. The noise cancelling also helps to clean up the voice quality that goes into the headphones.

The Zik 3 features a solid build. The headband is made out of metal and can flex a good bit without breaking. Headband adjustment is quite stiff, which ensures that your adjustments stay in place. The ear cup surfaces are covered with leather which makes the headphones look and feel premium.

You can remove the right ear cup cover to gain access to the headphones’ battery. You can replace the battery if the performance is diminishing, or you can bring a spare, charged battery to swap in with the depleted one for longer playback use.

The bass reproduction is full and punchy, yet does not get overpowering. Bass hits sound tight, fast and have fairly good depth. The mids sound natural while the highs are clear, yet a bit rolled-off. This allows the Zik 3 to deliver fairly clear sound without getting harsh.

The punchy bass makes these heapdhones work well with popular modern genres like EDM, hip-hop and the like yet can still work well with pop, jazz, classical and similar music genres.

The noise cancelling is fairly effective. While it does not cancel out all ambient noise, the feature reduces a good chunk of it, so it does not interfere too much with your music.

You can swipe left or right for previous or next track, tap to play or pause as well as answer calls with the headphones on. This can be very convenient, as you do not need to deal with small and difficult to press buttons.

The Parrot Zik 3 features Bluetooth as well as NFC connectivity for wireless use, which is great for modern smartphones or devices. If your music player does not have wireless connectivity, a 3.5mm jack can be used.

When you take the headphones from your head or put it back on, the music can automatically pause or resume. The Zik 3's Presence Sensor detects such motions, negating the need to manually pause/play the music.

From a full charge with all of the audio features on, you can get around 7 hours of listening time. However, if you choose to run these in airplane mode (wired connection with noise cancellation) you can get around 16 to 18 hours of use.