BOSE Navigating the Crossroads of Innovation or Desperation?

confusedhuh on 10/11/2023 - 16:33

What's up with BOSE lately? Is it on a downward spiral? I'll never forget the impact my first Bose headphones, the M2IE wired 3.5mm, had on me. They were eventually replaced by the reliable QC35 and accompanied by the Bose PC speakers, which I still swear by. The quality was stellar, and the pricing was just right.

But now, it feels like BOSE might be losing its touch. Noise-canceling used to be their forte, but Sony and Apple have taken the lead, leaving Bose struggling. The NC700 didn't quite hit the mark, followed by the QC45 and QC ultra within a year. Are they getting desperate?

In the home speaker arena, Sonos has taken over, and BOSE doesn't seem to be bringing anything new to the table. Shockz dominates bone conduction/air conduction headphones, and BOSE's soundbars are hit or miss, with Sonos and JBL still leading the way.

To add to the confusion, BOSE has multiple separate apps, each with a different interface for various products. And what happened to the fantastic Sleepbuds? It's like they've hit a crossroads and don't know which path to take.

Electrical & Electronics Bose

Comments

  • Jimothy Wongingtons on 10/11/2023 - 16:39

    Apple have taken the lead

    Agree, but god I hope they massively re-work the aesthetics of the airpod max gen 2 - the current ones imo are ugly as (and I say this as a massive apple fan)

    • confusedhuh on 10/11/2023 - 16:42
      +1

      Agree, I feel the current one are heavy as well for long WFH stuff. But lately the switching between devices has been really good - ultra fast.

  • Drpepper666 on 10/11/2023 - 16:55
    +6

    BOSE = Buy Other Sound Equipment

    • Gunnar on 10/11/2023 - 17:21

      BOSE = tell me you know nothing about hifi using one word

    • Drakesy on 10/11/2023 - 20:36

      BOSE = Better Off with Something Else

      Unless its their headphones
      Everything else is crapola including the home audio systems which were 100% aesthetic 0% sound quality.
      Their heyday was in the 90's when they used to innovate, now they're struggling to stay relevant.

  • pformag on 10/11/2023 - 16:56
    +1

    BOSE is still the boomer's choice. I would say Samsung has hurt them more in the soundbar area.

  • freefall101 on 10/11/2023 - 16:58
    +1

    Bose have been outperformed by other brands forever, them upping their game with NC was the first good thing they actually made.

    In the home audio arena it was always sold at people who had never heard proper audio equipment and compared it to their TV speakers.

    • rumblytangara on 10/11/2023 - 19:40
      +1

      In the home audio arena it was always sold at people who had never heard proper audio equipment and compared it to their TV speakers.

      Which is pretty much what all soundbars are these days- they only sound good in comparison the the speakers built into flatscreen TVs.

  • Gunnar on 10/11/2023 - 17:20
    -1

    My first encounter with Bose was in the 90’s as a teenager and my old man was looking at buying a decent stereo. I thought then there was way better options about (and thankfully he didn’t buy it)

    Over time their products, save for their noise cancelling stuff from 10-15 years ago, were and still are nothing special.

    Although that Amazon wrongly priced deal from some time ago with Bose soundbars was pretty good

  • valuer on 10/11/2023 - 17:21
    +1

    I remember many years ago trying a Bose system and wondering where the mid range was.

    • Drakesy on 10/11/2023 - 20:40

      Their target market i felt were cashed up boomers who didnt really know what was what in hifi and just wanted something that looked minimalist

      • rumblytangara on 10/11/2023 - 20:44

        Isn't that B&O?

        • valuer on 10/11/2023 - 21:30

          B&O - the Scandinavian Philips.

  • bobbified on 10/11/2023 - 17:42

    Yes, yes.. everyone hates Bose. But I'll admit that I loved their Soundlink Mini. The sound out of that was amazing for its size compared to everything else I looked at buying. I was hoping for something similar when I bought the Soundbar 700 and Soundsport Free. Soundbar has been pretty good.. but the Soundsport earbuds were nothing special and died after a year.

    The separate apps are shit. It gives the impression that that, as a company, the left hand doesn't talk to the right hand. I don't know who the f inside Bose could even let that happen!

  • Muzeeb on 10/11/2023 - 18:15

    I remember when Alpine was awesome in factory option car audio, then bose was a disruptor. Bose is now losing credibility in the car audio scene as well.

    • bobbified on 10/11/2023 - 18:23

      Did Bose ever have retail head units? I don't think I've eve seen any before.

      • Muzeeb on 10/11/2023 - 18:51
        +1

        Not that I've seen.

        They just install a shit tonne of speakers compared to default factory options, then add some fancy grills, then ride on the coat tails of their glued on badge.

        • bobbified on 10/11/2023 - 19:14

          ah yeh. speakers I've seen and they apparently make OEM systems for car manufacturers. Guess no retail ones.

    • ass3ts on 10/11/2023 - 18:51

      One of the things to do when ordering a Porsche in terms of daily-use practicality, skip the Bose and go for the Burmester, not the best but still much better than the Bose in Porsches.

      • Muzeeb on 10/11/2023 - 18:57

        Not an option on 992 GT3/Touring unfortunately.

        I've seen online where others have upgraded the bose to this focal system 😳

        • ass3ts on 10/11/2023 - 19:30

          I wouldn't add that extra weight on any GT3.

          • Muzeeb on 10/11/2023 - 20:22

            @ass3ts: I wouldn't even turn the radio on. 9k rpm is the noise I want to hear.

            • ass3ts on 10/11/2023 - 22:52
              +1

              @Muzeeb: For a manual GT3, better keep an eye on those overrevs in the high ranges, they could affect the warranty and they get registered in the ECU permanently, and they always come up during all sorts of Porsche inspections.

  • JIMB0 on 10/11/2023 - 18:16
    +1

    The best thing about BOSE has always been the marketing.

  • rumblytangara on 10/11/2023 - 19:38

    Bose has been overmarketed but very average for decades. Build quality might have been okay, but sound has never been good- bloated, boomy bass.

    NC700s were some of the worst headphones I have heard in the past five years.

  • Sal in SA on 10/11/2023 - 19:51

    BOSE only ever had a small rage of decent (still low end) gear - and that was 30+ years ago - sice then it has been nothing but marketing to folks that have nonidea on sound quality.

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