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Comment by crazygringo | Hacker News Reader

Wait a minute -- this actually seems too good to be true.

It offers "Bose Active Noise Reduction Technology" in wireless earbuds, when even Bose doesn't offer noise cancellation in wireless earbuds -- or anybody else as far as I can tell.

(AirPods, Bose SoundSport, Jabra Elite -- none do noise cancellation. Bose offers the larger QuietControl 30 buds [1], but the tech is still in a bulky "headband" connected by short wires.)

So... is "noise reduction" different from, or weaker than, the "noise cancelling" which Bose products already provide?

Or is Amazon actually somehow producing/licensing a product better than anything Bose itself sells, and for only half the price?

Something isn't adding up here... but I want it to be true, because I've been wanting a pair of genuine wireless noise-cancelling earbuds for so long now!

[1] https://www.bose.com/en_us/products/headphones/earphones/qui...

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>It offers "Bose Active Noise Reduction Technology" in wireless earbuds, when even Bose doesn't offer noise cancellation in wireless earbuds -- or anybody else as far as I can tell.

Sony already does:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/aug/14/sony-wf-1...

And has these (which just had an extra connector cable, but are otherwise minimal):

https://www.sony.com/electronics/in-ear-headphones/wi-sp600n

And Bose has announced theirs:

https://gearpatrol.com/2019/05/30/bose-noise-cancelling-earb...

Bose announced they will be shipping wireless noice cancelling earbuds. Next year though.

https://www.bose.com/en_us/better_with_bose/new-headphones.h...

The Sony WF-1000XM3 sounds like what you're looking for.

I have a set, and they are amazing for noise cancelling. Can highly recommend.

Oh thanks I missed that -- looks like they came out two months ago, awesome!

Amazon managed to somehow introduce more regular innovation cycles.

Siri was launched Feb/2010, Alexa (Echo) Nov/2014. 4 yrs advantage. Today Alexa is much better ecosystem.

Amazon Hardware looks promising..

Siri will likely always be a weak point for Apple. By trying to charge almost as much for its earbuds as Apple though, I don’t see Amazon having tremendous success. Brand, device interoperability, battery life matter much more IMO than voice activated AI.

Not an apples to apples comparison, Amazon needs to be a horizontal play. Apple intentionally chooses not to.

The Sony 1000xm3 already have noise cancelling in them. They are expensive at $230, but also way ahead of the pack in both sound quality.

The Sony WH-1000XM3 (Over the ear headphones) are about $279 and the Sony WF-1000XM3 (Ear buds) are $229.

The phrase they used to describe here is interesting. "Noise Reduction" rather than "Noise cancellation". IMHO they are different. I am sure it must be better than other earphones but it sounds different than Noise cancellation.

Seems to be almost noise cancelling. The Verge did a hands-on[1] on the feature and was able to cancel out the noise in the room filled with people.

[1] Starts at 20 seconds in @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDN2RRaY1po&t=20

> Bose offers the larger QuietControl 30 buds, but the tech is still in a bulky "headband" connected by short wires.

I have the Bose QC30, and I'm a fan of the (neck)band, since it gives the earbuds somewhere to hang if I'm walking around and need to be aware of my surroundings, or need to interact with someone.

i used to have a pair of jaybirds x3s -- they have the band between the headphones -- and i moved to the galaxy buds.

after getting used to the galaxy buds, i 100% prefer them. mostly because i sweat a lot when i exercise, and the band of the x3s would "glue" themselves to my neck and would make it really awkward to move my head.

> mostly because i sweat a lot when i exercise, and the band of the x3s would "glue" themselves to my neck and would make it really awkward to move my head.

Ah, I can't use my QC30 for exercise, since it keeps slipping to one side. It's great for coding/commuting though!

well the bose ones are probably just normal headphones without all the built in amazon botnet tracking bonuses to offset the cost

Galaxy Buds do.

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