I’ve churned through many reviews on girls headphones wireless headphones lately not wanting to miss out on a good Black Friday deal and will attempt to summarize here what I’ve found. I’m not an audiophile. I am a woman just trying to listen to good quality sound and sometimes block out noise. Here’s a female perspective on what appears to be an extremely male dominated consumer niche.
Seriously. Out of the dozens of reviews I’ve read and watched, only one reviewer was female. If you look at product images for older versions of what most people consider top of the line consumer headphones, you’d think that only men listen to music. At least the marketing of the latest models from these brands include photos like the one above from Bose of their QuietComfort 35 II’s.
As a petite woman, I’ve historically been uninspired by over-the-ear headphone technology because these headphones have been so freaking huge that only gamers and hardcore nerds could pull off that look, and they were only pulling it off because they didn’t care what it looked like.
Now there are more color options, different silhouettes and sizes to choose from, and enticing technological advances. The industry seems to acknowledge that women exist now – barely. There certainly is more room to cater to women, in my opinion.
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Most comfortable
The Sony XB950N1 were just next to the Sony WH-1000X mk2’s at Best Buy that I went there specifically to try so I gave these a try as well. These seemed a little lighter and definitely a lot more comfortable (less squeeze) than the Sony WH-1000X mk2. I thought they were even more comfortable than the Bose QuietComfort 35 II. Unfortunately the sound is extremely bass heavy (“Extra Bass” is technically part of this product’s name, great if that is what you’re looking for), doesn’t have the cool swipe features (see below) or the longer battery life and wireless range of the Sony WH-1000X mk2’s and the thick earphone padding makes you look too much like Maz Kanata from Star Wars. There are a few different color options and they cost significantly less than the Sony WH-1000X mk2. This would be a good choice for someone that prioritizes comfort and/or wants good audio quality and noise cancelling in a wireless unit but does not want to shell out for pricier models.
From here on out, the headphones will make you look like Maz Kanata if you are petite. Wouldn’t it be great if there were a women’s fit option though for these higher end models? Partnerships with artists like Michael De Feo to give these utilitarian devices some pizazz? Why not. Life is short. Flowers on everything.
Best audio quality
I thought the Bose QuietComfort 35 II’s had better audio quality than the Sony WH-1000X mk2’s. The latter just had too much bass out of the box (more on this later). The QC35’s were also lighter and more comfortable than the Sony WH-1000X mk2, and reviewers noted how spacious the interior ear pad is such that they are comfortable to wear over extended periods of time without your ears heating up or sweating. But they only come in two colors, black and silver, and I doubt the shape of these headphones has changed much in the last decade. Bose also makes two other wireless noise cancelling models that are smaller in size, the SoundLink around ear wireless headphones II and the on-ear wireless headphones, but I thought the QC 35’s were the most comfortable. The only major difference I saw between the 35 II and the older 35 version was that the 35 II has a dedicated Google Assistant button. At fairly similar price points, one could go either way.
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Best noise cancelling
Reviewers seemed to agree that the Sony WH-1000X mkII had better noise cancelling. Than the Bose QC 35 or 35 II. The Sony WH-1000X mkII also has a cool feature. Where you can place your hand on the earphone and ambient sound is mic’d in so you can have a conversation or hear what’s going on around you without removing your headphones. There is also an ambient noise feature that you can enable to hear what’s going on around you while wearing the headphones. Rather than cumbersome buttons, one can control volume and playlist with light swipes on the earphone. These Sony’s also have longer battery life and wireless range than the QC 35 series. The sound is bass heavy, but equalizer settings can be adjusted in an app. Downsides include these are immediately noticeably heavier than the QC35 series. Initially less comfortable. And have less spacious ear pads such that some reviewers’ ears touched the inside of the ear pad and one reviewer noted ear sweating after extended use.