TaoTronics Active Noise Cancelling Bluetooth Headphones Review

Can you save some money with the TaoTronics ANC headphones compared to the Bose QuietComfort 35 II?

Design

The TaoTronics headphones feature two padded ear cups that are very comfortable to wear. The headband is also padded and adjustable to rest comfortably on the top of your head. Like most headphones in this still, I still sometimes get the “ear sweats” and need to take a break from the headphones after wearing them for an hour or so to give my ears a chance to breath.

The power button and volume controls are located on the right ear cup, as well as the Micro USB charging input. The Active Noise Cancellation switch is located on the left ear cup as well as the AUX input.

Sound Quality

As expected, the sound quality on these TaoTronics isn’t quite up there with the Bose. Don’t get me wrong: the sound quality is still great with prominent bass. In fact, the bass seems to be stronger on the TaoTronics and can sometimes be overpowering, slightly muddying the sound. I could definitely feel the thump while listening to the The Weeknd’s “Wasted Times”.

When the noise cancellation is active, there is a slight white noise “hum” in the background as the unit counteracts the outside noises, which is very similar to the QuietComfort. You likely won’t notice it while listening to music.

Noise Cancelling

The Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) isn’t as powerful as the QuietComforts and I can still hear the hum of a nearby fan or the engine of my lawn mower, but the outside sounds are definitely less pronounced compared to when the feature is off.

Unlike the QuietComfort 35 II, which has 2 noise cancellation settings (high and low), the TaoTronics only has one setting. A soft blue LED on the Active Noise Cancellation switch lets you know when the feature is on. The Active Noise Cancellation features also stays on even when you turn the Bluetooth off, so these could be used if you simply want some peace and quiet. You do need to be mindful to turn off the ANC feature when you’re done using the headphones to avoid unnecessarily draining the battery.

Features

The TaoTronics headphones do not have a “built-in” virtual assistant like the Bose QuietComfort 35 IIs. Unfortunately, you are not able to access your phone’s assistant (Siri or Google Assistant) using the buttons on the TaoTronics headphones either.

You can answer phone calls using the headphones by tapping the Play button once when your phone is ringing. Double-tapping the Play button while not in a call will redial the last number you called.

Battery Life

TaoTronics boasts up to 30 hours of battery life on these headphones, but does not specify if this is in Bluetooth mode or Aux mod. By comparison, the Bose QuietComfort 35 IIs state battery life at 20 hours in wireless Bluetooth mode or 40 hours when using the included audio cable.

The headphones recharge with a standard Micro USB cable. If you have an iPhone, the battery level of the TaoTronics headphons will show on your iPhone’s status bar.