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Bose
Raised as a usability problem by 30 people on Hacker News over 8 years (2019–2026), in 25 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads in the last 5 years.
Every issue, all time, most people first
Noise cancellation turns on when off, and settings require an appUnreviewed
20192026- Noise cancellation keeps turning on despite being turned off, and settings require a mandatory app2021-11-15
- Noise cancellation resets to maximum each time and turning it off requires repeated app steps2020-12-08
- Noise canceling can't be initially set up without the companion app2019-11-27
Third paired device never gets desired audio without using the appUnreviewed
20192026- Audio switches to whichever device connected first, interrupting calls when a phone plays sound2021-02-02
- Third paired device never gets the desired audio; must use app to disconnect others2020-12-08
- Earphones stay connected to the wrong device; must switch via app or turn devices off2019-09-10
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 33 complaints
- App was odd and hard to manage speakers with2026-01-08
- Headphones can't be used while they are charging2025-02-02
- Connecting to devices is harder than AirPods' seamless pop-up pairing2024-11-19
- Pairing notification keeps reappearing during a call after the headphones are already paired2024-03-22
- Headphones forget paired devices, need repairing, and connect to wrong devices unpredictably2024-03-21
- Headphones reconnect repeatedly and announce 'Connected to laptop' every 30 seconds when out of range2024-01-17
- Every 5 minutes at 10% battery pauses media to announce a voice warning, which cannot be disabled2022-12-22
- Left earbud fails to connect about a third of the time2021-12-31
- Noise cancellation keeps turning on despite being turned off, and settings require a mandatory app2021-11-15
- Changing settings requires an app, account, internet and Bluetooth connection2021-11-14
- No easy way to turn off HFP, so apps pick their own mic behavior2021-05-04
- Audio switches to whichever device connected first, interrupting calls when a phone plays sound2021-02-02
- Third paired device never gets the desired audio; must use app to disconnect others2020-12-08
- Switching between devices requires slow app and fiddling with which two are connected2020-12-08
- Noise cancellation resets to maximum each time and turning it off requires repeated app steps2020-12-08
- Ring and answer tones are often painfully loud, unfixed after several firmware updates2020-10-30
- Audio lags behind video because of high Bluetooth latency2020-10-14
- Pressing stop, start or skip takes about two seconds to take effect2020-09-20
- Switching between phone and laptop requires manual disconnect and reconnect, taking up to 30 seconds2020-07-27
- Two Bluetooth endpoints cause audio breakage that users can't diagnose or fix2020-06-24
- Non-tactile touch controls on headphones are hard to operate without looking2020-04-05
- The companion app is described as awful, with no specific problem named2020-04-05
- Bluetooth setup is hard to get working, so the user dislikes using them with their computer2020-04-05
- Touch gestures are hard to get right and trigger spuriously2020-04-05
- Must manually disable laptop in app to hear phone audio; connect gesture rarely works2020-04-05
- Connect and disconnect sounds can't be turned off; turning off voice prompts swaps in beeps2020-01-17
- Remote is nearly unusable without configuring it through an app requiring account creation2019-12-16
- Noise canceling can't be initially set up without the companion app2019-11-27
- Must install the app just to turn noise canceling on or off2019-11-27
- Slide switch must be gingerly manipulated to pair, hard to do while driving2019-11-18
- Earphones stay connected to the wrong device; must switch via app or turn devices off2019-09-10
- Pushes users to install an app for setup that doesn't need one2019-05-26
- Setup instructions require an app the user cannot run on their devices2019-03-21