After much leaking, Google and Bose have unveiled the Google Assistant powered QC35 II Headphones, which will be coming to the U.S., the UK, Canada, Germany, France and of course Australia.
The headphones are priced at $499 on the Bose Australia online store where you can purchase them in either Black or Silver colour options. It won’t be just Bose, and their ‘premium priced’ headphones getting the Google Assistant though, Google says that they are ‘introducing headphones that are optimized for the Assistant’, they are just starting with the Bose QC35 II headphones.
Just like the original QC35 headphones, you get the same great features including up to 20 hours battery life and Noise Cancelling, but now you get a Google Assistant button as well which will summon the Google Assistant. Once pressed, just like on your phone, watch and everywhere else the Google Assistant can tell you all the information you want including:
- Stay connected to what matters: Hear your incoming messages, calendar events and more, automatically, right from your headphones. So if you’re listening to your favorite song and you get a text, your Assistant can read it to you, no extra steps.
- Keep in touch with friends: You can make a call with just a few simple words—“Call dad”—take the call from your headphones and continue on your way. No stopping or dialing, just talking.
Listen to music, news and more: Now it’s easier to access a playlist, skip a track or go to a new song when you’re listening to music—and the music experience will continue to get better over time. You can also keep up with news while you take walk, jump in a cab or go for a run. Just ask your Assistant to “play the news” and you’ll get a read-out of the current hot topics. You can choose from a variety of news sources, like CNBC, CNN, NPR and others.
The Noise Cancelling on the QC 35 II has been improved with the help of the Bose Connect App, which will let you scale the intensity on High or Low settings, and of course you can turn it off. The Connect App is also where you can change built-in Action button’s functionality. you can control the noise settings from the earcup when you want, and switch back to your Google Assistant when you want.
If you have $499 to spend on headphones, they’re available to order from Bose Australia online right now, with units shipping in 1-2 days.
So, let’s get this straight. You still need these paired with your phone to do the heavy lifting, all you get for your Bisto is a button to turn on the connection, so you can then issue a speech command …….. rather than listening out for a wakeword and just working hands free?
And this is supposed to be a great innovation?
This is obviously some strange usage of the word “advance” that I hadn’t previously been aware of.
Thank you Fred. Just what I was thinking.
You can just long press the middle button on the “old’ model to do it anyway. Seems a big premium for a new button unless I’m missing something.
I’m curious exactly what’s so remarkable about these headphones now. When we get a review unit you’d better believe we’ll be checking if it’s more than just a button.