Microsoft Surface Headphones

I was recommended these headphones after my old ones stopped working. I use them exclusively for work. Mostly Teams meetings, sometimes Zoom meetings. Overall, they're the best headphones I've used thus far.PROS:- Very comfortable. I have average-sized ears, and these fit over my ears like a glove. The ear cups are shaped such that your ears fit "inside" the cup padding, and the padding is tight against my head without interfering with the shape of my ears. I initially felt some issues with the headband - I was worried that it would give me that lingering head pain that I've experienced with inferior headsets. But that never materialized, and now they just feel good.- The sound cancellation is great. Enough that background noise doesn't interfere. I can't really say much more about this; it just works. If you're looking for absolutely no sound, this ain't it. But for a conventional home office room, it is perfect.- Sound quality. My colleagues say that my voice is very clear.- The controls. On the left, you spin the dial forward/backward to engage or disengage the sound cancellation. There's apparently 13 levels of cancellation; I just treat it as Yes or No. On the right is the volume - same deal. Spin forward to turn up, backward to turn down. There are other controls for calls, music, etc. involving tapping and I haven't really used these, but what I have used of them they work just fine. It's very intuitive.-General Operation. A button on the right side turns them off/on, and the mute button is just to the side of it. There is a sound that plays when you're toggling the mute and let's you know pretty distinctively whether your mute is on or off.- Connectivity. I use these with Bluetooth on a MacBook Air M1, and they're extremely responsive to connecting to my computer when I turn them on/put them on.- Look and feel. They are packaged wonderfully, have a very modern look, and present themselves as a very quality product designed with thought & attention. They have a "weight" to them that doesn't feel cheap at all.CONS:- They frequently produce garbled audio packets. I've been in meetings where the speaker's voice will get garbled regularly, almost as if their internet connection is slow. But others don't report this, so I'm pretty certain it's the headphone bluetooth connection. I'm not sure what is causing this. It's annoying, but ultimately only a moderate inconvenience because it's not so garbled that I can't understand what the other person is saying.- They sometimes get confused. If I have them registered with Bluetooth on my phone and my computer, they'll connect to both my phone and my computer, and when I have to switch between my phone or computer for a meeting or a call, they sometimes don't know which thing to connect to. I really don't think this is an issue with the headphones per se, but it's a thing. A very minor thing.- A quirk on Mac. This is entirely Apple's fault, but worth knowing. When these headphones are put on, Apple Music is brought up on the computer automatically. I haven't figured out how to stop this from happening. Again, nothing against the headphones, but if you are using them with a Mac it's worth knowing.Overall, I'm very happy with how these are performing. Despite the quirks, I'll give them 5 stars as the most superior headphones I've used for work.

These headphones are competing directly with the Sony 1000XM3 and Bose QC35II, so when deciding to buy wireless noise cancelling headphones at the $350 price range, it is wise to look into all 3.Noise Cancellation: (Surface Headphones == Sony 1000XM3) > Bose QC35II.The quality of noise cancellation on the Surface and Sony is very close, both standing well above Bose's. I am not too sure why, but Bose's NC gives me a weird headache, and it is not just the QC35 line, but also their in-ear QC20. There are reports of this happening to many other Bose owners, so, personally, I cannot recommend the Bose for the noise cancelling. Both Sony's and Surface Headphones' active noise cancelling is amazing, and for someone who takes bus rides daily, it is a godsend.Comfort: Surface > Bose > SonyWhen looking at how they rest on your head/ears, the Surface headphones are easily the most comfortable due to its over-ear design. To me, the Sony 1000XM3 are not comfortable since the drivers put physical pressure on my ear's cartilage, so after 20 minutes of listening, my ears would start hurting, and that is because of the on-ear design, similar to the Bose QC35II. As a commuter, comfort was the most important factor when I decided to get the Surface headphones.Sound Quality: Sony > Bose > SurfaceBoth Sony and Bose have years of research and development backing them up, so their products have industry standard sound quality, whereas, the Surface headphones are Microsoft's first attempt at making premium headphones. I am not an audiophile, but I can still clearly tell the differences. For example, compared to the Bose QCII, the Surface headphones lack in the mids and highs. Do not get me wrong, the Surface Headphones do sound good for its main functions are being wireless and noise cancelling.PROS:- Quality noise cancelling .- Surprisingly good to play games with, such as PUBG and Overwatch (when cabled, with NC on). I can actually hear footsteps much clearer, and it beats any of the fake "7.1 surround sound" gaming headphones by a milestone.- Build quality is premium (soft touch material), way better than the Bose. They weigh a tiny bit more than Sony's and Bose's, but it's negligible.- Touch control on the sides, which makes it hands-free. Also, the dials for volume (on the right) and NC (on the left) are really smooth and easy to adjust.- Fast charging, so you can sneak in a couple hours of battery with ~15 minutes of charging (as long as you have a fast charger).- USB type-C- If you run out of battery, they still function as normal headphones with the 3.5mm jack cable (with NC off).- Voice assistant (Cortana, Siri, Google Voice) if you are into that.- It has voice prompts, such as telling you battery life when turning it on. Also, it will pause your music when you take them off.- Phone calls sound clear.CONS:- Battery life (about 12 hours) is much shorter than the competitors. This is due to the voice assistant being on "stand-by" the whole time, which drains the battery. Microsoft is working on an firmware update to let you choose to have it turned off, but I don't think they will reach Sony's monstrous 30-hour battery.- Sound quality is worse than Bose's and Sony's. You can try to tune it differently in the EQ, but they will still lack.Overall:I like them a lot and I would recommend them to people interested in buying wireless, noise cancelling headphones at this price range. My primary use is with my iPhone, so as far as streaming over Spotify, to me they sound great.