Today my early Christmas gift to myself, just arrived, the Microsoft Surface Headphones. Yes, Microsoft at their Surface Event in October, announced a new product called the Surface Headphones. The Surface Headphones are wireless noise cancelling headphones. This is especially handy when travelling or in a open space office. The will compete with products like the Bose Quiet Comfort 35 II and the Sony WH-1000XM3. If you are travelling a lot, especially if you fly a lot, you will never ever want to travel without noise cancelling headphones. By myself I was using the first generation Bose Quiet Comfort 35, which were my steady travel companion. I was really happy with it, even the sound quality could have been slightly better. However, with Microsoft releasing the Surface Headphones, it was time for an upgrade.
Of course, I didn’t really have time to test them yet, but I wanted quickly share my first impression and a little review about the Surface Headphones.
- First of all, I really like the design and build quality, the have this premium feel and design, like the other Microsoft Surface products.
- Boy the feel comfortable. Even do they are heavier than my Bose QC 35, the feel lighter and very good when wearing them. Especially when being on a flight for over 10 hours, this is a must.
- Setup is so easy, Cortana on the Surface Headphones let you quickly go through the whole setup process and everything just worked like you expect it to be. No pairing errors or things like this.
- They work great with Windows 10, iOS or Android.
- With Cortana you can also use voice commands to check your calendar or play your Spotify playlist.
- Connecting multiple devices like the Surface Book 2 and my phone at the same time, is really useful. Especially when a Skype for Business or Microsoft Teams call comes in, you can easily switch to your PC.
- In my opinion the sound quality of the Surface Headphones is better than on my Bose QC 35, and it is a joy to listen to music. Again, I am not a sound enthusiast, but for me the quality is really good.
- One of the unique features are the wheels or dial on the side. The wheel on the right allows you just adjust the volume and the wheel on the left allows you to adjust the level of noise cancellation. I like the wheels much better than, the buttons on my Bose headphones, they are way easier reachable.
- The Surface Headphones also have buttons on the side, which allow you to pick up and end calls, skip to the next track, pause and resume music playback.
- You cannot only regulate the level of noise cancellation, you can even amplify the background around you, which is handy when someone starts talking to you.
Overall the first impressions of the Surface Headphones has been great, and I can’t wait to test them on my first trips. They are a great edition to the other Surface Peripherals.
If you are living not in the US or UK you can order them from www.bigapplebuddy.com. If you are using the coupon code “THOMASMAURER” you will get $10 off their 1st Big Apple Buddy purchase. This not only works for the Surface Headphones but for other items as well.
Tags: Android, Hardware, Headphones, iOS, Microsoft, Microsoft Headphones, Microsoft Surface Headphones, Noise Cancelling, Noise Cancelling Heapdhones, Surface, Surface Headphones, Windows, Windows 10, Wireless, Wireless Headphones Last modified: January 28, 2019
Hi Thomas,
Where did you actually purchase these? I’m actively looking for a online shop to buy them in, but it seems difficult at the moment.
check out a company called bigapplebuddy.com :)
If you wanna order them from there, you can use the coupon code “THOMASMAURER” and you get 10$ off your first purchase at bigapplebuddy.com :)
Thanks Thomas for sharing your thoughts and and first impression.
Interesting. I’m torn between these and the SONY WH-1000XM3. I do agree with you about the BOSE as the sound could be a LOT better, although the noise cancelling is second to none. My wife is wanting some noise cancelling earphones that cover the ear and I’m thinking of giving her my current BOSE QC II 1st Gen. Do you know if you can use substitute Google Assistant or Alexa instead of Cortana with the Microsoft set?
I was seeing a review, where they said that you can also use Alexa or Google with it :)
But haven’t tried it myself.
What about the microphone & Background noise while having a phone call? Unfortunately my experience with BT-Headsets is that they tend to amplify background noise to a level that sometimes blasts away your calling partner’s ears. Is MS doing it better? :)
Not tested yet :) Will check next week when I have the first calls :)
Will let you know as soon as I have result :)