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My New Travel Companion: Bose QuietComfort 35 II Wireless Headphones

Having travelled regularly and living out of a suitcase for the past decade, I strive to travel as light as possible. If we had been travel mates, you will know that this endeavour is not easy to achieve most of the time. Nonetheless, I try not to carry the house along with me; ‘try’ being the operative word.

One of the compulsory items in my travel backpack are earphones, as you can read from this post: What’s In My Travel Backpack?

Over the years, I have tried travelling with different types of earpieces, and my finding was: headphones (too bulky), wireless earbuds (easily lost) and earphones (perfect).

yours truly with the new Bose QuietComfort 35 II wireless headphones
yours truly with the new Bose QuietComfort 35 II wireless headphones

Earphones are perfect, in my opinion, until I was recently introduced to Bose QuietComfort 35 II wireless headphones during my weekend staycation at citizenM Kuala Lumpur Bukit Bintang.

citizenM's 'Guide to Business Travel'
citizenM’s ‘Guide to Business Travel’

You see, the international hotel brand of citizenM is the leader in innovative ideas for improving travel experience. To address the needs of guests, citizenM has created a ‘Guide to Business Travel’ by collaborating with record label Erased Tapes and music scientists at Goldsmiths, University of London. This first volume of music collaboration, called Brainwaves, is supported by Bose.

Brainwaves contains three unique musical tracks Focus in 12-18Hz, Ascend in 8-13.9Hz and Dream in 0.1-3.9Hz, which are also available to the public at iTunes Store, Apple Music and Spotify.

Utilising different tones, frequencies and rhythms, these tracks have been engineered to influence our emotions and behaviours, helping us to be more focused, while keeping stress and anxiety at bay.

After learning about those positive effects, I had the occasion to try out the three Brainwaves tracks using my newly acquired Bose QuietComfort 35 II wireless headphones when I rode the Electric Train Service (ETS) home to Ipoh from Kuala Lumpur.

trying out the Bose QuietComfort 35 II wireless headphones while on my 2.5-hour ride on the Electric Train Service (ETS)
trying out the Bose QuietComfort 35 II wireless headphones while on my 2.5-hour ride on the Electric Train Service (ETS)

Train commuters know that despite the more comfortable ride and shorter journey on the ETS compared to the previous diesel-powered train, they could hardly relax during the 2.5-hour trip due to the noise.

In this context, Bose QuietComfort 35 II’s acoustic noise-cancelling technology unfolds. The pair of headphones continuously measures, compares and reacts outside noise, then cancels it with the opposite signal.

Although I have heard much about noise-cancelling headphones from friends who regularly commute on the LRT, MRT and monorail, I never felt the need for the device. I do own noise-cancelling headphones, too, yet opted to travel with my earphones to reduce the bulk.

Ultimately, I personally experienced the huge difference a good pair of noise-cancelling headphones, especially from the renowned Bose, makes to keep senseless noise at bay.

my new Bose QuietComfort 35 II wireless headphones
my new Bose QuietComfort 35 II wireless headphones

For my maiden experience, I wore it for more than two hours continuously and did not feel any discomfort or heat over my ears. I had Brainwaves on loop when I wanted to rest and switched to my music playlist when I wanted some entertainment. Whatever my selection, I was immersed in the quietness of space. Once in a while, I remembered to listen to the noise pollution in my environment and the difference was significant.

It is going to be a difficult decision to make each time I hit the road: Bose QuietComfort 35 II wireless headphones OR my regular earphones?

the foldable Bose QuietComfort 35 II wireless headphones
the foldable Bose QuietComfort 35 II wireless headphones

In my opinion, Bose QuietComfort 35 II wireless headphones, with up to 20 hours of battery life, are great in such situations: solo travel and/or long commutes, which is most of the time, in my case. Travelling with the Bose QuietComfort 35 II wireless headphones means taking alongside peace and quiet with me, wherever I go.

Bose QuietComfort 35 II is an upgrade over Bose QuietComfort 35, and it is optimised for the Google Assistant, with a dedicated action button. This means the ability to enjoy entertainment, request for information, or make other commands, just by using my voice.

Comes in Black, Silver, or the limited edition Rose Gold, its recommended retail price is RM1,559. Worth every Ringgit. Thumbs up!

With love

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