Reviews for Bose® AE2i Mobile Headset (with Remote and Mic)

I bought these headphones to use with an iPhone4 and they worked well and were comfortable. I would have given them 4 stars but then I upgraded to the iPhone5 and these headphones are now a REAL DISAPPOINTMENT as the output of the 5 is about 20-30% lower than the 4 and the 4S. I have talked to Bose who said there is nothing they can do. After one month Apple have still not replied to my enquiry/complaint which presumably means they aren't going to do anything.

If you have an iPhone 5 make sure that you buy headphones that are more efficient than Bose headphones. Try before you buy, or you will regret it.

5 of 5 people found this useful

They are super comfortable and make you rediscover songs. You will hear sounds you never heard before in songs you already heard, and the on-ear pads work perfectly.

9 of 9 people found this useful

I'd wanted a pair of Bose headphones for years and jumped at the chance to pick up the AE2i's when they went on sale.

Although I was initially thrilled with the exceptional comfort of these headphones, the feeling was quickly replaced with shocked disbelief when I heard the unbearably shrill highs, weak mids and anemic bass while listening to a variety of music.

Beyond the brutal sound, the AE2i's have a cheap, insubstantial feel to their mostly plastic construction and I got the feeling that they wouldn't hold up long with repeated use for daily commuting. Adding to the cheapness factor is an extremely thin cable and a stenciled (rather than chromed/embossed) Bose logo on the side of each can.

On top of this, the iPhone mic on the cable controller doesn't work well, and voice recognition is poor at best while trying to make a call.

I have several pairs of other headphones at different price points (some as low as $50) from other Brands, and all of them overshadow and outperform the AE2i's in terms of build and sound. Overall, I expected substantially more from a company of Bose's reputation. They've priced these headphones higher than comparable products from competitors -- yet deliver a shockingly poor listening and product experience.

If audio quality and durability are important to you, I'd urge you to try a different pair of headphones. These are a terrible disappointment.

11 of 28 people found this useful

I've always wanted a Bose headphones and finally was able to afford one. After all the hype and positive reviews on the internet, I decided to get the AE2. What a big disappointment. The first thing I noticed was the shrilling highs that becomes tiring after a few minutes of listening. Some alto vocals sounds metallic and annoying. Yet the sharp cutoff after 9 Khz made the high hats/cymbals sound weird. Absolutely no extensions in higher frequency. Mid bass was also lacking which made bass guitars sound weak and overly recessed. I kept the headphones for a couple of weeks to allow enough burn-in time but that didn't help. I compared the AE2's sound to my Shure E2C and a Sennheiser HD439. The E2C is an IEM that sounded neutral and natural sounding phones. While the HD439 sounded too warm to me. Though I've read that they require a longer burn-in time. I bought the AE2 and the HD439 at the same time and returned both. The AE2's are just too bright and the HD439s are just too warm.

I gave the AE2 three stars because they are the most comfortable headphones I've ever used and they are also quite portable. They fit in my backpack nicely. They also have removable cable, an added bonus as headphones wires usually are the first things that will break. Overall, if you don't mind a bright sounding headphone, which some people associate to "Clarity", go ahead and buy the AE2. But to me, I'd rather keep my hearing until I my senior years.

47 of 53 people found this useful

These are the best headphones ever! Way better than Beats. They have clear, crisp sound; also the treble and bass is amazing. They are the most comfortable head phones ever, and they block out a majority of the sound even though they aren't noise blocking. I would highly recommend them to anybody that can afford them.

23 of 24 people found this useful

Thank god there are a pair of headphones that don't have exadurated base!!!!!!!!! I can't stress thiss enough ii was addicted to beats becaus the bass but in reality it wasn't how the artest wanted you to hear it!! at first i didn't hear alot of bass at all but you have to push them back till there behind your jaw which makes the sound and bass much louder since the speakers are somewhat in the front of the head phones and slanted to come as close to your ears as possible! they are also extremely light and comfortable!! Totally worth the money!!!

20 of 21 people found this useful

These Headphones are Great. Simply Put: They are Comfortable, Majestic, MIT, Acoustic, and Sexy. **** all other brands of Headphones.

13 of 19 people found this useful

I purchased these headphones to use with my iPhone and my Mac for Skype conversations. The audio portion of the headphones works great. I thought the sound was fantastic, and although the headphones are not noise cancelling, they do a great job of eliminating noise.

In fact, that noise elimination causes the main problem that I have with the microphone. When you speak in the microphone, it does not provide the sound back to the earphones for you to hear yourself speak like a normal phone does, or how you can hear yourself speak out load with ear bud headphones. Since the headphones block sound so effectively, you can only hear yourself speak through your own jaw more or less. This is incredibly annoying. It's like you are speaking into a glass clamped to your mouth.

When you combine this problem with the fact that my wife claimed that I sounded somewhat muffled on the microphone, it really makes the microphone portion of these headphones unusable.

I'm going to return the headphones, but I would love to purchase them again if Bose can somehow address this problem.

26 of 31 people found this useful

I got these headphones yesterday so I can't comment on their long term durability, however the build quality is very high as you would expect from bose. The sound quality is outstanding, deep powerful bass, but not overpowered, strong mids, and crystal clear highs.they are very lightweight with plush earcups, making them extremely comfortable to wear while giving a nice seal around the ears for better sound isolation. I have had them on for the last two and a half hours and I have no fatigue from wearing them, your ears do get a little warm being as they are surrounded by the leather earcups but it's not that noticeable.I would recommend these headphones to anyone and everyone. Definitely worth the money.

20 of 20 people found this useful