The Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 UC, a variation of the existing Bose 700 consumer headphones, were announced by Bose Professional in the last trade show to take place before COVID-19 closed the world. During ISE 2020, in Amsterdam, the Bose 700 UC was promoted as allowing superior collaboration in the workplace and beyond — from open offices, airport lobbies, coffee shops or the remote office and everywhere in between.
UC is the acronym for Unified Communications, a term that no one wants to remember now that we are working from home. But the ability to work without the need to mute and unmute to conceal background noise would be certainly appreciated by a lot of people forced to work from home and feeling the need to isolate. Unfortunately, the pandemic affected everyone's plans, and delayed production of many new products. Now, Bose confirms the 700 UC headphones will be finally available.
Basically, the headphones are very similar to the existing 700 version, featuring an adaptive eight-microphone proprietary array system — with four of the mics dedicated to isolating the user’s voice, so they sound natural and clear — while the array actively identifies and rejects noise so only the important details are heard. The Bose Headphones 700 UC ship with the Bose USB Link Bluetooth module, a solution that provides a reliable connection to a Windows PC - famous for not recognizing any peripherals when people most need them - and enabling users to quickly jump on calls or easily switch between audio sources (not an easy thing to do in Windows...).
The Bose Headphones 700 UC feature 11 levels of noise cancellation ranging from virtual silence to open and ambient, letting users stay focused, minimize distraction, collaborate with confidence — and work better, wherever. With Conversation Mode, users can simultaneously pause audio allowing for quick conversations or immediate awareness of their surroundings. And the 700 UC optimize the audio experience while using third-party cloud services such as Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts Meet, Zoom and more (yes, also Skype and all the others).
The big difference, it seems, is the fact that the Bose 700 UC headphones are optimized with a different firmware to connect reliably to a computer instead of smartphones and tablets, using the included Bose USB Link Bluetooth dongle (maybe using a wired mouse and keyboard is recommended since a Windows PC only takes so many Bluetooth dongles at a time...) Still, when its working, users can maintain focus for hours with the 700 UC’s comfortable, lightweight design, stainless-steel headband and ergonomic earcups. Interruptions are minimized with up to 20 hours of wireless battery life and the time remaining indicator.
Oh, and if you loose the USB Bluetooth dongle, Bose sells those separately, but you will need to go through the pairing process. The Bose USB Link Bluetooth module that ships with any Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 UC will come pre-paired to those headphones.
The headphones are also touch-sensitive with intuitive controls to keep everything simple just by tapping the earcup. The Bose active equalization creates a rich, immersive listening experience at any volume, making them perfect for use both at work and for music, navigation, weather and more.
"With approximately one-third of global knowledge workers working outside of the traditional office, we’re thrilled to deliver such a powerful, adaptive device that’s easy to use and works with a wide variety of cloud services, like Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Google Meet,” states Martin Bodley, director and global head, Bose Work at Bose. "With Bose Work, we continue to deliver technology to support the way we work and where we work. The NCH 700 UC deliver the audio quality and connectivity so you can focus on what’s important."
pro.bose.com/nch700uc
