Submitted by meekostar t3_z7jyfi in headphones
Hey all.
So 3 years ago I bought ANC Bose QC 35 ii and Sony WH-1000XM3 at the same time and use them interchangeably for sleeping and for commuting.
Both still hold up pretty well. The only decline in quality I’ve noticed is the Bose ear pads are ripping, they both have more trouble connecting to Bluetooth and staying connected, and occasionally the Sonys started to have some cracking in the right ear but that’s since gone away somehow. I also don’t know if it is possible that the ANC quality has declined or if it’s just my perception of the world being too loud these days.
Anyway I feel silly buying new headphones when these still work fine, but I worry one day soon they will just start to crap out on me and I won’t have those sweet sweet Black Friday deals to back me up if I need to buy a replacement.
Also, if I want to keep these same models I have now but upgrade them, I can get the Bose QC 45 and Sony WXM-4 which has sales right now. They are so similar to the headphones I have now so I wouldn’t have to adjust very much to get used to a new design. These companies are known for discontinuing their products eventually, so I don’t want to wait another year for new headphones and then the new ones they come out with have a design that doesn’t work for me but I can’t go back to a previous design I preferred best. For example, the Bose 700 don’t work for me for sleeping (and are expensive af) so if they wanted to move in that direction and discontinue the rest, I’d be screwed.
Should I just go ahead and get new headphones to make sure I’ll have something that would be there for me for the next 3 years? Or is it a waste of money and I should keep the ones I have for as long as possible? What would I even do with the old headphones if I got new ones?
doctt t1_iy79v74 wrote
I have QC 35ii and just replaced my ear pads. Only cost $20. Feel like new again.
Many say QC35ii sounds better than QC45. I have not tired QC45 yet. Not sure if it is true or not. I tried XM4, but I like my QC35ii better because it sounds a bit more natural to me. XM4 has too much bass and is lack of clarity to me.
I would not concern about companies discontinuing their old models. QC45 and XM-4 are extremely popular. You can easier find them even when they get discontinued. Worse case, go to Ebay and buy a refurnished ones. Replace the earpad and it feels like new again.
My point is that there is no reason to buy a new pair because of "just in case" while you are still enjoying your current one. Sometimes better will come out. Wait until you need one and buy the best one within your budget then. You may end up having a better headphone.
just IMHO