By directly integrating support for Google Assistant, Bose’s QuietComfort 35 II took an already great pair of headphones and made them even more useful, earning spots on both our list of the best wireless headphones and our list of the best noise-canceling headphones in the process. Now they’ve gotten even better thanks to a recent firmware update that brings support for Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant.
If you don’t already own the headphones, Alexa will be integrated right out of the box, which will now have an Alexa logo on it letting customers know about the new feature. If you do already own the headphones, you’ll need to update your firmware, which can be done using the Bose connect app. You can also connect the headphones to your computer via USB and head to the Bose firmware update site.
Once the headphones are updated (or you’ve just taken your new headphones out of the box) you’ll now be able to choose which virtual assistant you prefer in the options menu of the Bose Connect app. You’ll be able to invoke your preferred assistant by pressing the “Action” button on the headphones. The Siri integration, which is the same provided by many other wired and wireless headphones, is unchanged, allowing you to access the assistant by holding down the Play/Pause button for two seconds.
Support for Amazon Alexa isn’t the only benefit the firmware update brings. A number of bugs have been fixed, including a security-related update that could let Android phones connect to Bluetooth without the user initiating the connection. Other fixed issues include better stability for Bose multi-point, which lets the headphones connect to two different devices simultaneously, and an issue that would cause voice prompts to play multiple times. For a full list of fixed issues, see the announcement on the Bose community site.
Bose’s QuietComfort 35 II wireless headphones sell for $350 and are available now. For more information on the headphones, see the Bose website. Meanwhile, if you’re not sure what you need in a set of headphones, check out our headphone buying guide to help you figure out exactly what to buy.
