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By now, it will probably not be news to you that we will soon see a variety of headphones with the Google Assistant built right in. Initially, we presumed the first real mention of said devices would come at the upcoming #madebygoole event Oct. 4th in San Francisco.
However, Bose came in out of nowhere following a multitude of online leaks and launched their second-generation QuietComfort 35 headphones today. This precedes even the expected Sept 22 release confirmed by multiple Best Buy locations.
With all the specs and images floating around the web, there weren’t really any surprises from Bose when the QC35 II page went live. We see exactly what the leaks depicted, a refreshed version of the original headphones with the addition of an “action” button on the left ear cup.
According to the specs, this button will invoke the Google Assistant and allow users to talk to Google Assistant, get notifications and reply to messages where available.
There has been some talk about the headphones having some Assistant functionality apart from being paired to your mobile device. From the user manual, it looks like that is not the case. The QC35 II headphones have no WIFI capability and require an Android device or iOS device using the Assistant app to access Google’s smart-helper.
Alternatively, Bose states that if you aren’t a “Googler” the action button can be used to adjust the noise-canceling level of your headset.
What was pleasantly surprising about the new QC35 II from Bose, is the price. The second-gen headphones are retailing for $349 directly from Bose and at select Bose outlets and come in Black or Silver. This puts them at the exact same price-point as the original, Assistant-less models.
As previously reported, we should see the new Bose available from Best Buy tomorrow and likely other retailers like Amazon in the very near future.
Source: Bose
