While "around-ear" still sounds strange as an alternative to over-ear to us (what, is there a hole in the middle of each can for our ears to stick through?), Bose has announced the Australian arrival of its new SoundLink around-ear wireless headphones II, promising "a whole new kind of wireless experience."
That's probably overselling what's on offer, but Bose' new wireless cans still appear to be packing some decent audio kit.
The first thing that catches our eye is the 15-hour battery life. While it's not as impressive as the 24 hours on offer from the Plantronics BackBeat Pro, it should still be more than enough to keep that dreaded dead battery from rearing its ugly head – as a comparison the Parrot Zik 2.0's are much pricier and only offer six hours.
Link and you'll miss it...
The SoundLinks also come packing NFC tech, so simply tapping your NFC-enabled device of choice to the right ear-cup should have them paired without messing around with Bluetooth settings. Of course if NFC isn't an option for you, Bluetooth is always there as a backup.
The cans also enable you to switch between music and phone calls without touching your phone, and they feature voice prompts (in 11 languages for the multilingual out there) telling you who's calling, which device you're currently connected to, and how much battery life you have left.
The new SoundLinks will set you back $379, while the first generation of cans will remain available for $349.
- Looking for a wired option? Check out our Bose SoundTrue review.
