The review nobody asked for!!
The H7 has a lot going for it. The sound quality is subjectively all around better except for audiobooks and podcasts. It’s not bad at all but the QC35 seems better tuned for spoken word content.
Mids, highs, lows... all around clarity and subtlety, the H7 has a more pleasurable musical quality. The H7 also supports officially more advanced sound codecs and as a kicker, has a removable battery! On wire, it also sounds great whether powered or not.
Here’s why the QC35 is a better headphone for me though... it’s in the name. I can wear these comfortably all day and my Obama like ears feel just fine after several hours. My ear drums also feel just fine and my ears never feel sweaty. The way the sound is tuned, there’s very little to almost no listening fatigue as well. I wish headphone companies can figure these out because I'd love to switch. I bought the H7 because they're known to be extremely comfortable and while I admit they are somewhat comfortable, it's a distant second to the QC35. I've tried almost every major brand in the category of mid sized around ear bluetooth headphones and nothing comes close to the QC35.
The QC35 also comes with a snappy zip case that is compact and hard. It also can connect to my MacBook Pro, my iPad, and my iPhone with little trouble at the same time. It folds down in a clever way that makes it about as small as what is possible for a durable manufactured $350 product. On multiple bluetooths, what gets playing priority is still a tricky affair but it’s a far better approach than having to turn off my BT on the last connected device for the H7 then doing a manual connect in the device I want to use..
The H7 might sound 20-30% better in music but it just can’t beat the QC35 in every day livability. Listening is not a good experience for me when I know my ears will hurt after an hour.
