I have a pair of these, bought brand new from the mothership. There’s a reason that they have a 13% 1-star rating.
They’re now about 4 years old. I only used the headphones on airline flights up until November 2018. In total, the headphones were probably used less than 20 days until that point. In November, I started taking the train daily, and using the headphones daily.Within 2 weeks of daily use, the right speaker stopped working. This is a well documented problem, with many users reporting it on the Bose forums:
community.bose.com – 18 Dec 16
QC-25 right speaker stopped working, again.
This has happened to my son’s QC-25s, the right speaker just stopped working. Bose replaced them twice, and it has happened again. I had bought myself a pair of QC-25s as well (thinking the issue was a one-off), and now, last week, the…
SOLVED: The left ear is not giving audio - Bose On-Ear headphones
Possibly this is a wire that has been snapped or disconnected under speaker membrane. Very bad design. I had the same problem (although on the right ear). If you remove the ear pad and the padding, you will see the membrane. No need for any tool to…
community.bose.com – 24 Apr 17
QC25 - Left Ear Stopped Working
I purchased the qc25 in may 2015 and after about 23 months later the left ear stopped working, making the 300$ headphone useless. The problem seems to be that the membrane on the left speaker has lost contact. I went to an authorised dealer but…
I used the “paper fix” for a few week, and then the left speaker stopped working as well.
More research reveals that the speaker units themselves are defective- something inside the speaker stops making contact.
To me it is completely unacceptable to have a $300 pair of headphones fail this way. Bose is knowingly using defective speakers with limited life in their headphones, just long enough for the warranty to expire. maybe at $160, they’re worth taking the chance for you.
Just thought I would share my experience.