I swapped my Bose QuietComfort headphones for a cheap Edifier pair costing less than half the price – here are 3 reasons why I swapped right back

I feel I owe my Bose QuietComfort Headphones an apology after I allowed myself to be led astray by the allure of a pretty pink pair of Edifier ES850NB over-ears. This was but a brief hiatus, however, as despite my new pair being so aesthetically pleasing, something just wasn’t sitting quite right.

Available in black, pink, ivory or brown, the Edifier ES850NB headphones are available right now in the US at a list price of $169.99 (so around £132 or AU$262, give or take), and are due to be released in the UK at the end of June 2025.

It should come as no surprise that because the Edifiers are one third of the cost of my beloved Bose cans, I wasn’t expecting to be blown away by the audio quality. This is especially true considering I was directly comparing them to my ...