Antonio Villas-Boas

Everything about the new iPhone XS and XS Max exudes luxury.

An edge-to-edge OLED display, stainless-steel construction, a camera that reviewers rave about, excellent speakers, and the iOS 12 operating system — it all combines for a decidedly premium experience.

But then you get to the charger that comes with the new iPhones — the same old bog-standard charger that charges iPhones at a glacial pace compared to high-end Android devices, many of which cost less than the iPhone XS and XS Max.

The new iPhone XS raises the question of why Apple doesn't include a fast-charging brick with its $1,000 smartphone.

In his iPhone XS unboxing video, <a id="fcb4422c-9f76-3ac2-a070-81eb349e57c0" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHOr6Ej_jd4&amp;t=0s"> the YouTube reviewer MKBHD put it well </a> : "I was kind of hoping by 2018 we could get either a fast charger in the box, or a USB-C-to-Lightning [cable], or both. But we get neither of those things. I personally think it's getting kind of lame and kind of outdated that Apple of all companies doesn't ship a fast charger in the box of such an expensive, premium phone. Just sayin'."

Fast charging is a speed upgrade over the regular charging you get with the iPhone. It lets you get hours of battery life from just 30 minutes of charging.

And regarding a USB-C-to-Lightning cable, this tweet from the @JonyIveParody Twitter account portrays the problem beautifully:

There's no way to plug the new iPhone XS into a recent Mac laptop that comes with USB-C ports, exclusively. With this in mind, it's a wonder why Apple didn't include a USB-C brick and cable with the latest iPhones.

Fast charging is available on the iPhone 8 and onward. But to fast-charge your iPhone, you have to buy separate accessories, like the <a id="cad37cbf-5dd0-3082-a15c-f23b1c60c311" href="https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MR2A2LL/A/30w-usb-c-power-adapter"> $50 30W USB-C charger </a> and the <a id="f59b1387-2ee8-3034-a06f-5992304d7d0d" href="https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MKQ42AM/A/usb-c-to-lightning-cable-2-m"> $20 USB-C-to-Lightning cable </a> from Apple. That's an extra $70 for fast charging.

Meanwhile, a fast charger has become a standard feature included with most — if not all — flagship Android phones these days. Even a $250 Android phone, <a id="7fefbdb0-671c-3663-af0e-7de08b190444" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/motorola-moto-g6-review-2018-7?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> the Moto G6 </a> , comes with a fast charger.

More importantly, apart from comparing the iPhone's aging charger with its competition, it's also a question of getting a complete experience when you get a luxury item like the new iPhone XS.

At this stage, when the best iPhone costs $1,000 or more, I'd fully expect it to come with a set of essential accessories to make the most of the device. In this case, I'd expect a fast charger to make use of the iPhone's fast-charging support, not just the minimum required spec.

Otherwise, it feels like buying an expensive sports car that comes with cheap road tires, and you have to pay extra for the good tires to make the most of the car's performance.

With this logic, some might say wireless chargers should also be included, as the iPhone has had wireless-charging support since the iPhone 8. But unlike a fast charger, a wireless charger is not an accessory included with most — if any — smartphones, and fewer smartphones support wireless charging. It's a less essential accessory than those for wired charging.

Perhaps I'm particularly sensitive to this issue because I'm regularly exposed to premium Android flagship devices that come with fast chargers, whereas an iPhone fan who has owned only iPhones might not even be aware of the benefits of fast charging.

It's not the end of the world, as you'll still be able to charge the iPhone XS with the slow charger, much as you'd still be able to drive that fast, expensive sports car on cheap tires. It just feels as if Apple is missing an easy and relatively inexpensive opportunity to provide the "complete package" that many would expect when spending $1,000 on a new smartphone.

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SEE ALSO: All the improvements and upgrades Apple made to the cameras on the three new iPhones

It feels like Apple is being cheap by not including an important accessory with the $1,000 iPhone XS

Below, you'll find three pairs with noise cancelling and two without. They're all wireless, and they're mostly the over-ear kind of headphones, with two of them being on-ear models.

This year, the majority of headphones we tried were in the $250 to $400 price range, which is pretty reasonable if you're looking for a longterm pair of quality headphones. There are cheaper headphones out there, some of them getting high praise from dedicated audio outlets, so you're not out of luck if the following headphones don't fit within your budget.

Check out the five best headphones we've tried this year:

Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider

These superb noise-cancelling headphones tune themselves to the way you personally hear sound.

They're pricey at $400, and most headphones in the $400 price range will also sound great, but the Nuraphones give you the peace of mind that you're getting the absolute most out of them because of the tuning.

It's worth noting that the Nuraphones have an unusual hybrid earphone/headphone design. If you don't like in-earbuds, you won't like the Nuraphones, no matter how good they sound.

<a id="bc7b1ae0-36b2-39b6-a3b6-9890655271c0" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nura-nuraphone-headphones-review-2018-4?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> Read the review &amp;gt;&amp;gt; </a>

The Bose QuietComfort 35 headphones have long been the go-to for great sound and superior noise cancellation. Bose released the QC35 II in September 2017, but they're still very much relevant.

<a id="656d5191-a8ae-3ff9-a524-61b16becc781" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/should-you-buy-bose-qc35-noise-canceling-headphones-2018-2?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> Read the review &amp;gt;&amp;gt; </a>

<h1> Skullcandy Crusher 360 — $300 </h1>

The Skullcandy Crusher 360 fill a hole that other headphones have never filled. These headphones have the bass. You won't believe how much bass these things can produce until you try them out. And it's bass you can feel, not just hear. The headphone's cups will actually rumble if you set the bass to a higher level.

Indeed, the Crusher 360 lets you easily adjust the bass level, which is great for tweaking it on the fly for particular songs that demand more or less bass.

Amazingly, you can set the bass at crazy levels and it won't drown out the rest of the music — within reason. Set it too high, however, and you might only get the gist of the song you're listening to.

<a id="ae6a85f0-4538-3c84-a3a1-aa00af34b669" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/skullcandy-crusher-360-headphones-review-2018-10?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> Read the review &amp;gt;&amp;gt; </a>

<h1> Under Armour Project Rock wireless headphones — $250 </h1>

The Project Rock Under Armor on-ear headphones have workouts in mind, but they're also great for times when you're not at the gym. They're slightly on the masculine side when it comes to design, but they sound great.

Under Armor partnered with JBL to make the headphones, and they come highly recommended.

<a id="42a94460-30bc-301e-ab6e-0d6de49a006e" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dwayne-johnson-the-rock-under-armour-wireless-workout-headphones-review-features-2018-7?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> Read the review &amp;gt;&amp;gt; </a>

<h1> Marshall Mid A.N.C — $280 MSRP </h1>

Marshall's on-ear Mid A.N.C headphones are well worth a consideration for their unique classic design, great noise cancellation (rare for on-ear headphones), and great sound quality.

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We're not going to pretend that we've tried every pair of headphones out there, but we can at least tell you our favorites of the year.

The 5 best headphones we tried in 2018

Samsung is using a widely-available stock photo taken with a DSLR camera to promote the portrait mode on its Galaxy A8 Star phone, which was released in June this year and aimed at Asian markets.

The photo in question is specifically being used to promote the Galaxy A8 Star's background-blurring feature, also known as live focus or portrait mode. Samsung even added to the photo the yellow "Live Focus Reader" notification that pops up when its phones are ready to take a portrait mode shot.

Here's the original photo from stock-photography marketplace, EyeEm:

To be clear, Samsung includes fine print below the photo that says "Screen images are simulated for demonstration only." So, technically, Samsung isn't deceiving potential buyers interested in the Galaxy A8 Star.

With that said, using a stock photo taken with DSLR camera does not accurately represent the abilities of a smartphone's camera. The Galaxy A8 Star has been out for several months now, and a real portrait-mode photo taken with the Galaxy A8 Star itself would better represent the phone's ability. Despite the technicality of the fine print, it's not a good look for Samsung.

The photo's original photographer, Dunja Djudjic, eventually discovered her photo seemingly being passed off as one taken by the Galaxy A8 Star on a Samsung website. The photographer wrote about her experience with the discovery in a <a href="https://www.diyphotography.net/samsung-used-my-dslr-photo-to-fake-their-phones-portrait-mode/" id="32c1faa1-1b35-3102-ad67-9535b7724036"> story for DIY Photography </a> .

According to Djudjic, she was excited when she saw that her photo had been purchased from EyeEm, a stock-photo marketplace. To find out where her photo would be used, she used a reverse image search to see where on the web it had been published. She was surprised to see that the only real result was with Samsung, she says.

"My first reaction was to burst out into laughter," Djudjic said of when she first discovered how her photo was being used. The original photo was edited to include a different background, as well as a few other changes. "Just look at the Photoshop job they did on my face and hair!" Djudjic said regarding the edits.

Despite negative press around the marketing photo, Samsung is still using the "simulated" image to promote the Galaxy A8 Star's camera features four days after Djudjic's article was posted on Monday. Business Insider has reached out to Samsung for comment and to inquire if the company plans to continue using the image.

Smartphone makers have previously used stock photos, or photos taken with professional cameras, to promote the cameras on their smartphones. Earlier this year, <a href="https://www.diyphotography.net/samsung-busted-tweeting-stock-photos-to-promote-galaxy-a8-camera/" id="e70bff41-b412-3443-ae3c-043239b51566"> Samsung was discovered </a> to be using stock photos in marketing materials for the very same Galaxy A8 Star phone.

Huawei was also caught using professional photos and pretending they were taken with its smartphones twice before, once in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-a-fake-photo-got-used-in-a-huawei-p9-ad-2016-7?r=UK&amp;IR=T?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest" id="3ba9e03c-21d1-3a7f-ae33-d9241ad1fa4b"> 2016 </a> and more recently in <a href="https://petapixel.com/2018/08/20/huawei-caught-faking-smartphone-photos-with-a-dslr-again/" id="971d041d-5a77-3d77-acb2-78893fafed5f"> 2018 </a> .

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Samsung used a photo shot with a professional camera and made it look like it was taken with one of its smartphones

Modern TVs have a feature that make movies look like soap operas, which isn't how most filmmakers intend their movies to be watched, actor Tom Cruise and director Chris McQuarrie say in a video tweet from Cruise's Twitter account.

The duo are referring to a feature in many high-definition TVs (HDTVs) called "video interpolation," which can also be known as "motion smoothing" that causes an effect many know as the "soap opera effect," where video appears to be smoother than we're used to. And according to Cruise and McQuarrie, it makes video appear smoother than it should be.

"The unfortunate side effect is that it makes movies look like they were shot on a high speed video rather than film," Cruise said in the video tweet.

"If you own a modern high-definition television there's a good chance you're not watching the movie the way the filmmaker intended," McQuarrie also said in the video tweet.

Different TV brands have different names for this motion smoothing feature, and those features are often automatically enabled by default when you take a TV out of the box. On Samsung TVs, the feature is called "Auto Motion Plus. On LG TVs, it's called "TruMotion." Basically, you should be wary of any feature that has the word "motion" in it, or anything that could suggest it's smoothing out your video.

Cruise said that filmmakers are working with TV makers to change the way that video interpolation features are activated on their TVs.

Cruise and McQuarrie suggest that finding and disabling video interpolation features on a TV can be difficult, as the feature can be nestled deep in a TV's settings menu, or it could have an unrecognizable branded name. The best way to find out how to disable the feature is to search for " Turn off motion smoothing [your brand of TV here] " on the internet.

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Modern TVs are making your movies look bad, Tom Cruise and director Chris McQuarrie say

Chipmaker Qualcomm announced its new mobile processor, the Snapdragon 855, which will enable mobile devices to connect to the latest mobile networking standard, 5G.

5G is the evolution of the 4G LTE networks that most smartphones connect to for data and internet. The main benefits of 5G include significantly faster data speeds, as well as significantly less latency. If you have any issues streaming a video over the current 4G LTE network, for example, 5G should supposedly fix that.

Qualcomm's announcement means that some Android smartphones in 2019 are likely to have 5G connectivity, provided manufacturers take advantage of the chip.

There are two variants of the Snapdragon 855 processor: One with 5G support, and one without. While each new generation of Snapdragon usually finds its way into flagship Android phones, it's unclear which models will run the Snapdragon 855 with 5G connectivity.

So far, Verizon and AT&amp;T have confirmed that Samsung will release a 5G-capable smartphone in the first half of 2019. Which device, exactly, wasn't specified, but almost every finger is pointing towards <a id="7fe40b00-39dc-33bf-ad12-674abe178f98" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-galaxy-s10-release-date-price-rumors-2018-9?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S10 smartphone </a> .

With that said, Verizon and AT&amp;T's 5G networks will only be available in a small number of markets when smartphones running Qualcomm's 5G-enabled chips roll out.

So far, AT&amp;T's 5G rollout will only include 12 cities in the USA by the end of 2018: Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Waco, Jacksonville, Louisville, New Orleans, Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh, Indianapolis, and Oklahoma City.

As for Verizon, the company has only just begun rolling out its 5G home internet service this year to four cities, including Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, and Sacramento. Verizon's5G service for smartphones will only begin rolling out in "early 2019."

T-Mobile is also developing its 5G network with an estimated roll-out of 2020. The carrier is promising that its own 5G network will be available nationwide rather than in a few cities.

5G poses an exciting prospect, as it promises faster and more reliable connectivity to common data-intensive tasks, like streaming video, video calls, streaming music, and general smartphone use. 5G will, indeed, be the killer feature for smartphones of 2019, and it'll be a big differentiator.

However, 5G won't burst onto the smartphone scene. At first, 5G's rollout is likely to be slow and gradual, with only a few devices having 5G connectivity at first, and it'll only be available in a few markets initially.

We also have yet to see how well 5G will work on mobile devices, as 5G primarily transmits on the "millimeter wave" spectrum that has trouble penetrating walls and other obstacles. It's even been said that a tree's leaves could interfere with the strength of a 5G signal. The potential limitation of 5G could be a reason why it's <a id="a2ed950a-555d-37cf-ab8a-4621d5fba6a0" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/one-photo-shows-why-apple-not-releasing-5g-iphone-soon-2018-12?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> unlikely we'll see 5G-capable iPhones </a> next year.

Either way, early 2019 will give us a better idea of what to expect with 5G.

Apart from 5G connectivity, Qualcomm also announced its "3D Sonic Sensor," a fingerprint scanner for smartphones that will lay underneath the screen completely hidden from sight. The 3D Sonic Sensor will use ultrasonic waves to register fingerprints, which is said to be more accurate and reliable than similar in-display fingerprint sensors you'd find on phones like the <a id="277a2388-fdec-3e4a-a97d-749e065b89ce" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oneplus-6t-review-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> OnePlus 6T </a> .

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Indeed, the $1,000 iPhone XS and $1,100 iPhone XS Max may very well be out of reach for some who want the iPhone experience, and even for those who don't want to spend that much on principle.

The $750 iPhone XR may seem like the iPhone to get if you don't want to be a part of the $1,000 club, but there are actually a few things about the iPhone 7 that some might prefer over the XR.

Thankfully, Apple is keeping around its older iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, just in case you want the Apple experience for under $600. Surprisingly, you're not sacrificing that much by going with Apple's iPhone 7, which is now two generations old. The iPhone 7 is still a fantastic smartphone that stands strong in the face of its younger, shinier siblings, and it's still a great option for anyone who's clung onto an iPhone 4, iPhone 5, and even iPhone 6.

Check out eight great reasons why you should check out the iPhone 7 instead of Apple's latest iPhones:

<h1> 1. It's not as expensive as the new iPhones. </h1>

First and foremost, the iPhone 7 now costs as low as $450, and it's $570 for the iPhone 7 Plus.

For the iPhone 7, that's $300 less to start than the iPhone XR, $550 less than the iPhone XS, and $650 less than the iPhone XS Max.

For the iPhone 7 Plus, that's $180 less than the iPhone XR, $430 less than the iPhone XS, and $530 less than the iPhone XS Max.

You could get the <a href="https://www.apple.com/shop/browse/home/specialdeals/iphone" id="574e41b2-0117-322e-a645-58558d4999f7"> iPhone 7 refurbished from Apple's Refurbished Mac Store </a> for even less. The word "refurbished" might not sound good, but <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-best-discounts-refurbished-ios-mac-devices-2018-8?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest" id="a7055897-54ec-376c-a678-b10f65cd1181"> my experience with a refurbished 2016 MacBook Pro </a> directly from Apple has been nothing but positive. And you get a one-year warranty with refurbished devices, too.

(To note, I did experience an issue with my MacBook's keyboard, but it's a common issue among 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pros that could easily happen on brand new MacBooks, too. Apple has acknowledged the keyboard issue on those MacBook Pros and is offering to repair for free.)

<h1> 2. You still get the same great iOS experience. </h1>

Despite paying significantly less for the iPhone 7, you still get to run the latest version of iOS, iOS 12. It includes better performance for older iPhones, as well as updates to the notifications system and other great tweaks that makes the iPhone operating system better and easier to use.

<h1> 3. The iPhone 7 is lighter and thinner than the new iPhones. </h1>

The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are lighter than all the new iPhones, although the iPhone 7 Plus is heavier than the $1,000 iPhone XS.

The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are also slightly thinner than all the new iPhones.

<h1> 4. The iPhone 7 has the home button and fingerprint scanner, which some might prefer over Face ID on the new iPhones. </h1>

If you're not ready to adopt Face ID or the new gestures to navigate around iOS 12, the iPhone 7 phones still come with the good old-fashioned home button and Touch ID fingerprint sensor. They'll give you the classic tried-and-true iPhone experience, while the new Face ID and gestures could take some getting used to.

<h1> 5. The iPhone 7 still has a great camera. </h1>

Significant strides have been made with the new cameras on the new iPhones with features like Smart HDR, but the iPhone 7 still takes great photos. The iPhone 7 Plus even comes with a dual-lens camera system, with one of the lenses donning a 2x zoom.

<h1> 6. The iPhone 7 Plus has a higher resolution display than the iPhone XR. </h1>

Surprisingly, the iPhone XR's 6.1-inch display has a 828p screen resolution that's closer to the smaller 750p 4.7-inch iPhone 7 than the 1080p 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus. That means the iPhone 7 Plus has a sharper display than a brand-new iPhone with a larger display.

The overall consensus is that most people can't tell the difference on the lower resolution iPhone XR, but at least you'd know that the iPhone 7 Plus is technically sharper with a 1080p resolution.

<h1> 7. The iPhone 7 has 3D Touch, unlike the iPhone XR. </h1>

In another surprise move, the iPhone XR doesn't come with Apple's 3D Touch feature, which lets you hard-press an app to get useful shortcuts.

I had previously thought that 3D Touch wasn't a popular feature, but there are many 3D Touch fans who find that the lack of 3D Touch on the iPhone XR was a poor move on Apple's part. 3D Touch users may want to avoid the iPhone XR and go for a phone with 3D Touch ... like the iPhone 7!

<h1> 8. The iPhone 7 is still a great performer. </h1>

By selling the iPhone 7 with the A10 chip, Apple is essentially stating that it's still a top performer that matches its strict standards. In fact, my wife's iPhone 6S with an older chip is still running beautifully with iOS 12.

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It looks like the four-figure price tag is here to stay when it comes to new iPhones from Apple.

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I get it, the Microsoft Surface Headphones are new, flashy, and perhaps something that can compete with the top choice in audio and noise cancelling quality — Bose's QuietComfort 35 II headphones.

As a result, I've had several people come up and ask me if I was, indeed, wearing the Surface Headphones. There's a buzz surrounding these things.

A TSA agent at JFK airport recently asked me if I'd recommend them, and as I walked through the metal detector, I told him I'd get the Bose QC35 II instead if he was looking to spend $350. It was a pure, off-the-cuff recommendation made from my gut and instinct, as part of my brain was also wondering whether I'd forgotten any metal bits in my pockets.

Now, with the benefit of having sat down, thought about it, and listened to music and audio in general with the Surface Headphones, I'd recommend the same thing to you.

Check out why the Surface Headphones didn't quite make the cut:

<h1> If you want your headphones to look good, Microsoft's Surface Headphones will absolutely do the trick. </h1>

The Surface Headphones are classy and beautifully designed. They look and feel more premium than Bose's QC35 II headphones, which have a somewhat dated design and plasticky feel to them. Top marks for design on the Surface Headphones.

As for comfort, they're also one of the most comfortable pair of headphones I've tried. I never felt any pain on my ears. I did feel some discomfort from the headband at the top of my head, but a simple adjustment of the headband fixed that easily.

With all this said, I'd still say the Bose QC35 II headphones are even more comfortable.

<h1> The noise cancellation is very good. </h1>

The Surface Headphones canceled out surrounding noise from a flight and my usual commute on trains and subways very well. They're almost as good as the Bose QuietComfort 35 II, if not extremely similar.

<h1> The controls and overall features in general are great. </h1>

I love the big, easy rotating wheels around each headphone cup to control volume and noise cancellation level.

Music controls are also well thought out. I can tap any ear cup to play, pause, select the next track, go back a track, and answer calls. It does take a little bit of learning and practise to figure out how many taps perform which function, but once you got it, you got it.

Speaking of calls, the Surface Headphones do superbly with phone calls. No one I spoke to on the phone noticed I was using a headset, which isn't something that a lot of headphones can boast.

As for battery life, they last a solid 15 hours or so and charge with USB-C. They also come with a 3.5mm headphone cable just in case.

Importantly, the Surface Headphones can pair to multiple devices at the same time, so you don't need to disconnect them from one device only to connect to another.

<h1> And now for the one thing that disappointed me. They sound only OK. Not great, even. </h1>

Out of the box, I wasn't impressed with the Surface Headphones. They lacked clarity and brightness, and it sounded like I was listening to music through a thick velvet blanket. Even tweaking the equalizer settings in Spotify didn't really help very much.

That changed a little after downloading the Cortana app on a smartphone, which is available for both Android and iOS. There, I could tweak the equalizer settings through the Cortana app and get closer to the brighter and clearer sound I was looking for. And the equalizer settings you set on the Cortana app apply to other devices you connect to, as well.

Still, the Surface Headphones produce a warm sound, if that makes sense. It means there's little brightness and clarity to them even after tweaking them with the Cortana app. And that warmth somewhat diminishes pretty much every type of music, in my opinion.

A warm sound signature might seem like a good thing with music like Jazz, but it feels like the Surface Headphones cut short some of the instrument sounds, especially higher pitched sounds like cymbals. Despite the tweaking in the Cortana app, that velvet blanket was still there, muffling some of the sound I'm used to hearing.

And the warmth cuts away the excitement of more up-beat music, too. I simply didn't appreciate my usual playlists as much while using the Surface Headphones.

They won't satisfy bass enthusiasts, either, and I feel myself wanting slightly better sound quality overall.

<h1> The Surface Headphones work with Microsoft's Cortana, Google Assistant, and even Apple's Siri voice assistants, and it's all pointless. </h1>

I find voice assistants on headphones utterly pointless. You'll never catch me issuing voice commands to my headphones out on the street, or at home where I already have smart speakers that do the same thing. If you don't have smart speakers at home, then maybe you can find value in having voice assistants in the Surface Headphones. But then again, you'd have to put the Surface Headphone on to use the voice assistant of your choice.

Voice assistant integration is not a good feature to consider on these — or any — headphones, in my opinion. Thankfully, it doesn't take away from the headphones. You can just ignore voice assistant integration altogether.

<h1> It's a shame, because I really, really like the Surface Headphone's design, comfort, controls, and noise cancellation. But it's only Microsoft's first try at headphones, and I'm looking forward to checking out future models. </h1>

For $350, the same price tag as Bose's QC35 II, I'd tell pretty much everyone to buy the Bose for their comfort, audio quality, and noise cancellation. It's a shame, because I love it when I get to recommend the underdog, even if the underdog is made by a massive corporation.

I haven't tried the Sony 1000X series of headphones, so I can't comment on whether the Surface Headphones or the Bose QC35II are a better buy than the Sonys, specifically. Watch out for my email, Sony.

I think it's important to keep in mind that this is Microsoft's first shot at making headphones. It's a first-gen product from a company that specializes in software more than it does hardware. If Microsoft was a person, I'd tell them "Well done, solid first try, you're just not quite there yet with the most important part. Now take the feedback and what you've learned, and wow me next time."

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SEE ALSO: Bose's $350 noise-cancelling headphones are a must-have if you want to live in a quieter world – and they sound great, too

I've never had so many people ask me about headphones when I was wearing the Surface Headphones, but I just can't recommend them (MSFT)

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