Bose TriPort Review

Summary

The Bose Triport headphones offer a healthy mix between lightweight portability and superb comfort. Designed to be more affordable than the Bose QuietComfort 2 headphones, the Triport delivers high-quality sound without active noise reduction technology. Headphone users often find themselves compromising comfort for sound; however, the Bose Triport provides an adequate amount of both. Read on to find out how the Bose Triport performs when put to the test.

Features and Design

The Bose Triport weighs a mere 5 ounces making it both easy to carry and comfortable to wear. The padding placed around the speakers enable you to wear the headphones hour upon hour without a feeling of discomfort, which isn’t typical of many over-the-ear headphones. A drawstring carrying bag is provided with the package. It fits the headphones well and makes them easy to carry but headphones are, by nature, much bulkier than in-the-ear headphones. This makes the Bose Triport difficult to throw in a school bag or briefcase without compromising a lot of space or worrying about them breaking.

The overall design of the headphones is very ergonomic but not revolutionary, in fact, it’s quite simple… but attractive; however, the TriPort’s employ design features designed to improve your listening experience. For starters, these headphones are designed to direct sound into your ears instead of onto your ears (given they are worn correctly). The three drivers inside of the headphones are angled to align with your ears providing more natural sound delivery. This isn’t typical of most over-the-ear headphones. In addition, the cushioning on each ear cup encircles your entire ear providing great insulation from exterior sounds even without active noise reduction.

Nonetheless, the swivel clips holding the cups in place feel cheap and, per various online user reviews, have been one of the unfortunate points of failure for the TriPorts. If enough pressure is applied, the cups will break off. In addition, the metal strips inside of the plastic adjustment strips have been known to dig into their plastic encasing and, after enough wear and tear, eventually cause the plastic encasing to split in two. Luckily, Bose will stand by its product and has no problem replacing your headphones under warranty should it come to that.

The headphone wiring is conveniently sized at 6 feet. In addition, a 5 foot extension cable is provided but not necessary for most uses. Bose also provides a ¼ inch stereo phone adapter. A simple drawstring carrying bag is included to house the headphones and its accessories. Our only reserve as far as the wiring goes is that it seems a bit thin when compared to other headphones of its class. We found the speaker wiring to abnormally thin for a product costing over $100 dollars.

The Bose Triport is among the most comfortable headphones we’ve reviewed. Their design is engineered to maximize the sound direction and minimize exterior sound interference. Nonetheless, certain crucial aspects of the headphone housing itself have been neglected leaving further room for improvement in durability. Let’s see how the Bose Triport headphones behave with sound.

The Bose Package

Performance

Regardless of how they look and feel, It all comes down to how well a pair of headphones reproduce sound. This is the most important aspect when deciding to make a purchase. The Bose Triport integrates three drivers (the “Tri” in Triport) each designed to deliver a specific range of sound from low, mid, to high. We’ve already discussed the angled drivers in the above section but how well do the drivers themselves cover the sound spectrum?

The Bose Triport offers relatively crisp and clear audio that will differentiate them from most of the cheaper headphones out there. You’ll learn to enjoy your music all over again… we sure did. Sometimes the high frequencies may become difficult to bear if the volume is set too high. The lows are clean and definitely audible but the Bose Triport do not provide the full level of bass often desired. Even though Bose claims that these headphones eliminate the necessity for artificial bass boosting, you will find yourself tweaking the bass settings on your MP3 player or receiver a little to fulfill your needs. We found that testing the TriPort’s with electronica music we often encountered a “distant” soundstage almost like you were listening to a concert from a block over. In contrast some of the music we played back featuring vocals sounded very natural and crisp.

While the Bose Triport can handle loud audio output very well, a point of distortion can be reached. Typically this distortion will be heard in the lows before anything else. Nonetheless, the non-distorted audio supported offers more than enough sound volume to suffice, at least before your eardrums begin to go out. We had no problems drivint the TriPort headphones with an Apple iPod. If your MP3 player has a weak integrated amplifier, expect to hear distortion when turning the volume up.

When tested with a DVD movie on our PC, the Bose Triport performed exceptionally well. A Surround sound feel was very true giving a feeling of immersion during the movie. Not a sound throughout the movie was missed. The best thing is that the movie could be fully enjoyed without bothering nearby company.

The Bose Triport delivers rich sound giving your ears a new level of satisfaction. Unfortunately, the low frequencies lack when compared to other headphones in its class but the mids and highs remain among the best.

Conclusion

If you don’t mind the somewhat hefty price tag, the Bose Triport is a good choice for those looking for over-the-ear headphones that offer a good mix between portability and sound quality. For those seeking comfort, the Bose Triport is among the best. In fact, you may find yourself forgetting you have headphones on sometimes. While the sound output is crisp and clear, the Triport may not be for you if you’re a bass fanatic. Nonetheless, these headphones are definitely worth checking out. You won’t be disappointed. If you are looking for over-the-ear headphones with true portability featuring a folding mechanism, we would recommend the Sennheiser PXC 250 or PXC 300. If you are not too concerned with folding headphones, check out the Sennheiser HD 580.

Highs:

• Lightweight
• Very portable
• Crisp, clear sound
• Excellent level of comfort

Lows:

• Hefty price tag
• Lacks durability