[SlowRobotAhead]

I have the 700s, the important controls are buttons. The capacitive interface is for mute, vol up/down, and next song, it’s not my first choice but really it works fine.

This is a non-issue.

Edit: lol; my opinions from months of first hand everyday use are wrong, and should be echo chamber hidden by people who have never used the product.

[anarazel]

I find pause/play to be super unreliable. Triggers accidentally (even just a warm sweater sometimes is enough), and other times not at all.

Not really important, but standing around and tapping on my headphone to trying and failing to pause the podcast I'm listening to feels pretty idiotic.

Edit: Have them since early October

[stormbeta]

Capacitive controls have zero place on any headphones, let alone ones as expensive as these. The fact that you're willing to live with it doesn't mean it's not still a terrible design.

And I consider all of those buttons to be pretty important - I use all of them regularly, including when I'm not right next to my phone.

I just hope the 700's are an aberration, and that Bose goes back to a more practical design next time.

[ddoolin]

Why not? I have had this pair for months and the touch controls work great. They could be physical buttons, but they aren't, and they still function near-perfect for me. I think you should give more reasons beyond just saying it's bad. I know most commenters on HN have a physical button fetish and in some cases it's probably warranted but not always.

[SlowRobotAhead]

> The fact that you're willing to live with it doesn't mean it's not still a terrible design.

Typical HN smugness.

One person who actually has the product, has used it for months, and has themselves designed capacitive gesture button circuits then went back to traditional buttons - says “they aren’t that bad, work fine”...

And a trove of people who have never used the product downvote and tell them they are wrong.

OK.

No; it’s not a terrible design. I’ve maybe twice had to repeat a gesture. It’s drag up/down for volume, tap for mute, and drag forward for skip song. It works fine. Where the hell do you get the opinion it’s a terrible design if you’ve never used them?

[Dylan16807]

They're not calling you wrong about your experience with the product. They are listening to you say "not that bad", and taking it as completely true. Then they are saying that "not that bad" is unacceptable in a product this expensive.

Or by slight analogy: You rate a product 4 out of 5 stars. If someone that hasn't used the product insists on a different rating, they're being smug and part of the negative trove you've described. But if someone just says "4 out of 5? Not good enough when other models are 5 out of 5." there is nothing wrong with that.

[SlowRobotAhead]

That’s a wildly inaccurate way to read my post. I rate the 700s as 5 out of 5.

[Dylan16807]

"not that bad" is still saying they're worse than normal buttons, even though it's a tiny amount, right?

You giving the overall product a 5/5 isn't the point I was trying to make. I was talking about your rating in the button category, sorry if that wasn't clear, and it was just an example number.

[Sargos]

>The capacitive interface is for mute, vol up/down, and next song

As a user of bluetooth headphones I am really struggling to think of a button not on that list that is important. The only thing that's really coming to mind is pause but maybe that's what you mean by mute?

Those are literally the most essential buttons and by definition you are mostly going to be touching them when the headphones are on your head where you can't physically see the buttons. This is not a great experience.

[SlowRobotAhead]

A. It already works well; it’s not important to bitch about capacitive buttons for the four motions that work. ESP when you don’t own the product and have actually used them. I don’t like capacitive buttons, but these are fine.

B. There is nothing you can’t do here with the phone itself. Volume up and down can be done without even looking at the phone. There is nothing that will stop you from enjoying the product even if you for some reason just refuse to accept the capacitive buttons aren’t trash.

[asdfasgasdgasdg]

What are the important controls on headphones if not volume and song skipping? Those are the ones I use the most.

[SlowRobotAhead]

Important as in “can I turn them on and have them work”. Everything vital is a button, four things that can be done with the phone can be done with touch.

Have you actually had a problem with the Bose capacitive gestures? Because I haven’t.

[asdfasgasdgasdg]

I don't own these headphones. I'm just reacting to your assertion that volume controls aren't important, which doesn't match my experience with my own headphones. (All my headphone buttons are hard buttons.)

[SlowRobotAhead]

> I don't own these headphones.

You and everyone else disagreeing with me. “Important” as I in “I can use them all day without ever using a gesture control”.

How are you going to disagree with me having never touched the product? You literally NEVER need to use the capacitive controls, all the VITAL things are buttons. Does that wording work better for you?

[asdfasgasdgasdg]

> How are you going to disagree with me having never touched the product?

You claimed that volume and skip controls weren't important ("the important controls are buttons ... capacitive interface is for ... vol up/down ..." implies volume controls aren't important). That is what I disagreed with. I don't need to have used a particular pair of headphones to know that volume and skip are important controls for me. Same way I don't need to have used a particular keyboard to know I value having an "e" key.

[dvirsky]

Been using the 700 since they came out, I actually really like the touch interface. Skipping is a bit iffy but volume and pause work well, and it's very handy when I'm working out or doing the dishes, and I don't need to fiddle around with buttons.

[SlowRobotAhead]

I’m blown away with how many people here haven’t used them and are telling me I’m wrong that the capacitive are optional and do work just fine.