4. Bose TriPort IE, Continued

Some users have complained of the silicon rubber tips falling off the headphones too easily when you take them out of your ears. We didn't have any problems during the review even though we changed the size of the tip frequently, but Bose is bringing out a modified set of tips that will grip more securely, which will be included as standard later in the year. We haven't been able to test these, but Bose says they won't make a difference to the sound quality.

It's not that the TriPorts don't sound good, but the sound relies on that extra bass and we've heard better in this price range. For reasonable quality and excellent noise isolation on a tight budget, try the tiny Creative Aurvanas. For better sound quality, if your budget is a little bigger, we'd recommend the Shure EC3s or the Westone UM1.

Conclusion

For their price, the Bose QC3s are only a good value if you can't stand canal phones, find the QC2s too bulky and travel enough to get through a lot of batteries-it's the battery and charger that put the price up. We don't think everyone will pull out the "courtesy cards" in the carry case to press them on other travelers, though. But if you do like the QC3s, you're going to like them a lot, because you can wear them for a long flight without needing a break - and while the noise isolation varies from ear to ear, the noise cancellation is as good as ever.

The TriPort IEs aren't easy to compare to other in-ear headphones; they're cheaper than many higher-quality canal phones and less fiddly, but they don't compete on sound quality or noise isolation. They're more comfortable than cheap ear buds, they have a lot more bass, along with the signature "warm" Bose sound and they sit securely in your ears (especially when Bose gets the new tips out). If you don't like canal phones but you want small, comfortable headphones, the Triport IEs could be the fit you're looking for. The question is whether you want to pay this much for comfort and limited sound quality.