Alin10123
i apologize in advance here for all lowercase. i'm using a screwed up keyboard.
i went ahead and did the trial period for both the bose and the clarity aloft headset. there were several things i found that i did not like at all about the clarity aloft.
1. it has a metal band that goes around the back of your head. it is very light and looks more durable than anything you could imagine. the microphone and the earplugs themselves are mounted to it. the problem i found with it is that if it is tight enough to your head to hold the microphone steady, it puts pressure on your head and results in discomfort after an hour or so. it puts no more pressure on your head than the bose does, perhaps less. the difference is that the pressure is all on the very small area that the metal band touches your head. the bose disperses the pressure over a much greater area resulting in less discomfort in the same amount of time. that is my personal experience anyways. it could just be that the part of my head that it band touches against is more sensative than most peoples.
2. putting the earplugs in properly takes more time than putting headsets on. it's not a big deal, but it was one more piece of the hassel that i didn't enjoy.
3. just personal opinion, but overall, the clarity did not sound as quiet to me.
additionaly, there are a few things that i found to be very very appealing about the bose headsets. number one is that if you buy them directly from bose, they allow you to make payments with 0% interest. number two is their customer service. i called them with a problem i was experiencing with my headset. they didn't second guess me or anything. didn't really even troubleshoot that much. they just said "here's our fedex shipping number. call them and give it to them and set up a pickup time. they'll come and pick your headset up and as soon as they give us confirmation that they have your headset, we'll send you another new set. you should only be without a headset for 2 days or less." that kind of customer service is impressive to me. i wasn't even going to have to pay to ship my headset to them.
As an additional perspective, i really really wanted the clarity to end up being the better headset. it would not interfere w/ me wearing my glasses nearly as much as the bose would. it was half the cost and money isn't coming so easy right now. after trying both though, i really didn't believe the clarity was as good of a long term value as the bose was, even with the price difference. that's my two cents anyways