Google to complete shipping free Bose headphones w/ Pixel 5 pre-orders by March 15

Damien Wilde | Feb 23 2021 - 8:28 am PT

Often the US gets some of the best pre-order bonuses for smartphones, but with the Pixel 5, we Europeans were given the gift of a free pair of Bose QC 35 II noise-cancelling headphones so long as orders were placed before a certain date.

The “Pixel Promo” relied heavily on those who pre-ordered to fill in a form and then send it off to Google with proof of purchase. Having personally ordered from the Google Store, my free headphones were shipped in a fairly quick fashion once the initial 14-day ownership window had passed.

As is often the case with any sort of promotion that relies on people ensuring forms were filled and claims were made within the original window, delays have been a major sore point thus far. My own experience hasn’t been the norm for many others that did pre-order a Pixel 4a 5G or 5 due to the promise of free Bose QC 35 II — which still retail for over £200/$200.

A Pixel 5 pre-order/order had to be made between 9/30/2020 and 10/19/2020 to be eligible, while Pixel 4a 5G pre-orders/orders had to be made between 11/5/2020 and 11/18/2020 to be deemed eligible. I received my own Bose QC 35 II headphones on December 2, 2020, after applying on October 26, 2020. The month-long wait was frustrating, but it didn’t pose too much of an issue.

Claimants over on the /r/GooglePixel subreddit have found that due to the sheer demand and popularity of the offer with selected Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G purchases, Google was unable to ship people’s free Bose QC 35 II headphones fast enough. Those still eagerly awaiting their freebie can now expect to receive a pair of fairly high-quality headphones no later than March 15, 2021.

You can check the status of the promotion and get further updates on the whereabouts of your free Bose headphones by heading to the dedicated Pixel Offers site — obviously for those that happened to pre-order the Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5. Note: This offer was only open to those in the UK, Republic of Ireland, France, and Germany.