I have flown with a few generations of Bose, a DC and a Peltor. The ANR of the Bose sets are far superior to the others, in fact they don't even belong in the same segment. After a long ferry with the Bose sets the head is just clear and fresh. I beleive it has to do with the quality of the audio parts and the filter curve for the ANR - it's just better. I would like to take a Bose set apart and glue it into my Alpha helmet
As for the mechanical part... Well, Bose is not as sturdy as the others...