I've had Bose QC headphones in some form or other since the 90's, and the plastic has never seemed degraded. For my previous non-Bluetooth pair, the earpads ev

I've had Bose QC headphones in some form or other since the 90's, and the plastic has never seemed degraded. For my previous non-Bluetooth pair, the earpads eventually wore out and sort of disintegrated (after something like 8-10 years), but I bought a pair of replacement pads online and everything was back to new again. Haven't had that issue with my QC35II's yet. All that to say -- I'd think all things being equal, good-quality plastic & lighter would be the way to go.