Odd I have tested them in stores before and they are typically well rated.

However I was using Bose QC II for a few years and now I use the apple air pod pros.

For in ear seal is really important for nose canceling and apple also provides a test mode / app on apple devices to test that sound isn’t leaking substantially.

Makes no difference in a quiet environment but will easily cancel out a loud air conditioner or most traffic noise from passing cars.

Strange. Have you tried to RMA it?