I Put My Airpods Away Within Minutes Of Listening To These Bose Earbuds - Here's What Convinced Me

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen)

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2 are disposable for $299 successful 5 colors.
• They connection stellar immersive sound experience, all-day comfort, and fantabulous noise-canceling performance.
• However, bugs tin origin connectivity issues, and nan lawsuit is larger than preferred.

On paper, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) tech specs whitethorn look painfully incremental, but there's much to them than meets nan eye. It's awesome really seemingly innocuous updates from 1 procreation to nan adjacent tin importantly heighten nan personification experience, and Bose is simply a masterful subordinate successful this regard. 

Review: Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen)

They adhd basal features that were missing from nan 1st-gen product, and do thing amended while retaining nan aforesaid value tag. However, they besides clasp immoderate signature Bose quirks that I wish didn't fuss maine arsenic overmuch arsenic they do.

I traveled pinch nan Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2 connected 2 trips, and while they haven't replaced my Pixel Buds Pro 2 wholly -- for reasons I'll explicate later -- there's a batch to for illustration here. Here's really it went. 

Built for comfort

The caller Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2 prioritize usability complete aesthetics. They are designed for outdoor usage and supply all-day comfortableness successful a acquainted style. The earbuds themselves characteristic a defender to negociate earwax buildup, which Bose says helps make it "easier to seizure and region earwax aft prolonged use." I haven't faced immoderate earwax issues pinch nan caller Bose product, but this creation besides gives them a snug fit.

The Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2 aren't nan astir aesthetically pleasing earbuds and are larger than nan competition. Based connected their appearance, I was skeptical of nan fresh based connected nan earbuds, but during my fewer weeks of usage, I haven't had them accidentally autumn retired of my ears once. 

Prakhar Khanna/ZDNET

I've worn them connected airplanes, during commutes, and moreover connected walks (IPX4 standing for sweat resistance) pinch Transparency mode on, and encountered nary accidental earbud drops astatine all. I emotion nan comfortable fresh of these earbuds, acknowledgment to their soft eartips pinch support bands. I'd complaint them supra Sony's WF-1000XM5 earbuds and Apple's AirPods Pro 3 successful position of comfort.

Also: Not capable group are talking astir nan Google Pixel Buds' champion characteristic - particularly Android fans

Like nan earbuds, Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2's charging lawsuit is bulky and awkward-looking, but it's built to last. They travel successful Black, White Smoke, Desert Gold, Midnight Violet, and Deep Plum colour variants. I've been utilizing nan White Smoke model, and contempt accidental drops, I can't find a azygous scratch connected my unit. 

It has fared overmuch amended than my Pixel Buds Pro 2, which sewage soiled wrong a week, and nan AirPods Pro 3, which acquired respective chartless scratches. That said, this lawsuit tin beryllium inconvenient to carry, particularly if you want to spot it successful your pocket.

Immersive Audio is simply a hit

What does nan ample earbuds size get you? Same drivers arsenic before, but pinch moreover amended sound. The QC Ultra Earbuds 2 nutrient pleasing audio pinch boosted bass and highs. They support AAC, SBC, and aptX Adaptive Bluetooth codecs (including aptX Lossless), arsenic good arsenic Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair for speedy connections betwixt devices.

The Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2 connection an enjoyable sound performance. At default settings, paired pinch Apple Music connected my iPhone (SBC) and Vivo X100 Pro (AAC), they person a beardown bass response. You person 4 basal EQ presets (Bass Boost, Bass Reducer, Treble Boost, and Treble Reducer) to take from, which tin beryllium further adjusted wrong nan app. 

Also: Your Sony headphones person caller tricks successful a free update - but there's a catch

The earbuds do a awesome occupation astatine reproducing nan sub-bass and don't sound excessively crisp astatine precocious frequencies. I enjoyed listening to my favourite songs done various genres, including stone and acoustic music. They sound freely and full-bodied, pinch bully instrumentality separation erstwhile aggregate instruments are coming successful nan mix.

Prakhar Khanna/ZDNET

The Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2 are among nan champion earbuds for spatial audio. On astir products that opt for proprietary spatial audio formats alternatively of Dolby Atmos, audio reproduction sounds artificial and shrill. But Bose has done a superb occupation pinch its Immersive Audio mode. You tin take betwixt Still mode, pinch caput search disabled, and Motion mode, pinch caput search enabled. I chose nan second for nan astir portion and loved it.

Also: Bose conscionable did what Apple couldn't pinch nan QuietComfort Ultra headphones - and I'm sold

They are 1 of nan uncommon earbuds that sound earthy while making nan euphony much lively successful spatial audio, connected par pinch AirPods Pro 3. But I could deterioration nan Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2 for longer durations than Apple's earbuds. As ZDNET's audio editor, Jada Jones says, these earbuds sound "just lukewarm capable to make semipermanent deterioration and listening easy connected nan ears." The low- to mid-frequency scope struggles a bit, but nan wide acquisition is brilliant. If you want to acquisition immersive audio, these are nan earbuds to spell for.

How's nan capacity successful general?

Jada Jones/ZDNET

If nan AirPods Pro 3 are nan caller ANC champion of earbuds, nan Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2 aren't acold behind. Thanks to 8 microphones and caller algorithms, they tin trim astir each bothersome frequencies, from ambient nationalist chatter successful cafes to nan rumble of airplane engines. 

In fact, Bose's AI-powered progressive sound cancellation, ActiveSense, is 1 of nan champion uses of AI connected a user product. It employs sound cancellation erstwhile your situation becomes excessively loud, which is perfect for erstwhile you're successful public, wherever sound levels are ever-changing. ActiveSense adapts to these changes successful nan inheritance swiftly and smoothly. 

Also: I tried Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds' AI sound cancelling, and can't spell backmost to regular ANC

Bose's transparency mode, dubbed Aware mode, is arsenic bully and my default sound setting. Human voices sound natural, and you tin set them to lucifer nan sound level successful your environment. It adjusts automatically without a lag erstwhile I'm talking to someone, and nan outer sound people fades to nan inheritance erstwhile I'm done. Bose's characteristic performs much people and smoothly than Apple's Conversation Awareness aliases Sony's Speak-to-Chat feature.

Jada Jones/ZDNET

The Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2 are rated to past up to six hours pinch ANC connected and 4 hours successful Immersive mode. The lawsuit tin supply an further 24 hours of playback time. Although their artillery life isn't nan shortest, it's besides not nan longest, which could beryllium an rumor connected long-haul flights.

Lastly, nan Bose app is easy to use. The Settings paper offers intuitive controls for adjusting nan EQ, Modes, Source, and more. You tin besides create your ain sound cancellation mode, which tin beryllium a spot tedious and consequence successful a nonaccomplishment of ActiveSense. However, it is worthy trying if you're not satisfied pinch nan default ANC modes. The Earbud Seal Test and Fit Test are further features for fine-tuning your acquisition if you're not satisfied pinch nan fit.

Watch retired for these caveats

I'd for illustration to constituent retired 2 issues that occurred randomly passim my usage, and they subordinate to connectivity and firmware issues.

Also: Why I support 4 pairs of headphones pinch maine astatine each times (and nan unsocial domiciled each 1 plays)

First, erstwhile multipoint is enabled and you person connected nan earbuds to 2 devices once, they proceed to hunt for nan 2nd instrumentality aft being removed from nan case. I connected nan earbuds to my iPhone 17 Pro Max and Vivo X100 Pro. Now, I don't transportation my Vivo connected commutes. 

So, erstwhile I return nan earbuds retired of nan case, they link to my iPhone but support nan pairing reside going, looking for a 2nd device. As a result, you can't conscionable link and play your music. The pairing reside interrupts your euphony for a fewer seconds. I had a akin rumor pinch nan Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones, but it was resolved later.

Second, nan earbuds sometimes link separately aliases don't link astatine each to my iPhone. I person to put them backmost successful nan lawsuit and return them retired again to reconnect. Moreover, installing an update was a frustrating experience. I had to reset nan instrumentality and reinstall everything conscionable to get nan update to transportation to nan earbuds. 

Also: You should astir apt cleanable your earbuds correct now (or other this happens)

The QC Ultra Earbuds 2 debuted pinch SpeechClarity, a characteristic that uses Bose's patented technology to observe reside and process it for enhanced clarity. This characteristic is only accessible done an update; it wasn't installed successful nan earbuds retired of nan box. Unfortunately, I couldn't get this update to instal connected my unit, but ZDNET's Jada Jones reports, "With this characteristic enabled, I didn't person immoderate complaints astir warbled aliases muffled reside erstwhile calling friends and family. Even successful windy aliases sound environments for illustration a engaged market store, nan earbuds' microphones held up well."

ZDNET's buying advice

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) clasp their ample shape facet but amended connected various aspects. If Bose tin squash nan aforementioned bugs, these would beryllium my go-to proposal for nan immersive audio experience. At $299, these whitethorn beryllium expensive, but they're worthy nan value tag. They are comparable to nan caller AirPods Pro 3 successful position of sound cancellation, but supply a much comfortable and unafraid fit. 

If you're looking for a brace of earbuds that fresh well, sound great, connection fantabulous ANC performance, and complete nan characteristic group pinch an exceptional spatial audio experience, nan Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2 are an easy recommendation.