Bose has built its modern reputation on noise-canceling performance, offering best-in-class for two decades, since the launch of Quiet Comfort headphones in 2000. But Sony and Apple caught up in 2023 and the race has moved on ever since. 9,299 Bose Quitmfort Ultra Second Gen earbuds aim to top the competition once again, and this time with improved sound and call quality, both of which have been issues for QC earbuds in the past.
While the gap between “great” and “best” noise cancellation narrows with each new earbuds iteration, Bose somehow continues to improve. The noise canceling of other Gen Ultra earbuds is exceptional. Its focus on low-frequency sounds eliminates the distraction of airplane engines, especially with music or dialogue from a movie.
Noise-cancelling makes it easier to deal with loud conversations in a cafe or on the street. It doesn’t completely remove the chatter around you (and noise-canceling earbuds don’t), but it does reduce the noise significantly. And unlike the AirPods Pro 3, the Bose ANC doesn’t have high-end hiss. The high level of noise cancellation can cause the Bose to feel almost uncharacteristically isolated, but it’s impressive nonetheless.
$299
good
- Extraordinary ANC
- Secure fit
- Wireless charging case
bad
- Great design
- Just average battery life
If the high level of noise cancellation feels too much, the Bose app allows adjustment of the intensity – a control absent from the AirPods – with 11 steps, including full and full off. You’ll need to create a custom listening mode to have adjustable ANC, as the included presets (Quiet, Familiar, Immersion, and Cinema) have that option locked out, but once you do, you can adjust to taste. Adding presets is easy. Just press the “+” button in the Modes menu, choose from 10 different names — including Travel, Music, and Run — and adjust the intensity of noise cancellation and immersive audio settings. The settings you choose are not locked and can be changed as needed.
Bose has improved the QuietComfort Ultra 2nd General Handle Transparency Mode, or Familiar Mode, as it’s called in the app. On most earbuds, including earlier silent models, transparency mode lets in all the sounds around you, making it seem like you’re not wearing the earbuds, so you can hear your surroundings and hold a conversation. The second-gen Ultra, though, reduces low-end frequencies while in awareness mode, allowing your ear to better focus on sounds. I order my coffee while listening to the barista’s questions because the grip of the background music isn’t quite there.
In previous Bose earbuds, I’ve found call quality to be sub-par, struggling even with light winds. A few years ago while testing the Quattrofort Earbuds II, a car alarm a block and a half away caused the man on the other end of my call to suffer. The other Gen Ultras don’t have those issues, although the Bose adjusts to outside noise, which does affect my vocal quality a bit, so my voice isn’t pristine and clear. ANC managed to hold off most of the unusually fast sports car that revved its engines, although it produced a bit of compression, which sounds unnatural, according to an audio industry friend on the other end of my call. And when I listened to an outside recording, I could hear the compression adding a raspy quality to my voice. My indoor recordings did not have this respise where there was no need to suppress the noise.
While the second-gen Ultra doesn’t compete with Apple or Sony for call quality, they perform as well as they should. “Earbuds make you sound like you,” an audio industry friend of mine commented during a call. He could tell by the compression whether I was out or in, but it wasn’t an annoying enough change to throw him out of the conversation.
When playing music, the second-gen Ultra sounds a lot like previous iterations of Bose earbuds. The bass is a bit heavy, and the high frequencies are pushed to the max with some tracks. “Super Bone” by Soul Cough Irresistible joy A lot of metallic, industrial sounds are included to help build the song, which can get tiring at high levels. Still, there’s nothing about Bose’s voice that’s bad, and the majority of people are sure to enjoy it.
There are EQ controls in the app, but they aren’t all that helpful, only allowing for 3-band adjustments in bass, mid, and treble. Bringing the treble down a bit on the high end when listening to Soul Cough’s track, but it also took some of the life out of the song.
The app features an immersive audio option “designed to enhance and add depth to your content.” Like Apple Native Audio, there’s also a virtual speaker positioning that can follow the positioning of your head, so the front of the soundstage is what you’re facing, just like with regular audio signals, but with a bit more virtual depth. It can also be stable. In this case, turning to your left would shift the center of the soundstage to your right ear, like if you were listening to a band at a club and turned to talk to your friend. In either mode, there’s an extra depth to the front, but not much. I preferred it.
Bose’s earbud design has barely changed since the Quattrofort earbuds II in 2022, and that’s their biggest drawback. The QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen case now supports wireless charging, which is a welcome addition, but beyond that, there’s not much difference. The case is three-quarters of an inch longer than the AirPods Pro 3 case and just over an inch longer than the Sony WF-1000XM5 case.
The earbuds’ bulbous bodies protrude from the ears and don’t look or feel as sleek as their competitors. The overall look handles them cheekily. It can even be difficult to get a grip to remove them from the charging case – a problem I’ve had with this design since it was introduced. The extensive capability level for touch controls is prone to inadvertent taps when you’re in place. Touch controls can be disabled in the app, but that also takes away the convenience.
The buds come with three tips and three wings to customize the fit, and they stayed secure in my ears during testing. They can feel a little uncomfortable after a few hours, but with battery life that tops out at six hours — which is just average — long listening sessions will require a charge, giving your ears a brief rest. A quick 20-minute charge will give you two hours of listening, while the battery takes two hours to fully charge. (The case, which now has wireless charging capability, holds enough charge for up to 18 additional hours of listening for 24 hours.) They’re not workout earbuds. They have an IPX4 rating, which is splash protection, so be careful using them for more than light exercise. (The case is not classified at all.)
Even without drastic design changes, the performance of noise canceling and awareness mode, improved call quality, and the addition of wireless case charging put the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2 Gen in the discussion as one of the best pairs of noise-canceling earbuds. I’d even rank them above the AirPods Pro 3 when it comes strictly to ANC performance (the AirPods are still the best, especially for Apple users). Do I wish Bose had updated the design to make it smaller and simpler, with better battery life? But until then, the Ultra second-gen earbuds are a great choice for non-Apple users, frequent flyers, or anyone looking for a break from our busy, noisy world.
Photography by John Higgins/The Verge
