The second-gen Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds produce warm and bright audio, charge wirelessly, and are unmatched in their ability to silence your surroundings, making them easy to recommend.
Bose is back to battle Apple and Sony with the $299 QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen). The company’s latest buds are even better than their capable predecessors at eliminating unwanted noise and providing rich sound. They also support high-quality Bluetooth codecs and include a basic user-adjustable EQ. We wish the touch controls were less fussy and the battery lasted a bit longer, but these are minor quibbles considering how good they are at everything else. Sony’s $299 WF-1000XM5 earphones sound more natural and support more high-resolution audio codecs, and the $249 AirPods Pro 2 are a natural fit for iPhone owners thanks to their deep integration with Apple products. But the second-gen QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds are the best at cancelling noise and do so while sounding superb, earning them our Editors‘ Choice award for noise-cancelling earphones.Design: More of the Same
You’d be hard-pressed to point out any visual differences between the new Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) and the previous generation because the earbuds look exactly the same. The second-generation earphones come in the same Black or White Smoke colors at launch, and a Deep Plum color, available later this year, appears to be replacing the Blue version of the outgoing buds. Bose is no stranger to launching new colors after launch, so we may eventually see more options.
Bose has clearly designed the earbuds around their functionality rather than the other way around. The buds certainly aren’t ugly, but it’s hard to appreciate the super-wide stem and overly busy look compared with the smooth AirPods Pro 2 and the curvy WF-1000XM5. There are many angles and cavities, and the buds are quite large.
Despite their appearance and size, the buds are relatively comfortable, though not as comfortable as the AirPods or XM5s. Bose’s buds do a fine job of creating a seal in your ear canal without applying too much pressure. Overall, I found them comfortable enough to wear for hours at a time, and they stayed securely in my ears. They aren’t as snug as dedicated workout buds, but I can run with them without worry.
The controls are easy to remember and are duplicated on both buds. The outer stem includes a capacitive touch-sensitive area that accepts taps and swiping gestures. Tap once to play or pause audio, twice to skip to the next track, or three times to go back to the previous track. Swipe up or down to control the volume. Tap once to answer an incoming call or twice to decline or hang up. Tapping and holding the touch surface activates your chosen shortcut, which you set using the app. By default, both earbuds cycle through noise and immersive audio modes. However, you can change the shortcut to switch devices (when multipoint is enabled), activate your voice assistant, or resume Spotify playback.
The biggest issue with Bose’s design is that it’s hard to adjust the buds‘ fit without accidentally triggering one of the control surface actions, like pausing your audio or skipping a track. Earbuds in general are often too small and finicky for touch controls to be reliable, and the Bose earbuds make it a chore to avoid the touch surface when you need to adjust them. It took me hours of listening to remember that I needed to pinch the buds in just the right way to avoid touching the control surface. You can turn the touch controls off entirely via the Bose app, but in doing so, you won’t be able to manage playback or calls.
The earbuds are rated IPX4, which means they should survive just fine if you get caught in light rain or wear them during a sweaty workout. However, if you accidentally drop them in the pool, there are no guarantees. The charging case is not water-resistant. Sony’s XM5s have the same rating, while the AirPods Pro 2’s IP54 rating makes them better protected against dust.
Bose doesn’t disclose the buds‘ driver size or frequency range, but indicated that the drivers are carried over from the previous generation. That means they measure 9.3mm across. The earphones connect via Bluetooth 5.3 and support Bluetooth multipoint, Google Fast Pair, and Microsoft Swift Pair. They support the AAC, SBC, and aptX Adaptive codecs, including aptX Lossless, for high-resolution listening.
