Bose’s updated QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds iron out most of the first-gen's pain points, but they do look awfully familiar

Let’s get one thing out of the way first. If you own the first-generation version of the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds and they’re working just fine, there is no reason at all to upgrade to the Gen 2. The upgrades aren’t worth the extra, and you won’t make any gains when it comes to sound. They’re slightly more comfortable and the ANC is a little better, but the gains aren’t enough to warrant a purchase.

Now that everyone who’s already got a pair is out of the way, I can confirm that the upgrades to the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds in their Gen 2 form cement Bose at the top of our best noise-canceling earbuds list. Bose has packed some very tasty upgrades into the buds, including wireless charging and extra improvements to ANC and call quality.

Not that you’d know from the outside. There are very few (if any) real upgrades to the buds in their design, apart from some minor changes to the fitting wings and silicon eartips. As a result, it’s almost impossible to tell the new from the old. But, as we’ll soon find out, beauty is more than skin-deep.

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Gen 2: Specs

Price $299/ £299/ AU$450
Connectivity Bluetooth 5.3
ANC Yes
Battery 6 hours (buds) 24 hours (Case)
Weight 2.1oz
Dimensions 2.5 x 2.3 x 1.0 inches
Colors White Smoke/Black/Deep Plum
Compatibility iOS, Android
Frequency response 10Hz - 22kHz

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Gen 2 review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? An update to the best ANC buds around
• Who is it for? If you want the best in-ear noise canceling, you’ve just found it
• What does it cost? $299/ £299/ AU$450
• What do we like? Excellent ANC, clear call quality, solid sound, comfortable fit
• What don’t we like? Some extra battery wouldn’t have gone amiss, and the design remains identical to the previous version

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Gen 2 review: Price and availability

Bose’s earbuds have never been cheap, and the second generation of the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds are no different. Thankfully, though, they’re not more expensive than the first gen. They cost $299, which is the same as their older siblings. With other brands upping the prices of their products, it's nice to see Bose sticking to the same price. Even if that price is more expensive than some of their key competitors.

The AirPods Pro 2, while old, are $50 cheaper at $249 and the Sony WF-1000XM5 have been seen as low as $210 in sales events. The Bose are the most expensive of the bunch as a result, but you do get that game-changing ANC.

That’s not to say they’re the most expensive buds you can buy. The Bowers and Wilkins Pi8 cost $100 more when full price. The scale has shifted slightly when it comes to ANC buds, so the QuietComfort Ultra Gen 2 don’t seem as expensive as they once were. Still, they’re more expensive than the best cheap wireless earbuds — if you’re looking to save some money, that’s the best place to look.

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Gen 2 review: Build and design

• Improved comfort
• Same old aging design
• Wireless charging!

Looking at the buds straight out of the box without a glance at the specs sheet, you’d be forgiven for thinking you’ve been shortchanged with a pair of the old buds. Look a bit closer and you’ll notice the improved fitting wings and silicon eartips, but this is still a design that has served the QuietComfort Earbuds line for some time.

The same large touch panel that dominates the outer edge of the buds, the funky-looking stem thing that screams “look at me, I’m NOT a pair of AirPods.” The case, while well-shaped for slipping into a pocket, still feels slightly cheap. It’s a bit like deja vu, only I really have seen this design before. Several times.

Given the numerous visual updates we’ve seen from the buds' over-ear counterparts, it’s a shame that Bose didn’t change the design of the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds gen 2. Thankfully, it seems like the investment has gone on the inside — so it’s not a total loss.

The biggest external upgrade, the new fitting wings and redesigned tips, are excellent. Finding the perfect fit is simple, and it’s well worth trying some different options to find one that works for you. It took me a couple of tries, but the app's “fit checker” helped a great deal. Once you’ve found your fit, you’re in for a comfortable experience. That’s saying a lot, given how comfy the old pair were.

There’s one upgrade I’ll touch more on later that’s not immediately noticeable from the outside. Place the case on a wireless charging coil, and the battery will start to fill up. Wireless charging was a glaring omission from the last pair, so it’s good that it’s here this time around. No matter how late it might be.

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Gen 2 review: Features

• Same “Immersive Audio” as before
• Useful, if restrictive, EQ
• Helpful, accessible app

The first-generation buds were loaded with some great features, and these successors are no different. There are some tasty extras this time around, and they’re all accessible from the app that Bose users know and love. It’s one of the easiest apps to navigate compared to the likes of Sony’s app, and more attractive too.

None of the settings and features are hidden behind cryptic menus and pages. It’s all laid out very simply. The front page is filled with the main features — ANC modes, EQ, Source, Immersive Audio and Shortcut. They’re all large buttons, sitting below a battery readout and volume control. If you want more granular control, there’s a settings button in the top left, where you update the software and use the fit checker, amongst other things.

I’ll touch more on the Immersive Audio feature in sound quality, but I can go into more detail about some of my other favorite features. I like the EQ, although it would be nicer if there were more adjustment bands. As it stands, there are only 3 — a whole 7 fewer than you’ll find with Sony’s buds. Still, it’s nice to be able to adjust the sound of my earbuds, and it gives me the opportunity to customize things.

Once the highs have been dialled in with the EQ, we can play with the modes. Those are like presets that change the ANC level and immersive sound all in one. You can add your own modes beyond the four presets, which is useful. I tend not to play with them all that much — I’m a set-up and leave it kinda gal — but the options are nice to have if you like more customization.

New for the Gen 2 is the Cinema preset. As you might have guessed, it’s a surround sound mode for movies, giving a more spacious sound and clearer dialogue. It’s good — although I’m still not entirely convinced about using buds for watching big movies. For movies on the go when you’ve not got enough space for over-ears, it’s a winner, though.

Source is how you set up the multi-point connection, and it works well. I was able to switch over from MacBook Pro to Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold with no problem at all. Hitchless.

Finally, Shortcut lets you change the function of a long press on the left and right touch surfaces. You can choose from a range of options, like ANC mode and even a one-touch Spotify function. It’s a nice bonus to have, but I never found myself reaching for it. Your mileage will almost certainly vary, of course, and it does work well.

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Gen 2 review: ANC

• Better than ever
• Ridiculously impressive noise reduction
• Natural transparency

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Gen 1 are our pick for the best noise-canceling earbuds. The Gen 2 are better. And not just incrementally either — there is a tangible improvement in their noise canceling that I’ve discovered over the last month or so of testing. The previous model is something I can’t leave the house without. The new one has just dethroned them and then beheaded the jester. They’re so good.

Bose has leveraged the aid of AI — of the learning algorithm kind — this time around. The ANC is noticeably better at blocking out the sound of bus engines and other noises that the world might throw at you. The screaming brakes of a metro or underground train, the clicking clacking of your neighbour's irritating mechanical keyboard. The clicking and clacking of my mechanical keyboard.

Even better is the high-range blocking. Voices and crying children and babies on public transport melt away like memories long forgotten. Noisy workmen laughing at jokes as they drill into the pavement outside your house when you’re trying to work disappear. The only evidence of the delivery man with your parcel is that it’s sitting by your front door — there was no way you were going to hear the doorbell.

There are extra noise-canceling levels, but I never wanted to touch them. As always, I prefer to use the max setting at all times. It can be useful if you work in a busy environment that necessitates the ability to hear something; it’s good that they’re there.

Transparency mode is good as well, and sounds natural enough. It was perfect for grabbing a bite to eat at lunchtime without the need to yank my earbuds out of my ears, which is always handy.

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Gen 2 review: Controls

• Touch controls
• They’re fine

As is becoming the norm with earbuds of any kind, the controls built into the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds are of the touch persuasion. There’s a large touch panel on the outer edge of the buds, and it works well. I did find that they occasionally need a slightly more violent stab than some buds, but the results were always generally what I was looking for.

Press once to pause your tunes, swipe up and down to control the volume, and double-tap to skip a track. Hold the touch panel to activate your chosen shortcut. They’re responsive and work well, although I still don’t like them. I still find I skip tracks when I take them out of my ears, or pause ANC when I actually want to press play. For touch controls, they are good. I generally just pulled my phone out to change the volume or track, though. Because I’m old-fashioned.

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Gen 2 review: Call quality

• Incredibly clear voice
• Call partner sounds great
• Best in class call quality

Call quality is, in a word, excellent. I gave it a suitable test by giving my sister a call, and I came through clearly, despite the noise of the road I was walking beside. The AI noise isolation is top of the tree, and made chatting over the buds a joy.

My sister came through well too, the only weakness being the speaker on her phone. All in all, the call quality of the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Gen 2 is excellent. They’re the best earbuds for call quality you can buy right now.

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Gen 2 review: Sound quality

• Loads of bass
• Something lacking in the highs
• I still don’t like Immersive Audio

Traditionally, audio has been the main flaw in the QuietComfort line. They don’t sound bad by any stretch of the imagination, but they’ve always lagged behind the Sony alternatives. Sony’s buds are slightly more spacious and offer up a little more detail. It’s not much — both options still sound excellent — but the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds aren’t quite as impressive as the Sony buds.

Even with these Gen 2s, the sound isn’t quite as nailed down. It’s good, don’t get me wrong. The bass is thick and dynamic, but the detail and high-end retrieval simply isn’t as good as you’ll find in Sony’s buds. In a vacuum, though, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Gen 2 are a great-sounding pair of earbuds that are going to please a great many ears.

I’ve found that having a play with the EQ makes them sound better than straight out of the box. It doesn’t take much for them to sound even better, just a quick adjustment. Crank the highs up to +2 and you’ve got some of that extra volume up top for your guitar solos, and cymbal edge. There’s still some detail left on the cutting room floor, but they sound more rounded now that the highs have been given some extra breathing room.

That means you can get listening to your favorite tunes. Hate’s A Ghost Of Lost Delight gave me ample space and ritualistic fury with which I could test the earbuds. The bass made sure that the low-end rumble of the sawblade-like bass guitars were edgy and terrifying. The distorted guitars brought their own brand of intimidation, and the growled vocals terrify and delight in equal measure. There’s some detail to drum parts missing, unfortunately, and the cymbals don’t have quite the impact you’d be looking for, but it’s otherwise excellent.

EDM lovers are in for a ball. Full Send from 1999 brings some low-end synth impact, packed full of dance floor attitude. The digital drum beat is gated well, and the buds don’t over-emphasize their less natural sound. The bass is enough to rattle the skull. To some, this is a boon, to others an irritation. I imagine for most EDM fans it’s the former. It certainly is for me.

Aphex Twin’s bizarre twisting and turning Windowlicker needs to bring with a certain degree of dynamism, as the strange vocal affectations pulsate and warble. The buds do an ample job, but it would be nice to have some more variance in the volume. Still, the bass notes and smooth synths are well represented, and the drum line is impactful and sharp. Again, there’s a little roll off in the top with the chirping hi-hats and some of the synth as it rises in tone, but not enough to put you off.

Podcast and spoken word listeners are going to do very well with the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Gen 2. The dialog in audiobooks and podcasts is excellent, with a clear voice and good enunciation. Again, the best bit is the ANC here. While other buds struggle to block as much noise with the absence of music, these buds let you melt into your favorite story without any problem at all.

What I’m not such a fan of is the Immersive Audio Feature. I’ve spoken to many fans of this version of spatial audio, but I just can’t get behind it. While it’s certainly more impressive than some of the other in-house models from the likes of Marshall and Nothing, it still only serves to thin out your music in order to spread it around in an artificially inflated soundstage. For music, I just don’t think it works all that well at all.

For movie watching, however, things are looking a bit more impressive. The Immersive Audio Cinema mode does bring about some extra space to the mix, and does a solid job at placing voices in the middle of the mix. It doesn’t use traditional Dolby Atmos mixes, so it’s not perfect, but it’s a fun extra for when you want to watch some movies and TV on the go.

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Gen 2 review: Battery life

• Only 6 hours from the buds
• 24 hours in the case
• There are better for battery life

The battery life of the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds isn’t all that good, unfortunately. It’s about the same as the AirPods Pro 2, lasting for 6 hours. That’s less than the Sony WF-1000XM5’s 7.5 hours, which feels like a missed opportunity. Turn on Immersive audio and the battery life drops by 2 hours, leaving you with only 3 hours of battery life — that’s not worth it at all.

The case brings the battery up to 24 hours, giving you around 4 charges. That’s about par for the course, and slightly more impressive than the battery of the buds themselves.

In my testing, the battery life matched the claims that Bose prints on the side of the box, but it doesn’t exceed them. Despite a quick charge that gives you 2 hours of listening after a 20-minute charge, the battery life of the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Gen 2 ought to be better — especially considering it’s identical to the old model.

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Gen 2 review: Verdict

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Gen 2 are a better pair of buds than the predecessor. They’re more comfortable, offer improved ANC, and they blow everything out of the water when it comes to call quality. They’re the new ANC earbuds list toppers, and anyone looking for the best noise canceling has just been given something that blocks even more noise. They’re great.

But — and it is a big but — I don’t think they’re enough of an upgrade over the previous model to warrant buying a new pair. New buyers looking for a replacement for their aging buds are well served with the Gen 2, but if your Gen 1 pair are still working, I’d save your money and wait until the next model.

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