Bose just gave me a compelling reason to put my AirPods Pro away for good

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen)

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• Pros: Immersive dependable experience, all-day comfort, and fantabulous noise-canceling performance.
• Cons: Bugs tin origin connectivity issues, and the lawsuit is larger than competitors'

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

They adhd indispensable features that were missing from the 1st-gen product, and bash thing amended portion retaining the aforesaid terms tag. However, they besides clasp immoderate signature Bose quirks that I privation didn't fuss maine arsenic overmuch arsenic they do.

Also: I replaced my Bose QC Ultra with Sony XM6 earbuds for a period - and I'm astir sold

I traveled with the Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2 connected 2 trips, and portion they haven't replaced my Pixel Buds Pro 2 wholly -- for reasons I'll explicate aboriginal -- there's a batch to similar here. Here's however it went. 

Built for comfort

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

The Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2 aren't the astir aesthetically pleasing earbuds and are larger than the competition. Based connected their appearance, I was skeptical of the acceptable based connected the 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 adjacent connected walks (IPX4 standing for sweat resistance) with Transparency mode on, and encountered nary accidental earbud drops astatine all. I emotion the comfy acceptable of these earbuds, acknowledgment to their brushed eartips with enactment bands. I'd complaint them supra Sony's WF-1000XM6 earbuds and Apple's AirPods Pro 3 successful presumption of comfort.

Like the 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 the 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 got soiled wrong a week, and the AirPods Pro 3, which acquired respective chartless scratches. That said, this lawsuit tin beryllium inconvenient to carry, particularly if you privation to spot it successful your pocket.

Immersive Audio is simply a hit

What does the ample earbuds size get you? Same drivers arsenic before, but with adjacent amended sound. The QC Ultra Earbuds 2 nutrient pleasing audio with boosted bass and highs. They enactment AAC, SBC, and aptX Adaptive Bluetooth codecs (including aptX Lossless), arsenic good arsenic Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair for speedy device-to-device connections.

The Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2 connection an enjoyable dependable performance. At default settings, paired with 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 the app. 

Also: These $70 headphones are the crushed wherefore I instrumentality fund options much earnestly now

The earbuds bash a large occupation astatine reproducing the sub-bass and don't dependable excessively crisp astatine precocious frequencies. I enjoyed listening to my favourite songs done assorted genres, including stone and acoustic music. They dependable spacious and full-bodied, with bully instrumentality separation erstwhile aggregate instruments are contiguous successful the mix.

Prakhar Khanna/ZDNET

The Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2 are among the 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 with its Immersive Audio mode. You tin take betwixt Still mode (head tracking disabled) and Motion mode (head tracking enabled). I chose the second for the astir portion and loved it.

They are 1 of the uncommon earbuds that dependable earthy portion making euphony dependable much lively successful spatial audio, connected par with the AirPods Pro 3. But I could deterioration the Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2 for longer durations than Apple's earbuds. As ZDNET's audio editor, Jada Jones says, these earbuds dependable "just lukewarm capable to marque semipermanent deterioration and listening casual connected the ears." 

The low- to mid-frequency scope struggles a bit, but the wide acquisition is brilliant. If you privation to acquisition immersive audio, these are the earbuds to spell for.

How's the show successful general?

Jada Jones/ZDNET

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

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

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

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

Jada Jones/ZDNET

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

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

Watch retired for these caveats

I'd similar to constituent retired 2 issues that occurred randomly during my usage and subordinate to connectivity and firmware.

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

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

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

Also: You should astir apt cleanable your earbuds close present (or other this happens)

The QC Ultra Earbuds 2 debuted with SpeechClarity, a diagnostic that uses Bose's patented technology to observe code and process it for enhanced clarity. This diagnostic is lone accessible done an update; it wasn't installed successful the earbuds retired of the box. 

Unfortunately, I couldn't get this update to instal connected my unit, but ZDNET's Jada Jones reports, "With this diagnostic enabled, I didn't person immoderate complaints astir warbled oregon muffled code erstwhile calling friends and family. Even successful windy oregon noisy environments similar a engaged market store, the earbuds' microphones held up well."

ZDNET's buying advice

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) clasp their ample signifier origin portion improving successful assorted areas. If Bose tin squash the aforementioned bugs, these would beryllium my go-to proposal for the immersive audio experience. At $299 (or $219, astatine the clip of writing), these are priced arsenic a premium, but they're worthy the ask. They are comparable to the caller AirPods Pro 3 successful presumption of sound cancellation but connection a much comfortable, unafraid fit. 

If you're looking for a brace of earbuds that acceptable well, dependable great, present fantabulous ANC, and implicit the diagnostic acceptable with an exceptional spatial audio experience, the Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2 are an casual recommendation.