Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen) Review: Noise-Canceling Champ

Battery beingness is not great: 24 hours with ANC enabled is simply not agelong enough. I had to complaint these midweek, each week. Yes, charging is quick, but compared to headphones similar the Sony WH-1000XM4C (27 hours with ANC), Nothing Headphone (1) (35 hours with ANC), and Sonos Ace Ultra (also 35 hours with ANC), I noticed however accelerated the Bose ran retired of juice.

I americium baffled that these headphones don’t person deterioration detection. It sounds similar a small thing; you tin conscionable deed intermission earlier you instrumentality disconnected your headphones, aft all. But aft investigating truthful galore headphones with deterioration detection, galore of which are cheaper than these Bose, I was honestly shocked astatine the omission and thought I needed to alteration thing with my settings, until I remembered: This is by design.

Call prime whitethorn beryllium the astir overtly atrocious happening astir these headphones. My colleagues person called retired that I sounded oddly quiescent and processed connected Zoom calls, which typically shouldn’t hap with premium, $300-plus headphones. If I person to instrumentality these disconnected and power to the $170 Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro earbuds to instrumentality calls successful a quiescent room, it’s an contented that Bose needs to address.

The $370 MSRP mightiness beryllium my biggest contented with these headphones, since that’s beauteous adjacent to the $450 Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen)—which happened to beryllium connected merchantability for $400 connected Amazon astatine the clip of penning this review. That’s a $30 terms quality for a overmuch amended brace of headphones.

Passing the Crown

Bose's QuietComfort-series headphones are iconic for a reason. This midrange enactment is comfortable, sounds great, and blocks retired the world. But truthful bash a batch of headphones successful 2026. The $300 Sony WH-1000XM4C’s ANC isn’t arsenic strong, but it has deterioration detection, amended artillery life, and a little price. The $300 Nothing Headphone (1) is simply a spot little comfy but has likewise large fastener controls and a vastly superior 35 hours of artillery with ANC. Bose’s ain QuietComfort Ultra (2nd Gen) outclasses its sibling successful astir ways and doesn’t outgo overmuch more.

In the past, Bose could bid specified prices, but the competitory scenery has changed. By nary means are these bad: The Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen) are so quiescent and comfy and person large audio quality, much truthful than astir headphones. For a batch of people, particularly Bose loyalists oregon those who worth euphony implicit telephone calls, that mightiness beryllium enough. But astatine this terms and with each the gripes, determination are truly bully alternatives. I would hold for these headphones to spell connected merchantability (like they are close now, arsenic of publication), oregon adjacent see the first-generation version if the terms is close (under $200).