These Bose earbuds are an easier choice for me than AirPods — why I don’t regret them

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Generation)

ZDNET Highlights

• The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2 are available in five colors for $299.
• They provide great sound experience, all-day comfort and excellent noise-canceling performance.
• However, bugs can cause connectivity issues, and the issue is bigger than expected.

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October/2025

on paper, Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Generation) The technical specifications may seem painfully incremental, but there’s more to them than meets the eye. It’s impressive how seemingly innocuous updates from one generation to the next can significantly enhance the user experience, and Bose is a skilled player in this regard.

Review: Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Generation)

They add essential features that were missing in the first generation product, and do something better while maintaining the same price. However, they also retain some of Bose’s signature quirks that I wish didn’t bother me as much as they do.

I traveled with the Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2 on two trips, and although they haven’t completely replaced my Pixel Buds Pro 2 — for reasons I’ll explain later — there’s a lot to like here. Here’s how it happened.

designed for comfort

The new Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2 prioritize function over aesthetics. They are designed for outdoor use and provide all-day comfort in a familiar style. The earbuds themselves have a guard to manage earwax buildup, which Bose says makes it “easier to catch and remove earwax after prolonged use.” I haven’t had any issues with earwax with the new Bose product, but this design also gives them a comfortable fit.

The Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2 aren’t the most aesthetically pleasing earbuds and are larger than the competition. Based on their appearance, I was skeptical about the fit of the earbuds, but during my few weeks of use, I didn’t even once accidentally have them fall out of my ears.

I’ve worn them with Transparency Mode on airplanes, during travel, and even while walking (IPX4 rating for sweat resistance), and I’ve never encountered the earbuds accidentally falling out. I love the comfortable fit of these earbuds, thanks to their soft eartips along with the support band. I’d rank them above Sony’s WF-1000XM5 earbuds and Apple’s AirPods Pro 3 in terms of comfort.

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Like the earbuds themselves, the charging case for the Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2 is heavy and awkward-looking, but it’s built to last. These come in Black, White Smoke, Desert Gold, Midnight Violet and Deep Plum color variants. I’m using the White Smoke model, and despite accidental drops, I didn’t get a single scratch on my unit.

It performed much better than my Pixel Buds Pro 2, which got dirty within a week, and the AirPods Pro 3, which got numerous unknown scratches. That said, carrying this case around can be inconvenient, especially if you want to keep it in your pocket.

Immersive audio is a hit

What benefits do you get from the larger earbud size? Same drivers as before, but with even better sound. The QC Ultra Earbuds 2 produce pleasing audio with better bass and highs. They support AAC, SBC, and aptX Adaptive Bluetooth codecs (including aptX Lossless), as well as Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair for quick connections between devices.

Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2 deliver enjoyable sound performance. At default settings, when paired with Apple Music on my iPhone (SBC) and Vivo X100 Pro (AAC), they have a strong bass response. You have four basic EQ presets to choose from (Bass Boost, Bass Reducer, Treble Boost and Treble Reducer), which can be further adjusted within the app.

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The earbuds do a great job at reproducing sub-bass and don’t sound too loud at high frequencies. I enjoyed listening to my favorite songs through a variety of genres including rock and acoustic music. When multiple instruments are present in the mix, they sound huge and full, with good instrument separation.

The Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2 are one of the best earbuds for spatial audio. On most products that opt ​​for proprietary spatial audio formats rather than Dolby Atmos, audio reproduction sounds artificial and tinny. But Bose has done a great job with its immersive audio mode. You can choose between still mode with head tracking disabled and motion mode with head tracking enabled. I mostly chose the latter and I liked it a lot.

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They are one of the rare earbuds that deliver natural sound with spatial audio on par with the AirPods Pro 3, making music more lifelike. But I can wear the Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2 for longer periods of time than Apple’s earbuds. As ZDNET’s audio editor, Jada Jones, says, these earbuds “sound so warm that they’re easy to wear for long periods of time and on-ear listening.” There is a little struggle in the low to mid-frequency range, but the overall experience is fantastic. If you want to experience immersive audio, these are the earbuds to go for.

How is the performance in general?

If the AirPods Pro 3 are the new ANC champ of earbuds, the Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2 are not far behind. Thanks to eight microphones and new algorithms, they can cut out almost all disturbing frequencies, from public conversations in cafes to the rumble of airplane engines.

In fact, Bose’s AI-powered active noise cancellation, ActiveSense, is one of the best uses of AI on a consumer product. It uses noise cancellation when your environment gets too noisy, which is ideal for when you’re in a public place, where the noise level is always changing. ActiveSense adapts to these changes quickly and easily in the background.

Too: I tried the Bose QuietComfort Ultra earbuds’ AI noise canceling, and can’t switch back to regular ANC

Bose’s transparency mode, called Aware Mode, is just as good as my default noise setting. Human voices sound natural, and you can adjust them to match the noise level in your environment. It automatically adjusts without any delay when I’m talking to someone, and outside noise naturally fades into the background when I’m finished talking. Bose’s feature works more naturally and smoothly than Apple’s Conversation Awareness or Sony’s speak-to-chat feature.

The Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2 are rated to last for six hours with ANC on and four hours in immersive mode. The case can provide up to 24 hours of additional playback time. Although their battery life isn’t the shortest, it’s also not the longest, which can be a problem on long-haul flights.

Finally, the Bose app is easy to use. The Settings menu offers intuitive controls to adjust EQ, mode, source and more. You can also create your own noise cancellation mode, which can be a bit tricky and may result in the loss of ActiveSense. However, if you’re not satisfied with the default ANC mode it’s worth a try. If you’re not satisfied with the fit, the Earbud Seal Test and Fit Test are additional features to improve your experience.

Beware of these warnings

I want to point out two problems that occurred randomly during my use, and they are related to connectivity and firmware issues.

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First, when multipoint is enabled and you have connected the earbuds to two devices once, they continue to search for the second device after they are removed from the case. I connected the earbuds to my iPhone 17 Pro Max and Vivo X100 Pro. Now, I don’t carry my Vivo with me when I travel.

So, when I take the earbuds out of the case, they connect to my iPhone, but keep playing the pairing tone while looking for another device. As a result, you cannot connect and play your music. Paired Tone interrupts your music for a few seconds. I had a similar issue with the Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones, but it was later resolved.

Second, the earbuds sometimes connect separately or don’t connect to my iPhone at all. I have to put them back in the case and take them out again to reconnect. Furthermore, installing updates was a frustrating experience. I had to reset the device and reinstall everything to transfer the update to the earbuds.

Also: You should probably clean your earbuds right now (or else this will happen).

The QC Ultra Earbuds 2 debut with SpeechClarity, a feature that Bose uses Patent Technology Detect speech and process it for better clarity. This feature is only accessible through updates; It was not installed into the earbuds out of the box. Unfortunately, I couldn’t install this update on my unit, but ZDNET’s Jada Jones reports, “With this feature enabled, I encountered no complaints about poor or slow speech when calling friends and family. Even in windy or noisy environments like a busy grocery store, the earbuds’ microphones work well.”

ZDNET’s shopping advice

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Generation) Retain its large form factor but improve various aspects. If Bose can eliminate the above bugs, this would be my recommendation for an immersive audio experience. At $299, these may be expensive, but they’re worth the price. They are comparable to the new AirPods Pro 3 in terms of noise cancellation, but offer a more comfortable and secure fit.

If you’re looking for a pair of earbuds that fit well, sound great, offer excellent ANC performance, and round out the feature set with an exceptional spatial audio experience, the Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2 are an easy recommendation.