Today is a good news/bad news day for Bose. The bad news is that its QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds have been usurped from one of the top positions in our best wireless earbuds buying guide.
The good news is that it’s been replaced by another pair of Bose earbuds. That’s right, our pick for best noise-cancelling earbuds now goes to their successors, the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen).
Was it ever in doubt? Well, we already knew the recipe Bose used for the original QC Earbuds was a tasty one, which resulted in a five-star rating, but it wasn’t a given that their successors would be a shoo-in.
But to its credit, Bose has taken what we loved about the first pair and tweaked and refined it in a number of key areas. The result? A pair of wireless earbuds that’s more satisfying and rewarding to listen to and extremely easy to recommend, especially if you want to cut out the drone of daily life.
Bose’s noise-cancelling abilities have always impressed in its over-ear headphones, and the same can be said for its implementation on wireless earbuds, with the brand shrinking the tech efficiently and effectively for this much smaller form factor.
If you looked at the two pairs side by side, you’d be hard pressed to tell them apart. The only real design tweak of note is that a guard has been added to cover the opening of each eartip to prevent earwax from intruding into the tube of each earbud.
Other than that, you’re getting good build quality, including strong, sturdy plastics and a wireless charging case that the earbuds slot effortlessly into.
Battery life remains at six hours per charge, which is okay at this level, as is the support for AAC and SBC codecs and aptX Adaptive.
It’s really in the sound quality and ANC (active noise-cancelling) departments where these new earbuds earn their stripes, though.
As we said in our Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) review, “The presentation overall is richer and more authentic than the 1st Gen, and compellingly controlled and organised.
It’s a clearer performance, too, and improved levels of crispness help to delineate where each note starts and finishes with a sharper, keener focus."
You also get a small but not insignificant bump in noise-cancelling quality, which keeps intrusive high frequencies at bay and mutes low-level rumbles.
Call quality also gets a beneficial tweak – voices now sound clearer and weightier, and background noise is less intrusive while you’re holding a conversation.
Add all these elements together, and you can see why these wireless earbuds slot straight into our buying guide.
MORE:
Our pick of the best wireless earbuds you can buy
Read our full Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) review
