Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds
Best noise-cancelling true wireless
Pros
- Comfy to wear
- Very good noise-cancellation
- Excellent wireless performance
- Engaging audio quality
Cons
- Average call quality
- Noise-cancellation seems slightly diminished compared to previous gen
- More expensive than previous model
With the QuietComfort Earbuds II discontinued, the torch passes to the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds. And they just about retain the title of best noise-cancelling earbuds. Just.
Why? Well the QC Ultra Earbuds surprisingly aren’t as suppressive as its predecessor, leaking in a little bit of noise here and there. They remain the best across a range of situations, but the gap between it and the likes of the Sony WF-1000XM5, Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 and Jabra Elite 10 Gen 2 has reduced.
The QC Ultra Earbuds do an impressive job of reducing ambient noise and blocking out people’s voices, although Bose still hasn’t fixed the (minor) issue with wind noise in blustery conditions. Considering the price being asked, we’d hope it was an area Bose had improved.
The Aware mode is excellent, it makes it sound as if you weren’t wearing earphones at all. And Bose’s ActiveSense technology automatically reduces background noises when in transparency mode, so you’re not surprised by suddent noises around you.
The QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds support aptX Lossless/Snapdragon Sound to transmit higher quality audio over Bluetooth. The wireless performance is an area we found to be excellent, consistently reliable with not dropouts.
In terms of sound, it’s a similar peformance that we’ve heard from recent Bose headphones. The top end of the frequency range is bright but balanced, bass is big and punchy and vocals carry more weight too. It’s not as finely-balanced as the WF-1000XM5, but if you like your bass, the Bose is better than the Sony.
The Immersive Audio feature offers a wider soundstage and more depth, but isn’t as detailed or as sharp as listening in stereo mode. The head-tracking is a neat effect, maintaining the illusion of sound following you when you move. We feel the Jabra Elite 10 Gen 2 are better at spatial audio with its Dolby head-tracking.
Reviewer: Kob Monney
Full Review: Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds
