Bose QuietComfort Ultra

Bose’s QuietComfort Headphones come with a hefty price tag compared to other long-standing flagship models. Still, the construction of these headphones is robust, and they feature an advanced noise-cancelling technology. They deliver an engaging and refined audio experience that is unlike any other Bose over-ears listened to recently. While the ‘Immersive Audio’ quality can be inconsistent, it does offer moments of brilliance that will have you reaching for these headphones time and again.

The earphones offer a secure fit and come with a user-friendly Bose Music companion app.

The earphones are perfect for travellers and people working in noisy environments due to their superior noise cancellation ability.

While audiophiles might prefer other options for hi-res streaming, these earphones still provide an excellent audio experience.

• The product has a folding design, making it highly portable and convenient for travel.
• It delivers a rich, full-bodied sound that is dynamic and punchy, providing an exceptional auditory experience.
• The noise cancelling feature of the product is exceptional, effectively blocking out ambient noise for a more immersive listening experience.

• They provide excellent sound and best-in-class noise cancellation.
• They are designed for a secure, comfortable fit with Fit Kit ear tips and a stabilizer system.
• They offer an immersive audio experience.
• They have improved voicecall capability.

• They feature best-in-class noise cancellation.
• They offer crisp audio.
• They come with Active Aware feature that combines noise cancellation and transparency modes.
• They support spatial audio with head tracking.
• They have good Bluetooth codec support.

• The immersive audio doesn’t live up to expectations.
• The price is higher compared to its competitors.
• It lacks USB-C compatibility.

• They lack wireless charging and multipoint Bluetooth.
• Their immersive audio mode can deplete the battery life more quickly.

• The case doesn’t support wireless charging.
• There’s no multipoint connectivity.

The headphones have a specific button dedicated to Bluetooth.

Bose has replaced the chunky buttons of the QuietComfort headphones with clicky buttons and a touch slider on the right ear cup for volume adjustment, offering a more comfortable and user-friendly design.

The headphones come with a durable hard shell carrying case that has a pleasant design.

The headphones are extremely comfortable due to the angled drivers that conform to the shape of one’s ears.

The right earcup of the Ultra Headphones features a power/Bluetooth pairing button, a multifunction button for various controls including changing listening modes, handling calls, and managing playback, and an innovative capacitive touch strip for volume adjustments and shortcut access.

On the left earcup, there’s an LED indicator, a 2.5mm jack, and a USB-C charging port, although it doesn’t support wired USB listening.

The headphones are comfortable to wear, with sufficient cushioning on the earpads providing a good seal and a certain degree of isolation.

The headphones provide great comfort due to the thick, soft ear pads. The flexible headband doesn’t exert too much pressure on one’s head.

The grip pressure of the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones is well-balanced, with a clamping force slightly stronger than that of the Sony’s, a feature some users might prefer.

The headband of the headphones is cushioned and adjustable, ensuring comfort during usage.

With their premium appearance, the Ultra Headphones use metal for the arms and yokes and pleather for the headband and earcups, creating a pleasing combination.

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones follow modern designs, folding flat for portability. The hinged design allows them to take up less space, making them easy to pack in a bag.

The button-less design of the headphones may reduce accidental touches, but can cause some inconvenience while adjusting the size or picking them up.

These headphones are lightweight, offering an advantage over some other high-end options, contributing to user comfort and sound quality.

The headphones are available in two color options: Black or White Smoke.

The headphones have a smart power feature where they turn on when opened and go to sleep when folded flat, and will power off completely if not used for 24 hours.

The Ultras incorporate Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Sound Technology, enabling aptX Adaptive support, and ensuring low latency and stability. They also feature multipoint Bluetooth connectivity, allowing simultaneous connection to multiple sources.

The headphones come with a Type-C charging port and an LED indicator, as well as a small analog audio jack, with a 2.5mm to 3.5mm cable included.

The QC Ultra Headphones from Bose are reported to have improved call quality due to the incorporation of advanced microphones in a beamform-array that minimizes the impact of ambient noise. Now, each earpiece contains five microphones, one more than the previous 700 model.

The headphones feature a multi-microphone input that aids in noise cancellation, evident by the variety of grills on the outer shell.

The microphone quality of these headphones is excellent, as expected from a set of headphones equipped with an array of tiny microphones.

The Self-Voice function, when set to high, has shown improved clarity and reduced background noise during calls.

The Bose CustomTune calibration and Bose Aware Mode with ActiveSense automatically optimizes the noise-cancelling based on your surroundings. It offers a high degree of customization, allowing users to create their own noise-cancelling presets and adjust the amount of external noise they want to permit, depending on their preferences.

The highlight of the QuietComfort Ultra Headphones is Bose’s Immersive Audio technology, designed to provide a spatial audio experience. It aims to give the sensation of listening to a traditional speaker system rather than headphones. Users can switch between two modes of Immersive Audio – Still and Motion, depending on whether they are stationary or on the move.

The earbuds feature a natural-sounding transparency mode with a new ActiveSense feature, which enhances the noise cancellation when the surrounding noise levels increase, similar to the AirPods Pro’s Adaptive Audio feature.

These earbuds have superb noise cancellation, arguably the best on the market.

They offer slightly better sound quality with more clarity.

The new Immersive Audio feature provides a more expansive sound experience.

The earphones support the high-quality AptX Adaptive codec for Android users.

The headphones have a tracking feature where the audio follows the user’s head location, maintaining sound positioning for an immersive experience.

The headphones support higher bit rate codecs and are compatible with Snapdragon sound, providing near CD quality listening with devices equipped with a Snapdragon 888 or newer.

These headphones are designed to stay relevant for the next five years, offering more features and improved sound quality as you upgrade your phone.

Bose’s recent innovation of custom tune technology allows the headphones to measure the feedback from your ears and adjust the performance accordingly, ensuring the best possible sound quality.

While the sound quality is quite good for Bose headphones, they are tuned a bit bass-heavy. However, the EQ presets in the Bose music app allow you to adjust this to your preference.

Users have praised the immersive audio experience, noting a significant improvement in how they consume content with headphones.

New owners have reported satisfactory call quality based on personal experiences and tests.

• The device supports SBC, AAC, and aptX Adaptive Bluetooth codecs.
• It offers a battery life of up to 24 hours.
• The device is charged via a USB-C port.
• It includes a transparency mode feature.
• The device comes with built-in microphone and controls.
• It is available in three finishes: Black, White Smoke, and Sandstone.
• The device weighs 250 grams.

• These are in-canal earphones.
• They are true wireless earphones.
• They come with Bluetooth connectivity.
• They are water and sweat-resistant.
• They feature active noise cancellation.

Bose headphones claim a battery life of up to 24 hours with Immersive Audio turned off, and 18 hours with it on. Although, this is still less than Sony XM5’s 30 hours battery life.

Bose promises a battery life of 24 hours, or 18 hours when using the immersive audio feature.

The battery life is impressive, lasting nearly 28 hours in standardized tests, just shy of the category-leading Sony WH-1000XM5’s 31 hours.

The headphones have a compact, capacitive strip which is quite responsive and can be used for adjusting the volume.

In comparison with Sony XM5, the Bose headphones provide decent performance. However, Sony XM5 is better at producing clearer voice during calls and cancelling out background noise.

The Bose QC Ultra Headphones excel in noise cancellation, significantly reducing background noises during walks or commutes.

The Immersive Audio feature of Bose QuietComfort Ultra provides a varied experience, enhancing some tracks while sounding off with others. Utilizing the Immersive Audio feature, however, reduces the headphone’s total battery life by six hours.

The headphones deliver an impressive performance in terms of sound quality, providing precise and speedy beats with a defined texture.

The headphones are also able to present highs and lows with a sense of richness and refinement, as well as portray a real sense of dynamism with instruments, which can be very appealing to potential buyers.

The Bose QC Ultra Headphones also demonstrate versatility, handling tracks with care and painting an intimate, atmospheric picture with accurate timing.

They effectively suppress both low and high frequencies.

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra are priced significantly higher than its competitors such as the Sony WH-1000XM5, Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2e, and the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless, but lower than the Apple AirPods Max.

The Sony WH-1000XM5, a key rival to the Bose QuietComfort Ultra, offers a different sound experience with a leaner character and a more natural balance. The Bose, however, has a weightier bassline, though it sacrifices some transparency for richness and body.

Even though Sony’s WF-1000XM5 earphones have superior sound, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds provide the most effective noise cancellation.

The Bose QC Ultra earbuds offer a more comfortable and snug fit with their specially designed silicone ear tips, outshining the Sony XM5 in this aspect.

The Sony XM5 comes with superior comfort, and is significantly smaller than the Bose QC Ultra.

The Sony XM5 outperforms the Bose QC Ultra with wireless charging, superior battery life, hi-res audio streaming, and multi-point pairing, allowing simultaneous connection to two devices.

Sony’s head tracking and spatial audio features are limited to Xperia smartphones and Google Pixel phones.

The Sony XM5 has a limitation where all controls are not accessible unless both earbuds are used, which may be a disadvantage for those who prefer using a single earbud.

The Bose QC Ultra, on the other hand, offers mirrored controls for each earbud, allowing full control access even when using a single earbud. These controls include volume adjustments, play/pause, track skipping, and ANC toggling.

The Sony XM5 earbuds are more feature-rich compared to the Bose QC Ultra.

Despite having fewer features, the Bose QC Ultra’s active noise cancelling capability is more powerful than that of the Sony XM5.

The Sony XM5 offers superior sound quality and customization options for features and controls, making it a compelling alternative to the Bose QC Ultra.

While the Bose QC Ultra’s spatial audio and head tracking features work universally, the Sony XM5’s are limited to specific Android devices and apps.

Comparing Bose and Sony, some users found Bose to be more comfortable with superior noise cancelling, and had concerns over the durability of Sony’s foam ear tips.

Despite missing some minor components, Bose earbuds are appreciated for their sound quality and noise cancellation. Users also noted an improvement in software issues in the newer models.

According to some users, the sound quality and noise cancellation of Sony earbuds are highly dependent on the fit. Additionally, the ‘immersive mode’ in Sony earbuds requires a subscription and works with limited songs.

Bose headphones are praised for their brilliant sound quality and excellent active noise cancelling (ANC). However, some users have reported feeling dizzy and experiencing vertigo, leading to returns. Despite this, the sound quality of the Bose QC Ultra is missed when compared to other headphones like the Sony XM5.

The Bose QC Ultra’s noise floor is noticeably higher than the XM5s when the active noise cancelling is on and no audio is playing, making the XM5s a better choice for those who want to block out external noise without audio.

While not a major upgrade from the QC Earbuds 2 released in 2022, the QC Ultra Earbuds offer a slight improvement and should fit most ears well.

A comparison between the current QuietComfort and the QuietComfort Ultra reveals minor differences in layout and design, such as the switch and the headband. Both models are comparable in terms of weight.

Some users preferred Bose over Sony and AirPods due to better noise cancellation and comfort, despite using Apple devices. Sony’s poor audio and noise cancelling due to an improper seal in the ear was a common issue reported by users.

The Bose headphones are well-known for their superior sound quality and lasting durability. The QC 35 model, for instance, has provided excellent sound for over 7 years, with the only downside being its default setting to noise cancelling mode, which requires manual adjustment via the app.

Bose’s noise cancelling feature is highly regarded, even though some users prefer Sony for its added features and sound quality. However, there is a general anticipation to see if the new Bose headphones can surpass Sony’s performance.

After a Black Friday purchase, one user compared Bose to Sony’s XM4 model. They found Bose impressive for its spatial audio and clear sound, but lacking in bass richness. They found that boosting the bass resulted in significant volume reduction, especially for bass-heavy songs.

A comparative analysis between Bose QC Ultras and Sony XM4s could be interesting, considering both are ANC-equipped foldable headphones, though Sony’s model is older and significantly cheaper.

The headphones are excellent in terms of noise cancelling and comfort, but if you prioritize sound quality, Sennheiser’s Momentum 3 would be a better choice.

The Sennheiser Momentum 4’s latest firmware update significantly improves the sound quality, fixing the previous issue of sounding hollow and unimproved despite adjustments made on the in-app equalizer.

The headphones, priced at $379.99, are quite good and similar in sound quality to the Sennheiser Momentum 4, albeit with a slightly wider soundstage.

The QC45s can be upgraded from Bose for a reasonable price, especially when compared to the cost of the Ultras.

Upon testing the QC Ultra, they were found to be significantly more comfortable than the NC700, although the active noise cancelling feature is quite similar.

The QC Ultra offers a slightly improved sound quality, with more bass, when compared to the NC700.

The QC Ultra provides a richer sound than the NC700, possibly due to the use of Apt-X technology. It also has more bass, detail, and seems to have a higher fidelity. Comfort is also improved, reducing fatigue experienced with the NC700. Voice mic pick up is similar or potentially better with the QC Ultra. Despite not feeling as premium as some other models, the QC Ultra offers improved comfort and folds for convenience. It is excellent and satisfying, but may leave users wanting a higher fidelity phone like the PX8. However, the active noise cancelling on the PX8 is less effective compared to the NC700.

Some users have decided against upgrading from the 700 model, citing marginal improvements in noise cancellation and decreased call quality.

The PX8 offers superior sound quality but has poorer active noise cancelling compared to the NC700.

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra is available on Amazon for $429.

These earbuds are available for $299 at Bose.

These earbuds are available for $299 at Amazon.

These earbuds are available for $299 at Best Buy.

They are available on Amazon for $299.00.

These headphones, which were on sale for $315, are very comfortable and of excellent quality.

While the headphones can be used for gym activities such as weight lifting, the sliding adjustment mechanism might not be suitable for different exercises, causing some users to prefer other models like the QCs.

Common issues with newly released Bose headphones tend to be resolved with firmware updates over time.

Bose earbuds are comfortable to wear but some users have reported issues with static noise in the left earbud.

A user reported that despite the excellent ANC and good sound quality, the build quality of their Bose headphones was disappointing. Issues like a creaking plastic headband and soft ‘thunk’ sounds when moving the head were mentioned. The touch slider for volume was also criticized for its lack of smoothness and accidental operation. Despite these issues, the superior ANC might be a reason for keeping the headphones.

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds support Immersive Audio, but the experience is not as satisfying, feeling more like listening to speakers while wearing headphones. There are also some channel balance issues that affect the perception of 3D space.

The headphones are currently considered overpriced, but a significant price drop is expected in the coming months due to the diminishing returns law in terms of value for money.

Neither the QC nor the QC Ultra headphones come with a no noise cancellation mode.