Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) Review

Design

• New ear-tip guard to protect against earwax
• Comfortable fit and seal
• New finish

I’m sure Bose will point to some design changes for its latest flagship earbud, but if there are any, they’re so subtle that I can’t tell.

At best, the only visible difference is that there’s a guard on the ear-tips to stop earwax from burying in (the previous model had an indentation).

Otherwise, these are the same shape, size, look, fit – what have you – as before. I feel Bose has finally sorted out any lingering issues with the fit and comfort of the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen. The stability bands ensure the buds fit well and are comfortable to wear over long periods. These are the most comfortable Bose headphones I’ve worn so far.

Like the cheaper QuietComfort Earbuds, you only get small, medium and large ear-tips to affect the fit. Like previous efforts, these buds come with IPX4 protection against splashes of water and sweat. Bowers & Wilkins Pi6 offer stronger protection at IP54, while the AirPods Pro 3 are IP57, which makes them better options for sweatier workouts.

These earbuds integrate capacitive touch controls and the silver glossy surface of the buds makes for a nice way of interacting with them, though some mishits still happen. A tap to pause audio can be interpreted as a slide up and down to alter volume.

The charging case is the same size – a bit taller and deeper than some, but easy enough to fit into a pocket. Colours come in a choice of black, white and an enticing plum colour.

Battery Life

• Same battery life
• Wireless charging support

Specs-wise, Bose has decided against any changes to battery life. At six hours, that’s less than the Sony WF-1000XM5 (eight), AirPods Pro 3 (eight) and JBL Tour Pro 3 (10). Enable Immersive Audio and it falls to four.

In the tests I carried out, listening to a Spotify playlist for two hours with ANC on; the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2^nd Gen fell to 60%. 20% an hour would confirm a battery life that’s more five hours rather than six, which is a little disappointing in 2025.

There is wireless charging support and a 20-minute charge over USB-C provides another two hours

Features

• Snapdragon Sound
• Bluetooth multi-point
• Bose app

Despite the 2^nd Gen moniker, there’s a familiarity about the QC Ultra 2 Earbuds that at times makes it feel like a small upgrade. It’s still Bluetooth 5.3, but there’s multi-point support out of the box for connecting to two devices simultaneously.

SBC, AAC, and aptX Adaptive (Snapdragon Sound) are supported, while there’s Google Fast Pair for a quick connection to Android devices, Bose SimpleSync to connect to other Bose devices; and Spotify Tap, so you can access your favourite tunes/playlist at the tap of a button.

The Bluetooth performance is superb as it has been with previous earbuds. Walking through Waterloo and Victoria train stations, there hasn’t been an issue in terms of the connection. Similar to Bowers & Wilkins earbuds, the only tell-tale sign you can hear is a slight contraction of the soundstage when the connection is under pressure.

The Bose app is the same sleek experience that enables some simple customisation of QC Ultra II Earbuds. You’ve got a three-band EQ (bass, mids, treble) for altering the sound; noise-cancelling modes (you can create your own too).

Switch on Immersive Audio that adds depth to stereo tracks, and there’s the ability to create shortcuts (one on each earbud). There’s also an Earbud Seal test that manually runs Bose’s CustomTune algorithm (it does this automatically when you put the buds in). It’ll deliver, in Bose’s words, “the best personalized sound and noise-cancellation” for your ears.

Noise Cancellation

• Even better ANC than before
• Bose ActiveSense
• SpeechClarity for calls

The noise-cancellation is even better than before. At first, it seems difficult to hear if there is much of a difference between the 2^nd gen and the first Ultra Earbuds; but a pink noise test clarifies it is better at suppressing noises. Compared to the Technics AZ100, it bests that headphone too.

It’s almost dead silent wearing these earbuds outdoors and on public transport. Much like goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois for Real Madrid, not much manages to get past the imposing ANC frame that Bose puts up. People chatting nearby aren’t particularly noticeable – on a bus and train it’s a very quiet experience. On a plane it’s the quietest experience I can recall. There’s not a better noise-cancelling earbud available than these Bose at this moment.

They do, however, suffer from some slight wind noise when it gets blustery.

The Aware mode offers the same clarity, detail and natural-sound through its microphones of the outside world as before. I’ve mentioned this before with Bose earbuds, but it’s as close to the feeling of not wearing them at all. It’s a step up from the competition.

Bose claims it’s made improvements to its ActiveSense system when the buds are in Aware mode. It smooths out spikes in background sounds so they don’t mask what you’re listening to. It’s a bit difficult to test, but on a train, the sound of trains going past never overwhelmed the music I was listening to. Sounds like a thumbs up to me.

Call quality has been a bugbear of mine with previous Bose earbuds. I’ve seen other websites praise the call quality of older models, but I can’t understand why. Voice pick-up has been good, but background noise has been so loud that the person on the other end was complaining about the banging and crashing on my end.

It seems like Bose has finally fixed it with the 2^nd Gen.

Pick-up of my voice is strong, but where this model improves is isolating my voice from what’s around me. Walking through Canary Wharf and there was none of the weird ‘waves crashing’ noise. Intrusions were minimal apart from a few people picked up as they walked by. This is as good as you can get, which makes them a compelling alternative to the Technics AZ100.

Sound Quality

• More detailed highs
• Slightly reduced bass
• Clearer midrange

The Bose identity for its ‘sound’ has changed since the QuietComfort Earbuds. Gone is the sharp, more neutral approach, replaced by a smoother, more mainstream one. These 2^nd Gen Ultra Earbuds continue on the latter path, though with what seem to be a few nips and tucks.

There’s no mention of any changes to the audio in the official press release, and having both the first and second gen models to hand, there are times where I feel as if I’m getting the headphone version of The Mandela Effect where I think I hear something that’s possibly not there. The changes are subtle, but it results in extracting just a bit more performance.

Let’s start with the low frequencies. Listening to Jain’s Makeba through both pairs and the bass pretty much sounds the same, but after a few listens it’s present that bass isn’t quite as thumping as before. It’s still rich and weighty but the bass isn’t as boomy, with the QC Ultra II Earbuds striking a slightly better balance.

With Warren G’s Regulate, the lows don’t come across quite as powerfully (I had to check the volume was the same on both earbuds to be sure). There’s a little less of an attempt at reproducing the track’s sub-bass, which might be taken as a negative. But the uptick is a little more clarity while maintaining power to the lows.

The midrange seems to have undergone tweaks too. The new earbuds take on a similar tone, the soundstage is described in much the same way with Fly Me to the Moon, but Frank Sinatra’s voice sounds a smidge clearer and refined. It helps that there’s less signal noise coming through than there was with the previous model.

With Lake Street Drive’s Hypotheticals, Bose’s typical full-bodied approach to sound remains intact, but the instruments in that track are slightly more defined – there’s a little more insight and detail that the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds II pick up on. Rachael Price’s vocals sound like they’re a little more isolated from the rest of the track too, providing more space for her impressive voice to stand out more rather than sit on the same level as the instruments.

With highs, this new generation of Bose headphones hasn’t been as bright as the older models, but this 2^nd Gen pair sound like a step up. They don’t sound as bright in tone as the previous buds, but there’s more detail and a greater sense of definition.

It also sounds a bit more natural. There’s a slight fuzziness I pick up with the original Ultra Earbuds, a vague sense of detail that isn’t present on these new buds.

These tweaks, while not massive, result in a more confident and truer sound. They’re the best-sounding Bose earbuds I’ve tested. But how do they fare against another top pair?

Against the Technics EAH-AZ100, they’re not quite as clear with the treble nor as forceful with the bass. To me, the AZ100 elicit more detail from tracks as well as sound a little more natural; while their sense of dynamism feels more fluid than the Bose’s flatter approach. These Bose are an excellent listen, but I think the Technics edge them.

The Immersive Audio feature remains interesting if still not quite essential. It widens the soundstage and adds more depth, placing voices at the forefront of the soundstage. But there’s still more clarity and detail to be heard in stereo playback. In Immersive mode music sounds both smoother (reducing detail levels) and vocals sound thinner (sound a little less natural and echoey).

It’s a cool trick with the head-tracking features, especially the sensation of having audio feel like it’s all in front of you. Is it the way I’d like to listen to music? The answer is still not really.

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Should you buy it?