Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2 review: The new benchmark for noise cancellation
Bose is back with its most effective noise-canceling earbuds yet — a major upgrade that’s smaller, sounds better and could top Sony.
Priced at £280 ($279 / AUD430), the QuietComfort Earbuds II sit at the high end of the market, competing head-to-head with Apple’s AirPods Pro and Sony’s WF-1000XM4.
The new earphones are 30% smaller, much lighter and more discreet than their predecessors. They have short, flat stems that curve out toward your mouth, making them look like old-fashioned Bluetooth headsets.
Very comfortable and stable in ear, they come with three sizes of silicone ear tips and three sizes of stabilization wings that can be mixed and matched to get the perfect fit. The Bose Music app can perform a fit test to make sure your ear fits properly.
Each stem is touch sensitive for playback, noise cancellation, and well-functioning swipe volume controls. Remove a bud and the music pauses and goes into transparency mode.
The earbuds last for around six hours of playback and snap magnetically into the flip-top case. The case can fully charge the earbuds three times. It’s much smaller and more pocketable than its predecessor, but still 50% larger than the best on the market.
Specifications
- water resistance: Sweat Resistant (IPX4)
- Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.3, SBC, AAC
- battery life: 6 hours (up to 24 hours with suitcase)
- Dimensions earplugs: 17.2 x 30.5 x 22.4 mm
- Weight earplugs: 6.24 grams each
- Dimensions of Charging Case: 59.4 x 66.3 x 26.7 mm
- Charging Case Weight: 59.8 g
- Charging Case: usb-c
premium noise cancellation
The earbuds calibrate their sound and noise-cancelation to your ears every time you put them on, play a brief fiddle strumming when you put them on, and use a microphone to measure the size of your ear canal Let’s use
It’s hard to say whether this makes a significant difference as you can’t take it off, but the earbuds certainly sound better than their predecessors and have the most effective in-ear noise cancellation I’ve tested.
They significantly reduce the all-too-common low-pitched rumble, hum, and boom managed by rivals, but they also do a better job of reducing mid-range and high-pitched tones, which active noise-cancelation manages to manage. are the most difficult for , Conversation, keyboard clicks, and other high-pitched sounds are more effectively masked and perform nearly as well as the best large over-ear noise-canceling headphones. They also tolerate wind noise very well, which can’t be said about all competitors.
Noise cancellation levels can be adjusted using a variety of user-configurable modes, from maximum blocking to full focus. The transparency mode is also pretty cool and has a feature similar to the current AirPods Pro 2, automatically reducing sudden and very loud noises so you’re not overwhelmed by the screeching of train wheels, for example.
lots of bass
Audio quality has also improved. This retains the Bose’s clean and controlled sound, which can come across as a bit clinical in some more unsophisticated genres, but in general they work well with a wide range of music styles.
They’re very bass-heavy at the default settings, which is almost too much at times. A quick tweak of the equalizer in the Bose Music app balances them out a bit to make it a tad lower. Otherwise they have good mid-range detail with slightly muted highs, making them easy listening earbuds. However, they don’t sound as good as the best from Sony or Sennheiser.
Call quality is good, my voice came through loud and clear in quiet environments and was still audible on the road, with just a faint background noise happening in very noisy places.
The earphones support standard Bluetooth 5.3 along with universal audio formats SBC and AAC. When used with a variety of phones, tablets and computers, the earbuds generally had a strong and stable connection, even in rough environments such as train stations, but occasionally dropped when unlocking the phone goes.
The Bose Buds only connect to one device at a time, but can switch between up to six paired devices. Only the right earbud can be used for calls.
sustainability
Bose estimates the batteries will last more than 500 full charge cycles, but they’re not replaceable and the earbuds aren’t currently repairable, ultimately making them disposable.
Some parts are available including the earbuds (£15) and charging case (£90). The earbuds don’t contain any recycled materials. Bose offers a discount for returning defective products. It does not publish environmental impact reports on individual products, but does publish annual sustainability reports.
worth
The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II cost £279.95 ($279/A$429.95) and come in black or white.
To compare: the Sony WF-1000XM4 is £159, the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 is £220, the Google Pixel Buds Pro is £179, the Beats Fit Pro is £220, the Apple AirPods Pro 2 is £249 and nothing in-ear ( 1) costs £149.
Decision
The second version of Bose’s QuietComfort earbuds are a major upgrade compared to their predecessors.
They are smaller, lighter, more discreet and easier to set up and transport. They have good controls, solid battery life, and are stable and comfortable to wear for long periods of time. They sound better with good, easy-listening audio and plenty of bass, though they still have Bose’s signature “clean” sound that can’t match the sonic highs of the best devices available.
The most impressive thing is the noise cancellation: they set a new benchmark, reducing unwanted noise more than any other earbud, including annoying high-range sounds like voices.
They are expensive compared to rivals, so shop around. Although spare parts are available, they cannot be repaired and batteries cannot be replaced, eventually making them disposable and losing a star.
the gain: Best-in-class adjustable noise cancellation, solid battery life, decent body, good sound, adjustable and comfortable, sweat resistant, good controls, decent call quality.
Harm: Expensive, only SBC and AAC, no high quality audio formats, no multipoint connectivity, only the right earbud can be used alone.