Bose
Bose Ultra Open Earbuds
The best-sounding open-ear product, full stop. These 6.4g cuffs clip onto the edge of your ear like jewelry — nothing touches your ear canal — yet Bose wrings out more bass than any hook or band design manages. aptX Adaptive and Snapdragon Sound sweeten the deal on Android, and multipoint arrived via firmware update after a rocky launch without it. The catches: Immersive Audio (Bose's spatial mode) is genuinely fun but cuts battery from 7.5 hours to about 4.5, IPX4 is the weakest water rating in the sports category, and the case has no wireless charging. Some ears find the cuff pinchy after a few hours, and the fit takes a day to learn. Launched at $299; at today's ~$199 they're much easier to recommend. Leakage is low for open-ear, but a quiet office will still hear you.
Specifications
Highlights
Pros
- ✓Best sound of any open-ear product, period
- ✓6.4g cuffs clip on like jewelry — canal stays empty
- ✓aptX Adaptive and Snapdragon Sound for Android
- ✓Multipoint added via firmware after rocky launch
- ✓Lowest leakage in the open-ear category
- ✓$100 cheaper than its $299 launch price
Cons
- ✗Immersive Audio drops battery from 7.5 to 4.5 hours
- ✗IPX4 is the weakest rating among sports rivals
- ✗Cuff turns pinchy on some ears after hours
- ✗Fit takes a day or two to learn
- ✗No wireless charging case at $199
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This is the QC45's successor and the sensible Bose: physical buttons instead of touch surfaces, a design that folds flat and small, 240g of legacy QuietComfort comfort, and about 90% of the Ultra's noise cancellation for roughly $229 on sale (from a $349 list). Owners love that it just works — clicky buttons you can find with gloves on, adjustable ANC modes, and a 3.5mm jack for airplane systems. What you give up versus the Ultra line: no Immersive Audio, no aptX (SBC/AAC only), Bluetooth 5.1, and a plasticky build that creaks a little if you flex it. The 24-hour battery is fine but behind the pack, and the sound is classic polite Bose — smooth, a bit soft in the treble, helped by the app's simple 3-band EQ. A boring, excellent commuter headphone.
Nobody seriously disputes that these have the strongest noise cancellation you can put in your ears — low rumble just vanishes, and the CustomTune calibration means it works across different ear shapes. The second gen fixed the first gen's most annoying gaps: the case finally charges wirelessly, multipoint is on board, and AI noise suppression cleaned up what used to be mediocre call quality. What Bose didn't fix: 6 hours of battery is behind Sony and Technics, and running Immersive Audio knocks it down near 4. At 7.7g per bud they're chunky, and people with smaller ears feel it on long sessions. No LDAC either — aptX Adaptive on supported Androids, AAC otherwise. Sound is punchy and pleasant rather than audiophile-precise, and the app EQ is a basic three-band affair. Buy them for the silence; everything else is merely good.
The October 2025 refresh of Bose's flagship trades the first gen's 24-hour battery for a proper 30 hours, adds USB-C lossless audio, and keeps the noise cancellation that trades blows with Sony's XM6 — many owners still call Bose the champ on airplane drone. CustomTune calibrates ANC to your ears every time you put them on, and Immersive Audio is genuinely convincing, though running it drops battery to about 23 hours. The catches owners cite: there's no true 'ANC fully off' mode (Aware or Quiet, always processing), the Bose app remains the flakiest of the big three with occasional firmware-update drama, and the mostly plastic build feels less premium than the $369-449 price suggests. Bass is tuned politely compared to Sony. If long-haul noise floor is your top priority, this is still the safest pick in the category.