Bose Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen review: Chunky design and amazing ANC technology
By John.Higgins | Published: 2025-10-31 13:00:00 | Source: The Verge
Bose has built its recent reputation on noise-cancelling performance, offering best-in-class for two decades, since launching its QuietComfort headphones in 2000. But Sony and Apple caught up in 2023, and the race has gone back and forth since then. The $299 Bose QuietComfort Ultra 2nd Generation Earbuds aim to lead the competition again, this time with improvements to sound and call quality, both of which have been an issue for QC earbuds in the past.
While the gap between “great” and “best” noise cancellation narrows with each new iteration of the earbuds, Bose has somehow continued to improve. The noise cancellation on the second-generation Ultra Earbuds is exceptional. Its attenuation of particularly low-frequency sounds virtually eliminates the distraction of aircraft engines, especially with the addition of music or dialogue from the movie.
Noise canceling technology also eliminates loud conversations at a café or on the street. They don’t completely eliminate the chatter around you (and no noise-cancelling earbuds exist), but they do reduce sound significantly. And unlike the AirPods Pro 3, the Bose ANC headphones don’t have a high-quality hiss. The high level of noise cancellation can make the Bose feel almost alarmingly isolated, but it’s impressive nonetheless.
If the highest level of noise cancellation seems too much, the Bose app allows for intensity adjustment — a control absent from the AirPods — in 11 steps, including full on and full off. You’ll need to create a custom listening mode to get the adjustable ANC feature, as the built-in presets (Quiet, Aware, Immersion and Cinema) are locked with this option, but once you do, you can adapt to taste. It’s easy to add a preset. Simply press the ‘+’ button in the modes menu, choose from 10 different names – including navigation, music and playback – adjust the intensity of noise cancellation and set up immersive sound. The settings you choose are not locked and can be changed as necessary.
Bose has improved the way the QuietComfort Ultra 2nd Gen handles Transparency Mode, or Aware Mode, as it’s called in the app. On most earbuds, including previous QuietComfort models, Transparency Mode lets in all the sounds around you, making it seem like you don’t have the earbuds on, so you can hear your surroundings and conversations. However, the 2nd Generation Ultra still cuts low frequencies while in Aware mode, allowing your ear to better focus on sounds. Listening to the barista’s questions while ordering my coffee is easier because the sound of background music isn’t there.
In previous Bose earbuds, I found call quality to be subpar, struggling even in light breezes. While testing the QuietComfort Earbuds II a few years ago, a car alarm a block and a half away caused the person on the other end of my call to scream in pain. The 2nd generation Ultra does not have these issues, although Bose adapts to external noise, it affects my voice quality a little, so my voice is not as pure and clear. The ANC was able to block most of the exceptionally loud sports cars that revved their engines as they passed, though it caused a bit of pressure that seemed unnatural, according to a friend in the audio industry on the other side of my call. When I listened back to the recording I made outside, I could hear the compression adding a raspy quality to my voice. This harshness was not present in the recording made inside my home as there was no need for noise suppression.
Although the 2nd generation Ultra doesn’t compete with Apple or Sony on call quality, their performance is as good as they need to be. “Earbuds let you sound like you,” my audio industry friend commented during the call. He could tell by the pressure whether I was outside or inside, but the change wasn’t enough to keep him out of the conversation.
When playing music, the second-generation Ultra sounds similar to the last few iterations of Bose earbuds. The bass is a bit heavy, and the higher frequencies are overemphasized on certain tracks. Soul Coughing’s “Super Bon Bon.” Irresistible bliss It includes a lot of metal and industrial sounds to help build the song throughout, which can become exhausting at higher volume levels. However, there is nothing bad about the Bose sound, and the majority of people are sure to enjoy it.
There are EQ controls in the app, but they’re not very useful, only allowing three-band adjustments on bass, mids, and treble. Lowering the treble while listening to the Soul Coughing track tamed the high end a bit, but also took some of the life out of the song.
There’s an immersive audio option in the app designed to “enhance your content and add depth.” As with Apple Spatial Audio, there’s a default speaker position that can follow your head position, so the front of the soundstage is always the direction you’re facing, as with regular audio cues, but with a bit more virtual depth. It can also be fixed. In this case, turning to the left will move the center of the sound to your right ear, as would happen if you were listening to a band in a club and turned to talk to your friend. In both modes, there’s extra depth forward, but not much further. I preferred it.
The design of Bose’s earbuds has barely changed since the QuietComfort Earbuds II in 2022, and that’s their biggest flaw. The QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen case now supports wireless charging, which is a welcome addition, but beyond that, there’s not much difference. The case is about three-quarters of an inch longer than the AirPods Pro 3 case and just over an inch longer than the Sony WF-1000XM5 case.
The earbuds’ bulbous bodies extend beyond the ears and don’t look or feel as sleek as their competitors. The overall shape makes it difficult to handle. Even getting a grip to remove it from the charging case can be difficult – A problem I encountered with the design Since it was introduced. The wide capacitive surface of the touch controls is vulnerable to accidental clicks while changing their position. Touch controls can be disabled in the app, but this also takes away the convenience.
The buds come with three tips and three wings to customize the fit, and they remained secure in my ears throughout testing. It may feel a little uncomfortable after a few hours, but with a battery life of up to six hours – which is only average – long listening sessions will require a charge, allowing your ears to get a short rest. A quick 20-minute charge gives you 2 hours of listening, while it takes 2 hours to fully charge the battery. (The case, which now has wireless charging capability, holds enough charge for up to 18 additional hours of listening, for 24 hours total.) They’re not workout earbuds; They have an IPX4 rating, which is splash protection, so be careful using them for more than light exercise. (The condition has never been rated.)
Even without drastic design changes, improved noise cancellation, Aware mode performance, better call quality, and the addition of wireless charging to the case keep the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen in the discussion as one of the best pairs of noise-canceling earbuds. I’d even put them above the AirPods Pro 3 when it comes strictly to ANC performance (the AirPods are still better all-around, especially for Apple users). Do I wish Bose would update the design to be smaller, easier to handle, and with better battery life? definitely. But until then, the Ultra 2nd Gen earbuds are an excellent choice for non-Apple users, frequent travelers, or anyone looking for a break from our busy, noisy world.
Photography by John Higgins/The Verge
(tags for translation) Audio
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