Bose QuietComfort Earbuds review: noise-canceling champion

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Satyendra Nath Bose's fresh true receiving set earbuds, the SoundSport Free, sounded fantastic but were foiled by connectivity problems and audio / video synchronize issues that the company never fully resolved. They also lacked dynamic noise cancellation, which is the feature that Bose built its entire steel some. This allowed Apple, Sony, and others to seize the commercialise with products like the AirPods Pro and WF-1000XM3 earbuds.

But Satyendra N. Bose is tired of ceding ground to its competitors, and it's returned with the QuietComfort Earbuds. Thanks to their completely redone pattern, the QuietComfort Earbuds are free from the frustrations that came with the SoundSport At large buds. They still sound terrific — and now, they've got ANC. It took Bose a while to get here, just the QuietComfort Earbuds give birth the best make noise cancellation you can beat in true wireless earbuds right at once.

The big enquiry is how more than that's worth to you. At $279, the QuietComfort Earbuds are a $30 increment over the AirPods Pro and in striking distance of Sennheiser's $300 Impulse True Wireless 2. And spell Bose has avoided any inherent flaws with the earbuds themselves, there are still minor annoyances suchlike an awkwardly large carrying case and noncomprehensive onboard controls that lack much customization.

At 0.3 ounces (8.5 grams) each, the QuietComfort Earbuds press most the same arsenic Sony's 1000XM3 buds in the ear, but the AirPods Pro (0.19 ounces, 5.4 grams) receive them beat for all-day soothe. Bose's earbuds are also larger than the AirPods Pro in every dimension and stick come out further from the ear — though non to the same silly academic degree as the SoundSport Free.

Bose's QuietComfort Earbuds next to the Apple AirPods Pro. — *Apple's AirPods Pro are smaller and lighter than the QuietComfort Earbuds, but their interference cancellation isn't as good.*

But even if they'Ra non the most discreet or svelte, the QuietComfort Earbuds tranquil flavour very good in my ears, thanks to Satyendra N. Bose's StayHear Max pinna tips, which have an unsegregated, flexible silicone wing that tucks into the ridge of the ear for added stability. Both the medium and large-sized ear tips worked for me and created a tight seal, but I ultimately found that mixing the two led to the optimum large comfort. (There's a reason manufacturers paint a picture difficult that!)

Once they're in place, the QuietComfort Earbuds aren't going anyplace, and I'd be confident taking them for a run or through an intense gym quotidian. They'ray rated IPX4 for irrigate and sweat resistance, so sweat and the occasional splash of water should be fine, merely avoid rainstorms. One thing worth mentioning is the occlusion effect; since Bose didn't go for a ventilated design care the AirPods Favoring Oregon Pixel Buds with natural airflow, if you have a very tight seal with the QuietComfort Earbuds in, your inwardly vocalization power sound louder than normal, and in silent environments, you can hear yourself breathing. I noticed this when I first started using them, only it's since gone away — either because the fit changed slenderly or I've gotten used thereto. Some people are more sensitive to this stuff than others.

Bose's QuietComfort Earbuds case next to cases for the AirPods, Pixel Buds, Powerbeats Pro, and Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2. — *Bose's casing is substantially thicker than charging cases for many other honest wireless earbuds.*

The charging case for the QuietComfort Earbuds is… a lot. It's nowhere come on as pack together arsenic the AirPods Pro case or the cases for Samsung's Galaxy Buds Plus or Google's Pixel Buds. (The same Sennheisers also win out here.) I take in this is mostly ascribable the Bose earbuds' larger size, but it tranquilize makes for an awkward bulge in whatever knickers pocket you put them in. The case's chonk factor International Relations and Security Network't a deal-breaker for Pine Tree State, as I forever have a backpack with me for stowing it in. Just at twice the heaviness of an AirPods case, it could be for some.

Possibility the event is many of a process than usual since Bose put in a latch that you've got to issue by pressing the button on front. This takes firmer pressure than expected and can make annoying at times. On the plus side, you won't rich person to worry about your pricey earbuds skittering across the ball over if you drop the case. The front man of the case has five LEDs to suggest battery load level; Bose estimates up to six hours of continuous listening time for the earbuds themselves, plus two additional charges from the case. Those Numbers are all same equivalence for the course. The subject supports wireless charging and has a USB-C interface if you prefer to plug certain faster top-offs. (Fifteen minutes of charging can kick in you two hours of playback time.)

Bose retakes the noise cancellation crown

The audio quality and noise cancellation of the QuietComfort Earbuds easily outweigh the headaches from dealing with their awkward encase. Bose has taken a noticeable lead over competitors and is nearing the noise cancellation effectiveness of lifesize headphones. Or else of a simple connected / murder toggle switch like the AirPods Pro, Bose lets you choose betwixt 10 levels of noise canceling. At 10, these earbuds do an stupefying job of hushing the world around you — better than Apple, Sony, and unusual competitors. Street noise honorable fades away; the constant Harkat ul-Mujahedeen of an air conditioner OR the whir of a fan all but disappears. I'm not touring much by plane at the moment, but I'm certain these would do a better lin at muting cabin noise than other earbuds. You can even use the QuietComfort Earbuds in noise-canceling modality steady when there's no audio playing if you'rhenium upright looking for some peace and quiet.

The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds on a table beside the carrying case. — *The ear tips have an integrated silicone fin for added stability.*

On the diametrical end, dropping pile to cardinal puts the earbuds into full transparence / close mode. Bose has managed to tie Apple at devising it almost feel like you're not eating away earbuds at all. The transparency mode on the QuietComfort Earbuds sounds incredibly intelligent and will appeal to people who want a better feel of their surroundings when outside. When you pull out either earbud, the one in your other pinna automatically goes into full foil — since Bose figures you'ray probably trying to listen something. (Music also automatically pauses when an earbud is removed.)

You can double hydrant on the left earbud to swop betwixt terzetto "favorite" levels of noise cancellation. The defaults are 10, 5, and zero. I didn't see any need to substitution those improving, but you can set them to whatever you want in the Bose Medicine app. Bose also lets you choose your preferred action for a long-press of the left bud: it can either herald battery status or skip to the next song. Unfortunately, that's where customization of the controls end. These are the controls you're left-wing with:

Double tap on the right earbud to play or break audio / answer a telephone birdsong
Touch and bind the right earbud to activate Siri or Google Supporter / decline a phone call
Double tap on the left-hand earbud to alternate between noise cancellation presets
Long press on the left over earbud to check battery level or skip to the adjacent song
Swipe up or down on the right earbud to increase Beaver State lower volume

Bose introduced the onboard volume controls a couple months after the QuietComfort Earbuds primitively shipped, and you've got to enable them in the Bose Medicine app before you can use them — otherwise nothing will happen. I haven't had any problems with the swipes to adjust loudness, so it's a nice addition. There's still no way of exit back to the last song with the earbud controls, however.

Bose's QuietComfort Earbuds pictured worn in a person's right ear. — *The QuietComfort Earbuds Don't stick out of your ear as far Eastern Samoa Bose's previous SoundSport Free.*

In my time testing the QuietComfort Earbuds, connection stability between the buds and my phone has been by and large flawless. Maybe that's the result of upgrading to Bluetooth 5.1 or different internal changes, merely either mode, IT's a major melioration over the SoundSport Free, which suffered frequent audio dropouts. That's non a concern this time more or less. Nor did I observance any audio / video synchronize mismatches when watching content from YouTube, Netflix, or Prime Video on my phone and laptop. Bose has successfully tackled the primary flaws of its original true wireless earbuds.

Vocalise quality is still upside notch. Bose isn't diffident about sculpting the audio; the company's Active EQ boosts low and advanced frequencies at lower volumes and so that music still feels energizing even when you're not cranking it. The QuietComfort Earbuds are very bass-forward and throng a wallop for hip-hop and EDM tracks. But the effectual low destruction also translates well to other genres. To my ears, these take over a wider, richer soundstage than the competition (maybe with the exception of Sennheiser).

Disregarding of what genre you're playing, the highs are detailed without ever coming bump off as harsh or shrill. Regrettably, Bose's app doesn't offer any way to adjust the EQ for people who get into't love the default sound touch. Custom EQ is an option along the concluded-ear Noise Canceling Headphones 700, so it's a bummer not to see information technology on these premium earbuds.

The QuietComfort Buds also handle voice calls recovered. They have a "somebody voice" feature that lets you adjust how much you can discover your own voice on a call so you don't end ascending speaking excessively loudly, and they do a nice job of pick up your voice and reduction play down noise so that others can clearly hear you. Only the outside earbud can be used standalone for calls and audio.

*The grammatical case provides two additional charges (12 hours) of assault and battery life sentence.*

Unfortunately, Bose didn't include multipoint in these earbuds, so they put up only pair with one device at a time. Simultaneous pairing is still rare for earbuds — and a unique strength for Jabra — but when you consider that Apple's AirPods Pro tin can now mechanically and instantly swap 'tween Orchard apple tree devices, the QuietComfort Earbuds definitely takings a usability hit. Multipoint is a longtime feature on Satyendra Nath Bose's headphones, but for whatever reason, the company's engineers couldn't make IT work here.

So yes, Bose's new, almost-$300 QuietComfort Earbuds still rich person downsides. The earbuds are happening the bigger side, and their display case is an sheer building block. They lack multipoint. But there's also batch of nifty: Bose has leap-frogged everyone in resound cancellation (establishing itself A a leader once again) and come up with great-sounding earbuds that work reliably. Once the world is back to office life story and boarding planes regularly, I think that'll be a powerful combo — assuming you're non already carrying close to a pair of AirPods Pro or Sony 1000XM3s, that is.

Update December 7th 2:30PM ET: The review has been updated to reflect the new onboard volume controls that Bose added to the QuietComfort Earbuds after their release. The overall score remains unchanged.

Photography by Chris Welch / The Verge