This Bose QuietComfort Earbuds Review will demonstrate a great pair of headphones that will comfortably fit your ears while providing excellent sound quality.
- Noise cancelling earbuds – Engineered with the world-class noise cancelling. Bose controllable noise cancellation and full Transparency Mode allow you to eliminate distractions, let your surroundings in, or a little bit of each..Note : If the size of the earbud tips does not match the size of your ear canals or the headset is not worn properly in your ears, you may not obtain the correct sound qualities or call performance. Change the earbud tips to ones that fit more snugly in your ears
- High-fidelity audio – An exclusive acoustic architecture brings your music, podcasts, and videos to life, while Volume-optimized Active EQ keeps the sound crisp and balanced at any level.
- Comfortable wireless earbuds – Three sizes of StayHear Max eartips are included for a secure fit. Crafted from soft silicone, they provide passive noise blocking with total comfort.
- Simple touch controls – It’s as easy as tap, swipe, or press. Control your noise cancellation settings, pause, play, and volume right from the side of the earbud itself. Enable it all in the Bose Music app.
- Noise-rejecting microphones – Tiny microphones work together to focus on your voice, filtering out surrounding noises for fewer distractions during phone calls.
They sound fantastic and offer possibly the best noise cancellation for wireless. However, they’re not as discreet or as comfortable as the AirPods Pro – or as effective for calling.
It took Bose some time to bring them into shops. However, the latest $279 (PS250 or $400 AU) noise-canceling QuietComfort Earbuds have finally arrived. They’re top-quality wireless earbuds for various reasons, especially regarding their sound quality and noise-canceling. They are arguably the most effective available in a set of earbuds.
They have the edge over Apple’s most popular AirPods Pro genuine wireless noise-canceling buds in terms of performance. But the AirPods Pro’s less compact appearance, slightly more comfortable fit, and superior voice calling features make it difficult to call the Bose the ultimate winner. It all depends on what you’re looking for in a pair. They’ve lasted the test of time against other wireless headphones, which have been released in the time since we looked at them back in October, and their noise cancellation is top of the line.
LIKE
- Top-of-the-line noise canceling in transparency mode
- Top-notch sound
- Fits snugly and comfortably.
- Rock-solid wireless connection
- Decent battery life for noise-canceling headphones (up for up to 6 hours)
- wireless charging (and USB-C)
- Voice quality with the sidetone “self voice” feature
- IPX4 splash-resistant
DON’T LIKE
- Buds are pretty big (they can extend from your ears)
- Calls with less noise could be improved
- A bit expensive
The best noise-canceling
Let’s start with noise cancellation. Bose was the standard in active noise canceling. However, Sony and other brands have stepped up their noise-canceling capabilities recently. These QuietComfort Earbuds, formerly known as the Bose Noise Canceling 700 Earbuds, aren’t a disappointment in this regard. As I said, they’re possibly the best wireless earbuds to block out noise.
Three noise-canceling options include a transparency mode that allows sound to pass through—the number “0” on the settings by tapping the left earbud with the controls on the touchscreen. When they are at their maximum, the earbuds did a superior in muffling the sound to AirPods Pro and Sony WF-1000XM3, the leader in noise-canceling in this category.
Bose QuietComfort Earbuds A larger design comes with pluses and negatives
I didn’t bring the Bose headphones on a plane, as did many people. I’m not flying on planes these days. I have an air conditioner inside my apartment. It’s loud and does an excellent job of resembling the sound of an airplane. I used the QuietComfort Earbuds almost to eliminate the sound of the fan. The Sony and the AirPods Pro did an excellent job of reducing the sound. However, the Bose did a better job.
I also utilized them in walking around New York to impressive effect. They won’t eliminate sound, but you’ll feel pretty safe from the outside world. It’s worth noting that, for safety reasons, many users use the transparency mode while walking around the city to listen to the traffic. This could be a problem when you are walking through traffic-prone areas.
I do believe that Bose should identify “0” as transparency because certain people might interpret it as noise-canceling is off. It would also be ideal to see Bose have an inverse number to increase the sound quality from the outside world. This feature was included in the restricted-release Headphones (now removed) created to enhance the sound. “The goal with transparency in our QuietComfort headphones is to faithfully mimic what the world would sound like without the buds in your ears,” an official Bose spokesperson explained. Apple is pursuing the same goal with the AirPods Pro’s transparent mode.
Sound rich
Its QuietComfort Earbuds also sound better than the AirPods Pro. They’re much richer in sound, with better clarity and greater bass that’s clear and precise. The Bose is on par with the most authentic-sounding wireless earbuds. They also match up in the direction of those from Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2, which retails for $300. They are suitable for a wide range of genres, but those in hip hop and EDM will notice they have plenty of bass kick.
Its Sennheiser is a bit more laidback as compared to Bose. Mids (vocals) are more forward in The QuietComfort Earbuds, slightly more assertive overall, with more power within the bass. In well-recorded tracks, with several instruments playing simultaneously, it is clear to hear each device. They are very articulate headphones. The Bob Dylan track Man in the Long Black Coat was crisp and clear.
Contemporary tracks like the track by Major Lazer Know No Better, and Travis Scott’s The Plan (from the Tenet soundtrack), and the Bose had a more vibrant sound than the Sennheiser and had a louder bass that was more intense. Some might prefer the balance of tones in the Sennheiser because everyone’s brains and ears are unique, and everyone’s brains are different. However, the main thing is that the Bose offers high-quality sound. In the end, for better or worse, it’s currently not an equalizer available in Bose Music. Bose Music app for iOS and Android, lets you alter the audio.
Evaluation of the quality of calls
The QuietComfort Earbuds are also good for making calls. They also have the feature of a sidetone (Bose refers to it as “self voice”) that lets you hear your voice through the earbuds to modify it without shouting. However, they aren’t as great as AirPods Pro. AirPods Pro for calls, mainly because their noise-reducing (the capability to cut down background noise) isn’t as effective. They’re still significantly better in this respect than Bose’s older SoundSport Free, which had only mono sound on one earbud to make calls.
It’s the QuietComfort Earbuds that effectively reduced some amount of background sound on New York’s streets. During calls and people on the phone, New York reported hearing my voice; however, they picked up the background noise. The voice I spoke with was crystal clear, and I could listen to callers very well (the noise cancellation is excellent for calls). There is a chance that Bose might tweak the firmware to enhance the background noise cancellation. However, currently, the sound quality is not great. It’s not at the level of Bose’s larger Noise-Canceling 700 headphones, Samsung’s Galaxy Buds Plus, and even some affordable earbuds that I’ve reviewed recently.
Feature Rich Earbuds
You can utilize a single bud, either left or right, for phone calls or listening to music. If you take one bud out, the other automatically switches to transparency which means you won’t experience any issues listening to one bud while the noise cancellation turned on.
It can last up to 6 hours of battery life from one charging, or around an hour longer than AirPods Pro. They are waterproof and sweatproof with a splash-proof IPX4 certification which is similar to AirPods Pro. AirPods Pro.
Perhaps because Bose features the latest Bluetooth 5.1 standard, the wireless connection I experienced was solid, and the headphones effortlessly paired with both the iPhone 11 Pro and a Samsung Galaxy Note 10. However, a multipoint Bluetooth pairing is absent that allows switching between two devices, like the Windows and Apple PC, and a seamless process. It would help if you independently switched devices, and it’s not always as planned for Windows PCs.
Size is everything
In the introduction, the QuietComfort earbuds come with some disadvantages. These earbuds, like the AirPods Pro and popular Android-oriented buds such as Samsung’s Galaxy Buds Plus and Galaxy Buds Live, are much lighter, smaller, and have minimal charging cases. You’ll love it. In that way, these buds are more similar to the Sony WF-1000XM3, and the possible reason for this is that to have high-quality sound and noise cancellation, it is best to purchase a bigger earbud. A technical problem is the combination of high-end electronics, a powerful driver, and enough battery to run the earbud for at least five hours.
I found the QuietComfort Earbuds to be comfortable to wear. They feature Bose’s latest StayHear Max tips that have integrated wings. With the biggest tip, I got a good seal and a comfortable fit. Although they’re smaller than Bose’s older SoundSport Free, the QuietComfort Buds can appear to be a bit oversized and stick out of your ears quite a good amount. If you put the case in the pocket on the front of a slack pair of jeans, there’s an apparent bulge.
The case is smaller than one used for Beats Powerbeats Pro, so it’s not a huge device. It also supports wireless charging (as with USB-C charge) and offers two more charges. Also, the quick charge feature gives you up to two hours of battery life by charging it in 15 minutes.
The question of value
I’m not able to make a comparison of the Bose with everything else available. Some people may be slammed for not talking enough about Apple’s AirPods Pro. Still, they are (so as we can tell) the most popular genuine wireless noise-canceling headphones, and Apple has just introduced a brand-new (and quite impressive) feature called real-time spatial audio feature to the AirPods. Even though they’re listed for $249 and a price tag of $249, the AirPods Pro has more or more settled down to the retail price of $219 and has been recently on sale at major retailers at just $199. Also, they’re an attractive alternative to QuietComfort Earbuds for anywhere from $30-$80 less.
Whether you can live with Bose’s dimensions and overall appearance is a matter of matter. For many unsure people, the answer is yes. The AirPods Pro’s slimmer and more lightweight design (yes, they’re slightly more comfortable than Bose) is more potent than Bose’s benefits in terms of performance. As I said, the QuietComfort Earbuds sound better and offer better noise cancellation. It’s no contest. The AirPods Pro doesn’t sound bad in any way (they sound great. However, they’re not the best). Also, they don’t have any effective noise cancellation (it’s very good).
AirPods Pro or Bose QuietComfort
After speaking to some people who own both AirPods Pro and Bose QuietComfort buds (with the lengthy wait for Bose’s next-generation headphones to be released and sure Bose fans were eager and went out and purchased their own AirPods Pro), it appears that both be part of the headphone arsenal of. “Will go with the AirPods Pro for everyday use and calls and the Bose for movies, more critical listening and planes,” one two-owner told me. He likes that the AirPods Pro is more comfortable.
I favor more sound quality and have been settling for the Bose for my everyday listening needs regardless of AirPods Pro on my desk. AirPods Pro is sitting on my desk.
Bose’s Sport alternative
Another Bose alternatives are the more affordable Sport Earbuds ($180 PS180, AU$300, and AU$300). They feature the identical IPX4 water resistance, have no noise cancellation, and have a half-hour less battery time. They’re not as vibrant, and their bass isn’t as deep as the QuietComfort Earbuds’ bass, but they’re balanced with good details and incredible bass. They sound fantastic and also work well but are not ideal for making calls. Although they can be noticeable from your ear, they’re much smaller and lighter than their counterparts. The QuietComfort Earbuds and their case are around 30-40% smaller.
I noticed that they were a bit more comfortable. Also, while you can utilize these QuietComfort Earbuds for sporting activities, these Sport Earbuds will be better for runners. Both Sport Earbuds and QuietComfort Earbuds stand out from your ears and produce wind noise Galaxy Buds Live are better for cycling. If you don’t require active noise cancellation or do not enjoy its sound, the Sport Earbuds will fit better for more people’s budgets. They are competitive with other headphones in their price range and sound better than lower-priced models such as those from Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus. Buds Plus Buds Plus are more discrete, however.
Regarding whether it’s worth spending an extra $100 for these QuietComfort Earbuds, I think that if excellent noise cancellation is what you’re looking to achieve, you should not hesitate. They cost $279 and should decrease over time. It would be helpful should Bose could improve the call quality by implementing an upgrade to the firmware. Some other companies, such as Jabra using their Elite 75t model, have also done this. Generally, earbuds with advanced features and those from the AirPods Pro improve over time.
As a veteran fitness technology innovator and the founder of GearUpToFit.com, Alex Papaioannou stands at the intersection of health science and artificial intelligence. With over a decade of specialized experience in digital wellness solutions, he’s transforming how people approach their fitness journey through data-driven methodologies.