Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds review: Setting the noise-canceling tone

Wireless earbuds have come a long way when it comes to active noise cancelation (ANC), especially since you'll find the feature in more affordable pairs nowadays. But the trend-setters continue to be the ones at the top; the ones that set benchmarks for how we interpret just how good such a feature could be.

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds fit that mold, even if they first came to market in 2023. If dampening background noise is a big deal for you, these are worth serious consideration as the best in the business.

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds: Price and availability

Bose launched the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds in September 2023 and they should be easy to find in retail or online. It's unlikely Bose will release a succeeding pair to these until more time has passed, so expect these to be the company's flagship earbuds for a while yet. They start out at $299, but look for the odd discount when it happens, rare as it may be. They're available in Black or White Smoke.

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds: What's good

From a design standpoint, the previous QuietComfort Earbuds II clearly influence what this pair looks like. They won't be the smallest you'll find but improved comfort and stability mean they're not likely to fall out, either. I'm pleasantly surprised at how well they hold up while riding my bike, and Bose helps by finding the best fit for your ears when going through the test in the Bose Music app.

A tighter seal is crucial to getting the best noise-cancelation and sound quality, so it may take a little trial and error to figure out what's best for you. Mind you, these have the same 9.3mm drivers as the QuietComfort Earbuds II, though in going through the app's hearing test, Bose's CustomTune software adjusts the sound and noise-canceling to work best with your ear canals.

You don't have to go through the hearing test but you also can't opt out of CustomTune. It works either way doing its best to tune things, and another reason for that is to manage spatial audio, or Immersive Audio, as Bose calls it. Much of the rest of the internal components otherwise change from before.

Finally, Bose gives some attention to hi-res audio codecs, making the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds feel more like the premium buds they're supposed to be. They support Snapdragon Sound, which includes aptX Adaptive to play hi-res tracks from sources offering them. That, plus Bluetooth 5.3, enable lower-latency playback as well, making these easier to trust when watching a show or movie.

AptX Adaptive isn't quite as good as aptX Lossless but you won't notice anyway unless you always prefer to listen to tunes at the highest bit rates. Despite that, I'll give Bose credit for a solid default sound signature. Fully expecting to have to go to the EQ in the Bose Music app and redo it all, I only made minor tweaks before I was satisfied. Not that Bose gives you too many options. A 3-band EQ isn't good enough for expensive earbuds, and the existing presets largely swing things toward bass or treble.

That said, if you're looking for bass, you'll find it here. There's enough of a rumble off the bat but cranking it up with Bass Boost in the EQ really turns it up. Truly, though, these earbuds are at their best when you level things, especially because the mids bring out more detail.

I also like the spatial effect of Immersive Audio for live recordings. Listening to concert albums or even high-quality stuff from YouTube brings out the crowd noise and atmosphere.

Without a doubt, the signature feature is the ANC. The QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds cancel out noise with the kind of regularity and reliability few others can handle. Wearing them on multiple flights, commutes, and bike rides, I'm impressed at how well they dampen most noise in varying conditions. It's a mark of excellent noise-canceling earbuds that you don't have to raise the volume much at all to hear your content clearly. That was the case with these just about every time.

Sure, the odd fire truck siren or construction site jackhammer seep in, but they never feel like they'll break through entirely. By muffling them to a large degree, I didn't have to adjust anything along the way.

When I did want to hear my surroundings — a must while riding a bike in a big city — I could easily switch to Aware mode by holding down the left earbud. There's plenty of detailed clarity, which is great, except my one bone of contention is how the onboard mics filter in voices. I had to take off an earbud more than once to clarify something someone said. Maybe I'm losing my hearing but I haven't experienced that with a couple of other comparable earbuds or headphones, so there's room for improvement there.

Touch controls are sometimes hit or miss on earbuds. Not so much on these. They're responsive and accurate just about every time. Tap once to play/pause, twice to skip a track, and three times to repeat one. Swiping up or down controls volume, which the earbuds can sometimes mistake as pausing playback, but that's the only real issue you might encounter controlling the QC Ultra Earbuds.

Tap-and-hold cycles between ANC and Aware, though you can choose a different option, like waking your voice assistant or switching between paired Bluetooth devices. Initially, Bose didn't give the QC Ultra Earbuds multipoint connectivity — the ability to stay connected to two devices simultaneously — but adding that feature in a subsequent firmware update covered a key omission.

Bose didn't really boost battery life here, so you get the same 6-hour estimate (with ANC on) that the previous QC Earbuds II have. Since noise cancelation is so effective, you don't have to raise the volume as much, which actually does the most to preserve battery each time. The case gives you three extra charges. Just keep a USB-C cable handy when it's time to recharge the whole package because there's no wireless charging here.

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds: What's not good

You can pay an extra $49 to get a wireless charging cover and enable that feature but that feels cheap for earbuds of this caliber. Don't force people to make that choice when competitors already include it without the markup.

I'm also surprised the QC Ultra Earbuds aren't better for phone calls. In spite of outstanding noise-cancelation and audio quality, call quality doesn't seem to match overall audio quality. People I spoke with weren't impressed, suggesting other earbuds I've tested made my voice sound clearer. That's regardless of whether it was a quiet room or a bustling street. To me, it kind of feels like an extension of the Aware mode's muddier performance with voices.

IPX4 protection is also pretty barebones for earbuds, in my view, so I can't recommend these for regular workouts given what they cost. I was fine wearing them for bike rides and made sure to clean them afterward, especially since there's no dust resistance. Light runs or workouts should be fine — as well as a splash of rain — but I doubt these will last a regular, sweaty routine.

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds: Competition

Bose and Sony have been jabbing each other back and forth for years over who has the best combination of comfort, sound quality, and noise-cancelation. No surprise you'll find them both at the top of the best wireless earbuds for Android. It's usually the last one of those features that really puts them so close together, which is why the Sony WF-1000XM5 are such a compelling alternative. It's a toss up on whether they block out more noise, but they're also a very different design and offer more personalized features than the QC Ultra Earbuds.

While they may not match Bose or Sony for world-class noise-cancelation, the Jabra Elite 10 Gen 2 earbuds are superb and offer some conveniences those others don't have. Phone calls sound great, and LE Audio means you can use the case as a way to bridge wireless audio from sources only offering a headphone jack (think of an airplane's entertainment system).

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds: Should you buy them?

You should buy this if...

• You want good sound with outstanding ANC.
• You want spatial audio.
• You want a design with stems.
• You travel a lot.

You shouldn't buy this if...

• You want wireless charging.
• You want a more customizable EQ.
• You want the best phone call quality.

Wireless earbuds are so ubiquitous today that you can choose a pair that's really good at key features you want. For the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds, they'd have to be the combination of ANC and sound quality. Especially the noise cancelation because that's where these shine brightest against all others. You won't be disappointed in how they drown out what's happening around you.

They're a pricey proposition considering what's missing here, which is why you have to weigh what you want to prioritize most above everything else. There's room for improvement but there's no doubt Bose took a step forward with these buds.