Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) Review

Design

• Excellent comfort
• Multiple finishes
• USB-C audio

Changes are few in terms of design with the QuietComfort Ultra Headphones 2nd Gen. In fact, they’re identical aside from a few cosmetic changes.

There are more colours to choose from than just black or white, with this Driftwood Sandstone version, the sample I have, plus a striking Midnight Blue and Desert Gold version.

The linkages that connect the earcups and headband have a glossier, metallic look, which I think gives them a more premium feel, though others may feel they could be scratched more easily.

Comfort is, as it’s always been with Bose headphones, excellent. Unlike the Sony WH-1000XM6, which can crowd the ears a bit, there’s more space around the edges of the earcup and inside.

The clamping force is not too tight, and you can adjust the placement on the head with the slider. At 250g, they remain one of the lightest wireless headphones, and you can definitely feel that lightness wearing them.

So while they feel more comfortable than the Sony, I would say that the sense of noise-isolation (reducing sounds via the earcups) is better on the Sony than on the Bose with its slightly thicker padding.

When it comes to using the headphones, it’s the same as on the Gen 1. There’s a capacitive touch-strip for volume control and shortcuts; as well as physical controls for power/Bluetooth pairing and a multifunction button for playback and noise-cancelling modes. The touch strip can take a while to get used to. I don’t find it the most responsive with my admittedly large digits.

The carry case is the same but there has been a change with the USB-C input. It was previously used for charging but can now be used for audio, so you can charge and listen to audio simultaneously. That’s a upgrade I can get behind.

Battery Life

• Extended battery life
• Up to 23 hours in Immersive mode

In the past, Bose was always caught short compared to their main rivals when it came to battery life. If I remember correctly, Bose has said in the past it was about the quality of the noise-cancellation not quantity, but someone in Massachusetts seems to have changed their mind.

Battery life has been upped to 30 hours (from 24), matching the likes of Sony, Bowers & Wilkins. Switch on Immersive Audio and it drops to 23 hours.

In the tests I carried out – a Spotify playlist playing at 50% volume – the headphones lasted about three hours before they dropped 10%, which would suggest the 30-hour mark is within reach.

That said, there are plenty of headphones that offer longer and without the premium price the Bose incur like the Nothing Headphone A, Cambridge Audio P100 SE, and if you want to go really affordable, the OneOdio Focus A6.

To recharge the headphones from a dead battery takes three hours, while a 15-minute fast-charge adds 2.5 hours.

Features

• Bose Custom Tune for audio
• aptX Adaptive support
• Bose app

The QuietComfort Headphones Ultra Gen 2 have been upgraded to Bluetooth 5.4, with support for SBC, AAC and aptX Adaptive. Ignore the Bose website that doesn’t mention aptX, and also doesn’t mention aptX Lossless / Snapdragon Sound, which should still be supported (as long as you’ve got a smartphone that supports it).

The wireless performance is as good as you can get from a pair of wireless over-ears. There have been a few little break-ups but like the Sennheiser HDB 630 and Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3, when there’s lots of wireless interference, the headphones’ connection doesn’t drop with the aptX codec.

Bluetooth multipoint is also included for connecting to two devices at once.

Bose introduced Immersive Audio with the first gen model and it’s back with a new Cinema mode for watching video. Unlike other modes where you can customise the settings, Cinema greys them out so they can’t be altered.

And then there’s modes within modes. Still mode maintains the placement of sound while Motion marries audio with your head movements. Turn your head and the music shifts to compensate – you can also calibrate the headphones to your personal headspace.

The Bose app (no longer the ‘Music’ app) is the bond between your mobile device and the headphones and it’s still a little awkward to use. Accessing the app can be a trial depending on the device (I can’t see any Bose devices in the app on a OnePlus 11 5G), and it’s still annoying that your device going into screensaver mode means you lose connection between the headphones and the app.

Launch the app though, and it’s a simple experience but without the sheer breadth and customisation of Sennheiser’s Smart Control+ or Sony’s Sound Connect, which for some might be a good thing.

You can alter the EQ with a three-band custom setting or reduce/boost treble and bass, which acts on top of Bose’s CustomTune tech that automatically shapes the sound for your ears.

You can swap through and customise the modes (Quiet, Aware, Immersive, Cinema), alter the Noise Control (how much noise is blocked), customise the Shortcut button (Immersive Audio settings, Voice Assistant or Spotify). You can also change volume and control playback through the app.

Noise-Cancellation

• Slightly better than previous model
• Sony arguably has the edge
• Average call quality

Having (basically) created the noise-cancelling headphone category, Bose has always been there or thereabouts, and the performance of the Gen 1 was excellent. The Gen 2 is a case of marginal gains.

And that’s not to say that the noise-cancelling performance hasn’t improved, but it’s a slight jump rather than a big leap. And compared to the Sony WH-1000XM6, I’d say the Sony edges it overall.

The Sony handles bassier sounds and higher frequencies while everything in-between both headphones seem to be on an even footing. I’ve worn these headphones on planes, trains, and in automobiles and the Sony seems to let fewer noises get through, but the Bose can also clear away some tones that eludes the Sony.

There are moments where the Bose don’t offer much of a defence against people’s voices and other moments where it’s resilient against them (certain voices evade the Bose’s microphones), and arguably the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds II are better on an aeroplane if you don’t mind the in-ear design.

But overall they’re quiet – not super silent – but even with no music playing they put the kibosh on most noises around, and it cancels noise naturally without the noticeable whine that some headphones can add.

The Aware mode delivers a pretty natural performance, and you can hear other people speaking clearly (and the Aware mode doesn’t alter the tone of the sound). The headphones handle wind noise just fine – no distortion or issues walking around Canary Wharf on a blustery winter’s day.

Slightly disappointing is the call quality performance. It handles calls better than the Sennheiser HDB 630, but still let’s in noises, which get worse there’s lots of noises for the headphones to cope with. Considering the money you’re paying, you could do better (the Sony being one obvious choice). File the Bose under average in this respect.

Sound Quality

• Not the most insightful
• Balanced bass
• Smooth, likable sound

Initially, I felt there was something not quite right about the Bose QC Ultra Headphones 2. The bass was off, the tone was thin and the highs were rather dull but after a power on/off cycle, the Bose sound I’ve recognised from the last few headphones made its way back.

It’s more of a mainstream sound, with a weightier bass and smoother midrange than the QC 35 models, but the soundstage still sounds slightly confused, lacking the detail and clarity of the Sony or the airiness of the Sennheiser.

With Sabrina Carpenter’s Manchild (Qobuz), it doesn’t display the sharpest sense of detail, but her vocals are clear and smoothly described. Cymbal crashes are also smooth and could do with being a bit more crisp to retrieve more detail. There’s a broad sense of detail and definition these headphones offer, which is not the level of insight some might expect at this price.

These aren’t a particularly brightly tuned pair of headphones like say, the JBL Tour One M3, but highs in Andreas Ihlebæk’s Come Summer are bright enough, varied and composed. The Bose avoid sounding overbearing or edgy with treble notes. The sound is well tuned for those who prefer their highs and lows reined in rather than stepping out too much.

They’re good in terms of delivering energy and momentum with Carpenter’s Manchild, the bass underpinned by decent weight, but it is a bass performance that’s more balanced than attention hogging. I wouldn’t describe these headphones as bass-rich. If anything the bass is rather tempered.

Going back to the issue with the soundstage, my problem is that while wide it is flat and lacking depth. A sense of depth only arrives with Immersive audio but that suffers from being not the most detailed.

There’s punch and dynamism, and despite my grumbles, the smooth tone of the sound, especially vocal clarity, is likeable.

The Immersive modes deliver more depth (in Cinema mode), a bigger (taller) soundstage, with a slight change to the tone of audio (they don’t sound as clear with vocals or in general). The Cinema mode is fine, but the trade-off for spatial audio is less detail and a less natural tone and that’s not a trade I’d want to make. I still prefer stereo over spatial, although this effort is better than the Gen 1’s thin-sounding performance.

It sounds like I’ve been negative about the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones 2^nd Gen, but the sound is the best it’s been for a Bose flagship over-ears – it’s a cushy and comfortable sound to listen to – but in terms of insight and excitement, there are better.

Which is why you should give the USB-C input a listen. The tone is the same but with support up to 24-bit/192kHz bit-rates, some of the issues I have with the wireless sound are remedied here.

It’s still not the most detailed compared to the Sennheiser HDB 630, but the bass is richer in its wired mode, with a thud to lows that isn’t present over a wireless connection; a low frequency performance that’s full bodied in approach and muscular with the bass.

The wired connection sounds very good, but the problem Bose has is that others offer as good as for less money.

Should you buy it?