Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen) Review

Design

• Re-jigged design
• High levels of comfort
• Many colours to choose from

The best sequels take what worked before and improve upon the formula, and Bose has made a few changes with this new pair that are, above, sensible ones.

The design brings this model closer in line with the Ultra. The power button has shifted from the earcup to the underside. The headphone adjuster is silent and doesn’t go ‘clackety clack’ when you shift it. The headband is bigger and wider, spreading the weight of the headphones across a wider area.

The buttons have changed too, both in profile and touch. I find it a little difficult to find the playback button (which is slightly depressed), and it results in presses that aren’t all too confident. Overall, though, the headphones feel a little more premium despite looking the same.

And then there are the colours. The sample I have is Rosewood Mauve, but there’s plenty to choose from (Black, White Smoke, Eucalyptus Green, Dewdrop Mint and more), giving the headphones personality that black and white can’t offer. There are limited editions too, and judging by the Bose website, all colours seem to be constantly low on stock.

Comfort, as it virtually always is from a pair of Bose headphones, is great (the clue is in the name after all). There’s not much pressure on top of the head or around the ears, the protein leather earcups offer nice, soft contact surface.

Are the earpads removable? A few tugs at them and it doesn’t feel like it. Are the batteries replaceable? Unlikely on that front too. Is there a 3.5mm port for analogue wired listening? Negative on that, though you can hook them into a 3.5mm port on a device (along with USB-C) for wired listening.

It’s still foldable and collapses into a carry case that’s more rounded and slightly smaller than before. It’s very much an evolution of the QuietComfort series here, and it’s an intelligent design.

Noise Cancellation

• Adaptive fit with ANC
• Transparency mode

Let’s dig into the noise cancellation, shall we? Basically, it’s very good, and if that’s all you need to know, skip to the next section.

Some of you may ask how good? The headphones do need a firm seal, and while Bose has talked about this headphone being better if the seal is loose or you’re a glasses wearer or you have long hair, it does let sound in. But as soon as you’ve got the seal it hollows out background noise with ease. Using them on the Underground, I didn’t have an issue hearing the music I was listening to. On a plane, the cabin noise was pushed to the back of my mind so I could concentrate on doing work, watching films and listening to music.

On terra firma, it squashes traffic and reduces people’s voices – it’s not silent, but for the daily commute there are very few distractions to be heard. It deals with wind noise without much issue. It performs how you’d expect a pair of premium headphones to be.

Carrying out a Pink Noise test against the previous model and the QuietComfort Headphones 2^nd Gen are more consistent, and let less sound in from the sides. Compared to the Ultra model, they’re not as suppressive, but they’re also not too far off either.

Judged against the Beats 360 and Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless, they’re on similar footing. The Bose subdues sounds a little better than the Beats but maybe trails the Sennheiser by a smidge.

The transparency mode is clear, and unlike some others around its price, the mode simply concentrates on parsing sound through the mics rather than amplifying them.

Call quality is… decent. Background sounds do get through but they’re pitched at the same level as my voice. While the other person could hear what I said, others – notably the much less expensive Anker Soundcore Space 2 Pro – isolate the voice better. In quiet areas, the headphones are fine; the background noise is only a concern in loud areas.

Features

• New TrueSpatial Audio modes
• USB-C audio
• Bose app

If there’s an area where Bose doesn’t tend to go all-in on compared to its opponents, it’s the feature set. What you get here is less about adjusting the performance and more about what type of experience you want from these headphones.

There are the new TrueSpatial Audio modes in Immersion and Cinema, which you can star so they can be cycled through when choosing ANC modes. There’s also the option of turning head-tracking on (Motion) or off (Still).

You do have the option of adjusting the EQ, but it’s simple in the sense of boosting and reducing the bass and treble, as well as a three-band custom EQ.

The QuietComfort Headphones 2 support Bluetooth multi-point, though I did have an issue with my sample in that it wanted to connect to another source and kept disconnecting from my smartphone. Getting rid of the other sources seemed to resolve this issue.

On the wireless support front, it’s Bluetooth 5.4 with SBC and AAC (and Bluetooth LE Audio but no Auracast) streaming. It’s a shame that Bose didn’t at least stump up for aptX, but then that’s where the Ultra series comes in. There’s also USB-C audio which supports audio files up to 24-bit/48kHz.

The wireless performance has been excellent – no issues on that front anywhere I took the headphones. Otherwise, you can monitor battery life, alter the volume and control playback through the Bose app, change how much you hear of yourself on calls, and set a Shortcut (access your voice assistant, Spotify Tap).

Sound Quality

• Smooth, balanced approach
• Not the most dynamic

I quite liked the original QuietComfort Headphones and still do, but the main difference between old and new seems to be the way each headphone presents the soundstage. The original QuietComfort sounds bigger but they’re not as defined and not as punchy with the low frequencies as the 2^nd Gen.

The soundstage with the new headphones is a little more forward, vocals sound a little more natural. The 2^nd Gen eke out more detail with the treble but it’s not a massive change. Tweaks rather than wholesale changes have been made.

The new headphones benefit from a smooth midrange performance, warm bass (not rich but balanced), and highs that are clear and bright. It’s a very cushy-sounding pair of headphones, a pair you could listen to for hours without feeling any fatigue. The tuning works well across a range of music genres, though I do have a few nitpicks.

They’re not especially (if at all) dynamic in their approach. The difference between quiet and loud doesn’t exist – there aren’t peaks and troughs the headphones bound through. Everything is kept on the same level.

They’re also not the most energetic. They’re enjoyable to listen to but not necessarily exciting. That sense of rhythm and flow from the likes of the Sennheiser and the Sony WH-1000XM6 isn’t as fluently described with these Bose headphones.

But there is a nice sense of balance about these headphone. Vocals are smoothly reproduced, the soundstage is spacious, and while the bass doesn’t dig deep the headphones do deliver a pleasant sense of warmth and weight. It’s a pleasing sound even if doesn’t quite have the verve of others.

The wired performance loses some of that warmth and smoothness for a sound that’s more direct and insightful but is more or less the same in terms of energy and dynamics. A colourful sound but compared to some of its peers but not the most thrilling.

There are the new Immersive Audio modes, which had previously been the domain of the Ultra models. The Immersion mode is not as detailed as stereo, but the soundstage is big and wide, and the smoother tone of the headphones makes the immersive mode work because there isn’t as big a drop in detail as might be expected.

Where I think it works really well is with the Cinema mode. Dialogue sounds natural, but the biggest difference is that the soundstage is bigger and brought forward, which brings detail closer to the ear. It gives a boost to the mids and lows and there’s head-tracking to boot, though it’s not as if I move my head much when watching films or TV.

Battery Life

• Up to 24 hours
• Quick charge support

Bose reps up to 24 hours with these headphones (18 when Immersive Audio is in use).

Having carried out a battery drain, it took four hours for the headphones to drop to 80%, which if my maths is correct, puts the headphones around 20 hours per charge. I might have expected more given that the re-released WH-1000XM4C is 27 hours and costs less than the Bose does.

A quick charge of 15 minutes provides 2.5 hours and it takes three hours to fully charge the headphones once the tank is depleted.

Should you buy it?