Verdict
The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen consistently leave me impressed, offering brilliant sound quality whether playing games or listening to music, with a sleek, luxurious design that may be too big for some users. However, price aside, these are some of the best buds on the market.
- Incredible, rich sound quality
- Sleek, comfortable design
- Brilliant ANC
- Battery life is mediocre
- Earbuds might be too big for some
Look, I'll be honest straight off the bat - the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen aren't exactly a cheap solution. Sitting at a hefty price tag, these are an extremely premium option, almost ridiculously so, but that money gets you something that even those without the highly trained ears of an audiophile can appreciate.
Everyone in the Pocket Tactics team will tell you that I'm a sucker for finding some of the best earbuds around, and after years of testing and reviewing them, I think Bose's latest might not only be the finest from the brand but also some of the best overall. Sure, you'll have to spend a small fortune on them, but if you've got one of the best gaming phones, chances are, you'll want to pair it with these buds and get a truly immersive experience.
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Price and availability
With a retail price of $299 / £299.99, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen are easily some of the most expensive earphones on the market. For reference, the Apple AirPods Pro 3 sit at a $249 / £219 price tag, usually, making these some costly hardware. If you're willing to part with that much money, you have a choice of four standard colors: Midnight Violet, White Smoke, Black, and Deep Plum. If only there were a Driftwood Sand option.
Design and comfort
The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen are, undoubtedly, fairly hefty. They're some of the widest and largest earbuds I've ever used, and I'd say they're more like headphones without the band. I guess I'm being a bit hyperbolic, but they're definitely quite big compared to other earbuds I've used. If you have small ears, you may want to opt for something a bit lighter.
However, if, like me, you do have big enough ears, these fit fairly snugly once you have the right setup. There are three different sets of tips, as well as three sets of 'wings,' all of which help to make sure you have the best experience when using the active noise cancellation - more on that later. Luckily, I had a great fit straight out of the box, so I didn't have to mess around with the setup, but the options are nice.
Despite the size, after wearing them for a few hours, I was pleasantly surprised by how little they made my ears hurt. Typically, after a while of wearing some earbuds, I can feel the weight making my ears sore, but despite the largeness of the Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen, I was still going strong. It also helped that the actual earbuds look stunning, with a sleek, top-quality style that few can replicate. Even AirPods look basic compared to these.
I have seen some complaints about the controls, and while I'd prefer physical buttons over the finicky nature of touch controls, they're not egregiously bad or anything. The control scheme was simple, requiring just quick taps for pausing, answering calls, and skipping tracks, or a longer press for switching the ANC modes, and it was easy to remember on the fly.
Finally, the Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen are rated with a protection of IPX4 - light rain probably won't affect them, but I wouldn't use them for swimming anytime soon, while the charging case is not protected from the elements at all. So, definitely don't use it as a beach ball at the pool.
Sound quality
Of course, design and comfort don't really matter if the sound quality is pure garbage. Who wants to play the best mobile games with tinny, unrealistic sound that feels just as bad? Fortunately, and unsurprisingly, that's not an issue here. In fact, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen are as ultra as they suggest, bringing a full, rich soundstage that offers as much as you'd hope from a premium-priced product.
I normally start with my favorite band for the initial tests with any earbuds, and that means wheeling out Sleep Token - I know our resident Hardware Editor is probably fed up with reading that name. Across all four albums, the earbuds produced gorgeous sound that felt full - I could feel the weight behind each vocal note and the depth behind each guitar chord. I even found myself appreciating new elements of the songs, despite having listened to them thousands of times before.
Despite not being focused on gaming, they're just as great when diving into my favorite FPS games. Delta Force's explosions and bullets pop with life when there's no external noise distracting you, but there's also a fair amount of depth to each sound. There's a slight bit of latency, something that examples like the SteelSeries GameBuds may not struggle with, but that's a small issue that most people are unlikely to notice.
Take, for instance, games like Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. It's a single-player game, so there's no risk of that latency affecting your competitive spirit, but you can hear every aspect of the adventure in a way that few earbuds can truly offer. Everything sounds absolutely brilliant, in part due to the stellar performance these buds pull off, but the real gem is the active noise cancellation (ANC).
Bose is well known for its ANC, to the point where it's become my bar for excellent ANC. Unsurprisingly, it's just as great here, quietening (or in some cases, deafening) the outside world around me. When I take a trip to the shops, the sound of the cars driving past is almost completely silent, and even in my home, where noise is simply a matter of life, I can barely hear anything. It's also got the best awareness mode I've experienced in a pair of earbuds, enabling me to have crystal-clear conversations with people near me without having to take my buds out.
Battery
While sound quality or ANC has long been Bose's bread-and-butter, battery has not. Typically, Bose earbuds or headphones run out of charge a lot quicker than rivals, but I guess that's the price you pay for banging performance. There's a similar theme here, with the earbuds lasting around six hours, or only four if you use immersive audio like me. With an additional 24 hours of charging with the case, you've got about three recharges before you need to boost that buddy up.
I'm not going to lie and pretend that's great. It's a bit lower than the average for similar styles of earbuds, but I've never encountered an issue where my buds have randomly died on me alongside the case - it's always been charged regularly and kept in shape. Personally, not a big deal breaker for me, but I can see why that may be a problem for some. That, ultimately, depends on you. How's your device charging cadence?
Should you buy the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen?
If you're a sucker for a good pair of earbuds and appreciate some great ANC and sound quality, whether you're playing games or listening to music, I can't think of many better options. Sure, the battery life isn't the best of the bunch, and for some people, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen are going to be a bit too big, but that's a price I'm personally willing to pay.
While there are plenty of options to choose from, whether you're after something cheaper or you just want something with a different design or other features, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen are some of the best bang for your buck. They've quickly become a mainstay in my pocket for whenever I leave home, and I doubt anything will replace them soon.
Alternatives
Apple AirPods Pro 3
Sitting in the confines of the Apple ecosystem? I can't blame you, and if you're looking for great sound quality, the Apple AirPods Pro 3 deliver it and make for an excellent pair of buds that will impress you, especially if you're using one of the best iPhones, an iPad, or a Mac device.
SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds
Coming in at a cheaper price, the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds are some of the best game-ready earbuds on the market, with brilliant sound quality and a choice between two connections: Bluetooth or low-latency 2.4GHz with a handy dongle. Read our SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds review for more information.