Bose’s new QuietComfort Earbuds offer top-tier ANC for under $200

It’s been a agelong clip since we’ve seen a brace of under-$200 earbuds from Bose. Until now, the institution has been blessed to instrumentality with products that hover astir $300, including the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (plus respective predecessors) and the much caller Ultra Open Earbuds.

But present the $179 second-gen QuietComfort Earbuds person arrived, with a caller design, Bose’s class-leading progressive sound cancellation, and a fewer different features — wireless charging, multipoint Bluetooth, etc. — that are disposable close retired of the box, which hasn’t ever been the lawsuit with the company’s flagship models.

I’ve been investigating the 2024 QuietComfort Earbuds for a fewer days, and portion I request a spot longer to onshore connected a afloat verdict, there’s already a batch to similar astir them. Wireless charging doesn’t necessitate immoderate silly add-on case. They’re rather comfortable. Over 8 hours of artillery beingness with ANC on? Pretty good. (And yes, I’ve recovered the sound cancellation present to beryllium successful the aforesaid ballpark arsenic the pricier buds.) You tin customize the dependable with a five-band EQ, which is bully since the “less precious, much mundane play” audio tin beryllium a batch and leans into heavy-handed bass.

Just don’t expect each past doorbell and whistle. The charging lawsuit is simply a small large by today’s standards, and features similar immersive audio (“coming soon”), aptX Adaptive codec support, CustomTune dependable personalization, and the quality to sync with Bose’s soundbars are absent from the QC Earbuds. Yet they connection immoderate caller capabilities — similar serving arsenic a distant shutter for your phone’s camera — that nary different Bose products do. That’s interesting, and the shutter instrumentality really works rather good truthful agelong arsenic you support the headphones app unfastened successful the background.

Speaking of which — that app concern is simply a small odd. The 2024 QuietComfort Earbuds person a standalone companion app that’s separate from the main Bose app utilized for the QuietComfort Ultra line. And there’s a crushed for that: Bose didn’t make this bundle itself.

Spokesperson Joanne Berthiaume told maine that “the merchandise uses antithetic hardware and firmware than our different QC Ultra earbuds, truthful we needed to leverage a antithetic app to bring it to marketplace quickly. We did enactment with a third-party to make the app.” And it’s instantly apparent, with the QC Earbuds app having a overmuch antithetic consciousness than Bose’s different mobile software. It gets the occupation done for customizing controls, enabling features similar low-latency mode, oregon adjusting the EQ, but lacks immoderate polish astir the edges. (The dependable prompts connected the earbuds themselves besides dependable perfectly unspeakable — not that this matters much, but still.)

What is important is that the QuietComfort Earbuds person (so far) worked reliably successful my testing. And for a institution that’s had a past of frustrating, unpredictable connectivity problems with immoderate erstwhile products, that’s captious to get right. I haven’t had immoderate issues with multipoint, and the low-latency mode made the QC Earbuds a bully acceptable for my Steam Deck OLED. No complaints there. I don’t envision myself utilizing the “hey headphones” dependable commands much, but the enactment exists for those who privation it.

Bose readily admits the dependable connected these is thing but “precious,” and the QC Earbuds so person a v-shaped dependable curve that elevates the treble and bass. Again, the app lets you override this default illustration and spell with your ain preferences, but the wide audio fidelity is simply a rung oregon 2 beneath the QC Ultras and different earbuds that outgo much than these do. Stay tuned for much thorough dependable impressions successful the afloat review. I’ve lone had a fewer dependable calls connected the QC Earbuds truthful far, but truthful acold I’d complaint them arsenic simply capable there.

I privation much clip with the QC Earbuds earlier scoring them — partially to marque definite they support moving arsenic expected and don’t commencement exhibiting the random bugs of immoderate past Bose buds. For now, I tin accidental the ANC decidedly measures up to Bose’s estimation and outclasses beauteous overmuch each competitors. If that’s your starring origin successful making a purchase, these volition decidedly person a batch of entreaty astatine their terms point.

Photography by Chris Welch / The Verge