Bose’s new QuietComfort Earbuds provide top-tier ANC for below $200

It’s been a very long time since we’ve seen a pair of under-$200 earbuds from Bose. Till now, the corporate has been completely happy to stay with merchandise that hover round $300, together with the QuietComfort Extremely Earbuds (plus a number of predecessors) and the more moderen Extremely Open Earbuds.

However now, the $179 second-gen QuietComfort Earbuds have arrived, with a brand new design, Bose’s class-leading energetic noise cancellation, and some different options — wi-fi charging, multipoint Bluetooth, and so forth. — which might be out there proper out of the field, which hasn’t all the time been the case with the corporate’s flagship fashions.

I’ve been testing the 2024 QuietComfort Earbuds for just a few days, and whereas I would like a bit longer to land on a full verdict, there’s already so much to love about them. Wi-fi charging doesn’t require some foolish add-on case. They’re fairly comfy. Over eight hours of battery life with ANC on? Fairly good. (And sure, I’ve discovered the noise cancellation right here to be in the identical ballpark because the pricier buds — however not fairly on par.) You’ll be able to customise the sound with a five-band EQ, which is good because the “less precious, more everyday play” audio could be a lot and leans into heavy-handed bass.

Simply don’t count on each final bell and whistle. The charging case is just a little large by as we speak’s requirements, and options like immersive audio (“coming soon”), AptX Adaptive codec assist, CustomTune sound personalization, and the power to sync with Bose’s soundbars are absent from the QC Earbuds. But they provide some new capabilities that no different Bose merchandise do, like serving as a distant shutter in your telephone’s digital camera. That’s fascinating, and the shutter trick really works fairly properly as long as you retain the headphones app open within the background.

Talking of which, that app scenario is just a little odd. The 2024 QuietComfort Earbuds have a standalone companion app that’s separate from the principle Bose app used for the QuietComfort Extremely line. And there’s a motive for that: Bose didn’t develop this software program itself.

Spokesperson Joanne Berthiaume advised me that “the product uses different hardware and firmware than our other QC Ultra earbuds, so we needed to leverage a different app to bring it to market quickly. We did work with a third-party to develop the app.” And it’s instantly obvious, with the QC Earbuds app having a a lot completely different really feel than Bose’s different cellular software program. It will get the job achieved for customizing controls, enabling options like low-latency mode or adjusting the EQ, but it surely lacks some polish across the edges. (The voice prompts on the earbuds themselves additionally sound completely horrible — not that this issues a lot, however nonetheless.)

What is essential is that the QuietComfort Earbuds have (to this point) labored reliably in my testing. And for a corporation that’s had a historical past of irritating, unpredictable connectivity issues with some earlier merchandise, that’s essential to get proper. I haven’t had any points with multipoint, and the low-latency mode made the QC Earbuds an excellent match for my Steam Deck OLED. No complaints there. I don’t envision myself utilizing the “hey headphones” voice instructions a lot, however the choice exists for many who need it.

Bose readily admits the sound on these is something however “precious,” and the QC Earbuds certainly have a v-shaped sound curve that elevates the treble and bass. Once more, the app helps you to override this default profile and go together with your individual preferences, however the total audio constancy is a rung or two under the QC Ultras and different earbuds that price greater than these do. Keep tuned for extra thorough sound impressions within the full overview. I’ve solely had just a few voice calls on the QC Earbuds, however to this point, I’d charge them as merely enough there.

I need extra time with the QC Earbuds earlier than scoring them — partially to ensure they hold working as anticipated and don’t begin exhibiting the random bugs of some previous Bose buds. For now, I can say the ANC positively measures as much as Bose’s fame and outclasses just about all opponents. If that’s your main think about making a purchase order, these will certainly have plenty of attraction at their value level.

Images by Chris Welch / The Verge