Bose QuietComfort Earbuds Review: The Best-in-Class Noise-Canceling Earbuds

 Bose isn’t known for its truly wireless earbuds, and the QuietComfort Earbuds are only the company’s second offering. The new Bose QuietComfort Earbuds are among the best true wireless earbuds reviewed so far, with the best noise-canceling performance of any product in this class.

Price and Availability

The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds are $279 and can be purchased directly from Bose or major online stores like Amazon and Best Buy.

Thankfully, the arrival of the Galaxy S21 Ultra, which starts at $1,199, has resulted in a significant price reduction. You can easily find a brand new S20 Ultra for less than $1,000 if you shop around. Expect that number to drop much further as time passes.

Design

The QuietComfort Earbuds are not the most discreet variant in terms of size. They are thinner and virtually comparable in length to the Sony WF-1000XM3, but they also stick out like a sore thumb. For on-ear detection, the sound port has black IR sensors. Bose appears to have made modest adjustments to the model’s previous appearance, which was first seen at an exclusive briefing last year and was known as the Bose 500 Earbuds at the time; the microphones are now located at the bottom of the casing rather than the front.

The charging case for the QuietComfort Earbuds is large and heavy, measuring 3.5 x 2 x 1.3 inches and weighing 2.7 ounces. Consider this: the AirPods Pro case is 2.5 times thicker and 2 times heavier than this one (1.78 x 2.39 x 0.85 inches, 1.6 grams). Simply put, it isn’t the most portable option on the market.

The charging case’s value outweighs its diminutive size. It’s usually a good idea to program a Bluetooth button into a case because it gives you another way to connect via manual pairing. The front-facing release button has a good spring feel, smoothly lifting the lid while displaying the buds on their individual charging stations.

Controls

The QuietComfort Earbuds’ controls are a mixed bag. Bose did an excellent job with the touch panels, and while they respond to commands, the lack of single- and triple-tap gestures seems like a missed opportunity that also limits usefulness.

The right earbud controls playback and calls management: play/pause/answer call/end call (2x tap), decline call/enable digital assistant (long press). Only the left earbud can be changed, and it allows you to skip a track/hear battery level (long push) or cycle through your three chosen ANC levels (short press) (2x tap). When you take either bud out of your ear, the music will pause, and when you put it back in, the music will continue. I noticed a 2-second lag when performing either gesture.

The QuietComfort Earbuds aren’t any different. The QuietComfort Earbuds, like other Bose headphones and earbuds, have a long history of supporting digital assistants. The microphone array from Bose excels at speech recognition, taking up every spoken instruction and phrase. On their respective platforms, Siri and Google Assistant work flawlessly.

Bose also verified that the digital assistant capability is built into whatever smartphone you’re using, so it’ll work with Samsung’s Bixby and even Microsoft’s Cortana (Microsoft).

Audio quality

The QuietComfort Earbuds share ANC with the Bose 700, but that’s not all. It turns out that these next-generation buds have a similar frequency curve, combining Bose’s Active EQ technology with proprietary drivers to provide warm, pleasant sound.

If you’re looking for a pair of earbuds with a lot of basses, go elsewhere because the QuietComfort Earbuds have a lot of them. Nas’ “Angels with Dirty Faces” featured translucent snares that lacked percussive force. Raising the ANC and volume to their maximum levels adds a little extra oomph, but it’s not enough to satisfy the head-bangers.

It’s worth noting that the volume adjustment on the app doesn’t go all the way up to maximum volume, which is Bose’s way of notifying us that the buds can go higher but are capped at a lesser level to preserve the listener’s hearing. Some could describe this as insightful, and they’d be correct.

The ear tips from Bose provide a tight seal for good passive noise isolation, allowing for a richer sound and blocking out other noises.

Battery life & charging case

The battery life is rated at 6 hours by Bose. When you take in ANC, extensive wireless streaming, and high volume, you’re looking at around 5.5 hours. That’s about normal for ANC wireless earbuds; it’s somewhat longer than the AirPods Pro (4.5 hours) but not nearly as long as the WF-1000XM3 (6 hours). Battery life is impacted by the inability to turn off both ANC and transparency settings at the same time. You’ll need to rely on quick charging to assuage your low-battery worries: a 15-minute charge will give you 2 hours of power.

You’d think that larger dimensions would imply longer battery life, wouldn’t you? Nope. The charging case from Bose can last up to 18 hours when fully charged. In terms of playtime (24 hours) and extra charges, less than the AirPods Pro charging case (5 charges). It’s a reasonable quantity of portable electricity to transport; it’s just a burden to do so.

The charging case allows wireless charging and is compatible with Qi-certified wireless chargers, which is a plus. The Bose Sport Earbuds, on the other hand, are sportier.

Verdict

Bose set out to create the best noise-canceling experience possible in the true wireless world, and the QuietComfort Earbuds succeed admirably. It’s impressive that it can virtually match the Bose 700’s ANC performance. You’ll enjoy great sound and call quality with the buds, which take advantage of Bose’s noise-canceling technology for uninterrupted phone calls and video chats.

Despite their high profile, the QuietComfort Earbuds fall short in several aspects. They’re not little, and they take up quite a bit of space in your ear and pocket. The wireless charging case carries less playtime than the AirPods Pro, so battery life will leave you wanting more.

We can also hammer on the luxury pricing aspect for argument’s sake, but let’s be honest. Those who have purchased Bose headphones are well aware of what they are getting for their money: superior noise cancellation and overall performance. In a nutshell, the QuietComfort Earbuds are genuine wireless.

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