Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II Truly Wireless Headphones Review

The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II have a sleeker and more refined look than their predecessor, the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds Truly Wireless. They're a lot smaller and have a stem design. The manufacturer's label is on the outward-facing side. Unlike other Bose earbuds, the stability fins and ear tips are separate pieces instead of one unit, which makes it easy to swap out if you prefer a different fit. They come in three color variants: 'Triple Black', 'Eclipse Grey' and 'Soapstone', as well as the now-discontinued 'Midnight Blue'.

These buds are very comfortable. Compared to their predecessor, they're less bulky and don't go as deeply into your ears. The stability fins also feel softer on the skin, and since they're now independent from the ear tip, it's easier to ensure a comfortable fit. The buds don't put much pressure on the ear and feel lightweight. They don't pop out of your ear over time like the Apple AirPods Pro (2nd generation) Truly Wireless either.

These headphones have good controls. There's a touch-sensitive surface on each bud, which is easy to use and has good sensitivity. You can use either bud for controls, but there's no audio feedback to let you know when you've registered a command. You can also accidentally switch between ANC modes if you adjust the buds using the stem.

On either bud:

• Single tap: Plays and pauses audio. Also accepts calls.
• Double tap: Skips to the next track. Also ends calls.
• Triple tap: Skips to the previous track.
• Touch and hold: Cycles between ANC modes: 'Quiet', which is ANC on, and 'Aware', which is a talk-through mode, so that you can hear your environment without taking your earbuds out. You can also remap these controls to add voice assistant control.
• Swipe up: Raises the volume.
• Swipe down: Lowers the volume.

Like most in-ears, the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II are very portable and can easily fit into most pockets or bags without an issue. However, the case is much bulkier (and heavier) than other truly wireless headphones like the Apple AirPods Pro (2nd generation) Truly Wireless.

The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II come with a good carrying case. It's mostly made of plastic, but it feels better quality than the first generation. The lid feels flimsy compared to the rest of the case, and there's no locking mechanism, so it's easy to open the lid by accident. A single LED light indicator lets you know when the buds are charging. The back of the case also has a Bluetooth pairing button that's slightly indented. Unfortunately, the case doesn't support wireless charging, which is a step down from their predecessor.

These buds have a good build quality but don't feel as premium as the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds Truly Wireless. They're mostly made of glossy plastic, except for the touch-sensitive surface on the stems, but it feels cheap. The case is also made of plastic and is a little flimsy. The fins and tips are also thinner and seem prone to tearing due to the thin area where they lock onto your ears. They're certified IPX4 for resistance against water splashes, though.

Thanks to their stability fin design, these buds have a very stable in-ear fit. You can wear them during a run or workout, and they won't fall out of your ears.

• Bose QuietComfort 2 earbuds
• 3x stability bands
• 3x ear tips
• USB-A to USB-C charging cable
• Carrying case
• Manual

After firmware update 1.3.26+g1226f68, the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II have a more bass-heavy sound profile than we originally measured. You can see a comparison between the original frequency response and our new pass here. However, even though we tried to achieve the best seal using our testing rig, we still subjectively heard more bass from the buds than our graph indicates. It's due to the shape of our test rig's ear canals, which can't capture what we hear subjectively.

Overall, if you like genres like EDM and hip-hop, you'll like the extra thump, punch, and boom, but they don't sound that neutral. Vocals are particularly muddy and cluttered in mixes. Luckily, if you prefer a different sound, their companion app offers a graphic EQ and presets to help you further customize their sound. It's also worth noting that these buds use the manufacturer's CustomTune technology to adapt the sound profile over time to the shape of your ear canals.

The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2 have outstanding frequency response consistency. Assuming you get the best fit using the included stability fins and ear tips, you'll experience consistent bass and treble delivery.

After firmware update 1.3.26+g1226f68, these buds produce more bass than our graph indicates. It's due to the shape of our test rig's ear canals, and subjectively, you can expect more thump, punch, and boom in mixes. While the extra bass is well-suited for genres like EDM and hip-hop, it also muddies and clutters vocals and instruments.

The mid response is more uneven after firmware update 1.3.26+g1226f68 than when it was first released. Unfortunately, our test rig can't adequately capture the amount of bass produced by these buds due to the shape of our rig's ear canals. Subjectively, this extra bass extends into the low-mid and muddies vocals and instruments. A dip in the mid to high-mid also nudges these sounds to the back of the mix and weakens them. In songs like I'm Good (Blue) by David Guetta and Bebe Rexha, the female vocals and piano are muddied by the bassline and sound distant.

The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2 have excellent treble accuracy. The treble response is a little tilted, resulting in detailed vocals and instruments. Sibilants are also present but not overly bright. In songs like Miss You by Oliver Tree and Robin Schulz, the high-pitched vocals in the chorus sound crisp without being piercing.

The peaks and dips performance is decent and they follow their own sound profile for the most part. There's a small peak in the low-bass, which adds extra thump and rumble to your mixes. A dip in the high-mid affects the right driver more prominently, weakening vocals and instruments. A couple of peaks in the low to mid-treble make the upper harmonics of vocals and instruments sound harsh while sibilants like S and T sounds are piercing.

The imaging performance is excellent. Bose has good quality control with their products, and their headphones usually have well-matched drivers. Our unit's L/R drivers are also well-matched in group delay, phase, amplitude, and frequency response. Although there's a bump in our unit's phase response, it's a very small area and can be hard to hear with real-life content. Audio becomes louder in the left driver in the mid-mids and louder in the right driver afterward. However, imaging varies depending on the manufacturer's quality control and ergonomics.

The passive soundstage performance is bad, which is normal for in-ears. To create an immersive soundstage, your outer ear has to be activated by sound. However, in-ears bypass your outer ear. This results in a soundstage that feels small, unnatural, and as if sound is coming from inside your head rather than from speakers placed in the room around you.

The weighted harmonic distortion performance is very good. There's a spike in the mid-treble, but it's hard to hear with real-life content. The rest of the frequencies fall within good levels, resulting in mostly clean and pure audio reproduction.

These are the settings used to test these headphones; our results are only valid in this configuration.

The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2's noise isolation performance is great. They can block out a significant amount of ambient noise for earbuds. Subjectively, the ANC performance is close to the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Truly Wireless, likely because they both feature CustomTune technology, which adapts the ANC depending on your ear shape and the environment around you. Overall, they're well-suited to reducing a wide variety of external noises, from low engine rumbles to ambient chatter and the high-pitched hum of AC units.

They do a similarly excellent job when it comes to everyday situations. The ANC system can cut down engine noise while you're on an airplane, as well as sounds from a busy street. Office noise is well-reduced, too, so these buds are a solid choice for work if you're bothered by what's happening around you.

Wind noise isn't easy for headphones to tackle. The amount of wind noise can also vary depending on the angle because of the buds' small size and shape. When wind directly interacts with the ANC's mics, it causes the ANC system to produce anti-noise to counter it, even though wind sound itself doesn't reach your ears. This results in loud, unwanted noise when the ANC is on. These buds don't have a wind reduction feature to help reduce this sound.

The leakage performance is great. Most leakage is concentrated in the treble range and sounds fairly thin. If you like to crank up the volume to your favorite tunes, others around you won't hear it.

The integrated mic's recording quality is okay. Your voice sounds boxy and as if the mic is a little far from your mouth. That said, your voice is still understandable.

The mic's noise handling performance is poor. The mic sits far away from your mouth, so it has difficulty capturing your voice clearly, especially in noisy environments like a busy office. That said, if you're talking in a quieter environment, like at home, you won't have problems being heard clearly.

The Bose QuietComfort II's battery performance is decent. Like the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds Truly Wireless, the manufacturer advertises them to last six hours continuously, and we measured over that. However, battery life can vary depending on use. Luckily, the carrying case holds three additional charges, which is handy in a pinch. Firmware update 1.3.26+g1226f68 also added single bud listening, so you can use either bud while the other one charges in the carrying case. If you're looking for in-ears with a longer continuous battery life, check out the Status Between Pro True Wireless or the Sony WF-1000XM5 Truly Wireless.

The Bose Music app is great. It's pretty simple to use and offers a lot of features. You can see a video of the app in use here. You can check the battery level, adjust volume, and remap controls. You can also select different modes, which you can then set to a custom amount of ANC, which is handy if you prefer more or less noise isolation depending on your activity or location. To ensure you get a good fit, there's an ear tip fit test, and there's a graphic EQ as well as presets to help you adjust their sound.

These headphones have a USB-C to USB-A cable to recharge their carrying case.

The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2 offer good Bluetooth connectivity. For high-end buds, they don't support multi-device pairing or have quick pairing features. They also don't currently support any high-resolution audio codecs, like LDAC. They support AAC and SBC codecs, but SBC has high latency, so your audio and visuals won't be in sync if you're streaming video. Latency can vary depending on the app and device you're using, though.

These earbuds can connect to Bluetooth-enabled PCs with full audio and mic compatibility. However, this is the only way to connect these headphones to your PC.

These headphones come with a carrying case with a USB-C port for charging their case. Unlike their predecessor, the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds Truly Wireless, you can't charge the case wirelessly, but it can hold a whole extra charge.