Bose QuietComfort Earbuds Truly Wireless Headphones Review

The Bose QuietComfort buds are bulky, oval-shaped earbuds. They're vertically oriented, which makes their design stand out, and they're quite large, so they're easily noticeable. They come in two permanent color variants: 'Triple Black' and 'Soapstone'. Two limited edition color variants are available: 'Stone Blue' and 'Sandstone'.

They have a decently comfortable fit for most people. They're lightweight, and the tips don't go too deep into your ears. The silicone stability fins also feel good and are flexible enough to fit comfortably in your ear. Unfortunately, the buds are a bit bulky and stick out, so they could get in the way if you're wearing a hat. If you want more comfortable headphones, check out the Jabra Elite 85t Truly Wireless or the Sony WF-1000XM4 Truly Wireless.

These buds have decent controls. There are touch-sensitive surfaces on both buds, and they're somewhat easy to use. However, there isn't audible feedback when adjusting the volume or playing and pausing audio. The volume controls also move in big increments, so it can be hard to reach a specific volume, and it can be tricky to register a touch slide to adjust the volume. On the upside, you can remap the following controls by touching and holding the left earbud: 'Hear Battery Life', 'Open Spotify', which opens the Spotify app if installed, 'Skip Forward', and 'Skip Backward'. However, you can't have the 'Skip Forward' and 'Skip Backward' controls active simultaneously.

On the left earbud:

• Double-tap: Allows you to cycle between up to four ANC preset modes. By default, you have 'Quiet' mode, which is high noise cancelling, and 'Aware' mode, which allows you to hear your environment without pausing your audio. You can also customize this setting with up to four different preset modes in the companion app.

On the right earbud:

• Double-tap: Plays and pauses audio. Also accepts or ends calls.
• Swipe up: Raises the volume.
• Swipe down: Lowers the volume.
• Touch and hold: Activates voice assistant. Also declines calls. You can remap this control via the companion app to skip a track forward, skip a track backward, open Spotify, or hear how much battery life you have.

The Bose QuietComfort buds are very breathable. They don't trap much heat, and you won't feel a big difference in temperature or sweat more when wearing them while working out or running.

Despite their bulky and larger design compared to other in-ears like the Apple AirPods Pro Truly Wireless, they're still very portable. They can fit into most pockets without an issue. Their carrying case will also fit into a larger pocket or bag.

The carrying case is good. It's on the bulky side, but it feels sturdy and durable. It has a lock mechanism to help prevent the headphones from falling out when you're on the go. There are five LED lights to indicate the case's battery life, and there's a dedicated Bluetooth pairing button. You can charge it via USB-C or wirelessly with a Qi-enabled charger.

They have a great build quality. They're mostly made of high-grade plastic and have a durable and sturdy design. They're also certified IPX4 for protection against splashes of water. The case is made of plastic that feels dense. The headphones and case can survive accidental drops without taking too much damage.

The Bose QuietComfort buds have a very stable in-ear fit. Unlike the Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 True Wireless, they have stability wings to help keep them from moving around, making them well-suited for physical activity. However, they slightly stick out of the ear and can get hooked on something like a hat if you're wearing one.

• Bose QuietComfort noise cancelling earbuds
• 3x stability fins/tips
• USB-A to USB-C charging cable
• Carrying case
• Manual

The Bose QuietComfort buds have a neutral sound profile with a touch of extra bass. There's also some over-emphasis in the high-mid and low-treble that causes vocals and lead instruments to sound slightly harsh. On the upside, if you prefer a different sound, their companion app offers a 3-band graphic EQ as well as a few EQ presets to help you tweak their sound to suit your tastes.

Like most in-ear headphones, they have fantastic frequency response consistency. Once you achieve a proper fit using the included stability tips, you'll experience consistent bass and treble delivery every time you use them.

They have superb bass accuracy. The response is a touch overemphasized across the range and adds a bit more thump, punch, and boom to mixes. Still, it's fairly flat, which helps ensure a balanced mix. In songs like Hey Ya! by Outkast, the bubbly bassline in the chorus feels punchy and present but doesn't take over the track.

The mid accuracy is fantastic. The range is fairly flat and even, so vocals and lead instruments sound present and detailed. The high-mid has a small bump, making vocals and lead instruments sound slightly harsh.

These buds have great treble accuracy. There's some overemphasis in the low-treble range, so vocals and lead instruments can sound slightly harsh. The dip in the mid-treble also slightly dulls sibilants like cymbals.

These headphones have great peaks and dips performance. A few minor peaks and dips indicate that the headphones control their sound profile well. There are a couple of tall peaks and dips, though. The left driver dips between the low to mid-mid, which thins out vocals and instruments, nudging them to the back of the mix. After this dip, the following peaks and dips affect both drivers similarly. The peak in the high-mid to low-treble harshens vocals and instruments while the dip in the low-treble veils these sounds. The following peak in the mid-treble makes sibilants like cymbals piercing.

Most Bose products that we've tested have good imaging, which is an indication of good quality control and ergonomics. These earbuds aren't an exception. The L/R drivers of our unit are well-matched regarding group delay, ensuring tight bass and transparent treble reproduction. In addition, the L/R drivers are well-matched in amplitude and frequency response, which helps ensure a balanced and stable stereo image. That said, our unit has a large peak in the high-mid to mid-treble in phase response, which skews audio to the right and is noticeable with real-life content. Also, keep in mind that imaging varies between units, so you might have a different experience.

Their passive soundstage is bad, which is to be expected from in-ear headphones. Their design bypasses your outer ear, which needs to be activated by sound resonances to create an out-of-head soundstage. As a result, sound seems like it's coming from inside your head. Since they're also closed-back headphones, their soundstage doesn't sound as open or spacious as open-back headphones like the Apple AirPods (3rd generation) Truly Wireless.

These buds have a great weighted harmonic distortion performance. Although there are a couple of spikes in the treble range, all frequencies fall within good limits, resulting in clean and pure audio reproduction.

These are the settings used to test these in-ears. Our results are only valid when using these settings.

These headphones have great noise isolation. Using firmware version 2.0.7-18347+fb87694 and their strongest ANC setting, they do a very good job cutting down bass-range noise like the rumble of bus and plane engines. They can also block out an impressive amount of mid-range sound, like ambient chatter, and high-pitched noise, like the hum of an AC unit. You can see the originally published results using version 1.0.7-9846+620b71c here too. While the score didn't change between firmware updates, the results show that the ANC is slightly less effective at blocking out bass-range noise after the firmware update but more effective at isolating against mid-range noise.

You can adjust the level of ANC by selecting one of the ten different preset modes in the companion app. Two modes, 'Quiet' and 'Aware', are the default settings you can cycle through when double-tapping the left earbud. However, you can add up to four different presets to this command if you prefer other amounts of noise isolation.

The leakage performance is great. Most of the leakage is concentrated between the mid to treble range, and escaping audio sounds thin. If you're listening to audio at high volumes, you won't bother people around you.

The integrated mic's recording quality is just okay. Your voice sounds bright but a little staticky and unnatural. If you're looking for truly wireless headphones with a better mic recording quality, try the Amazon Echo Buds True Wireless 2021 (2nd generation) or the Jabra Elite 7 Pro True Wireless.

The mic's noise handling performance is poor. Your voice is easily drowned out by moderate ambient noise around you. If you're taking a call from a loud place like a busy street, whoever you're talking to will have issues hearing you clearly.

They have a decent battery performance. Although the manufacturer advertises them as having six hours of continuous playtime, we measured over seven hours, which is roughly on par with other truly wireless headphones with an ANC system like the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live Truly Wireless. Battery life varies depending on use, though. Luckily, the buds go into standby mode when you remove the earbuds from your ears to help conserve battery life. The carrying case also comes with two additional charges, which will help when you're on the go. You can even use one bud while the other charges, but it's a little more complicated: if you want to use the right earbud, the left bud must be in the case while the lid is closed. Conversely, to only use the left earbud, the right earbud needs to be in the charging case with the lid open.

Bose Music is a great companion app. It offers a 3-band graphic EQ and presets to help you adjust their sound to your liking. You can see the battery and volume level and set particular commands like play and pause to automatically trigger, depending on whether the earbud detects your ear. It offers ANC controls, and you can save up to four preset ANC modes. 'Quiet' and 'Aware' are saved by default, with 'Quiet' providing maximum noise cancelling and 'Aware' allowing you to hear your surroundings. You can also create two more custom modes in the app, and choose a name for each from eight possible names, like 'Commute' and 'Run'. In addition, a 'self voice' feedback feature allows you to hear your voice during a call.

These buds don't have many extra features when it comes to Bluetooth connectivity. They don't support multi-device pairing, so you have to re-pair when switching between your phone and computer. Their PC latency is also somewhat high, and you may notice slight syncing issues between your audio and visuals. On the upside, they have low latency on iOS and Android devices, making them suitable for streaming video. Some apps and devices also compensate for latency.

You can't use the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds wired. They come with a USB-A to USB-C cable to charge their carrying case.

These headphones can wirelessly connect to Bluetooth-enabled PCs with full mic and audio compatibility. However, you can't connect them to PCs in any other way.

These buds have a charging case that holds two additional charges. It only has one USB-A to USB-C charging cable input. Still, unlike with the more recent Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Truly Wireless, you can also recharge it wirelessly via Qi-enabled chargers.