Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen)  Headphones Review

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) use the brand's CustomTune technology, which adjusts the frequency response between 800Hz and 5kHz to your ears by playing a tone. Once calibrated on our rig, the bass is emphasized with a relatively de-emphasized mid-range, except for a peak in the high-mids. The treble is warmer than the previous Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones Wireless' tuning and our target curve. That said, like a sound profile chimera, the Bose QC Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen)'s treble is voiced in the top-end a bit closer to the SenseLab Aizu and SoundGuys.com Headphones Preference Curves, but the bass is much closer to our curve. However, that's not the end of the story because these headphones come with EQ presets and a custom three-band EQ, so you can change the sound to your tastes.

These headphones also change their tuning slightly if you turn the ANC off. The cans also support USB-C and analog wired connections, and they sound a bit different in those modes, too. We compared the CustomTune calibration (mainly of note between 800Hz and 5kHz) on two different subjects and then on the testing rig's B&K 5128 to see how the measurements changed or didn't between people.

Their frequency response consistency is fair. They use CustomTune calibration to adjust their sound based on your ears and anatomy. That said, their adaptive tuning means that different people tend to experience varying sound profiles. Some takeaways we found include a slight drop in the low bass if you wear glasses and a pretty drastically variable mid-range on most people. People with small heads may experience a large dip followed by a large peak in the upper mid-range, which can cause voices to sound unevenly distant and harsh. On the other hand, people with long hair or large-sized heads may experience the inverse: a peak in the mid-mids and a notably deep dip in the high-mids.

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) have superb bass target compliance. Compared to our curve, the low-end is boosted across the range, with more emphasis on rumble and punch, and tapers off somewhat in the high bass. Bass guitar and kicks in disco tracks like Got to Have Loving by Don Ray and Cerrone are infused with a bit of extra low-end fullness.

The mid-range target compliance is exceptional and doesn't deviate too far astray from our curve. There's minor underemphasis in the lower mids and a bump in the upper mids, resulting in natural-sounding pianos and sparkly lead guitars that can sound a little harsh. That said, our unit has a very slight mismatch in the upper mids, making one side a bit quieter than the other.

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) have satisfactory treble target compliance. Nearly the entire range is de-emphasized relative to our curve. Vocal articulation and cymbal harmonics sound a little warm and slightly dull, but not piercing or hissy.

Their peaks and dips are very good. The lows are mostly smooth and consistent. The mids are also more or less smooth with only minor deviations (and a small L/R mismatch in the high-mids). In the treble range, there are sharper peaks and valleys, which tend to make vocal and upper harmonics come across as either relatively a bit dull or shrill, depending on the pitch.

These over-ears have very good stereo matching. Their weighted amplitude is closely matched, so each driver reproduces your audio at nearly the same output loudness. There's a mismatch in the mid-range's frequency response and phase, which isn't audible in a sine sweep, but it can slightly affect the stereo image, depending on the content and your sensitivity. Otherwise, the higher, treble mismatches aren't obvious during playback. That said, these results only apply to our unit, so your results may vary.

The group delay performance is very good. Across the range, the drivers output frequencies without bleeding into each other within the time domain, resulting in tight bass and transparent treble.

The PRTF measurements indicate a decent amount of interaction with your ears' pinna. This suggests some similarities with your sense of spaciousness when compared to the effect of an angled reference speaker.

These over-ears exhibit fantastically low harmonic distortion. At 94 dB and 104 dB/SPL, each frequency tested through the headphones is delivered with very little coloration, leaving your audio unaffected by unwanted artifacts.

These headphones require their built-in power to work, even when using a wired connection, so it's unnecessary to take impedance and sensitivity measurements.

Through the Bose Music companion app, you can access the virtual soundstage feature, labeled as 'Immersive Audio.' It uses headtracking 'Motion' (or not, if you disable it in 'Still' mode) and speaker modeling to apply a (digital signal processor) DSP to make audio seem more spacious. In 'Motion' mode, sound moves around you in response to your head movements and reorients to center around you if you stop moving. The effect works on any conventional stereo audio, but it doesn't work with Dolby Atmos audio the way that the Sony WH-1000XM6 do.

'Cinema' mode sets your ANC to the highest strength and disables head movements. It sounds a little different from the stereo sound profile, with a bit more low-end rumble and a little more excited treble. Unfortunately, due to the nature of effects like phase used for virtual soundstages, we can't capture this difference in a representative way with our testing rig, which is designed for stereo.

These are the settings used to test these headphones. We also used the CustomTune feature on our test rig so that it could adapt to its ear shape. Our results are only valid when used in this configuration.

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) resemble the original Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones Wireless in design, except for the flashier shiny metallic-colored yokes on the 2nd Gen. The headband has a slightly thicker strip of padding, too. Depending on the color you choose, the mostly metal and plastic build has matching or tonal details, and the brand logo on the outside of each ear cup. At release, the colors include: 'White,' 'Black,' 'Desert Gold,' 'Midnight Violet,' and (like our unit) 'Driftwood Sand.'

The Bose QC Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) are amazingly comfortable. They're lightweight with generous padding along the headband, and they don't clamp hard. Their ample padding feels a little more premium than the previous Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones Wireless, but otherwise, they're very similar to wear. The enclosures are slightly angled to accommodate a variety of ear shapes and sizes.

Their controls are similar to the last generation's. A combination of two buttons and a touch-sensitive slider handles all of the playback and call controls. When you press and hold the multi-function button, you can change which preset listening modes (which include ANC settings) the headphones use by modifying them within the app. You can also assign a single 'Shortcut' in the app, and the options are: 

• Quiet (ANC Max/Immersive Audio off)
• Aware (Transparency Max/'ActiveSense' Off/Immersive Audio off)
• Immersion (ANC Max/Immersive Audio with 'Motion' mode)
• Cinema (ANC Max/Immersive Audio with 'Still' mode)

Although there's a degree of customization as a perk, stacking commands to only two buttons and a slider can be a little tedious and requires some amount of memorization. The touch-sensitive slider's responsiveness can be a little inconsistent with your fingertips, which is annoying when altering the volume, and it doesn't audibly indicate any change registered when skipping a track. Otherwise, the clicky buttons offer immediate feedback while chimes and voice prompts alert you to listening modes, pairing status, minimum and max volume settings, and battery level.

These over-ears aren't bad for portability. They feature articulating arms with hinges and can fold and lay flat to save space. Still, they're not the smallest cans available, but they're easy enough to rest around your neck if you're short on space in your bag.

Their zip case is great. It's a semi-hardshell case with a bit of give, comprised of plastic and faux leather. While similar to the last generation's carrying case in dimensions with a big pouch for cables, this one supplies more protective padding inside and a smoother zipper.

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) have great build quality. They're made of plastic, aluminum, and synthetic leather. The enclosures are aluminum, and despite the metallic shine, the yokes are plastic. Their hinges are metal, though, and feel sturdy, as does the sliding headband; over time, these could wear down a little, but they feel well-constructed.

The faux leather padding along the headband and earpads feels a bit nicer and has a bit more give than on the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones Wireless. The AUX and USB-C cables are a shortcoming, though: both are rather short (which can result in a lot of accidental tugs) and thin.

These headphones are decently stable. They're meant for walking around and sitting down, but not for exercise or headbanging. They can shift with sudden movements and tilts, while intense head shakes will knock them off.

• Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen)
• 3.5 mm to 2.5 mm (1/8" to 1/16") TRS audio cable (102 cm/40 inches)
• USB-C to USB-C cable (95 cm/37.4 inches)
• Carrying case
• Quick start guide

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) have superb full-range noise isolation. Through a mixture of passive isolation and the adaptive ANC system, the headphones do a solid job of blocking rumbly noises, chatter, and high-pitched squeaks like sneakers on linoleum flooring. That said, the overall performance is similar to the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones Wireless with slightly different strengths. The 2nd Gen block out more trebly noises. You can also adjust the strength of the ANC within the app.

The adaptive nature of the ANC system extends to the 'Aware' (aka transparency) mode as part of the 'ActiveSense' feature, and it uses a combination of transparency and ANC to filter out unpleasant noises while offering situational awareness. It's quite quick to respond to fast transients like keyboard strokes and hand claps, and it softens the noise from reaching your ears. The vocal clarity in the 'Aware' mode means you can quickly ask for directions without removing your headphones.

That said, some owners have reported a few seconds of ANC 'hiss' in the background, which we can confirm we also experienced. It's not a persistent background hiss, and it only lasts a few seconds when there are changes to either your environment's noise level or your playback (paused audio or volume settings), but if you wear ANC headphones mainly to block out noise and don't listen to music, it could be annoying. In contrast, the previous model has complaints of a persistent background hiss from the ANC, which seems quieter, while the QC Ultra 2nd Gen's hiss is louder, but it goes away.

These over-ears have remarkable noise isolation in common scenarios. Overall, the noise isolation's effectiveness is comparable to the last generation model, but these two headphones don't tackle the frequencies in the exact same way. For example, brighter noises in office settings are blocked better by the QC Ultra Headphones Gen 2, but they don't filter out low, punchy noises quite as well in office settings. Still, street and airplane noises like traffic and din are handled very well.

While some owners of the previous Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones Wireless complained of unwanted noise produced by external vibrations, we haven't been able to reproduce that effect on the 2nd Gen, but we also haven't experienced this with their predecessor either. There's the effect of low-pitched noise produced from the headphones slightly moving around on your head when walking around, but that's also commonly experienced on most ANC cans, and it doesn't match the descriptions provided by owners of the last-gen model's ANC issue.

These headphones have a wind reduction feature, 'Wind Block.' While the interaction of wind with the ANC system produces noise, which is normal, it depends on the angle of the wind. It also works better than the previous model, particularly with low-pitched noise and when the air hits the headphones at a 90-degree angle.

Their leakage performance is decent. Most of the audio that escapes resides in the mid-range, meaning that lead melodies and voices are more audible. However, it depends on your output volume, environment, and the nearest person's proximity to you. In most environments, except for a quiet corner at a library with someone sitting uncomfortably close, nobody can hear your audio.

The mic's recording quality is decent. The response is fairly flat across the frequencies of the human voice, so deeper and higher-pitched voices sound more or less true-to-life. Their software features an adjustable side-tone (labeled 'Self Voice'), so you can hear yourself while on a call to counteract the disorientation of being on a call with ANC enabled.

The mic system's noise handling performance is satisfactory. Constant noise in the backdrop is lowered in intensity, and your voice is prioritized, but the noise isn't totally rejected. With regard to common subway station sounds like other people and approaching trains, the mic system decreases the volume of the noise well, though it's still audible. It doesn't perfectly preserve your speech with a couple of minor dropouts from a passing train, but it manages to do a decent job of retaining your voice.

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) have excellent battery performance. In our standardized testing, they lasted 37 hours, exceeding the manufacturer's advertised 30-hour battery life. This is a marked improvement over the first-generation Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones Wireless' 29 hours of juice. You still can't use them as passive wired headphones when the battery dies; though, you can use them while they're recharging. They include an auto-off timer and a standby mode to conserve the battery life. If you lay them flat on a table, they'll automatically enter a low-power standby mode.

The Bose companion app is great, and it provides virtually the same interface (viewable in this video demo) as their predecessor. The app gives you access to EQ presets and a three-band graphic EQ, which isn't the most granular when compared to the Sony WH-1000XM6's equalizer, but if you prefer an uncomplicated EQ, it does the job. The app includes 'Modes,' a menu that combines preset combinations of ANC or transparency modes with various 'Immersive Audio' (more on this in Virtual Soundstage) settings, which is handy for changing multiple settings at once.

You can also assign a 'Shortcut' function to the multi-function button. Several features are on/off: on-ear detection, touch control, and noise control. However, the noise control's custom slider, meant to modify the ANC's strength (at the time of writing), has a software bug that prevents the slider from changing the ANC strength, so it's more of an on/off situation. The app lets you set a battery auto-off timer, adjust the volume of the sidetone ('Self Voice'), and alter the voice prompt settings. You can also use the Source function to manually switch input.

These headphones have decent wired connectivity. Unlike their predecessor, they support USB-C audio playback. They can also connect with an analog audio cable; a 3.5 mm to 2.5 mm (1/8" to 1/16") TRS comes in the box. However, the wired latency is higher than most wired headphones due to the built-in active processing the headphones perform. It's not elevated enough to be bothersome or cause noticeable A/V sync when watching videos, but if you're editing video and audio, it could introduce frustrations. The microphone is also disabled when you use them wired.

Their Bluetooth performance is good. These support multi-device pairing with two devices. In addition to the standard SBC and AAC codecs, these support the aptX Adaptive suite. Depending on your device and the Developer Settings in Android, aptX Adaptive (High Quality) and aptX Adaptive Lossless are capable of virtually lossless audio, but many devices don't have the Snapdragon Sound chip and will instead downgrade to aptX Adaptive (Low Latency). Compared to the previous model, latency is similar, but your real-world experience can vary with different devices and apps, which may compensate for A/V sync differently.

You can pair these headphones via Bluetooth for mic and audio support. If you use the USB-C or analog TRS audio cable for listening to audio, the mic won't work, though.

These headphones can connect to your PS4 and PS5 with the USB-C cable or analog audio cable, but they can only receive audio.

These are only compatible with Xbox consoles if you the analog TRS cable and plug it into the controller's AUX port. If you need a mic, you'll need to get an outboard one, though.