Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones Wireless  Headphones Review

The Bose QC Ultra Headphones have a warm sound profile with a relatively flat mid-range. Their treble range is slightly subdued, but it's still clear, if a bit uneven.

If you prefer a different sound, their companion app offers EQ presets, which retain the extra low-end. You can also fine-tune their sound to your liking by using the custom equalizer. They also sound slightly different with less treble emphasis if you use them wired rather than wirelessly.

These headphones have Bose's CustomTune technology, which allows the headphones to automatically adjust their noise isolation and sound profile based on your personal listening capabilities. As a result, it's difficult to get consistent measurements for these headphones, as they constantly adapt and retune their sound. That said, you'll likely experience a drop in bass if you have long hair or wear glasses, while those with larger heads will experience an increase in bass response.

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones' bass target compliance is excellent. The response is elevated from the low-bass through mid-bass for extra thump and rumble. The high-bass adheres to our target tightly for a good amount of boom on kick drums without any extra mud. This can be pleasing if you're listening to especially bass-heavy mixes like Starboy by The Weeknd because the bass sounds exciting, but the vocals still sound clear and present.

The mid-range's target compliance is outstanding. The response is pretty flat and neutral, resulting in natural-sounding and present vocals and instruments.

The treble's target compliance is superb. It lands close to our target response from the low-treble through mid-treble for a bright, detailed sound. It wavers slightly, but vocals remain articulate, and sibilants (like S and T) sound detailed. This smoother treble might sound slightly dull in comparison to the elevated bass, but you can adjust the equalizer for a different frequency response.

The peaks and dips performance is great. These headphones don't deviate much from their warm sound profile, apart from a few peaks and dips in the treble range, which can make sounds like cymbals harsh, dull, or piercing depending on their pitch.

The left and right drivers have okay stereo matching. They're well-matched in terms of amplitude throughout the bass range and most of the mid-range. The biggest deviations are in the treble region, where a couple of big deviations mean sounds like distorted electric guitars might feel slightly imbalanced in the stereo field. The drivers exhibit phase deviations throughout the range, though not extreme, in the bass region, it sounds a bit hollow, which is also reflected in the Group Delay section. The other slight deviations shown on our graph are inaudible with regular content.

These headphones have terrible group delay performance. Kick drums feel noticeably loose, lacking the punchy, impactful attack you'd expect. Similarly, bass guitars lack definition. This is especially disappointing given these headphones' otherwise warm and bassy sound profile. There are no issues in the mid or treble ranges, though, so high percussion sounds crisp and clear.

The PRTF measurements indicate a disappointing amount of interaction between your audio and pinna, meaning these headphones lack the qualities of an angled reference speaker. Their soundstage doesn't feel very open or spacious, and the audio seems like it's coming from inside your head.

These headphones have great harmonic distortion performance. Even at impressively high volumes, your audio will sound clean and free from harmonic distortion artifacts.

These active headphones only work when they are powered on, so we didn't take impedance or sensitivity measurements.

Like the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Truly Wireless, these headphones support Bose's Immersive Audio. This is a head-tracking feature that can make your audio feel more spacious and real-life. It doesn't utilize any surround content, though, and only uses regular audio content. There are two settings (other than off): 'Still,' which virtually places the speakers in front of you and tracks your head to keep audio placed in relation to your original position, and 'Motion,' which allows the virtual speakers to move as you move your head, always keeping them placed in front of you. That said, these headphones can't play surround content like Dolby Atmos as they have to downmix this content to stereo. That said, they use digital sound processing (DSP) to virtually create a wider stereo soundstage.

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 look very similar to the Bose QuietComfort Headphones Wireless and the Bose QuietComfort 45/QC45 Wireless. Overall, they look fairly minimalist, especially with the manufacturer's name modestly embossed on the center ear cup. The most noticeable difference is that the yoke is silver instead of completely black, and a similar design choice is made on the other color schemes. The 'White Smoke' model has silver yokes, while the 'Sandstone' model has gold yokes.

These headphones are pretty comfortable. They're quite similar to their predecessors but have plusher, thicker padding on the top of the headband and around the ear cup. The ear cups are angled to give you more depth without rubbing against your ears.

The control scheme is different than the Bose QuietComfort 45/QC45 Wireless with a touch-sensitive slider so that you can adjust the volume and only two buttons. All the controls are on the right ear cup, and there are chimes to let you know when you've powered the headphones on and off and when you've reached min or max volume. There are also voice prompts to indicate the battery level, ANC status, and pairing. There isn't feedback if you're pausing or skipping tracks, though. The volume slider is also a bit inconsistent, and you must use the tip of your finger to get the right volume increment. This slider also lets you access a shortcut command (which is settable in the companion app) by pressing and holding it in place.

Power button:

• Single press: Turns the headphones on and off.
• Press and hold: Activates Bluetooth pairing.

Multifunction button:

• Single press: Plays and pauses audio. Also answers calls.
• Double press: Skips the track forward. Also ends calls.
• Triple press: Skips the track backward.
• Press and hold: Cycles through ANC modes. To access modes via this control, they must be set as favorites in the App. By default, Quiet, Aware, and Immersion modes are set as favorites (you can't turn ANC completely off).

Like most over-ears, they don't have the most portable design. That said, their ear cups can swivel to lay flat, helping them save some space.

The carrying case is great. It's very similar in quality to other Bose products but is rounded. It's still very sturdy, though, and is made from plastic and faux leather. It has a zipper that's covered to protect it from damage and soft, molded padding to ensure you place them correctly within the case. There's even a pouch to store your cables when not in use.

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones have a great build quality. They're mostly made of plastic with aluminum and leather detailing, which makes them feel durable and sturdy. There's also a good amount of plush padding. That said, the folding hinge can wear down with time and lose its snappiness. Leather can also wear down with continual use.

These headphones are decently stable. They'll stay on your head if you jam to music at your desk or on the couch. However, they can shift around in place with head movements and can even fall off if you're vigorously moving your head. As a result, they're not the best choice if you want to use them during tough workouts.

• Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones
• 1/8" to 1/16" (3.5 mm to 2.5 mm) TRRS audio cable
• Carrying case
• USB-A to USB-C charging cable
• Manuals

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones' full-range noise isolation performance is outstanding, which is on par for a brand built on noise cancelling (ANC) technology. Unlike the Bose QuietComfort 45/QC45 Wireless, they support Bose's CustomTune feature, so their ANC automatically adjusts to your hearing capabilities and surroundings. As a result, they can easily block out the low, bassy rumbles of bus and plane engines as well as mid-range noise like ambient chatter. They also reduce the high-pitched hum of AC units very well.

If you're looking for a bit more customization and control over your noise isolation performance, you can access ANC modes in the companion app, as well as adjust and set your own ANC presets. Although there's an ANC slider, it doesn't affect the strength of the ANC itself but the strength of talk-through (labeled as 'Aware' in the app) mode, which allows the headphones to let in your desired amount of ambient sound. Also, the headphones only have ANC or 'Aware' modes, which you can modify the strength of and adjust to your preference, but there's no mode without noise cancelling or transparency enabled.

In response to user feedback of a high noise floor when ANC is enabled and volume set low, we retested the headphones but couldn't replicate the issue. However, noise sensitivity is a subjective experience.

Some of our readers have reported that vibrations from places like buses and trains can cause distortion problems with these headphones' audio output. It could be due to the headphones' ANC, which is always active. We've been unable to reproduce this issue with our unit, but if you encounter it, please let us know in the comments.

Just like with our Noise Isolation - Full Range test, these headphones do an incredible job of blocking out ambient sound in more dynamic environments. Whether traveling by plane, hanging in a busy office, or walking down the street, the ANC system can reduce a significant amount of sound around you so that you can focus on your audio. If you plan to use your headphones while out and about, check out our recommendations for the best travel headphones.

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra have a wind noise reduction feature called Wind Block. The manufacturer advertises that it mutes the ANC microphones located on the exterior of the ear cups to limit the ANC from picking up this sound and amplifying it. Overall, it helps tackle wind a little more efficiently than when this feature is disabled. When used, the ANC can reduce some bass to mid-range frequencies. This reduction is also better than headphones without a wind reduction feature like the Sony WH-1000XM5 Wireless.

That said, wind directly interacts with the ANC's microphones. The ANC system tries to cancel it out, even though this sound doesn't reach your ears, but, as a result, it causes loud and unwanted noise. Using the Wind Block feature could also impact ANC performance when wind is present.

The leakage performance is decent. Leakage is most significant in the mid-range and sounds somewhat full. If you like to crank up the volume on your favorite tunes, others around you won't hear it unless you're in a very quiet environment.

The mic's recording quality is very good. Your voice sounds natural and clear, although a bit thin. Although Bose advertise these headphones to have a 'Self Voice' feature, which allows you to hear your own voice while on the phone (this is also known as sidetone), we couldn't get it to work. Our experience also appears to be a common one.

The mic's noise handling performance is fair. If you're taking calls in a moderately noisy environment like a train station, it can partially drown out your voice. It's still audible, but it'll be hard for the other person on the line to hear you clearly. If you consistently work in a louder environment and need a microphone that hardly picks up noise, check out the Sony WH-1000XM6.

The Bose QC Ultra Headphones' battery performance is great. The manufacturer advertises them to last 24 hours continuously, but we measured 29 hours. That said, battery life varies on use, including your volume levels. Unfortunately, unlike other models like the Bose QuietComfort 45/QC45 Wireless, you can't use these headphones passively. You can use them wired, but the headphones must be on to work.

The Bose Music app is great; you can see a video of it here. You can access a graphic EQ, presets, and Immersive Audio, a head-tracking feature for a more immersive experience. You can switch between different ANC modes and create ANC presets and immersion modes. You can also set ANC modes as favorites to be accessed via the Action button. There's an ANC slider, but it doesn't adjust the strength of the ANC. Rather, it adjusts the talk-through strength, which is the amount of ambient sound the headphones let in. Additionally, you can adjust features like the auto-off timer, on-head detection, and Bluetooth source detection (if you want to connect the headphones to more than one device at a time).

The Bose QC Ultra Headphones come with a 1/8" TRS to 1/16" TRS cable that you can use for analog audio. However, like the Sonos Ace, you have to turn on the headphones to use this connection. There's also some latency when using this connection. While minor, the delay can be frustrating if you're gaming competitively or working on sync-sensitive content. The headphones perform an analog-to-digital conversion, so they need to be on. This conversion adds a bit of latency when wired, and it's about the same amount regardless of whether you apply additional EQ or change listening modes.

They also come with a USB-A to USB-C cable for recharging the headphones. However, you can't use it to pass through audio. If you'd like USB-C audio, consider their successor, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen).

These headphones have good Bluetooth connectivity. They support multi-device pairing, so you can stay connected with two devices, like a PC and smartphone, simultaneously. While they have high latency if you're using the default SBC codec, they also support aptX Adaptive, which automatically adjusts to your audio content. If you're listening to high-quality audio, it'll enter its High-Quality mode; however, expect a lot of latency. However, this codec can also shift into a low latency mode. If you're streaming videos, latency is significantly reduced, but it's still noticeable. That said, some devices compensate for latency.

You can pair these headphones with Bluetooth-enabled PCs with full audio and mic support. However, if you connect them via analog, you'll only be able to receive audio.

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones only support audio via analog on PlayStation consoles.

You can plug their audio cable into your Xbox controller's AUX port, but this only provides audio support, so you won't be able to use their mic.