Bose SoundSport Free Truly Wireless  Headphones Review

These headphones look well-built and durable. They're a little bulkier than most truly wireless designs and come in a flashy yellow and blue color scheme that stands out. They also come in other colors, such as black and bright orange. If you're into collectibles, Bose offers a limited edition Ultraviolet variation, but it's only available through Amazon. The buds feel premium and sturdy in your hand, but once in your ears, the bulky design sticks out; this might not be ideal for everyone. They won't fit as discretely as the Jaybird Run Truly Wireless or the Samsung Gear IconX Truly Wireless, which is a little disappointing.

The Bose SoundSport Free have the same earbud fit as previous Bose models like the Bose SoundSport Wireless and Bose SoundTrue Ultra In-Ear, and they're quite comfortable. However, they're bulky earbuds. Since they're truly wireless, if you don't get the right tip for your ears, the weight of the buds can slightly pull on the stability fins and cause a looser or an unstable fit, which may ultimately feel less comfortable than previous models.

The Bose SoundSport Free have a disappointing control scheme. They have physical buttons that provide all the essential functions: call/music, track-skipping, volume controls, and a dedicated pairing/Bluetooth button. Unfortunately, the buttons are very stiff, making them difficult to use. We had trouble turning the volume up and had to remove the earbud from our ears to physically push on the button for it to work. You'll get a click once the buttons are pressed but they're so rigid that it's easier to just switch tracks or change the volume directly on your smartphone, which isn't always practical when working out and could be a deal-breaker for some. If you prefer an easier-to-use control scheme, take a look at the Beats Powerbeats Pro Truly Wireless.

Like most truly wireless designs, the Bose SoundSport Free earbuds are very breathable. They don't cover your ears and only trap a small amount of heat within the ear canal, which has a negligible effect when exercising.

These headphones are very portable despite their bulky design, and they'll easily fit into most pockets. However, if you carry them in their case, you'll lose a bit of portability as it's surprisingly bulky.

The Bose SoundSport Free come with a decent hard charging case. It'll protect them against impacts and drops but its bulky size reduces their portability as it's larger than most other truly wireless headphones we've tested so far. It creates a pretty big bulge in most pockets and it feels a bit counter-intuitive for a truly wireless design, especially since it doesn't offer any special features like wireless charging available on the similarly-designed Altec Lansing True Evo Truly Wireless.

The Bose SoundSport Free have a good build. They feel durable, sturdy, and dense; they should be able to withstand a few accidental drops. Even the case is pretty durable, though it's slightly heavy and bulky.

The Bose SoundSport Free are decently stable earbuds. While their heavier and truly wireless design can make them more prone to falling out of your ears, Bose offers three differently sized stability tips, making it easier to find your right fit. However, if you don't get the right tip size for your ear they'll be considerably less stable than the Bose SoundSport In-Ear, the Bose Sport Earbuds, or the Bose SoundTrue Ultra In-Ear.

• Bose SoundSport Free headphones
• 3x Stability fin tips
• USB charging cable
• Carrying case
• Manual

The Bose SoundSport Free's sound profile is surprisingly well-balanced, making it well-suited for a variety of genres. However, fans of bass might find the lack of rumble disappointing.

The Bose SoundSport Free's frequency response consistency is excellent. Assuming the user can achieve a proper fit and an air-tight seal using the assortment of tips that come with the earbuds, then they should be able to get consistent bass and treble delivery every time they use these earbuds.

The bass accuracy of these earbuds is excellent. Well-balanced and fairly smooth, the SoundSport Free's bass will be good for most genres of audio content. While the dip in the low-bass range will slightly muffle thumps and rumbles, the high-bass has a little bump, bringing a touch of warmth and fullness.

The Bose SoundSport Free have remarkable mid accuracy. It's fairly smooth, although the dip in the mid-mid range may slightly push vocals and leads to the back of the mix.

The Bose SoundSport Free earbuds have good treble accuracy. The gentle slope isn't noticeable to all listeners in the low-treble range. However, the slight under-emphasize in the mid-treble can make notes here sound dark or lispy.

The peaks and dips performance of the SoundSport Free is impressive. There are a couple of small peaks in the bass range, which may overemphasize thumps and rumbles. However, a dip in the mid-range can make the mix sound slightly muddy and cluttered. Continuous peaks between the mid to treble range also bring a slight brightness to their sound.

The Bose SoundSport Free have excellent stereo imaging. Their weighted group delay is very low and the entire response is well below the audibility threshold, ensuring tight bass and transparent treble. The left and right drivers of our unit were also well-matched in frequency, amplitude, and phase response, which is important for the accurate placement and localization of objects in the stereo image. However, these results are only valid for our unit and yours may perform differently.

As producing an out-of-head and speaker-like soundstage requires the pinna or outer ear to be activated by resonances, the SoundSport Free's in-ear design by-passes this altogether, resulting in a poor soundstage that both feels small and is localized more inside the listener's head. Their semi-open back design also makes its soundstage feel less wide than that of open-back earbuds.

These earbuds don't have any virtual soundstage features.

The Bose SoundSport Free have decent weighted harmonic distortion performance. They tend to distort towards the mid to high treble, but this might not be noticeable to all listeners. Otherwise, these earbuds still fall within good limits, even at louder volumes.

The Bose SoundSport Free's results are only valid for these test settings.

We weren't able to determine the firmware version. If you own the SoundSport Free and know where to find it, let us know in the discussion section below.

The noise isolation of these earbuds is bad. Due to their semi-open earbud design and lack of active noise cancelling, the SoundSport Free won't reduce a lot of noise. These aren't a great choice if you're looking to block out low sounds like bus or plane engines. In an office setting, they're also pretty poor at reducing chatter. However, outdoor joggers will appreciate the semi-open design as you'll be able to hear and keep you aware of your surroundings. If you want to hear even more ambient noise around you, try the Bose Sport Open Earbuds Truly Wireless, which have an open-ear design. For earbuds with active noise cancelling, check out the Bose QuietControl 30, or see our recommendations for the best noise cancelling earbuds.

The Bose SoundSport Free have a good leakage performance. While your coworkers won't hear the words to whatever music you're blasting, they'll likely hear what's in the treble range, even in loud settings like a cafe, although it'll sound thin. If you want even less audio leakage from your sports-oriented truly wireless headphones, consider the Sony WF-SP800N Truly Wireless.

The Bose SoundSport Free have an integrated microphone.

The recording quality of this microphone is poor. Your voice will sound noticeably thin, significantly muffled and lacking in detail. To the other person on the line, you might not sound too understandable, either.

The noise handling performance of the Bose SoundSport Free's integrated microphone is okay. This microphone is suitable for quiet and moderately noisy environments, but it may struggle to fully separate speech from ambient noise in louder situations, making it less than ideal for taking calls in an office or cafe.

The Bose SoundSport Free has mediocre battery performance. They've got a continuous battery life of just under 5 hours, which might not be enough to make it through your work day. However, there are two additional charges in the case. When you're not using them and they're not in their case, they'll go into sleep mode after 20 minutes. Unfortunately, they don't have a quick charge mode like the Jaybird Run or the Beats BeatsX. If you're looking for a similarly sports-oriented pair of headphones with better battery life, consider the Beats Powerbeats 4.

Update 03/29/2021: We have changed Playback Control from 'No' to 'Yes' and raised the scoring of this box from 6.5 to 7.0 to better-reflect the app's capabilities.

The Bose SoundSport Free uses the Bose Connect app. Its features are limited but they aren't bad. You've got a standby timer, battery data, and an in-app player. You can only control your audio if it's already playing though. There's also a handy finder feature that gives you the last known location of your earbuds should you lose or misplace them. On the downside, there's no equalizer, room effects, or alternate control options. There were also a few bugs when we first tried to pair our earbuds to the app, making it feel like the app was slightly less optimized for the truly wireless design. For sports headphones with an app that lets you EQ their sound, take a look at the Jaybird Run XT Truly Wireless.

Update 01/27/2022: These headphones were updated to Test Bench 1.5 and their latency values have changed. Our previous Test Bench 1.4 measurements reported 'PC Latency' at 220 ms, 'iOS Latency' at 145 ms, and 'Android Latency' at 152 ms. However, our new test bench uses an average of three measurements instead of one, resulting in 555 ms of latency on PC, 52 ms on iOS, and 96 ms on Android. As a result, we have updated our text to better reflect test bench 1.5 measurements.

The Bose SoundSport Free only connect to other devices via Bluetooth. They also don't support NFC or multi-device pairing. For truly wireless earbuds, their PC latency is very high, so they won't be ideal for playing video games or watching videos. In comparison, their latency is significantly on Android and iOS. That said, some apps seem to compensate for latency, so your mileage may vary in regular use.

These earbuds can only connect wirelessly via Bluetooth.

The SoundSport Free don't have a wired option. If you want a similarly-designed wired earbud, check out the Bose SoundTrue Ultra In-Ear or the wired Bose SoundSport In-Ear.

Update 03/29/2021: We have tested Xbox Series X compatibility.

The Bose SoundSport Free aren't compatible with the Xbox One or Xbox Series X.

The Bose SoundSport Free have a charging case that delivers up to 10 hours of extra battery life. It charges using a USB connection. However, this case doesn't offer any inputs.