The Bose Sport Open Earbuds Truly Wireless are open-fit headphones designed for outdoor sports. Their over-ear hooks hold the drivers in front of your ear canals, while leaving them open for natural ambient awareness. This design has its obvious environmental advantages, but it's also somewhat niche, so let's see if they're just what you need.
Our Verdict
The Bose Sport Open Earbuds are sub-par for neutral sound. While they have a flat and balanced mid-range, they lack a comprehensive low-end, so mixes really lack thump and rumble. Unfortunately, they don't have any sound enhancement features like EQ to help tweak their sound to your liking.
- Consistent audio reproduction.
- Lacking bass.
- Leaks a lot of audio.
The Bose Sport Open Earbuds are sub-par for commute and travel. While they're portable, they won't isolate you from any of the rumble of bus engines or ambient chatter, so you'll hear everything, and they also leak a lot of audio. Even though they're comfortable, you won't be able to wear them while also wearing glasses or a mask. On the upside, their 9.5-hour battery life should last through a long commute.
- Great build quality and IPX4 rating for water resistance.
- No noise isolation.
- Leaks a lot of audio.
The Bose Sport Open Earbuds are great for sports and fitness. They have an open-ear fit, so you can hear ambient noise around you while running or working out outdoors. They also have a stable fit, although they can put some pressure behind your ears, and their design isn't the most malleable. They also have an IPX4 rating for water resistance.
- Great build quality and IPX4 rating for water resistance.
- Open-ear fit is good for running outside.
- Lacking bass.
The Bose Sport Open Earbuds are disappointing for office use. They don't isolate noise by design, so you hear everything that goes on in the office, and they leak a lot of audio. They're decently comfortable, but unfortunately, you won't be able to wear them while also wearing glasses or a mask. On the upside, their 9.5-hour battery life should be enough to last you through your 9–5 workday.
- Great build quality and IPX4 rating for water resistance.
- No noise isolation.
- Leaks a lot of audio.
The Bose Open Earbuds are compatible with Bluetooth-enabled PCs, but their latency is likely too high to be suitable for wireless gaming. They aren't compatible with Xbox One or PS4 consoles.
The Bose Open Earbuds are wireless-only, so they aren't suitable for wired gaming.
The Bose Sport Open Earbuds are middling for phone calls. Their integrated mic captures your voice clearly, although it struggles to separate speech from ambient noise around you. Since these headphones don't really cover your ears, they also don't block out any noise around you, so it may be harder to focus on your conversation.
- Mic has good recording quality.
- No noise isolation.
- Mediocre noise handling.
Changelog
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Updated Oct 17, 2024:
We mentioned the Shokz OpenFit Air True Wireless in the Bluetooth section of this review.
- Updated Apr 19, 2024: This review's text has been brought up to date with current reviews, although the scores have stayed the same.
- Updated Apr 12, 2024: We've removed the Breathability score because, while these are open-fitting headphones, we never measured their temperature due to their shape and design not fitting our rig. This update makes it easier to compare scores to other open-fit headphones.
- Updated Mar 28, 2024: The Comfort of these earbuds has been compared to the newer Bose Ultra Open Earbuds Truly Wireless.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Bose Sport Open Earbuds come in one color variant: 'Triple Black.' You can see our model's label here. If you come across another variant of these headphones, please let us know in the forums, and we'll update our review.
Popular Headphones Comparisons
The Bose Sport Open Earbuds are open-ear headphones designed for sports and fitness, thanks to their over-ear hooks that ensure a secure fit. However, if you wear glasses, the arms can be hard to fit alongside the hooks. Similar open-fit styles like the Shokz OpenFit True Wireless utilize a less bulky hook design that's slightly more comfortable and come with a much better overall battery life. However, the Bose have a slightly higher build quality.
That said, this Bose model has been superseded by the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds Truly Wireless, which have a completely different approach to fit as they clip onto the bottom of your ears. This design can be a little challenging to get a good fit if you have a lot of piercings along your earlobes, though.
Check out our recommendations for the best headphones for running, the best open-back headphones, and the best Bose headphones.
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds represent the next generation of the Bose Sport Open Earbuds Truly Wireless. Both have similarly long-lasting batteries and IPX4 ratings. The Ultra Open Earbuds are a completely different fitting design that clips on the bottom of your ears and is very stable. They sound brighter by default and have a virtual surround sound function in-app. The Sport Open Earbuds use a less comfortable and not quite as stable over-ear hook design. Their sound isn't as piercing in the highs. They also lack high-quality aptX Adaptive codecs, virtual surround sound, as well as a graphic EQ and presets in their companion app.
The Bose Sport Earbuds Truly Wireless are more versatile headphones than the Bose Sport Open Earbuds Truly Wireless. While both headphones are designed for sports, the Sport Earbuds are more comfortable and stable. They have a better-balanced sound profile, and their carrying case holds two additional charges, which is nice. However, the Sport Open have a completely open-ear design that allows you to hear more ambient noise around you, which make them even more suitable for running outdoors.
The Bose Sport Open Earbuds Truly Wireless are better for outdoor sports and fitness, while the Apple AirPods (2nd generation) offer a more versatile overall performance. The Bose are more stable and don't cover your ear, so you can stay aware of your surroundings. They also have more consistent audio reproduction. However, the Apple are more comfortable, have five additional charges in their carrying case, and have an H1 chip so that you can seamlessly pair them with your Apple devices. Their sound profile is better balanced, too.
The AfterShokz Aeropex Bone Conduction and the Bose Sport Open Earbuds Truly Wireless are both headphones designed for outdoor use. The AfterShokz have a bone conduction transducer that uses vibrations on your temples to produce audio, and they don't go into your ear at all, which helps keep you aware of your surroundings. They're more comfortable, have a longer continuous battery life, and support multi-device pairing. However, the Bose sit outside of your ear, also leaving it completely open so that you can hear what's going on around you. They're more comfortable, better built, and stable, and they have a more neutral sound profile.
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You can also discover how we produce recommendations like this one so that you can find the best headphones (or earbuds!) for your needs.
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