The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds (2nd Gen) are premium open-ear wireless earbuds designed to let you enjoy music without blocking out your surroundings. They retain the distinctive ear-cuff design of the original Bose Ultra Open Earbuds but offer updated drivers and new spatial audio features, while also promising a longer battery life.
Our Verdict
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds 2nd Gen are great for sports and fitness. Their lightweight, ear-cuff design stays firmly in place, even during vigorous workouts like burpees and interval sprints. And since they leave your ears open, you can also stay aware of your environment while exercising outdoors. They're generally comfortable, although pressure against your outer ear can become noticeable during longer workouts. As with all open-fit earbuds, their biggest audio limitation is the lack of bass, which robs your workout playlists of punch.
Lightweight, secure fit.
Impressive 13-hour continuous battery life.
Outstanding mid-range accuracy.
Sound varies depending on how they're positioned on your ears.
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds 2nd Gen are a poor choice for travel. Their open-ear design blocks virtually no outside noise, so you'll hear everything from airplane engines to nearby conversations. Their severe lack of bass also makes music sound thin, particularly in noisy environments. On the plus side, they're lightweight, their compact case is easy to slip into a pocket, and their 13-hour battery life can comfortably cover a long journey. However, their fit can start to irritate your outer ears over extended listening sessions.
Impressive 13-hour continuous battery life.
Sound varies depending on how they're positioned on your ears.
Microphone can cut out in noisy environments.
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds 2nd Gen are generally a poor choice for office work, unless you're specifically looking for earbuds that let you stay aware of your environment. They provide almost no noise isolation, so chatty coworkers and other office distractions remain audible while you're listening. But they don't leak much audio, so unless you're blasting your favorite tunes, you shouldn't have to worry about disturbing your coworkers. They're also lightweight and generally comfortable, although prolonged wear can cause some soreness around your outer ears. Still, the main reason to use these is that you want to keep abreast of what's going on around your office.
Impressive 13-hour continuous battery life.
Sound varies depending on how they're positioned on your ears.
Fit can become a bit uncomfortable over longer sessions.
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds 2nd Gen are disappointing for wireless gaming. They don't have a dedicated wireless gaming dongle to ensure a low-latency connection, and their Bluetooth latency varies significantly depending on the connection. You can probably use these for some casual mobile gaming, but they're not a good choice for anything more serious.
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds 2nd Gen can't be used via a wired connection.
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds 2nd Gen have okay audio reproduction accuracy. Their mid-range follows our target almost perfectly, giving vocals and lead instruments a remarkably natural sound. Treble reproduction is also great overall, although some unevenness in the higher frequencies slightly softens certain details. Their left and right drivers are very well matched, which helps keep instruments accurately positioned in the stereo image, and harmonic distortion is exceptionally low. However, the biggest limitation is their severe lack of bass, which leaves music sounding thin and lacking impact. Their open-ear fit also means positioning can affect the sound you hear.
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds 2nd Gen deliberately block out no noise around you. Their open-ear design leaves your ear canals unobstructed so you can stay aware of your environment, but they're a poor choice if you want to block out distractions. On the plus side, leakage is well controlled for an open-ear design, although someone sitting close to you in a quiet room may hear a thin version of your audio at moderate to high volumes.
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds 2nd Gen have an alright microphone. Your voice sounds reasonably clear, if not particularly lifelike. Regardless, the mic sounds better than our recording-quality score suggests, as the earbuds' voice-processing prevented us from taking clear measurements. The mic also does a decent job separating your voice from noise around, especially noise like fans whirring or A/Cs humming. However, the mic is less reliable in very noisy environments, as loud sounds like subway trains can cause your voice to drop out.
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds 2nd Gen have sub-par frequency response consistency. Since they clip onto your outer ears rather than sealing your ear canals, the exact position of the drivers affects the sound you hear. Their mid-range stays relatively consistent between placements, but bass and the highest treble frequencies vary more noticeably. It's worth taking some time to position them each time you clip them on.
Performance Usages
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds (2nd Gen) come in five colors: 'Black,' 'White Smoke,' 'Olive Green,' and the limited-edition 'Cherry Chocolate' and 'Sky Pink.' We bought and tested an 'Olive Green' unit and took a photo of its label.
If you come across a different variant, let us know in the comments, and we'll add it to our review.
Popular Headphone Comparisons
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds (2nd Gen) are the successor to the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds. The sequel retain the same comfortable and stable design, letting you listen to audio while staying aware of your surroundings. The main improvements are a longer continuous battery life, added wireless charging support, and some listening features like automatic volume adjustment and Cinema Mode, which uses spatial processing to make videos sound more spacious. Looking to other brands, the Shokz OpenDots 2 are ear-cuff earbuds that offer superior dust and water resistance to the 2nd Gen Bose, while the Sennheiser ACCENTUM Clip have more extensive sound customization than either Bose pair. But neither the Shokz nor the Sennheiser matches the 2nd Gen Bose for continuous battery life.
Check out our picks for the best earbuds for running and working out, or explore some bone conduction alternatives in our best open-ear and bone conduction headphones article. And if you're after a more versatile pair of earbuds, check out our best wireless earbuds.
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds (2nd Gen) are a slight improvement on the original Bose Ultra Open Earbuds. Both have comfortable, exceptionally stable ear-cuff designs that let you stay aware of your environment, but neither delivers much bass or blocks outside noise. The biggest improvement with the 2nd Gen is battery life: they now last 13 hours per charge compared with the original's 9.5 hours. The newer model also supports wireless charging directly through its case, whereas the original case charges only via USB-C. You also get some additional listening features like automatic volume adjustment, which adjusts your audio based on the level of noise around you. Still, if you're mainly interested in the comfortable open-ear fit, the first generation are still a great choice.
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds (2nd Gen) and Shokz OpenDots 2 are similarly comfortable and stable clip-on earbuds, making either a great choice for workouts where you want to stay aware of what's going on around you. The Bose have the edge in sound reproduction, with much more accurate mids that keep vocals and instruments sounding natural. They also last considerably longer per charge, at 13 hours compared with just over eight, and their physical buttons are more reliable than the Shokz's inconsistent tap controls. However, the Shokz have dust resistance in addition to stronger water resistance, making them better suited to particularly dusty or wet environments.
The Shokz OpenFit Pro and Bose Ultra Open Earbuds (2nd Gen) are both open-fit earbuds. The Bose are slightly better for workouts, with the Shokz' superior mic making them a worthwhile contender for office use. Still, the Shokz are no slouch for workouts, with large hooks that grip around the top of your ears, keeping them secure for your next batch of hill sprints. However, the Bose clip around the lower part of your outer ears, making them less likely to interfere with glasses. The Bose's 13-hour battery life also comfortably exceeds the Shokz's 5.6 hours with noise reduction enabled. Still, the Shokz deliver more mid-bass punch and come with a more fine-grained graphic EQ. They also have a substantially better microphone for calls in noisy environments and even offer an ANC system, although it only slightly reduces mid-range noise.
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds (2nd Gen) are slightly better open-fit earbuds than the Sennheiser ACCENTUM Clip, but both pairs have their strengths. Both use an open-ear cuff design, but the Bose have a more comfortable fit, better build quality, and nearly twice the continuous battery life. Their case also supports wireless charging, and they leak less sound, which is handy if you plan to use these in an office. Still, the Sennheiser's companion app offers more extensive customization, including a 5-band EQ and personalized sound settings. They also support LDAC and offer both water and dust resistance, whereas the Bose only offer water resistance.
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