The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds belong to the relatively new category of open-fit headphones meant to tackle the desire of folks who want to experience natural-sounding environmental awareness while listening to music. While it's pretty clear why you'd want to block out the world in most scenarios, like on the bus, there's a good reason to want to hear it sometimes, too. If you're an outdoor runner, work in collaborative spaces, take night walks, or need music to motivate you at team practice, these all suit open earbuds. These cuff-like earbuds represent the next generation of Bose open-fit designs and offer a novel solution by clipping onto the bottom of your ears while keeping the canals open. Let's see where they shine and if there are any trade-offs to this new style of open-fitting earbuds.
Our Verdict
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds are great for sports and fitness. Their remarkably stable fit ensures the clip-on buds won't fall off during dynamic movements like cross-fit or running. Since the sizing adjusts to fit around your ear lobes and their silicone housing that makes contact with your skin has a little give, they feel comfortable on most people. Their lightweight, portable design makes them easy to take to the gym, and the IPX4 rating protects against minor water splashes. That said, their open-fit means you're always hearing your surroundings, which is ideal for situational awareness, but this design lacks the versatility of noise cancelling earbuds with transparency modes that let you choose based on your needs. This open-fit design also means they lack much bass oomph, though if you listen to podcasts or audiobooks, the bright sound signature works well for voices.
- Portable design.
- Open design allows you to hear the environment.
- Comfortable fit.
- Very stable fit.
- Poor bass reproduction.
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds are poor for travel. Their open-fit design means your trip won't have the luxury of active noise cancellation to isolate you from engine rumble or passenger chit-chat, making it difficult to focus on what you're listening to. That said, the buds feel comfortable, and their battery life is long enough to last through most trips without a recharge. Plus, you can easily stash them in your pocket when not in use.
- Portable design.
- Almost zero noise isolation.
- Poor bass reproduction.
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds are poor for office work. Your audio will be constantly leaking into the space, and the absence of noise isolation means you'll hear everything in your environment, which may be preferred in collaborative spaces. However, if your goal is noise isolation to focus on your work, the open-fit doesn't facilitate that. Still, they're comfortable, and their mic lets you use them for online meetings. While your music won't sound full due to the bass roll-off, they playback voices well.
- Comfortable fit.
- Almost zero noise isolation.
- Poor bass reproduction.
- Only basic call controls.
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds are disappointing for wireless gaming. Because they're Bluetooth-only, their connectivity is limited, and they have high latency.
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds are wireless earbuds only and can't be used for wired gaming.
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds have decent audio reproduction accuracy. Their bright sound signature reproduces an even mid-range and slightly uneven top-end, but strongly rolls off the low-end due to their open-ear design. Though this means your audio can sound lacking in bass or body, the earbuds still playback voices and melodies with clarity. There's not much to fault objectively; the earbuds' L/R drivers are well-matched, rendering a precise stereo image without gaps, and distortion levels are low enough that you won't notice any timbral coloration.
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds are awful for noise isolation. Their design leaves your ears unsealed and open to hearing everything in the environment, from nearby conversation to construction. This is intentional and meant for folks seeking environmental awareness. They also leak a thin-sounding version of your audio that people nearby can hear.
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds are decent for microphone use. They capture a somewhat natural-sounding version of your voice and separate it from background noises satisfactorily. Because your ears are unsealed, you'll also hear everything in your environment during calls.
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds have passable frequency response consistency. Because they clip onto your ear lobes, it's quite possible to place them poorly if you're not careful, and as a result, you may end up with a different sound between wears and on each side. There is variation present in the high treble, which is more prominent between sessions. With that said, other inconsistencies are in the regions that these don't really reproduce much of, such as the low and mid-bass frequencies, so it's not truly as bad as it seems.
Performance Usages
Changelog
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Updated Mar 12, 2026:
This review has been updated to Test Bench 2.1, which removes the Group Delay test, and rebalances scoring for the Harmonic Distortion test and Audio Reproduction Accuracy performance usage. For more details, consult our full changelog.
- Updated Mar 12, 2026: This review has been updated to Test Bench 2.1, which removes the Group Delay test, and rebalances scoring for the Harmonic Distortion test and Audio Reproduction Accuracy performance usage. For more details, consult our full changelog.
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Updated Feb 16, 2026:
We've added a link to our Best Bone Conduction and Open-Ear Headphones article in the Popular Headphones Comparisons section of this article.
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Updated Nov 27, 2025:
We've updated the review to mention the Suunto Wing in the Build Quality box.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds come in nine standard colors: 'Black,' 'White Smoke,' 'Carbon Blue,' 'Diamond 60th Edition,' 'Sunset Iridescent,' 'Chilled Lilac,' 'Lunar Blue,' 'Sandstone,' and 'Moonstone Blue.' Our unit is 'Black,' and you can see their label here.
The manufacturer collaborated with Kith, the New York City designer, on a co-branded version. There's also a multicolored limited-edition version made in partnership with musician Steve Lacy, but this is hard to find. Let us know in the comments if you know of any other variants.
Popular Headphones Comparisons
Bose has invested in a few different, open-fit designs predating the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds, like the combination sunglasses/headphones Bose OpenAudio Frames line. However, not everyone wants to wear sunglasses to listen to audio. The Ultra Open Earbuds' unusual clip-on style pivots toward an open fit, offering improved functionality for everyone. Although there have also been conventional open-fits, including the previous generation Bose Sport Open Earbuds Truly Wireless, their case doesn't store any battery charges, and they lack the Ultra Open's virtual surround sound support. Alternatively, bone conduction headsets also offer environmental awareness, like the Shokz OpenRun Pro Bone Conduction. Not everyone will like the bone-conducting sensation, though. It's worth considering the Anker Soundcore C30i if the clip-on design appeals to you, but the Bose premium is a barrier. Still, the popularity of the unsealed, stemmed buds like the Apple AirPods 4 isn't unfounded, and they're worth a look if you have an iOS device, and because they output a more balanced bass response than the Bose.
Check out the best headphones for running and working out, and scope out the competition in the best bone conduction and open-ear headphones. Finally, dive into the best Bose headphones for a fuller picture of their headphones.
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds are slightly better for most people than the Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 Bone Conduction, but each have loyal fans. The Bose are more portable and don't apply pressure near your cheekbones and temples, which can bother some people. Their continuous battery life is comparable to the Shokz, but the extra recharges the case provide edge them ahead. They're also slightly more stable. On the other hand, the Shokz headset has a tougher IP55 rating and multi-device pairing, and it won't get in the way if you have a lot of piercings along your ear lobes. While the Bose are well-built, the silicone and nickel-titanium frame of the Shokz seems more impervious to damage.
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds and Sony LinkBuds Truly Wireless are unusual-looking earbuds designed to prioritize environmental awareness. Both have virtual surround sound and IPX4 ratings against water splashes. Neither pair has much bass on tap. The Bose feel more comfortable and stable. Their battery lasts longer, too. The Sony buds still sit in your ears, which can give you a slightly more consistent sound, especially if you have ear piercings. Their mic system sounds a bit better, but neither is pro quality. They use touch controls and include a handy Speak-to-Chat function to pause playback automatically if you're engaged in a conversation.
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds and Shokz OpenFit True Wireless fit very differently, but both provide unsealed fits for hearing your surroundings, resulting in negligible bass reproduction. The Bose clip on the bottom of your ears and their fit is a more stable solution. Their battery life is longer if you don't enable the included virtual surround sound. The Shokz fit with silicone-covered hooks over your ears, which is stable but not as stable as the Bose. They also have a greater IP rating, as they're certified for dust resistance. That said, given that these two sets of buds are similarly spec'd, your choice will likely depend on your fit preferences.
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds are better open-fit workout earbuds than the Shokz OpenFit Air. The Bose are more comfortable and stable and their continuous battery life is three hours longer. That said, the Bose are much more expensive than the Shokz, and they don't support multi-device pairing.
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