Products
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen)
Apple AirPods Pro 3
Tested using Methodology v2.0
Updated Oct 14, 2025 07:30 PM
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Tested using Methodology v2.0
Updated Oct 28, 2025 05:21 PM
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
TypeEarbuds
Noise CancellingYes
EnclosureClosed-Back
Bass Amount
Very Emphasized (5 dB)
WirelessTruly Wireless
TransducerDynamic
Treble Amount
Balanced (0 dB)
MicYes
Sound Signature
Warm
TypeIn-ear
Noise CancellingYes
EnclosureClosed-Back
Bass Amount
Slightly Emphasized (1 dB)
WirelessTruly Wireless
TransducerDynamic
Treble Amount
Slightly Underemphasized (-3 dB)
MicYes
Sound Signature
Warm
Our Verdict
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen)
Apple AirPods Pro 3
If you own an Android device, you might prefer the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) over the Apple AirPods Pro 3 because the Bose have an app that works with Android/iOS. Their tuning is boosted in the bass with a flat mid-range and a bright top-end, and you can EQ it to taste. Their noise isolation performance is remarkable, but slightly trails behind the Apple's. The Bose's mic sounds a bit better with Android and PCs, but the Apple's mic system is optimized for iOS, making them device-dependent. Still, the Apple have a better IP rating, a longer continuous battery life, and iOS-specific features alongside a bit better ANC. That said, they lack an equalizer, so if you prioritize fine-tuning, the Bose might be better even with an iPhone.
Variants
- QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) (Black)
- QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) (Deep Plum)
- QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) (White Smoke)
- AirPods Pro 3 (White)
Check Price
Black
QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen)
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
White
AirPods Pro 3
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Deep Plum
QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen)
SEARCH
Amazon.com
White
AirPods Pro 3
SEE PRICE
B&H
White Smoke
QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen)
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
White
AirPods Pro 3
SEE PRICE
BestBuy.com
White
AirPods Pro 3
SEE PRICE
Walmart.com
White
AirPods Pro 3
SEARCH
Apple.com
Main Differences for
Sports And Fitness
Sports And Fitness
Threshold
Sports And Fitness
8.1
8.1
Full Comparison
Sound
Sound Profile
Sound Profile
Normalization Frequency
1,300 Hz
650 Hz
Bass Amount
Very Emphasized (5 dB)
Slightly Emphasized (1 dB)
Treble Amount
Balanced (0 dB)
Slightly Underemphasized (-3 dB)
Sound Signature
Warm
Warm
Frequency Response Consistency
8.0
9.0
Consistency L
Consistency R
Std. Deviation
0.86 dB
0.45 dB
Bass Profile: Target Compliance
7.8
9.8
Bass Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
4.9 dB
1.1 dB
Low-Frequency Extension
20 Hz
20 Hz
Low Bass
5.8 dB
1.25 dB
Mid Bass
4.92 dB
0.61 dB
High Bass
2.83 dB
0.25 dB
Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance
9.3
9.2
Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
1.11 dB
1.24 dB
Low Mid
1.21 dB
1.55 dB
Mid-Mid
-0.35 dB
0.05 dB
High Mid
0.89 dB
-1.25 dB
Treble Profile: Target Compliance
9.0
7.6
Treble Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
2.51 dB
3.62 dB
Low Treble
1.03 dB
-3.49 dB
Mid Treble
-1.66 dB
-1.89 dB
High Treble
-7.91 dB
-9.69 dB
Peaks/Dips
7.0
6.6
Peaks/Dips Graph
Peaks
1.87 dB
1.74 dB
Dips
1.77 dB
3.41 dB
Stereo Mismatch
8.2
8.8
Frequency Response Mismatch
Phase Response Mismatch
Weighted Amplitude Mismatch
0.31 dB
0.19 dB
Weighted Frequency Response Mismatch
1.08 dB
0.69 dB
Weighted Phase Mismatch
1.3°
0.7°
Cumulative Spectral Decay
CSD
PRTF
0.0
0.0
PRTF
PRTF Accuracy (RMS Deviation)
N/A
N/A
PRTF Size (Avg.)
N/A
N/A
PRTF Distance
N/A
N/A
Harmonic Distortion
9.3
9.1
Harmonics Levels
THD Ratio
WHD @ 94 dB SPL
0.08%
0.06%
WHD @ 104 dB SPL
0.11%
0.23%
Electrical Aspects
Impedance
Sensitivity @1kHz-1V
N/A
N/A
Bluetooth Max SPL
106.1 dB
106.0 dB
Virtual Soundstage
3.3
5.0
Virtual Soundstage
Head Modeling
No
On/Off
Speaker Modeling
On/Off
On/Off
Room Ambience
No
No
Head Tracking
Adjustable
On/Off
Virtual Surround
Immersive Audio
Personalized Spatial Audio
Test Settings
Firmware
4.9.30
8A358
Power
On
On
Connection
Bluetooth
Bluetooth
Codec
SBC, 16-bit, 48kHz
SBC, 16-bit, 48kHz
Test Instrument
Audio Precision APx517B
Audio Precision APx517B
EQ
No EQ
Adaptive EQ
ANC
Quiet
On
Tip/Pad
Silicone (small)
Silicone (medium)
Microphone
Integrated
Integrated
Design
Style
Design Picture 2
Type
Earbuds
In-ear
Enclosure
Closed-Back
Closed-Back
Wireless
Truly Wireless
Truly Wireless
Transducer
Dynamic
Dynamic
Comfort
8.0
8.0
Comfort Picture
Weight
0.03 lbs
0.02 lbs
Clamping Force
0 lbs
0 lbs
Controls
7.7
8.2
Controls Picture
OS Compatibility
Not OS specific
Not OS specific
Ease Of Use
Good
Good
Feedback
Good
Great
Call/Music Control
Yes
Yes
Volume Control
Yes
Yes
Microphone Control
No
Mute/Unmute
Channel Mixing
No
No
Noise Cancelling Control
Presets
On/Off
Talk-Through
On/Off
On/Off
Additional Controls
Voice Assistant
Multi function + Voice Assistant
Portability
9.5
9.4
Portability Picture
L
0.9" (2.4 cm)
1.5" (3.9 cm)
W
1.6" (4.0 cm)
1.3" (3.3 cm)
H
0.8" (2.1 cm)
0.9" (2.2 cm)
Volume
1.28 in³ (21.00 cm³)
1.70 in³ (27.84 cm³)
Transmitter Required
No
No
Case
8.0
9.0
Case Picture
Type
Hard case
Hard case
L
2.6" (6.6 cm)
1.9" (4.7 cm)
W
2.3" (5.9 cm)
2.4" (6.2 cm)
H
1.1" (2.7 cm)
0.9" (2.2 cm)
Volume
6.41 in³ (105.00 cm³)
3.91 in³ (64.10 cm³)
Build Quality
7.5
7.5
Build Quality Picture
Stability
8.0
8.0
Stability Picture
Headshots 1
Angled Picture
Side Picture
Headshots 2
Front Picture
Rear Picture
Top
Top Picture
In The Box
In The Box Picture
Isolation
Noise Isolation - Full Range
9.0
9.7
Noise Isolation - Full Range Graph
Noise Cancelling
Yes
Yes
Overall Attenuation
-24.24 dB
-28.69 dB
Bass
-19.76 dB
-23.84 dB
Mid
-25.66 dB
-32.38 dB
Treble
-28.12 dB
-30.51 dB
Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios
9.6
10
Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios Graph
Airplane Noise Attenuation
-23.24 dB
-26.78 dB
Airplane Noise Isolation Audio
Office Noise Attenuation
-22.12 dB
-24.95 dB
Office Noise Isolation Audio
Street Noise Attenuation
-24.60 dB
-30.01 dB
Street Noise Isolation Audio
Noise Isolation - Voice Handling
Female Voice 1
Male Voice 1
Female Voice 2
Male Voice 2
Leakage
8.5
8.6
Leakage
Leakage Audio
Overall Leakage @ 1ft
30.15 dB
29.6 dB
Microphone
Microphone Style
Integrated
Yes
Yes
In-Line
No
No
Boom
No
No
Detachable Boom
No
No
Mic
Yes
Yes
Recording Quality
6.7
5.5
Microphone Frequency Response
Recorded Speech
LFE
20 Hz
236.29 Hz
FR Std. Dev.
4.36 dB
5.83 dB
HFE
3,417.19 Hz
2,873.5 Hz
Weighted THD
29.772
N/A
Gain
20.22 dB
12.21 dB
Noise Handling
6.8
7.0
SpNR
SpNR
63.36 dB
44.04 dB
Noise Gate
Always On
Always On
Speech + Pink Noise Handling
7.0
7.0
Speech + Pink Noise Audio Sample
Speech + Subway Noise Handling
6.5
7.0
Speech + Subway Noise Audio Sample
Active Features
Battery
7.1
7.5
Battery Type
Rechargable
Rechargable
Continuous Battery Life
6.5 hrs
9 hrs
Additional Charges
3.0
2.0
Total Battery Life
26 hrs
26 hrs
Charge Time
0.8 hrs
1.6 hrs
Power-Saving Feature
Standby mode
Standby mode
Audio While Charging
Yes
Yes
Passive Playback
No
No
Charging Port
USB-C
USB-C
App Support
8.0
7.0
App Picture
App Name
Bose Music
iOS Interface
iOS
Yes
Yes
Android
Yes
No
macOS
No
Yes
Windows
No
No
Equalizer
Graphic + Presets
No
ANC Control
Adjustable
On/Off
Mic Control
No
No
Room Effects
No
No
Playback Control
Yes
No
Button Mapping
Yes
Yes
Surround Support
No
Yes
Connectivity
Wired Connection
0.0
0.0
Cable Picture
Analog Audio
No
No
USB Audio
No
No
Detachable
No
No
Length
N/A
N/A
Connector
No Wired Option
No Wired Option
Latency - Analog
N/A
N/A
Latency - USB
N/A
N/A
Recorded Latency
N/A
N/A
Recorded Latency Connection
No Wired Audio
No Wired Audio
Bluetooth Connection
7.5
7.9
Bluetooth Version
5.3
5.3+H2 chip
Multi-Device Pairing
2 Devices
Yes (Apple Ecosystem)
Quick Pair (Android)
Yes
No
Quick Pair (iOS)
No
Yes
Line Of Sight Range
334.65 ft (102.00 m)
334.65 ft (102.00 m)
Latency - SBC
292 ms
183 ms
Latency - aptX
N/A
N/A
Latency - aptX Adaptive (High Quality)
373 ms
N/A
Latency - aptX Adaptive (Low Latency)
104 ms
N/A
Latency - LDAC
N/A
N/A
Recorded Latency
Recorded Latency Codec
aptX Adaptive (Low Latency)
SBC
AAC Support
Yes
Yes
Wireless Connection (Dongle)
0.0
0.0
Line Of Sight Range
N/A
N/A
Latency - Dongle
N/A
N/A
Recorded Latency
N/A
N/A
PC Compatibility
Analog
No
No
Wired USB
No
No
Non-BT Wireless
No
No
PlayStation Compatibility
PS4 Analog
No
No
PS4 Wired USB
No
No
PS4 Non-BT Wireless
No
No
PS5 Analog
No
No
PS5 Wired USB
No
No
PS5 Non-BT Wireless
No
No
Xbox Compatibility
Xbox One Analog
No
No
Xbox One Wired USB
No
No
Xbox One Non-BT Wireless
No
No
Xbox Series X|S Analog
No
No
Xbox Series X|S Wired USB
No
No
Xbox Series X|S Non-BT Wireless
No
No
Base/Dock
2.2
2.2
Type
Charging Case
Charging Case
USB Input
No
No
Line In
No
No
Line Out
No
No
Optical Input
No
No
RCA Input
No
No
Dock Charging
Yes
Yes
Power Supply
USB-C
USB-C
Check Price
Black
QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen)
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
White
AirPods Pro 3
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Deep Plum
QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen)
SEARCH
Amazon.com
White
AirPods Pro 3
SEE PRICE
B&H
White Smoke
QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen)
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
White
AirPods Pro 3
SEE PRICE
BestBuy.com
White
AirPods Pro 3
SEE PRICE
Walmart.com
White
AirPods Pro 3
SEARCH
Apple.com
To access
and
Become an Insider
unlimited full product reviews,
product prices
other exclusive site features
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen)
Apple AirPods Pro 3
Comments
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) vs Apple AirPods Pro 3: Main Discussion
What do you think of these products? Let us know below.
Looking for a personalized buying advice from the RTINGS.com experts? Insiders have direct access to buying advice on our insider forum.