When incremental "second-gen" earbuds land I always hunt the originals, which are nearly as good and often far cheaper.
Bose's 2025 QuietComfort Ultra (2nd gen) earbuds are, by any measure, incremental upgrades. Same shape, same drivers, same battery life as the first generation, with tweaks to noise cancelling and sound tuning. They also cost $299, in line with high-end flagship buds.
But their first-gen predecessors are now $100 cheaper, with deeper discounts if you shop around (I've seen them at $180). They felt expensive at launch in 2023 but after using them on and off for months on public transport, in the gym, and for casual gaming I can say they finally feel like good value. If your priority is strong active noise cancelling (ANC) and deep, booming sound, they're among the best earbuds around.
Their ANC muffles more noise than almost any other earbud and passes my ultimate ANC test, the London Underground. Mid-range buds always struggle to block the squeal of the Victoria Line between Finsbury Park and Highbury & Islington, but the QC Ultras have no trouble: I can listen to music and podcasts without dialling the volume above two-thirds.
On the bus they cancel the buzz of other conversation and the occasional blare of music being played from a phone – seriously, stop doing that! – and I can also work in busy cafes feeling like I'm sitting in silence.
At the gym, they block the clanking of weights and the thump of the public speakers, and they're great workout earbuds that never dislodge from my ear when I'm running. When I first saw them I thought their complex crevices and fins would irritate my ears, but they're supremely comfy to wear for hours at a time, even when you're sweating.
Crucially, they sound fantastic.
I'd characterise their sound profile as bright, bassy, and detailed. I've listened to all types of music with them on the default settings, from hip-hop to Britpop, and I haven't found a single track that sounds bad. In GZA's 4th Chamber you can really notice the twang of electric guitars and hear the gravelly vocal vibration. In The Verve's Bitter Sweet Symphony, you can pick out each layer of the song – the base orchestral sample, the extra strings, the guitar, and vocals – but they all mesh perfectly, none dominating.
Some users say they're overly bassy but, to me, that bass never overpowers and it lends each song extra depth and weight. The same goes for voices: I love how rich and precise podcast speakers sound and you feel like you're sitting next to the hosts.
That said, they're not made for gaming and their natural Bluetooth audio delay means they can't compete with the best gaming earbuds, particularly in multiplayer shooters. But I've enjoyed using them for more story-driven games on handheld consoles, where atmosphere trumps latency.
Cairn's ambient mountain noises thrum with life and make sweeping vistas even more dramatic. These earbuds have also given me yet another reason to replay The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and they really draw out the incidental sound effects that help make it special. The jangle of cooking in a pot, the swish of Link's sword slicing through long grass. They always pair instantly with my handhelds and their six-hour battery life lasts long enough for any session.
My two caveats are, first, that the pair I've got don't sit perfectly in the charging case, and the right bud won't charge unless I wiggle it into place and, second, the Bose app is terrible. EQ choices are limited and ANC presets are needlessly complicated: there's no obvious way to simply toggle noise cancelling, and instead you have to switch between earbud "modes".
But that shouldn't put you off if you're in the market for some versatile high-end earbuds. Shop around (they're $179 on Adorama, for instance, and the same price on Amazon in some colors) and snap them up while you can.
Samuel is a freelance reporter and editor specializing in longform journalism and hardware reviews. You can read his work at his website.
