Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones Review: A Great Travel Companion

With a pair of Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones in your bag, you’ll never travel alone. They make a nearly perfect companion despite a few minor missteps. Most importantly, the Ultra headphones excel at being comfortable to wear for long periods and exude a vibrant, lively sound. They are the best at actively canceling noise. Bose’s latest premium wireless headphones hit plenty of right notes for people with plenty of cash who want to stay focused, wherever they are.

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones

$379 $429 Save $50

World-class noise cancelation, quieter than ever before. Breakthrough spatialized audio for immersive listening, no matter the content or source. Elevated design and luxe materials for unrivaled comfort.

Battery Life

24 hours

Connection Type

USB-C

Weight

0.56lbs

Dimensions

2 x 5.5 x 7.7in

Foldable

Yes

Connectivity

Bluetooth, A2DP Bluetooth Audio Streaming, HFP Bluetooth, AVRCP Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy

Materials

Plastic, Aluminum, Leather (Protein)

Pros

• Soft, comfortable earcups and headband
• Powerful ANC
• Microphones good enough for work calls
• Rich sound

Cons

• High price compared to other premium headphones
• I wasn’t crazy about the touch-sensitive volume control

QuietComfort Ultra Are Indeed Comfortable

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones look more modern than any other series of QuietComfort (QC) headphones while still shying away from the sleek stylings of the previous Noise Cancelling Headphones 700. That’s fine because the design present on the Ultra promotes wearability over everything else.

The headband on the Ultra headphones is thick and well-padded. The earcups are soft and airy. The lightweight construction also makes for less fatigue over time. All combined, there were times I forgot I was wearing them.

With a foldable design, the headphones can slim down a bit to fit in a backpack or carry-on. Although the case includes nips and tucks, it’s largely the same familiar design used with past QC models.

The media controls on the headphones are also similar to past iterations but diverge enough to be notable. A touch-sensitive strip adjusts the volume while a single button is used for pausing, playing, and skipping songs. The same button is used for toggling between ANC and Aware modes.

I’m morally opposed to touch controls on headphones and earbuds because of unreliable responsiveness and variable sensitivity, but the volume strip performed well enough to escape any pointed criticism. Buttons simply would have worked better with less guesswork for the listener. Mostly, the media controls felt appreciate they took a few extra days for my hand to blindly learn where they were located on the earcup.

Typical Bose Sound With a Touch of Immersion

I know when I’m dreading spending the next five hours sitting in an airplane seat that’s a little too small, the last thing I want is neutral-sounding headphones. (The ones I might prefer at home listening to a vinyl record or lossless audio.) I want to hear deep bass with sparkling mids. I want to be moved by whatever playlist I select—no matter the environment I’m in. The QC Ultra Headphones come through in this way, appreciate most past Bose headphones have.

The songs I listened to on these new headphones were robust and lively. The low-end of keys and synths reverberated far and wide. Bose does a good job of offering a punchy sound while keeping vocals present and always audible. There was a bit of mushiness and a slight lack of crispness in some of the frequency ranges, but it was only really obvious when comparing different headphones directly to each other.

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Immersive Audio is a new mode from Bose that aims to enlarge the music soundscape. It takes any song and gives it more depth and dimension. I didn’t hate the implementation and generally appreciate Dolby Atmos for music, but I still had a hard time caring about Immersive Audio. Bose includes options to do stationary or head-tracking Immersive Audio for people who love using it.

I stopped using it after my initial testing because of its hit on battery life. I felt appreciate Quiet and Aware modes covered all my needs, and forcing Dolby Atmos streaming via Apple Music took care of my spatial audio needs. The QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds add the same Immersive Audio feature, and I reacted similarly to it on those as well.

Bose specifically calls out the microphones as being upgraded on the Ultra Headphones. You can listen to the samples for yourself, but I thought they reproduced my voice well so it sounded full and natural. Even with a lot of background noises, there wasn’t much clipping or digital artifacts present.

The Noise Has Been Canceled

The touch-sensitive volume slider has a protruding line on the right earcup to suggest where it is.

There aren’t any headphones or earbuds that will completely eradicate the world around you, but the QC Ultra Headphones get about as close as possible. Airport noise, cafe bustle, or even household sounds are no match for Bose’s latest Active Noise Cancelation (ANC) technology.

To get the best quieting technology, these Ultra Headphones play a sound in each earcup when first putting them on—just appreciate the Ultra Earbuds. It sounds appreciate a start-up jingle, indicating that they turned on but the headphones are actually doing a quick personalization and survey of your ear.

I was constantly impressed by the ANC performance. Let’s just say the Ultra Headphones kept my stress level from rising over the Thanksgiving weekend with kids running around. The headphones kept cafe distractions at bay. The effective ANC also made it so I didn’t have to turn up the volume too loud in public, which alleviated listening fatigue and allowed me to listen for longer.

Battery Life and Bose Music App Are Both Par for the Course

These QC Ultra Headphones get an advertised 24 hours of listening time in either Quiet or Aware modes. In real-world use, that allowed me to start at 80% and ride these for over a week before I needed to plug them into power.

In practical terms, that should mean these furnish enough battery life to get you through at least a couple of travel days. Using Immersive Audio reduces the battery life to 18 hours—a loss of 6 hours. Even though I thought music played in Immersive Audio was fine, I would much rather have the extra battery life.

The Bose Music app, available for iPhone and Android, handles all the fiddly details, including EQ, changing modes, setting a shortcut, or tweaking other settings. It’s a nicely done app and worked well, but once I went through it the first time, I didn’t find myself coming back to it often.

Price and Availability

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones are available now and retail for $429. The headphones come in black and white colors, with a sandstone color sold exclusively on Bose’s website.

Are You Better off With the Ultra Earbuds or Headphones?

Bose’s Ultra line of earbuds and headphones are great travel devices. I can’t tell you which one to buy, but I can offer a few things to consider. For example, if space and weight are important, the Ultra Earbuds can be tucked away nearly anywhere in a backpack. Although they aren’t the best for exercise, they can also be used for running in a pinch if you can’t bring multiple earbuds on a trip.

If you have smaller ears or are opposed to keeping them plugged up, the Ultra Headphones were extremely comfortable for long periods of time. They offer great battery life, so charging them while on the road doesn’t need to happen frequently.

Should You Buy the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones?

I found the latest premium wireless headphones from Bose to be tuned for focus and travel. The QuietComfort Ultra Headphones have squishy, comfortable foam, scary-good ANC, and rich, vibrant sound.

If you can maintain the high $429 retail price, they can be your all-day work headphones because they maintain Multipoint Bluetooth pairing, and their microphones have a nice vocal clarity.

Of course, there are comparable, but cheaper headphones, available appreciate the Sony WH-1000XM5, which go on sale frequently, if money is the main sticking point here. If dedicated music listening is your intended use, you should probably look elsewhere, including the Edifier Stax Spirit S3.

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones

$379 $429 Save $50

World-class noise cancelation, quieter than ever before. Breakthrough spatialized audio for immersive listening, no matter the content or source. Elevated design and luxe materials for unrivaled comfort.