Audio review
Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen Review: Best Cancelling, Worst Battery
SoundGuys measured 5 hours 34 minutes against a six-hour claim. All three sources call the noise cancelling the best they have tested.
By Paulo GerchonPublished 2 min read
Illustration, not a photo — we don’t have a licensed image of this product yet.
Bose
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen)
Good · researched from 3 sources
The best noise cancelling in this catalogue on three independent assessments, attached to the shortest measured battery. If your journey is under five hours these are extraordinary, and if it is longer you will be charging mid-flight.
- Buy if
- Aircraft and trains, where all three sources rate the cancelling highest · Android phones with Snapdragon Sound, for aptX Lossless · Anyone upgrading from earbuds with weak call quality
- Skip if
- Long-haul flights, on a measured 5 hours 34 minutes · Anyone who wants a real equaliser, at three unlabelled bands · Dusty environments, given IPX4
We don’t list prices, because Amazon’s change hourly.
Three sources, one verdict on the cancelling
SoundGuys: about 85 percent of external loudness removed, among the best they have tested.
Trusted Reviews: class-leading, better than the Technics AZ100, and on an aircraft the quietest experience they can recall.
HotHardware: the strongest implementation the reviewer has ever tried, tested over three and a half miles of busy street, with passing trucks barely registering.
Most products in this catalogue produce three assessments that need reconciling. This one produces three that say the same thing. The Technics comparison is the useful one, because the AZ100 is reviewed elsewhere here and measures roughly 35 to 38 dB below 100 Hz, which is flagship territory. These beat it.
And one verdict on the battery
Bose claims six hours.
SoundGuys measured 5 hours 34 minutes. HotHardware observed a little over five in Immersive mode. Trusted Reviews watched 40 percent disappear in two hours of listening.
Three figures, all short, all landing around five and a half. The case holds three more charges for 24 hours total, so this is a recharging problem rather than a running-out problem, but it is a real one: a transatlantic flight will outlast them.
Trusted Reviews' comparison is the sharpest version of the criticism. Rivals do eight hours. And the first generation did the same six-hour claim, so nothing was gained here.
What the second generation actually is
A rubberised guard on the nozzle to keep earwax out.
Wireless charging on the case, and a case that now reports its own battery level in the app.
A revised cancelling algorithm that handles sudden noise spikes more smoothly, and an August 2025 firmware update that brought bone conduction into the microphone array.
A Cinema listening mode.
The drivers are unchanged. The CustomTune calibration is unchanged. Trusted Reviews notes the shape, size, look and fit are identical, and SoundGuys' own summary calls the updates boring.
If you own the first generation, none of that is an upgrade.
The tuning moved slightly
The first generation's most common criticism was an overly bassy sound. SoundGuys measured bass peaks surpassing 14 dB around 30 Hz on it.
Trusted Reviews describes the second generation as having slightly reduced bass and more detailed highs, producing a more confident and truer sound, and rates them the best-sounding Bose earbuds they have tested.
They still put the Technics AZ100 ahead on detail and naturalness, which is a narrow loss to a product that costs about the same.
Adjusting it yourself is where the frustration sits. SoundGuys criticises an equaliser with three bands and no labelled frequencies, which is the least control of any flagship earbud in this catalogue.
Calls, at last
Trusted Reviews' assessment is the clearest: call quality has finally been addressed properly, with voice isolation significantly improved and minimal intrusions when tested in a busy commercial district.
HotHardware credits the SpeechClarity processing with pulling the voice out of the background.
The exception is wind. Trusted Reviews reports slight wind noise in blustery conditions, which is the one environment the microphone array still loses.
How it scored
The overall 7.9 is the weighted average of these five criteria — we never adjust it by hand.
Sound quality
Trusted Reviews calls these the best-sounding Bose earbuds they have tested, with slightly reduced bass and more detailed highs, while placing the Technics AZ100 ahead on detail.
Value
Trusted Reviews gave five stars, SoundGuys 7.7 out of 10 and HotHardware a recommendation. All three name the price, and SoundGuys calls the updates boring.
Build quality
IPX4 only. HotHardware finds the case less premium than the earbuds and bulkier than they would like, and SoundGuys calls the unchanged case clunky.
Comfort
HotHardware reports they stay put better than AirPods and suit running. Digital Trends and Trusted Reviews both describe all-day wear on an unchanged shape.
Noise cancelling
SoundGuys measured roughly 85 percent of external loudness removed and calls it among the best tested. Trusted Reviews puts it ahead of the Technics AZ100.
Pros and cons
What we liked
- SoundGuys measured about 85 percent of external loudness removed
- Trusted Reviews tested it against the Technics AZ100 and found it better
- HotHardware calls it the strongest cancelling implementation they have tried
- aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless through Snapdragon Sound, alongside SBC and AAC
- Trusted Reviews says call quality is finally fixed, via bone conduction
- The case now charges wirelessly and reports its own level in the app
What we didn’t
- SoundGuys measured 5 hours 34 minutes against a six-hour claim
- Trusted Reviews saw 40 percent drained in two hours of listening
- SoundGuys criticises a three-band equaliser with no labelled frequencies
- IPX4 only, with no dust rating
- HotHardware finds the case bulky and less premium than the earbuds
- Trusted Reviews reports slight wind noise in blustery conditions
Specifications
| Noise cancelling | About 85 percent of external loudness removed per SoundGuys |
|---|---|
| Battery | 5 h 34 m measured by SoundGuys against six claimed; 24 h total with the case |
| Observed battery | A little over five hours in Immersive mode with cancelling per HotHardware |
| Codecs | SBC, AAC, aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless via Snapdragon Sound |
| Water resistance | IPX4 |
| Charging | USB-C and wireless on the case |
| Equaliser | Three bands, unlabelled |
| Modes | Quiet, Aware, Immersion and Cinema |
| New this generation | Earwax guards, wireless charging, case battery reporting and a revised cancelling algorithm |
| Bluetooth | 5.3 with multipoint |
How we researched this
We have not had this unit on the bench. This review synthesises the manufacturer’s published specifications, independent measurements and owner reports listed below. Every figure on this page comes from one of those sources rather than our own measurement.
3
sources reviewed
SoundGuys supplies the measured battery figure, the attenuation estimate, the codec list, the generational change inventory and the equaliser criticism, and scored 7.7 out of 10. Trusted Reviews supplies the comparative cancelling assessment against the Technics AZ100, the real-world battery observation, the sound and call quality evaluations and the wind noise finding, and gave five stars. HotHardware supplies a second battery observation under stated conditions, the Immersive Audio mode description, the fit assessment and the case criticism. All three reviewed the second generation specifically. The first generation, which SoundGuys and TechGearLab measured separately, is a different product and its figures are not used here.
What we read
Common questions
How good is the noise cancelling on the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen?
How long does the battery last?
What actually changed from the first generation?
Is the sound better than the first generation?
Are calls finally good?
The bottom line on the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen)
The best noise cancelling in this catalogue on three independent assessments, attached to the shortest measured battery. If your journey is under five hours these are extraordinary, and if it is longer you will be charging mid-flight.
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