Bose QuietComfort II Earbuds review
Bose has constructed its entire reputation and brand on the technology of noise cancellation. Bose is in this industry for years and I should not have been shocked by how well the latest QuietComfort Earbuds II outperform the competitors in the ANC department. After a few days of testing and comparing them to other models, I am.
For a long time we’ve had the QuietComfort earbuds from the beginning and the Sony WF-1000XM4 as well as the Apple AirPods Pro are all within a few inches of each other and all excellent. However, Bose’s new earbuds for $299 set the benchmark and significantly. In a variety of everyday scenarios they’re equal to or superior than the over-ear noise-canceling headphones and are clearly smaller and more portable.
It is worth noting that the QuietComfort Earbuds II are still not equipped with some essential features such as multipoint and wireless charging isn’t present. These flaws could cause the cost to be more difficult to justify. The sound quality is great in in addition to the world’s best cancelling of noise, Bose is able to match the natural, authentic transparency in Apple’s AirPods Pro.
When you open the box you’ll notice how tiny the earbuds are in comparison to previous models. Bose director of product Jason Brisbois told me that they’re 30% smaller in volume, and they fit more closely to your head and ear as compared to the previous. This charging device has been reduced by 40. It’s smaller and more compact, but the size that I’m not sure why Bose did not include wireless charging.
The fitting of these QuietComfort Earbuds II to your ears is a completely different experience than the old Bose buds. The company has discarded its trademark StayHear ear tips that are winged in preference to the two-piece design. The package includes three sizes of eartips (S M, L and S) along with three bands of stability that utilize the earconcha to hold the earbuds in the right place. There are nine different combinations available when mixing tips and bands for stability, and , like other earbud makers, Bose notes that your left and right ears could be distinct sufficient to require different designs in each. I ended up with large tip earpieces, but a medium stabilization band in one ear, and one that was large in one.
Bose’s intention with this new design was to minimize discomfort or fatigue, while designing the new set of earbuds to compatible with an array of types of ear sizes and shapes There’s also a separate fitting kit that you can purchase through customer service with XL and XS attachments in case there’s no way the bundle options can do the job. I’ve heard some initial concerns from those who use the single-piece StayHear advice that the new design will not work as well for the ear, but I’d rather not be too worried. It’s definitely a procedure to test 2 pieces in each ear It’s still a good spending the extra time to figure out the best fit.
When you start a listening session by pulling the earbuds out of their cases and then putting them in the ear canals, you’ll be able to hear the sound of a brief tone in every ear. This is the exact orchestral thwomp sound effect Bose has been using for a long time in its earbuds and headphones. However, now it has a the added benefit of a purpose that is very specific to be called CustomTune. Bose utilizes the short sound to determine the acoustic characteristics of your ear canal. The QuietComfort Earbuds II adjust the audio profile and noise cancellation according to the information that is returned. Each time you wear the earbuds.
How do you find the right size? It’s an entire procedure
Technology companies have put much more emphasis on adjusting the sound of earbuds and headphones to your preferences. With iOS 16 Apple has the ability to analyze your ears to provide you with a customized audio in a spatial format. Also, Sony claims it’s able improve 360 Reality Audio using images from your ears. Bose is using CustomTune to provide its solution to customize audio.
The drivers and the underlying elements in the QuietComfort Earbuds II haven’t drastically altered from the original pair. However, the sound produced by these buds seems more nuanced, lively and more rounded than the original and Brisbois stated that it all comes in CustomTune. Bose Research scientist John Rule said the system will take hundreds of measurements, and makes the adjustments to the audio and apply filtering “in less than a second.” The QuietComfort Earbuds II sound better to me than the AirPods Pro as well as Sony’s WF-1000XM4 earbuds.
They deliver dynamic, textured music that has plenty of kick bass and an expansive soundstage. I’d think that Bose is only being eked out by something similar to the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 earbuds. However, they’re getting more unstable and unreliable as I continue to utilize them. It’s not like there’s a comparison in the case of ANC: Bose wins. However, it’s the way Bose made progress this time around that’s more intriguing.
“When you’re flying on an airplane, you can cancel the airplane pretty well,” Rule stated of the majority of the noise-canceling headphones and earbuds available currently available. “But you’re now able to hear the voices of those three rows in front of you because you’ve cancelled your plane more so than you’ve cancelled the voices. You’ve uncovered things you did not want for people to know.”
“So in order to really believe that you’re receiving more noise cancellation it’s not worth the effort in making the aircraft any quieter. The only benefit is in filling in the gap in between,” said Rule. With its latest earbuds, Bose has a particular focus on bringing down mid-frequency frequencies. such as nearby conversations or crying babies. the results are impressive. I still can detect traces of conversations happening nearby in at work. However, I’ve never listened to headphones that are close to completely erasing my surroundings. You can play music at any level and you’ll feel like you’re in an intimate, peaceful cocoon.
“We measure them internally as better than the QuietComfort 45s, as having more noise canceling than the [over-ear] QC45s or anything else that we’ve measured,” Rule explained to me. There are a few minor points to note: over-ear headphones perform better when blocking higher frequencies (clanking silverware and plates and silverware, etc.) due to their ear cushions. “We will always work on making both of them better, but right now these are the winners,” Rule declared regarding these QC Earbuds II. It’s quite impressive, especially considering that Bose uses the ear tips made of silicone which don’t offer the same isolation advantages as the foams that expand in Sony’s WF-1000XM4.
“I would say it’s true that the future looks like personalization,” Rule stated. “And we believe that this is, right now, this [CustomTune] is the best way based on our measurement of competitive products to go after that.” CustomTune also offers transparency which, to my ears, sounds like what you’d expect in Apple’s AirPods Pro. This authentic passthrough has proven extremely difficult for other brands of earbuds to match however Bose is at the top of the list with Apple.