Audiophiles have been inundated in a wash of Bluetooth earbuds since device makers began discarding the headphone jack from their products, and while the transition has been frustrating and costly for many, the net result is a market full of options, and the Bose QuietComfort sit nicely at corner of premium features and mid-level pricing.
The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds, priced at $179, are considered a budget option from a premium brand. They offer impressive battery life and sound quality, making them a solid choice for those looking for quality without breaking the bank. The earbuds come with separate wing tips and ear tips, allowing users to find a comfortable fit. This customization helps ensure that the earbuds stay in place, even during extended use.
The major selling point of the Bose QuietComfort is its noise cancellation, which is typically a high-priced feature of any audio device these days. Any time a company adds the Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) moniker to their device, customers can expect a $100 to $150 up charge for that device, but Bose has managed to buck the trend by selling its QuietComfort for a flat $179 this holiday season.
Comparatively speaking, the Bose QuietComfort now competes with ecosystem plays from Apple, Google, and Samsung with its $179 pricing. Apple offers its Air pods Pro 4 for $179; Samsung’s Galaxy Buds3 Pro comes in at $249.99, and Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 are $229.
Beyond competing on price, Bose brings its premium sound, experience and feature set with these new earbuds that include all-day battery life and balanced sound panel.
A full charge of the earbuds is predicted to give a listener roughly 12hrs of playback time and close to 8 hours of talk time. During my testing, the battery life remained a standout feature, with the earbuds lasting up to 12 or so hours on a single charge.
This makes them ideal for all-day use without needing frequent charges. I tend to use my earbuds while working, long travel days that include flights, trains, and bus trips, as well as at the gym. I have managed to use QuietComfort for three days without a charge with a mix of 8 hours of work, an hour train ride home and two hours at the gym each day. I am not sure if there is battery capacity in the case, and if that was recharging the earbuds, but they lasted none the less.
The sound quality is impressive, with balanced lows, mids, and highs. The earbuds perform well across different genres of music, providing a clear and enjoyable listening experience. I am an avid podcast listener, and the soundstage does a good job of modulating the wide range of audio. While the noise cancellation is solid, it is not as strong as other Bose products. However, considering the price point, it still offers decent noise reduction.
I have heard the touch controls can be overly sensitive. However, during my testing the sensitivity can sometimes was simply fine and I’m coming from Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro 2 which would switch tracks if you moved your head too quickly.
The earbuds support multipoint pairing, allowing users to switch between devices. However, this feature can be haphazard, sometimes requiring reconnection or troubleshooting often which becomes a headache, especially when you need to quickly move a call from your car to your phone or vice versa. Yet, when it is on point, it was such a seamless transition and a true pleasure to go from laptop to phone and back. The companion app offers a lot of customization options, including touch controls and equalizer settings.
However, the app’s design could be more user-friendly, with some features feeling redundant or missing. When it comes to the app, it feels like Bose felt the need to fill out the homepage with icons and text for aesthetics only. The twelve preset home page is a bit overkill especially when the presets that are there do not offer enough functionality to warrant their existence.
Toggling between multipoint does not offer specific device pairing but instead just offers a simple off or on selection. That option could have been buried in some generic settings menu. Another example of useless overlap is having noise control and low latency as two separate settings.
I understand Bose wants to sell me more devices, but I do not think the Bose and Stories options should be selections on the homepage that link to experiences outside of the app.
Overall, the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds are a solid choice for those looking for quality sound and battery life at a more affordable price point, despite some minor drawbacks.
