Just before Apple’s AirPods 4 hit stores on Friday, September 20, 2024, Bose is introducing a new pair of earbuds priced identically at $179 / £179. Unlike the noise-cancelling AirPods 4, the new Bose QuietComfort Earbuds have ear cushions that seal around your ears, and they pair that feature with promised long battery life and strong active noise cancellation.
First, a quick history lesson. While these earbuds are named Bose QuietComfort Earbuds, they are neither a new generation of the QuietComfort Earbuds Ultra nor an update to our pick for Best Noise Cancellation, the QCE2, which the brand sadly no longer officially sells. These new QuietComfort Earbuds are more mid-range in price and are likely the spiritual successor to the Sport Earbuds of years past.
Plus, these are the entry points into Bose’s headphone lineup with either the $299 Ultra Open Earbuds or the $299 QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds. These will be more similar to the latter with a slightly larger look and a design that incorporates ear cushions. Now, if Bose’s mid-range QuietComfort Earbuds have you already sold, you can order those now, but we’ll break down what’s new below.
While the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds are priced similarly to Apple’s AirPods 4, these earbuds take a completely different approach. Starting with the design, Bose sticks to a slightly oversized look that juts out from the ear and lets you proudly show off your chosen color. You can choose from black, smoky white, or cool lilac. With silicone ear tips and a stability band, the QuietComfort Earbuds are decidedly not open-ear and aim for a complete seal with your ear canal.
This should help with active noise cancellation, reducing ambient sounds to a silent level and preventing audio leakage. You'll be able to choose from several sizes of tips and bands in the box. If you like listening to music while working out or walking in the rain, you know that these earbuds meet the IPX4 rating for water and sweat resistance.
The audio experience is enhanced by a custom Bose setup and is described as a high-quality experience that can be customized within the Bose QC Earbuds companion app for Android and iOS. There, you can choose from 5 EQ presets or create your own.
Each earbud features three microphones to pick up your voice and actively cancel noise. With the latter, the built-in processor and a Bose algorithm cancel out the noise around you, leaving you in silence. We have high hopes for performance, especially given how previous Bose earbuds have tested. You can also output some ambient sounds in “Aware” mode, similar to Apple’s Transparency mode on AirPods.
The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds support multipoint pairing, something the QuietComfort Ultra lacks. These earbuds feature Bluetooth 5.3, which should ensure solid connectivity. There's also a new feature that will allow the earbuds to act as a remote shutter for taking selfies, and Bose has its own voice assistant that can be accessed by saying “Hey, earbuds.”
Battery life seems pretty good. Bose promises 8.5 hours of playback on a full charge, and the case provides 2.5 full recharges for a total of 29.75 hours of listening. That's close to the Apple AirPods 4, which claim a total playback time of 30 hours, but you only get five hours out of Apple's earbuds before they need to be charged (which, let's face it, isn't that much in today's money). Bose's carrying case can be recharged via USB-C or a wireless charging pad.
Overall, the features pile up on paper to make for what could be some great headphones at a great price. It's also clear that while Bose does offer a pair of open-back headphones, the brand is going back to basics with a more affordable pair of headphones designed to deliver strong noise cancellation in a properly cushioned design.
Bose is now accepting orders for the new QuietComfort Earbuds, and according to the company's online store, they should be shipping in all three colors starting September 23. So, if you're convinced, you can place an order now and we'll get back to you with our thoughts as soon as we're able to test them out.
But that’s not all Bose had to reveal. Alongside the QuietComfort Earbuds, Bose introduced the new Smart Soundbar, which retains the look and feature set of the Smart Soundbar 600 but incorporates an AI-powered dialogue mode to adjust the tone and EQ in real time. It’s available to order now for $499.99.
