2023-10-16 15:05:23
Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones // Source: Tristan Jacquel for Frandroid
Bose is one of the first manufacturers to take seriously the problem of surrounding noise when listening to music on the go. Without peace around you, it is impossible to hear all the sounds of a piece of music, because the softest ones are irremediably masked by the noise of everyday life. Water flowing in a sink, a kitchen hood, a crackling pan, the rumble of a subway, the hubbub of a shopping center, the list of examples is almost unlimited. Hence the importance of an active noise reduction system in earphones and headsets, capable of attenuating – if not eliminating – these parasitic noises. Many manufacturers have added active noise reduction (ANC, for Active Noise Canceling) to their marketing arsenal, but very few have truly given themselves the means to offer a truly effective system. Bose, just like Sony and Apple after it, has taken the bull by the horns and offers with these Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds formidable attenuation of parasitic noise. And that’s not their only asset.
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Datasheet
Model Devialet Gemini II Format Wireless earphones Removable battery No Microphone Yes Active noise reduction Yes Battery life announced 22 hours Connector type USB Type-C Weight 12 g Product sheet
This test was carried out with headphones loaned by Bose
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Ultra-comfortable headphones
The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds more or less resemble the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II; their size and weight are also identical. These are also in-ear headphones, which do not enter the ear canal, but are positioned at its entrance to obstruct it. Bose took care to make them as comfortable as possible and installed silicone fins. These are used to securely attach the headphones to the ear as comfortably as possible. Two pairs, of different sizes, are also provided alongside alternative silicone tips, to optimize wearing comfort. The system works very well and you can wear the Bose QC Ultra Earbuds for hours, without fatigue. Furthermore, practicing a sporting activity with these headphones poses no problem, even if it rains or you sweat, because they are resistant to splashing water (IPX4).
Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones at the height of comfort // Source: Tristan Jacquel for Frandroid
Each earbud has an elongated touch area to adjust the listening volume, manage music playback and phone calls, invoke a smartphone’s voice assistant or access advanced functions (including personalized listening modes). The quality of the materials and assembly seems very good.
The storage box surprises with its dimensions and practical aspects. Not in a good way, because it is large and not easy to handle. The earphones are secured by a powerful magnetization system and it is not that easy to extract them.
Without this being a problem, the storage box is surprisingly large // Source: Tristan Jacquel for Frandroid
In any case, you must use both hands while holding the case firmly. Another note, the cover is attached to the chassis by a single hinge and has a little play. However, it does not seem fragile. Last point, Qi charging by induction is not supported and only the USB-C port can recharge the case.
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds An app with full settings
The touch zones are easy to maneuver: a swipe down or up on either earbud adjusts the volume up or down, while a tap pauses or restarts playback. Note that the Bose QC Ultra has a port detector and that the music automatically stops when one or both earbuds are removed. A double press goes to the next track, a triple press goes to the previous one.
Long press invokes the voice assistant or switches from noise reduction mode to transparency mode.
Modes adapted to every musical moment
Prolonged pressure on the touch zone of either earphone allows you to switch from one listening mode to another. By default, Bose QC QuietComforts are set to switch from active noise reduction mode (Silent) to transparency mode (Attentive) or Immersive Audio mode (Immersion).
It is however possible to create new listening modes, to finely adjust the intensity of the ANC and possibly combine it with the immersive mode, for example.
Immersive Audio, not essential
The big new feature of the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds is the Immersive Audio mode, supposed to offer a larger and more enveloping soundstage with spatial audio. As is often the case, the process does not add much and, although the spatialization is different from simple stereo, the sound loses all its naturalness and disturbs the ear: we have the impression of listening to music in a corridor. or in a room with a cathedral ceiling. In practice, certain mid frequencies are amplified and phase shifted to give a feeling of greater space and this treatment is applied invariably to all music. In fact, it is too arbitrary to give good results.
Source: Tristan Jacquel for Frandroid
We should not blame Bose, the Bluetooth protocol currently used for music listening does not allow multichannel audio titles to be transmitted to headphones, but only in stereo. The eventual exploitation of Bluetooth LE Audio technology, multi-channel compatible, could one day change the situation and allow precise and immersive positioning of the different sounds of music. Apple seems to succeed, but controls software and hardware from A to Z; for Android you will have to be patient. Note that Immersive Audio mode may be accompanied by tracking of the listener’s head movements. The entire scene then moves opposite to the head movement. Here again, the process intrigues and can amuse, but once the surprise effect is over, we quickly return to listening in stereo, which is much more qualitative.
Adjusting the earphone sound signature
The Bose Music app has a 3-band equalizer (bass/mid/treble), with an amplitude range of plus or minus 10 decibels. It’s comfortable to precisely shape the sound signature of the QC Ultra Earbuds. Four profiles are also available (bass reduction or increase, treble reduction or increase) to easily change tonal balance.
No multipoint Bluetooth
The on-board Bluetooth controller is a latest generation model (5.3 standard). Unfortunately, Bose does not exploit all the possibilities and the multipoint function is not supported. It is therefore not possible to simultaneously connect the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds to two sources simultaneously. When the headphones are connected to a computer, it is impossible to access the settings in the smartphone app. You must then disconnect the headphones from the computer and reconnect them to the smartphone.
Source: Tristan Jacquel for Frandroid
Throughout this test, I experienced no issues with Bluetooth link stability, even in a crowded shopping mall. In my home, the connection holds through a thin partition or wooden floor. On the other hand, I was confronted quite often with one of the two headphones not turning on properly – one or the other randomly – forcing me to put it away and then take it out again. Latency is noticeable in video games, with the sound lagging slightly behind the image. No such problem with videos, the synchronization is always perfect. Finally, SBC, AAC and aptX Adaptive codecs are supported.
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Ideal noise reduction
The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds perform (almost) flawlessly in terms of active noise reduction. Their performance is exceptional, just like that of the QuietComfort Earbuds II. The crux of the matter when it comes to active noise reduction is mid-frequency noise, in other words clear sounds, which are particularly complex to reduce. The principle is the same as with bass sounds, but our ear does not accept any approximation for midrange sounds. As a reminder, to reduce parasitic noise, the headphones must broadcast this same noise in phase inversion (in reverse). If the microphones measure poorly or the transducers lack precision, there is a risk of reducing certain sounds in the music. In the low frequencies, it is almost not heard, in the midrange, infinitely more, because our ear is hypersensitive there. Also, many manufacturers give up processing clear noises; not Bose, nor Apple (AirPods Pro 2) or Sony (WF-1000XM5), whose headphones are the best on the market from this point of view, thanks to very efficient onboard processors.
A bubble of serenity
When noise reduction is activated, a few seconds after putting on the headphones, the noise reduction is remarkable. In the car, there is no more sound of rolling, nor of an engine; even with the windows open, the wind does not disturb the calm in which we are immersed. It’s not absolute silence, but clearly the calmest atmosphere I’ve ever heard with noise-canceling headphones. At the shopping center I went to, the noise level was deafening, with the sound of footsteps competing with metal shopping carts for the most annoying sounds. Another configuration, the waiting room of a music conservatory where students practice piano, brass and lyrical singing: not much reaches my ears and when I play a musical title, I don’t hear anything. only hear my music. With the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds, it becomes possible to listen to music comfortably, even at low volume and in all circumstances. Well done, even if you have to deal with a slight hiss, audible when no music is playing.
The ANC achieves feats to calm the listener // Source: Tristan Jacquel for Frandroid
The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds also offer a transparency mode, called ActiveSense. No intensity adjustment is offered, but you can hear what’s going on around you very well and holding a conversation is very easy. When loud noises come near the listener, the headphones automatically reduce the volume. The only small complaint is that again a background noise (breathing) is perceptible.
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Pack quite a punch
The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds are equipped with an acoustic auto-calibration system called CustomTune, which allows their sound to be adapted to the specific characteristics of the listener’s ears. Each time they are taken out of their housing and inserted into the ears, they emit a sound towards the ear canal, the resonance of which is measured by the microphones. According to Bose, the tonal balance is automatically adjusted to match the sound aesthetic desired by the manufacturer.
Sound signature and measurement curve
The good thing about Bose products is that you know roughly what to expect when it comes to the sound signature. Bose sound is powerful and tight bass – the brand is renowned for its home cinema subwoofers – combined with a reinforced high-midrange and a hint of treble. A little salt and sugar if I may say so, to give an impression of permanent clarity and dynamism. The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds are no exception to the rule. There is a lot of energy in their restitution, punch and articulation. The bass is generous, but without excess of any kind. Moreover, this part of the spectrum reacts very well to the equalizer of the Bose Music app and we quickly adjusted it to our tastes. The midrange in its lower part is very linear and thus restores the voices with beautiful incarnation, particularly the male ones. The upper part of the register, on the other hand, is colorful and sharp, with a little harshness on certain titles — Paper Planes from MIA for example — and inevitably a little fatigue after a prolonged listening session. You have to deal with it, the transducers are at fault and the equalizer cannot completely remedy it.
The response curve of the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds // Source: Tristan Jacquel for Frandroid
All this is noticeable on the response curve of the headphones. At first glance, one might worry as the differences in volume are so significant, but the recipe is good, the sauce sets and the ear quickly acclimatizes to it. The very homogeneous dynamics from bass to treble certainly contributes to this. You can increase the volume without losing tonal balance, the bass/mid/treble balance remaining the same whether you listen at whispers or at full power.
Compared to the Bose QC Earbuds II, the Bose QC Ultra Earbuds are a little beefier in the low end and less excessive in the midrange, which lets you hear the highest sounds better. So from my point of view they are better. Still, they don’t have the delicacy of the Apple AirPods Pro 2 or the attention to detail of dual-transducer headphones such as the Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2.
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Soundscape
The sound produced is very enveloping (without needing to activate Immersive mode) and immerses the listener in the heart of the music. The stage is wide and the channel separation is well defined. It is only in the frontal axis that the sound planes lack a little air. Overall, it’s very good, regardless of the type of music. In simple stereo, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds therefore rival the best headphones on the market. On the other hand, in Immersive Sound mode, I find them disappointing. The first step of the podium on this point goes to Apple and its AirPods Pro 2 – provided you use an Apple source – and, if you use an Android smartphone, in my opinion to Denon with the Perl Pro with their Dirac technology Virtuo. Still, in simple stereo, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds create a beautiful soundstage.
To sum up :
Serious: extension, power, accuracy, everything is there. Medium: the voices are beautiful; a little harshness on the percussion, but the good transient regime makes everything pleasant Treble: forward, but not as bright as the measured curve suggests (partial masking effect by the medium); ultimately well placed Dynamics: lots of punch and a good transitional regime from bass to treble Spatialization: wide stereo, high density in the central axis (a little more air would have been welcome)
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Clear, quiet calls
Filtering out noise around the listener during phone calls is not as effective as active noise reduction when listening to music. Headphones struggle to isolate the listener’s voice when they are in a very noisy place. In the middle of a shopping center, it was impossible for the person I was talking to to hear only my voice, as most of the noise around me was mixed with the transmitted audio signal.
Source: Tristan Jacquel for Frandroid
Only when you remain silent does the algorithm effectively suppress all extraneous noise, but when it is time to speak again, it lets clear noise through again. However, we are clearly heard in the middle of the hubbub, the voice being well emphasized and amplified. A setting in the app allows you to choose the level of amplification of the user’s voice. Finally, thanks to ANC, you can hear your interlocutor perfectly.
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Satisfactory battery life
Bose announces a maximum battery life of 6 hours, provided you do not use the Immersive Sound function (2 hours are then lost). In practice, I measured a little over 6h10 in simple stereo, active noise reduction (in a quiet environment), at 50% volume, playing a playlist of pop, rock and jazz titles. This autonomy should be enough for many users, especially since the case offers 3 additional charges.
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Price and Release Date
The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds are available in black or cloud white, priced at €349.
Where to buy
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds at the best price?
1697469212
#Bose #QuietComfort #Ultra #Earbuds #test #full #opinion