Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones Wireless Headphones Review

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones look very similar to the Bose QuietComfort Headphones Wireless and the Bose QuietComfort 45/QC45 Wireless. Overall, they look fairly minimalist, especially with the manufacturer's name modestly embossed on the center ear cup. The most noticeable difference is that the yoke is silver instead of completely black, and a similar design choice is made on the other color schemes. The 'White Smoke' model has silver yokes, while the 'Sandstone' model has gold yokes.

These headphones are pretty comfortable. They're quite similar to their predecessors but have plusher, thicker padding on the top of the headband and around the ear cup. The ear cups are angled to give you more depth without rubbing against your ears.

The control scheme is different than the Bose QuietComfort 45/QC45 Wireless with a touch-sensitive slider so that you can adjust the volume and only two buttons. All the controls are on the right ear cup, and there are chimes to let you know when you've powered the headphones on and off and when you've reached min or max volume. There are also voice prompts to indicate the battery level, ANC status, and pairing. There isn't feedback if you're pausing or skipping tracks, though. The volume slider is also a bit inconsistent, and you must use the tip of your finger to get the right volume increment. This slider also lets you access a shortcut command (which is settable in the companion app) by pressing and holding it in place.

Power button:

• Single press: Turns the headphones on and off.
• Press and hold: Activates Bluetooth pairing.

Multifunction button:

• Single press: Plays and pauses audio. Also answers calls.
• Double press: Skips the track forward. Also ends calls.
• Triple press: Skips the track backward.

Like most over-ears, they don't have the most portable design. That said, their ear cups can swivel to lay flat, helping them save some space.

The carrying case is great. It's very similar in quality to other Bose products but is rounded. It's still very sturdy, though, and is made from plastic and faux leather. It has a zipper that's covered to protect it from damage and soft, molded padding to ensure you place them correctly within the case. There's even a pouch to store your cables when not in use.

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones have a great build quality. They're mostly made of plastic with aluminum and leather detailing, which makes them feel durable and sturdy. There's also a good amount of plush padding. That said, the folding hinge can wear down with time and lose its snappiness. Leather can also wear down with continual use.

These headphones are decently stable. They'll stay on your head if you jam to music at your desk or on the couch. However, they can shift around in place with head movements and can even fall off if you're vigorously moving your head. As a result, they're not the best choice if you want to use them during tough workouts.

• Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones
• 1/8" to 1/16" (3.5 mm to 2.5 mm) TRRS audio cable
• Carrying case
• USB-A to USB-C charging cable
• Manuals

The Bose QC Ultra Headphones have a bassy sound profile with a relatively flat mid-range. Their treble range is slightly veiled, but it's still relatively clear, if a bit uneven. Your audio is delivered with extra thump, while kick drums have a good amount of boom. Lead instruments like guitars and keys sound clear, while sibilants like the harmonics of cymbals come through as mostly detailed. The slight treble de-emphasis means they won't prematurely cause your ears to fatigue.

If you prefer a different sound, their companion app offers EQ presets, which retain the extra low-end. You can also fine-tune their sound to your liking a bit by using the custom equalizer. They also sound slightly different with less treble emphasis if you use them wired rather than wirelessly.

These headphones have Bose's CustomTune technology, which allows the headphones to automatically adjust their noise isolation and sound profile based on your personal listening capabilities. As a result, it's difficult to get consistent measurements as the headphones constantly adapt and retune their sound. That said, you'll still experience a drop in bass if you have thick hair or wear glasses.

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones' bass target compliance is excellent. The response is elevated from the low bass through mid bass for extra thump and rumble. The high bass adheres to our target tightly for a good amount of boom on kick drums. This can be pleasing if you're listening to especially bass-heavy mixes like Starboy by The Weeknd.

The mid-range's target compliance is outstanding. The response is pretty flat and neutral here, resulting in natural-sounding and present vocals and instruments.

The treble's target compliance is superb. It lands close to our target response from the low-treble through mid-treble for a bright, detailed sound. It wavers slightly, but vocals remain articulate, and sibilants (like S and T) sound detailed. These elements may compete with the elevated bass, but you can adjust the equalizer for a different treble response.

The peaks and dips performance is very good. Aside from a few peaks, the headphones can control their sound profile quite well. There's a minor bump in the mid-bass, which adds a touch of extra thump to mixes. The treble range sees the most dips and peaks, though they're mostly not very large. It dips where the mid-range transitions to the low treble before a small peak causes vocals and instruments to sound harsh, while a dip weakens their detail. A series of small peaks in the mid-treble causes sibilants like cymbals to sound piercing.

These headphones have very good imaging. We've tested many Bose products, which are also very consistent, which indicates the manufacturer's quality control and ergonomics. That said, imaging varies across units. Our unit has mismatched group delay in the bass range. This results in very loose bass, so already thumpy and rumbly tracks like The Weeknd's Starboy miss out on their initial attack and sound off and uncontrolled. That said, our unit is still well-matched in amplitude, frequency, and phase response, which helps ensure a stable and even stereo image.

The passive soundstage performance is poor, which is normal for closed-back headphones. Their soundstage doesn't feel very open or spacious. Audio seems like it's coming from inside your head and feels unnatural. On the upside, the soundstage is quite large.

Like the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds, these headphones support Bose's Immersive Audio. This is a head-tracking feature that can make your audio feel more spacious and real-life. It doesn't utilize any surround content, though, and only uses regular audio content. There are two settings (other than off): 'Still', which virtually places the speakers in front of you and tracks your head to keep audio placed in relation to your original position, and 'Motion', which allows the virtual speakers to move as you move your head, always keeping them placed in front of you. That said, these headphones can't play surround content like Dolby Atmos as they have to downmix this content to stereo. That said, they use digital sound processing (DSP) to virtually create a wider stereo soundstage.

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones' weighted harmonic distortion performance is decent. There's a bump in both drivers at max volume throughout the mid range, but the overall amount of distortion is still quite low and very difficult to hear unless you're an astute audiophile. All frequencies otherwise fall within acceptable levels, which results in mostly clear and pure audio reproduction.

These are the settings used to test these headphones. We also used the CustomTune feature on our test rig so that it could adapt to its ear shape. Our results are only valid when used in this configuration.

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones' full-range noise isolation performance is outstanding, which is on par for a brand built on noise cancelling (ANC) technology. Unlike the Bose QuietComfort 45/QC45 Wireless, they support Bose's CustomTune feature, so their ANC automatically adjusts to your hearing capabilities and surroundings. As a result, they can easily block out the low, bassy rumbles of bus and plane engines as well as mid-range noise like ambient chatter. They also reduce the high-pitched hum of AC units very well.

If you're looking for a bit more customization and control over your noise isolation performance, you can access ANC modes in the companion app, as well as adjust and set your own ANC presets. Although there's an ANC slider, it doesn't affect the strength of the ANC itself but the strength of talk-through (labeled as 'Aware' in the app) mode, which allows the headphones to let in your desired amount of ambient sound. Also, the headphones only have ANC or 'Aware' modes, which you can modify the strength of and adjust to your preference, but there's no normal mode without noise cancelling or transparency.

In response to user feedback of a high noise floor when ANC is enabled and volume set low, we retested the headphones but couldn't replicate the issue. However, noise sensitivity is a subjective experience.

Just like with our Noise Isolation - Full Range test, these headphones do an incredible job of blocking out ambient sound in more dynamic environments. Whether traveling by plane, hanging in a busy office, or walking down the street, the ANC system can reduce a significant amount of sound around you so that you can focus on your audio.

These headphones have a wind noise reduction feature called Wind Block. The manufacturer advertises that it mutes the ANC microphones located on the exterior of the ear cups to limit the ANC from picking up this sound and amplifying it. Overall, it helps tackle wind a little more efficiently than when this feature is disabled. When used, the ANC can reduce some bass to mid-range frequencies. This reduction is also better than headphones without a wind reduction feature like the Sony WH-1000XM5 Wireless.

That said, wind directly interacts with the ANC's microphones. The ANC system tries to cancel it out, even though this sound doesn't reach your ears, but, as a result, it causes loud and unwanted noise. Using the Wind Block feature could also impact ANC performance when wind is present.

The leakage performance is decent. Leakage is most significant in the mid-range and sounds somewhat full. If you like to crank up the volume on your favorite tunes, others around you won't hear it unless you're in a very quiet environment.

The mic's recording quality is very good. Your voice sounds natural and clear, although a bit thin. Although Bose advertise these headphones to have a 'Self Voice' feature, which allows you to hear your own voice while on the phone (this is also known as sidetone), we couldn't get it to work. Our experience also appears to be a common one.

The mic's noise handling performance is fair. If you're taking calls in a moderately noisy environment like a train station, it can partially drown out your voice. It's still audible, but it'll be hard for the other person on the line to hear you clearly.

The Bose QC Ultra Headphones' battery performance is great. The manufacturer advertises them to last 24 hours continuously, but we measured 29 hours. That said, battery life varies on use, including your volume levels. Unfortunately, unlike other models like the Bose QuietComfort 45/QC45 Wireless, you can't use these headphones passively. You can use them wired, but the headphones must be on to work.

The Bose Music app is great; you can see a video of how it works here. You can access a graphic EQ and presets and Immersive Audio, a head-tracking feature for a more immersive experience. You can switch between different ANC modes and create ANC presets and immersion modes. While there's an ANC slider, it doesn't adjust the strength of the ANC but the talk-through strength, which is the amount of ambient sound the headphones let in. Additionally, you can adjust features like the auto-off timer, on-head detection, and Bluetooth source detection (if you want to connect the headphones to more than one device at a time).

The Bose QC Ultra Headphones come with a 1/8" TRS to 1/16" TRS cable that you can use for analog audio. However, like the Sonos Ace Wireless, you have to turn on the headphones to use this connection. There's also some latency when using this connection. While minor, the delay can be frustrating if you're gaming competitively or working on sync-sensitive content. The headphones perform an analog-to-digital conversion, amplifying the source and possibly adding any EQ customization onto the signal, which adds latency.

They also come with a USB-A to USB-C cable for recharging the headphones. You can't use it to passthrough audio, though.

These headphones have good Bluetooth connectivity. They support multi-device pairing, so you can stay connected with two devices, like a PC and smartphone, simultaneously. While they have high latency if you're using the default SBC codec, they also support aptX Adaptive, which automatically adjusts to your audio content. If you're listening to high-quality audio, it'll enter its High-Quality mode; however, expect a lot of latency. However, this codec can also shift into a low latency mode. If you're streaming videos, latency is significantly reduced, but it's still noticeable. That said, some devices compensate for latency.

You can pair these headphones with Bluetooth-enabled PCs with full audio and mic support. However, if you connect them via analog, you'll only be able to receive audio.

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones only support audio via analog on PlayStation consoles.

You can plug their audio cable into your Xbox controller's AUX port, but this only provides audio support, so you won't be able to use their mic.