Customer Ratings & Reviews

I recently enjoyed trying out the Bose QuietComfort Ultra wireless noise-canceling headphones, which truly live up to the hype. From unpacking to experiencing their exceptional sound quality, these headphones have left an indelible impression. First, the setup was a breeze. Using the Bose Music app, I quickly paired the headphones with my devices, and the user-friendly interface walked me through the entire process. This seamless configuration ensured I was up and running within minutes, ready to embark on a musical journey. What truly sets the QC Ultra's apart is their spatial audio feature. This innovation elevates your music listening experience to new heights, making it feel like the sound is right in front of you, creating an unparalleled sense of immersion. I tested these headphones with various genres, from classical to hip-hop, and each one sounded incredibly lifelike. The attention to detail in the sound reproduction is remarkable; the subtle nuances of the instruments and the clarity of the vocals were brought to life in a way I had never heard before. Whether you're a seasoned audiophile or just a casual music enthusiast, you'll appreciate Bose's effort to deliver sound that's as close to perfection as possible. Their comfort is another major plus. The plush ear cushions wrap your ears in a cushioned embrace, allowing extended listening sessions without discomfort. The headband's even pressure distribution and the sleek metal arms that add an air of sophistication contribute to an overall premium feel. Bose offers these headphones in two stylish color options, Bose Black and Smoke White, allowing you to choose the one that suits your style. The Bose QuietComfort Ultra wireless noise-canceling headphones are a superb addition to any music lover's collection. Their exceptional sound quality, personalized audio tuning, and remarkable comfort offer a listening experience at the next level. The Bose-dubbed "CustomTune" technology ensures that every note and beat hits precisely as it should, offering a tailor-made auditory experience that's truly remarkable. The plush ear cushions provide a cushioned embrace, allowing extended listening sessions without discomfort. To close mty review out, while the price may be a barrier for some, the investment is well worth it for those who value superior sound and comfort. Bose has once again set the bar high with these headphones, making your music come alive in a way you've never experienced before.

Bose has released their latest top of the line Quiet Comfort Ultra headphones. Doing away with random numbers like 35 and 700, these headphones are the pinnacle of Bose’s consumer wireless headphone line, and incorporate many advanced features along with high end design and materials. Do all of the features and changes justify a pretty steep price tag? Let’s take a listen and find out. In the box are the headphones, a very short quick start guide that basically says get the Bose Music app, a hard sided case, a 3.5mm to 2.5mm analog cable, and a USB-A to C charging cable. The cables tuck neatly into a pocket in the case, and both cups on the headphones rotate and are hinged so they fit neatly in the case. Overall, it’s a nice, compact package. The headphones have a comfortable and plush headband and metal brackets holding the earcups that smoothly extend from the headband to adjust size. The metal parts are a great touch and the hinges look to be very durable. Other headphones have moved away from the hinged design due to problems with it and plastic parts, but Bose has included this welcome feature as it lets the headphones fold into a compact package and made them out of metal instead. The headphones feel great on your head, and are super comfortable. For controls, there is a power button, an action button, and a subtle strip that you swipe your finger on to adjust volume. I have kind of mixed opinions on the controls. On one hand, with almost no touch controls on the surface of the earcups themselves, you can’t activate parts of the headphones with an accidental touch. On the other hand, remembering how many times to push the action button to advance or go back a track is a little tedious. Other headphones I have used have intuitive swiping motions and you can pause ANC by holding a hand on an earcup. These kind of options don’t exist with these, and I can’t tell which one I really prefer. Not being able to quickly switch to “aware” mode to have a conversation is not great, as the only way to switch modes is to press and hold the action button and cycle through presets. I found myself just taking them off or pulling an earcup off of an ear. The head detection feature was a mixed bag, at one point I had an earcup pulled away to listen to a flight attendant, and it kept playing. Another time I turned my head all the way to the right and it stopped playing. Controls aside, what really matters is how these sound. And they sound really great. With all default EQs, they have a great balance of bass and treble, with very detailed and bright sounds, which is a Bose signature. They also feature “Immersive Audio”, which is Bose’s entry into the spatial audio world. I ran the quick calibration and gave it some tests, and there is a difference between unenhanced audio and Immersive. Immersive puts the sound stage forward, so instead of it sounding like a voice is coming from a space between your ears, it feels more naturally placed in front of you. I found it pretty convincing and effective, although on an iPhone, Apple’s native spatial audio features with AirPod Pros or Pro Max are better. Which is another point here – some of the Bluetooth features of these headphones really work best with Qualcomm Bluetooth chipsets found in some Android phones, but iPhones will only get standard Bluetooth support. It’s unfortunate that proprietary features and standards exist on both platforms. Platform differences aside, the headphones do support dual active connections and will switch automatically between connected sources depending on which one is playing. Using the app, you can also manage connections, presets, and set a custom EQ. ANC performance is good, with most ambient sounds getting washed away, especially with content playing. As an over the ear headphone, the isolation is much better than most earbuds can provide, and they don’t sit in your ears. Battery life is also superior to earbuds, with 18 hours of immersive audio or up to 24 hours of unenhanced audio. These headphones also have something that is getting more and more rare, an analog input. This is great for listening to all kinds of audio sources. The mics do a good job in calls and there is some amount of side tone (adjustable in the app), allowing you to hear your own voice so you can talk with a natural volume and not feel like you need to shout to be heard. Overall, Bose has made an excellent set of headphones in the Quiet Comfort Ultra. The build quality is top notch and they are extremely comfortable. Sound quality is excellent and the immersive audio isn’t just a gimmick, it does make sounds feel more naturally placed in a space in front of you. If you want a high end set of headphones from one of the legendary brands in consumer audio, these should be on your list.

Produces good quality sound, but the fitting for me was not there. It hurts around my ears, so I had to return it. The product could be comfortable for someone else's ears but not for me

Bose has another great pair of headphones with the Quiet Comfort Ultra headphones. What you get in the box are the headphones, headphone case, USB-C charge cable, and a 3.5mm headphone cable. Connecting the headphones via Bluetooth is simple as was getting them connected to the Bose Music app. The app gives you access to all of the features and settings. You have options for modes, source, immersive audio, an EQ, and settings. I did notice that the app wasn't quite accurate with the battery life remaining, but not that big of a problem. Regarding comfort, the headphones have a plush feeling headband and ear pieces. For all the time that I've used them, I didn't experience any discomfort. Not with the headband or the ear pieces. The ear pieces are recessed enough that my ears don't touch the inside of them. I found using them for hours at a time was a pleasant experience. The Quiet Comfort Ultra features noise canceling. These are one of the best noise canceling pair of headphones I've ever used. I used these in 15mph wind and also while walking down a sidewalk next to a 4 lane road. On the day of high wind, I didn't hear the leaves/trees blowing around, but I did hear wind when it hit the headphones when turned a certain way in the wind. A slight turn of my head and I couldn't hear the wind at all. I'm guessing that it just happened to hit the mic just right to cause that. Other than that, I wasn't able to hear the wind or trees blowing in the wind. When next to the road while walking down the sidewalk, I was able to hear cars a little, but I was hearing them at a very low. Just enough to know that a car was passing by, but that was all. The noise canceling can't be understated with these as Bose has done an excellent job with this. The Immersive Audio feature is a nice touch. In the app, you can set it to have the audio normal to where no matter how you turn your head, the left and right channels don't change. You also have the option to set it to have the audio seem to be from the direction in which you start out. For instance, without headphones, you hear sound from the direction of the source regardless of how you move around in relation to it, you still hear it coming from the direction of the source. With this new feature option, you will experience that with the headphones on. So if you turn it on and then begin to turn your head or move around, it adjusts the sound in the ear pieces so that you have an experience like you would have without headphones. If you turn your head to the left, it adjusts the output of audio channels to have the left channel seem to move more to the right channel. I like having this feature as an option. I didn't run into any problems when using that. As far as controls go, they are easy access and are placed well. Two buttons, so it is straightforward to use them. I didn't have any issues finding the right button when I needed to. The only problem that I've experienced with them is that when I was cleaning while listening to an audio book and I bent over to pick up something, the playback paused. When I moved back upright, it unpaused. This happened many times while cleaning. I did have on-head detection set to on. At first I thought this was due to the headphones shifting and the sensor detecting that, but that was not the case. The headphones weren't shifting when that happened. I think Bose can address that with a firmware update (I was running the latest firmware version at the time). The Bose Quiet Comfort Ultra wireless noise canceling headphones are a great addition to the Bose line. They are well made and they have plenty of features. Couple the headphones with the app and you have a good amount of control over the features and sound. The clarity and richness of the audio reproduced by these is a pleasure to hear. I would recommend considering adding the Quiet Comfort Ultra headphones to your list if you are looking for a new pair. Bose has done an great job with these and I would recommend them to anyone.

The cable for connecting to the plane is broken and I found out after 14 days warranty. This is extremely disappointing for Bose product that costs almost 500 dollar

Was good for a week and the right side decided to stop working total garbage

As someone who has always preferred black headphones this is the first time I have ever preferred the white headphones version over the black. In my personal opinion, the QuietComfort Ultra (referred to as QC Ultra going forward) in the white smoke looks very attractive. It goes nicely with virtually anything I wear without looking too loud or obnoxious. I think the silver aluminum contrasts really well with the white smoke color of the headphones. It’s a small detail but it gives it pop compared to the previous generations of Bose headphones with their uniform color. I have never been able to get over how great they look. As the name suggests, and it has been a long time staple of Bose going back decades, the QC Ultra is very comfortable. Even if they may not as comfortable as some of Bose’s other headphones, they still are when compared to its competition of a different brand. I have worn the QC Ultra to sleep and besides the need to sleep on my back (I’m more comfortable as a side sleeper) I didn’t experience any discomfort from the headphones whatsoever. I have worn them all day, even while out and about, and never felt enough discomfort to take them off. The Aware mode of the QC Ultra helps make this possible since it is easily the best hear through mode I’ve ever heard, with the headphones or earbuds I’ve tried. It almost sounds like I’m not wearing anything. Almost. You can still clearly tell as the surrounding environment’s volume does sound a tad lower than reality. But the huge selling point with Bose’s hear through mode is the clarity and the fact that my own voice does not sound digitally processed when I speak in Aware mode, unlike with another popular brand of ANC headphones I use. Calls on the QC Ultra sounded comfortable since I wasn’t annoyed with my own voice when I spoke. I didn’t sound muffled. The caller on the receiving end had no issues with my voice either. It was seamless and unproblematic. As far as ANC goes, it’s one of the best I’ve tried but other brands have caught up so it’s not THE best, but it’s in the top tier. Comparing the ANC between the top tier headphones would be nitpicking at this point as none of them hold a clear true advantage over the other. In most real world cases, they’re all roughly the same in effectiveness. When heard really closely QC Ultra does allow some low frequency sounds through. For example, with no music playing, I could hear a bus pull up to the curb even with the ANC on in Quiet mode with its rumbling engine. However, the ANC does cover high frequency sounds better than another leading brand of ANC headphones. Unfortunately, you cannot turn ANC off to preserve battery life. The sound quality of the QC Ultras are great, especially if you’re a fan of Bose’s signature sound. It’s around the neutral-bright area, with less emphasis on bass. However, if you’re a Bose fan that always found its lack of bass an issue, you’re in luck. The QC Ultra has the most responsive and engaging bass I’ve personally ever heard out of Bose headphones. With that said, the QC Ultra’s bass still doesn’t compare to under brands I’ve tried, even when I maxed out the bass on the EQ of the Bose app. The QC Ultra can thump, but you won’t be able to achieve an exaggerated thump if you wanted it. It’s probably not the best for strictly hip hop listeners or want that energetic thump engaging sound from your music. However, the sound quality only goes as far as the codec’s capabilities. And for most people it will be AAC which is a standard resolution 16 bit codec. Curiously, the standard AptX codec doesn’t exist on the QC Ultra. Instead, it has the premium versions, AptX Adaptive for high resolution 24-bit audio, and AptX Adaptive Low Latency for audio with low latency that virtually eliminates audio delay with video. The problem is, these premium codecs are not available in most devices. Supported devices are listed on Qualcomm’s website. No Apple, Samsung, or Google device support these premium codecs. PCs, Macs, TVs, PS5, Xbox Series X or S, and Switch all do not support them natively. For most people, you will need a USB-C adapter, which is not only an additional cost on top of an already expensive QC Ultra, but you’ll need to live with connecting a dongle to the device you want to use the QC Ultra with. This makes it virtually impractical for phone use, which you would almost certainly need to use without a phone case installed as well. So it’s unfortunate that it doesn’t have LDAC codec support, which Android phones now natively support for years, since Android 8. With my lossless FLAC audio, the degraded sound quality is obvious on the QC Ultra. When paired with a Creative BT-W5 adapter to leverage the QC Ultra’s AptX Adaptive it sounds virtually identical to what I hear with my headphones capable of LDAC. The low latency of AptX Adaptive LL also delivers on the QC Ultra. I was able to play a music rhythm game while wearing the headphones and didn’t experience any lag issues. Normally the game is unplayable with wireless headphones since it requires precise timing. Not the case with the QC Ultra on AptX Adaptive LL. Immersive Audio. Unfortunately, I am sad to say that I found this feature to be a total (and absurdly expensive) gimmick. Make no mistake, you will NOT get realistic sound with this feature. I would describe them as a glorified adaptive EQ with head tracking. I’ve read other reviews talking about Immersive Audio uses spatial cues. They’re making stuff up to hype up something they apparently like. And like all gimmicks, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s bad. Just not real or factual to claims that you’ll hear or read. What quickly exposes Immersive Audio is video, which is why Bose exclusively uses music to highlight its Immersive Audio feature. It even prepared a demo on its app despite the fact that it’s supposed to work with all audio. When you listen to any video with close-up speech or whispering with Immersive Audio on, it sounds ridiculous as it has no sense of spacing. It sounds far away and echo-y when it’s supposed to be immediately in front or behind you. It’s just as bad with gaming. In Shadow of the Tomb Raider there is a jukebox playing. Without Immersive Audio, you can hear the jukebox isolated to one location like it’s supposed to be. With Immersive Audio, the jukebox sounds like it’s hooked up to surround sound, which is absurd, especially within context of the game’s location and story. That’s exactly what Immersive Audio does. It will successfully widen your audio’s soundstage. The problem is, it will do regardless of whether it needs to. It’s like a better version of a virtual EQ setting. It applies that virtual spacing to everything you hear. And unlike Bose’s claim, it makes a lot of audio sound unrealistic. With less complicated audio productions, like orchestral music, Immersive Audio can sound very pleasing to the ear. But with some pop music, like Dua Lipa’s Don’t Start Now, or One Kiss, where the sound was already engineered in stereo for with special effects to make it sound spatially dynamic, Bose’s Immersive Audio, with its algorithm or whatever it uses to modify the sound to create a spaced out sound, makes a complete mess of the original work. A lot of the clear engaging effects are softened for the “wideness” effect. On top of this, Immersive Audio uses drains the QC Ultra battery life faster than if you didn’t use it. Battery life remains disappointing compared to its competitors even with Immersive Audio disabled. It last me about 23 hours with my usage. Charge time is noted to take 3 hours, but with a 45W Samsung fast charger, I was able to cut that time to 2 hours and 20 minutes. Still, unlike its competitors it doesn’t have a quick charge for quick listening. When I charge the QC Ultra for 3 minutes from 0% battery, it still leaves me with battery life of 5% and warns me of low battery. The QC Ultra is that it uses a 2.5mm jack on the earcup. Given how few devices use 2.5mm, it will feel like a proprietary cable even though it isn’t. You’ll be hard pressed to find any use for the 2.5mm to 3.5mm for anything other than the QC Ultra in wired mode. The controls are physical buttons that are loud and clicky. I’m not a fan, as they feel cheap. The volume is controlled using a touch-sensitive strip on the right earcup. It will take a while for your muscle memory to adjust but you’ll probably get the hang of finding it like I did. The assistant button is activated by holding the volume touch strip. Unfortunately, unlike Bose’s QC 35ii, there is no native assistant on the headphones. It uses the phone’s assistant, which sounds like no big deal at first, until you realize how intrusive this can be. Every time you activate the assistant it’s just as you would on the phone itself. This means having the Google Assistant app minimize the app you’re using to be in focus. You will need to manually switch back to your app each time you activate Google assistant from the QC Ultra. This isn’t true when the assistant is built-in like on the QC 35ii, where the Google Assistant app does not show up on the phone at all when the assistant button is used. The Bose app is basic without any real features that you can’t already do on the headphones themselves. You’re basically using it for the EQ. The EQ is then saved on the headphones themselves. As nice as the QC Ultra sound, and as comfortable as they are, other companies have caught up (including nearly matching the comfort of Bose) and offer more useful features for less the price of the QC Ultra, especially since competing brands have had their headphones out for a while, and the QC Ultras have just released.

I was not impressed. Very poor sound quality. I returned the headphones within a few days of purchasing. My old Boise headphones sounded better.

Returned, wouldn't stay on my head during my workouts.

Bose always does an amazing job and these are no exception. Style wise these things look great. They are also sleek and compact for how well they work. Thy fit nicely in a small case which is perfect for traveling. They are extremely comfortable, just as the name suggests. These fit well over my ear rather than on my ear so that even after a long time wearing them, they still feel nice and don’t hurt my ears at all. They are also very light so they don’t feel like they’re weighing down your head, and the size adjustment in the headband gets large enough for even my head (which has been a problem with other headsets) and doesn’t feel like it catches your hear or pinch at all. The noise cancellation works really well, and I think the over the ear function helps a lot with this vs. ear buds or on the ear models. I mowed my lawn for the last time of the year and I was able to keep the volume at a fairly low and reasonable level so that even when the mower was turned off, I didn’t feel like anything was overpowering. The realistic sounds also threw me off. When I was mowing, a new song started playing with some stomping noises and I didn’t recognize the song and thought someone was walking up behind me. Connecting to my phone was a breeze and I liked messing with the demo mode for the app. I can take calls without an issue on the headphones, but I don’t know if there was anything special about the call quality since that is more about what your phone wants to do. I also like that I can wear them without playing any music and they actually do a really good job of helping to tune out ambient noise around me to make it easier to work or focus. It also comes with both a USB-A to USB-C charger (the headphones themselves use usb-c, so you could use an alternative cable if you have it), as well as a 3.5mm headphone jack, which honestly most of my devices don't use anymore but I might get some mileage out of on an airplane. Finally, it can connect to two devices at once. This is nice when I'm working and can play music on my laptop but still get a call from my phone. I found out how necessary this was when the sound cancellation worked so well that I missed a call that I didn't hear. Overall, the best headphones I’ve ever owned.

DEAD in 8 months. Charger port melted out of headphones!

Terrible!!!! Unbearable popping noise. Will return

I recently bought these headphones for a replacement of my old JBL ones. I was a bit on the fence because of the price however I absolutely love them. The noice cancelling features surpasses my old ones and they do not fall off my head like my old ones. They feel comfortable on my small head and are adjustable.

I Do not recommend these at all. Way too overrated and overpriced. Too quiet for all songs i tried.

Did not like the earphones. Not compatible with TV

Bluetooth won’t connect had them for one month biggest waste of money

This is a new brand headphone that I just bought it, but the buttons don't work properly!

Not worth the extra money. The Q-35 functions just as good with more intuitive controls. The ultra has a long lag between turning on and connecting to devices. Same thing when turning off. It’s difficult to tell if they are on or off leading to a dead battery. It also requires one to download Bose app for additional controls. The headset buttons require some deciphering, such as the volume control—it’s not an actual button(s)—but rather a slide you gotta feel around to ensure the volume doesn’t explode in your ears. I use them on airplanes and the noise canceling struggles against the roar of engines, something the 35’s handle quite easily. On the plus side, they are comfortable. The sound quality is what you can expect from Bose. Overall, nice, but not worth the price premium (they charge extra for the black too).

I want to give this product five stars but I just can't. First of all the sound quality is excellent but should be expected from Bose. I just recently purchased these and I'm finding some quirks like the creaking in the headphones that's a little annoying. I primarily bought these for the gym and to be honest they could fit a little bit more snug. I've done some research and it seems that the creaking is a problem and there is remedies such as lubricant. Also I heard that the creaking goes away over time. But still annoying for $400. I'm going to try the silicone lubricant and see if that helps I really do like the sound quality so I'm going to deal with this and keep them. I just wish that when they engineer expensive headphones like this they would remedy these issues before they put the product to sale. You can do a little bit better BOSE!!!

the price tag held me back at first. but eventually after reading so many positive reviews, i pulled the trigger. i absolutely love these headphones. amazing sound! perfect for air travel.