The Bose Quietcomfort Ultra Headphones Gen 2 aren’t flawless – but are still my new top pick for travel

Introduction

How do you go about improving one of the world’s best pairs of noise-cancelling headphones? If you’re Bose, you give your fans exactly what they’ve been asking for. The Quietcomfort Ultra Headphones Gen 2 add in a bunch of new features, boost battery life, and aim to make the firm’s already excellent ANC even more nuanced.

There’s plenty of the original Quietcomfort Ultra Headphones‘ DNA here too, though – including materials choices that don’t entirely align with the $450/£450 asking price. Are the changes enough to keep Bose in the fight against the likes of Sony’s WH-1000XM6 and the Bowers & Wilkins PX8 – or has some subtlety been lost between generations?

Design & build: plain and simple

Initially I thought these new Quietcomfort Ultra Headphones were just as appealing as the first-gen pair – if lacking the luxury hints you’ll see from Bowers & Wilkins cans costing similar cash. The styling is restrained and the branding doesn’t go overboard either.

The main giveaway you’re looking at the second generation are the polished metal yokes around the ear cups – though the older matte finish didn’t show off fingerprints quite so obviously. My White Smoke review unit also seemed to scuff with little effort, even if the soft touch plastic ear cups cleaned up just as easily. I’ve not seen the Black (or limited-run Driftwood Sand or Midnight Violet shades) in person to see if they hold up any better.

Naturally they still fold up for easy travel, and there’s plenty of articulation to get a comfy fit – but the hinges all feel quite loose, and rattle about when worn around your neck. The plastic build sounds cheap when the ear cups clack together, too. It’s a little underwhelming for a pair of headphones as pricey as these.

I can’t fault the comfort, though. The ear cushions are plush, as is the headband, with plenty of memory foam under faux leather. Using plastic has kept weight in check, and the clamping force is very well judged. I happily wore my pair for over 24 hours of travel with no complaints.

The compact hard shell carry case also feels pretty slick, with a leather-like outer skin and soft fabric lining that keeps the headphones safe when stowed.

Features & battery life: turn me on

Apple AirPods users have taken automatic startup for granted for years at this point, but it’s still a relatively novel concept for everyone else. Once I’d paired the Quietcomfort Ultra Headphones Gen 2 to my smartphone, they would spring to life every time I popped them on, without needing to scrabble for the power button. They go into low-power standby when you’re done listening, too, and in my experience the battery life hit seems negligible.

Wear detection is also far more convincing this time around, not being thrown by a loose fit or vigorous movement. I got through a gym session without a single accidental pause.

The other major addition between Ultra Headphones generations is lossless wired listening over USB-C. 16-bit/48kHz support has landed just in time for Spotify’s long-awaited lossless update, and worked as expected in my testing – although audiophiles will grumble that 24-bit remains out of reach. Still, that’s on top of 3.5mm listening to analogue sources, and finally puts Bose on level pegging with major rivals like Sony and B&W.

Just keep in mind the ear cup socket still swallows a skinny 2.5mm connector, which isn’t as common as the 3.5mm ports seen elsewhere. If you lose the bundled cable – or forget to bring it with you on a plane journey, say – you’re out of luck. aptX Adaptive is as good as it gets on the Bluetooth end. There’s none of the futureproofing you get with the JBL Tour One M3, which adds LE Audio and Auracast into the mix.

Battery life has taken a real step up from the first-gen Ultra headphones, now topping out at a true 30 hours with ANC enabled. This is six hours more than before, and enough for me to get through a multi-leg international trip yet still have some in reserve. Being able to fully disable ANC in a pinch can be handy when you’re truly running low on juice, too.

Being able to charge while listening was a real win for my return journey; the outgoing pair would cut out all audio when connected to mains power, but here you’re able to keep going, whether over Bluetooth or 3.5mm.

Interface: in the mode

The Bose Music companion app hasn’t really changed at all between Ultra Headphones generations, but given how easy it is to get around I don’t think that’s a cause for complaint. You’re still getting a three-band equalizer, quick shortcuts to headline features like noise cancelling modes and Immersive Audio, and a quick way to toggle between your Multipoint connected devices.

You can also adjust the small scattering of physical buttons on the headphones themselves, including the capacitive slider on the right ear cup. By default it just controls volume, but I like being able to assign it another function – like waking my phone’s voice assistant or reading out the current battery life – with a long-press.

Bose was one of the first firms that made spatial sound work well, and that’s still the case here. Immersive Audio does a convincing job of enveloping your head with sound, expanding the soundstage and tracking your movements to make it feel like you’re sitting in front of a set of speakers. It’s still a bit of a marmite feature, though, especially for music. Being able to toggle it on (and off) quickly using the multi-function button is much appreciated.

I already preferred the version without head tracking for video content, and now there’s a new Cinema mode which magnifies background effects to great effect.

Sound quality and noise cancelling: sings to its strengths

While Bose hasn’t swapped out its 40mm dynamic drivers between generations, it has given the Quietcomfort Ultra Headphones a re-tune for its second generation. It’s a subtle tweak, aimed at delivering deeper bass – particularly as you crank up the volume – without sapping anything from the rest of the frequency range.

The move was a successful one, based on my listening. The drums and gritty synth stabs on Caracal Project’s Journée de ouf. really give the low end a workout, without straying into distorted territory. It doesn’t dominate the mix, either, even now it has a little more impact than before. More vocal tracks are given plenty of room to breathe, with clean and controlled mid-range.

These are still clear, confident-sounding cans, without the extreme high-end bite that divided opinion on the firm’s older efforts. While Bowers & Wilkins remains my top choice for sheer musicality, Bose isn’t as far behind as it was in previous years. Immersive Audio then extends the soundstage in every direction – and it’s not like things feel at all enclosed or restrictive with it switched off.

Noise cancelling should be a slam-dunk, given the first-gen Ultra Headphones’ ability to mute the outside world. For the most part, it is, effortlessly dispatching wind noise and all but eliminating the low-frequency rumbles of plane engines and railway tracks. I struggled to detect the background hiss at all unless I paused my playlist, so while you can turn the ANC off if you want to, the only reason to do so would be to maximise battery life. It doesn’t colour the music to any noticeable degree.

I also like how well it copes with sudden spikes of loud noise, particularly in the Aware transparency mode. It’s a lot less jarring. However, I did think some higher frequencies – like the rustling of crisp packets – seemed more noticeable than I remember them being on the first-gen Ultra Headphones. It’s not enough to spoil the experience, but I do wonder if improving one part of the algorithm has had a negative impact on another. Maybe it’s something Bose can even out with a software update.

Bose Quietcomfort Ultra Headphones Gen 2 verdict

The original QuietComfort Ultra Headphones set the pace on cancellation and brought Bose to new heights on sound. This second-gen version is even more sonically accomplished, and manages to improve battery life in the process. Additions like automatic power on and lossless wired listening put them on a more level playing field with close rivals like Sony and Bowers & Wilkins.

Noise cancelling is still great, and has definitely improved in a few areas – but the old pair arguably silenced certain frequencies just a little bit better. It’s subtle, but something frequent fliers should think about until stock of the first-gen model completely dries up.

Bose Quietcomfort Ultra Headphones Gen 2 technical specifications

Drivers	40mm dynamic
ANC	Yes, adaptive
Bluetooth version	Bluetooth 5.4
Codecs supported	SBC, aptX Adaptive
Durability	Not stated
Battery life	30 hours (ANC on)
Dimensions	195x139x50.8mm, 250g