Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Review for the Philippines: Pros and Cons After Testing

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds deliver the rich, high-quality sound the brand is known for. The bass has strong depth and punch, clearly supporting the track without overwhelming other frequencies. Compared with some models that lack low-end impact, these earbuds offer a more powerful and satisfying bass presence.

The mids are equally well-presented. Vocals sound expressive, with subtle details like breathing and tonal shifts coming through clearly. While there are moments when the edges feel slightly soft, the sound never becomes muffled and remains well-balanced overall.

Highs are crisp and lively, adding energy to the listening experience. Instruments like guitars, percussion, and hi-hats come through cleanly without sounding sharp or strained. The overall sound feels open and spacious, making it enjoyable across a range of music genres.

Based on frequency-response measurements with a dummy-head microphone, the sound leans toward the low end, making it especially suited for vocal tracks and live recordings. Compared with some models that sounded slightly muddy overall, these earbuds stood out for their combination of depth and clarity. True to Bose’s signature style, the bass is emphasized, but the other frequency ranges still have solid presence.

Stereo imaging and sound positioning are well-balanced, allowing audio to spread naturally without feeling forced. The soundstage feels wide, creating an immersive effect that surrounds you. Subtle sound movements are easy to pick up, making them a great choice for live performances and even movie streaming.

They’re also well-suited for energetic genres like rock, dance music, EDM, and hip-hop. If you care about sound quality or are already a fan of Bose’s tuning, these earbuds are likely to impress.

These earbuds offer strong customization options, making it easy to adjust the sound to match your preferences. They feature Bose’s CustomTune technology, a personalization function that many other models do not support. This system plays a calibration tone and measures how your ears and fit affect the sound, then automatically adjusts audio delivery to provide a more personalized listening experience.

A customizable EQ is also available, letting you adjust bass, mids, and treble to your liking. You can choose from several built-in EQ presets, such as Bass Boost, Bass Reducer, Treble Boost, and Treble Reducer, or create your own custom profile. The earbuds support the aptX Adaptive codec, which can deliver higher-quality audio depending on your playback device and connection conditions.​

They also support spatial audio and include Bose’s proprietary Immersive Audio feature, which creates a more spacious, three-dimensional soundstage around you. When we turned Immersive mode on during testing, the sound expanded noticeably, creating a stronger sense of depth and realism.

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds are simple to operate without taking out your phone. Touch controls let you play or pause music with a tap and adjust volume with a swipe. The gestures are easy to learn and feel intuitive in daily use.

They support both Quiet Mode (noise canceling) and Aware Mode (ambient sound), which you can switch through the app. Use Quiet Mode to block out noise, or Aware Mode when you need to hear announcements or your surroundings. The flexibility makes them practical for commuting and everyday situations.

They’re also designed for everyday convenience. The earbuds sit slightly raised inside the case, making them easy to grab. With Google Fast Pair, simply turning them on brings up a pairing prompt on your smartphone for quick, one-tap connection.

Multipoint connectivity, added via a July 2024 update, allows connection to two devices at the same time. You can switch from a phone call on your smartphone back to music on your PC without having to manually reconnect. Wear detection automatically pauses playback when you remove an earbud.

They also support Snapdragon Sound with low-latency mode, helping reduce audio delay for gaming and video streaming. While they don’t include a “Find My Earbuds” feature, hearing assistance tools, or automatic conversation-based volume control, overall usability remains strong and practical for daily use.

Noise-canceling performance is one of the biggest strengths of the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds. In our tests using a dummy head microphone, they consistently reduced surrounding noise by about 20 to 28dB, depending on the sound type.

Here’s a breakdown of how much noise was reduced:

1. Train low-frequency noise (50–1kHz): 26.30dB (overall average: 18.36dB)

2. Train high-frequency noise (1k–4kHz): 28.50dB (overall average: 27.44dB)

3. Clapping: 23.10dB (overall average: 19.47dB)

4. Crowd chatter: 23.40dB (overall average: 21.34dB)

5. Bicycle bell: 28.70dB (overall average: 27.48dB)

6. Siren mid tones (500–1kHz): 18.10dB (overall average: 15.39dB)

7. Siren high tones (2k–4kHz): 15.30dB (overall average: 15.57dB)

8. Train announcements: 21.30dB (overall average: 18.97dB)

Unlike some competing models that struggled with low-frequency train noise, these earbuds effectively reduced it. This makes them especially suitable for commuting, where consistent rumbling noise can be distracting. They also handled crowd chatter and street sounds well, making them a strong option for use in busy areas or workplaces.

Fast, sharp sounds like clapping were also reduced effectively, suggesting they can handle sudden noises, such as dropped objects nearby. At the same time, siren sounds were not overly suppressed, remaining within the 15–18dB range. This balance means you can keep noise canceling on while still being aware of important alerts, making them practical for walking or running outdoors.

The microphone performs well and is suitable for phone calls and online meetings. In our tests using a dummy head microphone, we played both male and female voices through a speaker positioned near the mouth and analyzed the audio captured by the earbuds. In both cases, voices sounded full and stable, with natural boosting that made speech clearer to the listener.

Even when train noise was played in the background during calls, voice clarity remained intact. While some competing models only reduced train noise by around 5 to 10dB, these earbuds reduced it by 21.50dB. Both male and female voices stayed clearly emphasized and easy to understand.

Whether you’re taking calls in a café, on the street, or during your commute, your voice is likely to come through clearly on the other end.

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds feature an IPX4 water-resistance rating, helping protect against sweat and light rain. This means the risk of damage from everyday moisture exposure is low.

While more than half of the competing models we tested offered IPX5 or higher ratings, making them slightly more water-resistant, IPX4 is still sufficient for daily use. For commuting, workouts, or light outdoor activity, you won’t need to worry too much about occasional splashes or sweat.

As some user reviews have noted, battery life isn’t the strongest feature of the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds. The earbuds offer up to 6 hours of continuous playback on their own, which may not be ideal if you prefer wearing them throughout an entire workday. Even with the charging case, total battery life reaches up to 24 hours. Compared with some competing models that offer up to around 40 hours with the case, this is on the shorter side.

That said, for shorter use such as daily commuting or school runs, frequent charging won’t be necessary. The official charging time is up to 2 hours for the earbuds and up to 3 hours for the charging case. They also support fast charging, giving you approximately 2 hours of playback with just 20 minutes of charging. If you forget to charge them, you can quickly top them up and get back to listening.