Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones (2nd gen) review: Boring, but reliable

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For the past two years, recommending the most comfortable pair of noise-cancelling headphones has been an easy task: I pointed people right to the Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones.

Though not an absolutely perfect pair of over-ear headphones, they did feel well on their way to that title, with excellent ANC, all-day wear, and a sound profile that could tackle most genres with ease. My wishlist for them? Even better (and more customizable) sound, improved battery life, more reliable connection and on-ear controls, and the option for passive playback.

With the second-generation Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones, which officially hit the market in October 2025, Bose has checked the box in two of those categories.

Bose QuietComfort Ultra (2nd Gen) specs and pricing

The Bose QC Ultra 2 headphones, in driftwood sand.
Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra (2nd Gen) headphones will cost you $449, putting them at the same price as the first-gen QC Ultras prior to the release of the second-gen headphones. The first-gen headphones did initially cost $429, but earlier this year, Bose raised prices across its lineup, bringing them to the $449 we’ve seen for much of this year. Here’s what you’ll get at that price point:

• 30 hours of battery life (23 hours with Immersive Audio, 45 with ANC off)

• Aware, Quiet, and Immersive listening modes

• New immersive audio Cinema Mode

• Adjustable ANC levels via app

• Adjustable three-band equalizer in app

• Wired lossless playback with USB-C

• Passive playback support with wired auxiliary cable

• SBC, AAC, and aptX Adaptive codec support

• Bluetooth 5.4

• Google Fast Pair and Spotify Tap

• Removable ear cups

• 10 microphones for ANC and calls

• Lay flat for low power mode

• 0.583 pounds

• Five available colorways: Black, desert gold, driftwood sand, midnight violet, white

This spec lineup is on par with other premium options, as is the headphones’ pricing. The Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones, released earlier this year, are available for $449.99, and the JBL Tour M3, which hit shelves shortly before the Sonys, are $449.95. Of course, there are also more expensive options, like Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 at $479 (and another 2025 release), while the ever-popular Apple AirPods Max are still $549 at full price.

The comfort is still the star of the show

I wore these headphones for a couple hours, for entire workdays, for walks around the block, with my glasses, with earrings on — there was simply not a scenario where the fit didn’t feel excellent.

The QC Ultras once again live up to their name.
Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable

Granted, that wasn’t much of a surprise. The first-generation QC Ultra headphones were deemed the most comfortable headphones by three separate Mashable staffers. Considering how personal a pair of headphones’ fit can be, I consider that a pretty impressive endorsement.

Between the first gen and these headphones, I don’t notice a massive difference in fit, but the ear cushion feels slightly firmer, while still remaining plush. I don’t know how Bose managed that contradiction, but it offered the same amount of comfort while feeling more future-proof, but of course, only time will tell.

Speaking of future-proofing, much like the previous gen, the Bose ear cushions are also removable, meaning you can replace them as they start to lose any plushness or start to peel after years of use.

As for the rest of the design, it’s largely the same as the first-generation headphones, with a power/Bluetooth button, multifunction button, and volume bar. The controls are nothing really to write home about, but they get the job done. On a pure aesthetic note, the shiny metal accent is a strong design choice (in my humble opinion) that helps these headphones stand out even more from their cheaper counterparts in Bose’s lineup.

The best noise cancellation from Bose, but…

Bose tends to be at the top of the pack when it comes to active noise cancellation, and while these headphones are no exception, it’s hard to say that they’re definitively offering some of the best noise cancellation available right now.

It certainly doesn’t help that the competition is stiff these days — Mashable Tech Editor Timothy Beck Werth said the ANC on Sony’s WH-1000XM6 headphones is “as good as or better than any I’ve ever heard.”

Having tested the XM6s myself, I can agree with that assessment, and while I think their ANC ekes out a small win over Bose is providing just a little more silence (and handling higher-pitched sounds better), Bose has a notable one-up in the form of its adjustable ANC. With the companion app, you can change your ANC level on a sliding scale, a feature that’s completely absent from Sony headphones.

Adjustable ANC on headphones isn’t a given.
Credit: Bose / Screenshot

It works well. During days when I wanted to focus while working but was home alone, I used a lower ANC level to balance locking in with not feeling totally unaware of my surroundings. However, on days when a leaf blower or the sound of some vacuuming fought to break my focus, the highest levels of noise cancelling did the trick, though higher-pitched sounds, like the family dog barking, would break through. Even though that’s to be expected, I do think the Sony XM^ headphones were more adept at handling sudden spikes in noise.

The sound is great, but could be even better

Generally, I’m happy with the way Bose headphones sound, and the second-gen QC Ultras are no exception. However, whereas these headphones are neck and neck with Sony in terms of having the best noise cancellation, the Sony XM6s are a full step ahead of the Bose headphones when it comes to sound quality.

That’s not to say these headphones don’t sound really, really good. They pick up details well across the spectrum of lows to highs, with different genres sounding rich. Whether I was listening to Chappell Roan’s classic-rock sounding “The Subway,” Tomorrow x Together’s synth and bass-heavy “Danger,” or the sweeping orchestral and rock arrangements of the Demon Slayer soundtrack (I’m still in my Infinity Castle era), these headphones never sounded muddied.

The Bose equalizer is limited compared to other brands.
Credit: Bose / Screenshot

Still, I can’t shake the sense that they could (and should) sound even better than they do. Part of the issue feels like the rather limited three-band equalizer and four equalizer presets, which, at $449, feel like they perform below what I expect at this price point (especially in direct comparison to what Sony offers).

When taken in conjunction with the excellent wear and ANC, the sound stands out less egregiously, but on its own, this is one area where I hope to see more improvement from Bose in the future.

As for the other ways you can customize the listening experience, these headphones come with a Quiet, Immersive, and Aware mode. My most used mode by far was quiet, which was excellent. The aware, or transparency, mode had less of a noticeable hiss in the background than the first-gen headphones, but I still just prefer to take the headphones off when I need to hear someone talking (something about talking to someone with over-ear headphones on simply feels wrong to me!). Finally, although I think the spatial audio (or immersive audio, as Bose calls it) is also improved over the first gen, I can’t help but feel like it sounds too echoey, losing some of the richness of Bose’s sound profile. However, it’s worth noting that I tend not to be a huge fan of spatial audio.

Cinema mode

Bose also introduced Cinema Mode with these headphones, which is a new immersive audio setting designed to enhance your movie listening experience. I watched scenes from Jaws, Star Wars, and Interstellar, and while there was slightly more resonance, overall I found myself underwhelmed — this mode mainly felt louder above all else.

The most noticeable changes

In my several years of testing and using Bose headphones, I’ve had two major gripes: one specific to the QC Ultra line, and one a more general observation with Bose headphones as a whole.

Wired playback

Specific to the QC Ultras, the first gen of the headphones didn’t offer passive playback. While you could use the 2.5mm aux cable to play music back, you had to have the headphones turned on. While I get that most of us (myself included) don’t use wired playback on a regular basis, this just felt like a weird oversight I hadn’t really encountered on other headphones, and one that I didn’t expect to pop up on headphones that cost this much.

With the second-gen, Bose not only fixed this issue but also added playback via the USB-C cable, which can also be used to charge the headphones while they’re in use. Now, you can plug them in on a flight, even if you’re totally out of juice, either with the aux cable or to charge them up with the USB-C cable. (Note that you will need some battery life for the latter option – I had to make sure the headphones were powered on in order for them to work).

The USB-C connection lets you charge your headphones and stream audio simultaneously.
Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable

Connection and wear detection

As a brand, I find that Bose’s pairing can generally be less consistent than that of other brands. That often applies to its multipoint connection: when more than one device is connected, despite all of its headphones technically being multipoint-enabled, the audio stream can sound choppy, or in egregious cases, require reconnecting to the device in order to properly play. With Bose devices that feature wear detection, their functionality could suffer due to lag.

With these headphones, Bose addressed both of these issues head-on, and well. I didn’t experience a single instance of choppy connection (despite leaving the multipoint connection toggled on throughout the entire testing period), which on its own had me floored. Not one to be impressed by a premium brand finally meeting the bare minimum standards, I have to give Bose its flowers when it comes to the wear detection.

The low power mode lay flat mode was a surprisingly useful feature.
Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable

The headphones have two different kinds of wear detection: a standard on-head detection and a lay flat mode. The on-head detection can be toggled to automatically play and pause music or answer calls. I didn’t experience I single instance where I took the headphones off and my music didn’t pause shortly after. I was even more impressed with the lay flat mode, which automatically disconnects the headphones from Bluetooth and puts them in a low power mode when you lay them flat. Obviously, this wouldn’t be a very functional mode if the headphones didn’t easily reconnect after being laid down, but thankfully, they reliably disconnected and reconnected every time I tested this feature.

Better battery life

Though not so much a gripe of mine in the past, Bose did upgrade the battery life from 24 hours on the first-gen QC Ultras to 30 hours on the second-gen model. The extra six hours do help for anyone who hasn’t yet made plugging in their headphones a habit, and is basically the standard for premium headphones these days, so this was a welcome improvement. You can also get up to three hours of battery after 15 minutes of charging.

Are the Bose QuietComfort Ultra (2nd Gen) headphones worth it?

Though these aren’t the most exciting launch of the year, they are undeniably a well-rounded pair of headphones. I definitely wouldn’t recommend an upgrade to any existing QC Ultra headphones users, but if you’re buying into the line for the first time, the blend of comfort, noise cancellation, and sound is hard to beat, especially if you’re keen on all-day wear. However, if you’re an audiophile first and foremost, I recommend checking out other options, like the Sony WH-1000XM6.