Latest news with #QuietComfortUltraEarbuds
Hans India
12-06-2025
- Hans India
Bose unveils second-gen quietcomfort ultra earbuds
Bose is doubling down on premium audio with the launch of its second-generation QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds, set to release later this summer. While the new model keeps the sleek design of its predecessor, Bose has added major upgrades—without raising the $300 price tag. The updated earbuds come in black, white smoke, and a bold deep plum, and now include wireless charging—a long-awaited feature. Users can also turn off the capacitive tap and swipe controls to avoid accidental touches. Perhaps the most notable enhancement is the AI-powered noise suppression system, designed to deliver clearer calls by minimizing background noise. Bose also updated its ActiveSense technology, making transitions between ambient and noise-canceling modes smoother and more intelligent. In tandem with the earbuds, Bose also announced two speakers: the all-new SoundLink Plus ($269) and a second-generation SoundLink Micro ($129). Preorders for the SoundLink Plus begin June 12, while both the earbuds and Micro speaker will ship later this summer via Audiophiles and remote workers alike have reason to be excited, as Bose aims to reclaim its edge in the fiercely competitive audio space.
Stuff.tv
12-06-2025
- Stuff.tv
2nd gen Bose noise cancelling earbuds add the one feature I missed on the old ones
Commuters craving the sound of silenced have a new saviour. Bose has updated its QuietComfort Ultra wireless earbuds to a second generation, with even better ANC along with a bunch of other welcome upgrades. It's not like the firm isn't also afraid to get loud, though – it's also updating one of its most popular portable speakers, and adding an all-new model to the line-up. The QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd gen) might be a mouthful to say, but improved adaptive noise cancelling promises to more smoothly filter out sudden loud noises than the original QC Ultra in-ears. Hopefully that means no more obnoxious muscle car exhausts or subway trains ruining that album you've had on repeat. It's rocking Bose's tried-and-tested sound calibration tech, which personalises audio and noise cancelling based on your environment and the shape of your ear. The ear tips have been redesigned to stop yucky wax built-up, too. Bose has tapped AI to help the Ultra 2nd Gen's eight microphones (four for each ear) reduce background distractions at the same time as keeping your voice clear for phone calls, whether you're using both buds at once or just one. Capacitive control haters will be happy to hear you can now disable the touch buttons completely through the Bose companion app, to guarantee you don't get any accidental presses when adjusting the fit – or your hair. Wireless charging is the other new addition, saving you from hunting around for a cable when it's time to refuel. You had to pay extra for an optional case with the first-sen pair. Battery life hasn't changed between generations, so you're still looking at six hours of listening (or four with Immersive Audio switched on). The case can hold three full charges, and will give you two extra hours of listening after twenty minutes. It uses the same Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity as the first-gen Ultra Earbuds, with aptX adaptive streaming, Snapdragon Sound low-latency, and Google Fast Pair. The QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd gen are set to go on sale from June 26, and are up for pre-order right now directly from Bose. You'll be able to snag a pair in Black, White Smoke, or the limited-run Deep Plum colour. They'll set you back $299/£299. Joining them is the new SoundLink Plus, a rugged Bluetooth speaker that promises big sound from a relatively compact case. It weighs in at under 2kg, but finds room inside for a bass driver, tweeter, and four passive radiators – along with a battery good for 20 hours of play time. It can double as a portable power bank for your other tech, too. There's no danger of losing it if you get the limited edition Citrus Yellow model. Black and Blue Dusk colours are also on the way. All three have the same powder-coated steel grille and soft-touch silicone finish as the rest of the SoundLink range, and are IP67 water resistant. They also float, and have a rugged nylon wrist strap for easy lugging. Get two together and you can pair 'em in stereo, or pop it into party mode with any other SoundLink speaker. It's launching on June 26 for $250/£250. Finally, Bose has given its diddy SoundLink Micro speaker the 2nd Gen treatment. New for 2025 is a removable nylon strap to make it easier to clip the compact speaker onto your bike or bag. USB-C charging also makes the grade, and battery life has been boosted to twelve hours between top-ups. There's a single driver and dual passive radiators inside, and the whole thing is IP67 resistant. It's not due to arrive until later in the year, where it should set you back $120/£120 in black or blue dusk colours.
Engadget
12-06-2025
- Business
- Engadget
Bose's second-gen QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds have AI-enhanced adaptive ANC
On Thursday, Bose unveiled its next-gen premium wireless earbuds. The latest QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds have enhanced adaptive noise cancellation, thanks to AI. Among their other upgrades over the originals are boosted call quality and wireless charging. Since AI is the tech world's obsession, it's no surprise that Bose is jumping on that bandwagon. Here, the company uses it to improve adaptive noise cancellation. AI algorithms in the new model can smooth out sudden spikes in background noise while using aware mode. (That's the feature that lets you hear your surroundings while listening to music.) So, for example, the ANC should respond more quickly to a suddenly passing train or siren. In theory, that means fewer distractions from your music. AI is also behind improved call quality in the second-gen QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds. Bose claims that its noise suppression system improves voice pickup and overall quality. The new model supports wireless charging natively. The first-gen QC Ultra Earbuds only offered it in a roundabout way. You had to buy a $50 silicone cover for the case, which wasn't the most elegant solution. The rest of the 2025 model's upgrades are subtler. Their ear tips now include a built-in earwax filter. That should make it easier to clean them and avoid sound degradation over time. You can also turn off the earbuds' capacitive touch controls in the app. The inability to do that was a common complaint about the 2023 originals. (They'll receive an update later this year that adds the same functionality.) The second-gen Bose QC Ultra Earbuds retail for the same $299 as their predecessors. They'll be available in black, white smoke and deep plum. Later this summer, the company will start pre-orders and provide a release date. Alongside the earbuds, Bose announced two new Bluetooth speakers. The SoundLink Plus is a mid-range one, sitting between the SoundLink Flex and Max. The company's tagline for the speaker sums up the niche it wants to fill: "big enough to bring the bass but portable enough to take on the go." The SoundLink Plus has one subwoofer, a tweeter and four passive radiators. It also includes an automatic tuning system called Active EQ. Bose says it adjusts its frequency response to match an optimal sound curve. It weighs 3.29 lbs. It supports Bluetooth Core 5.4. The speaker supports up to 20 hours of playback. In a nice touch, you can use its USB-C port to charge your phone and other devices. The SoundLink Plus costs $269. If you're looking to grab one, you won't have to wait long. Pre-orders open today, ahead of a June 26 launch. It will be available in black, blue dusk and citrus yellow. (The latter won't be available to pre-order until June 18.) SoundLink Micro (second-gen) (Bose) Finally, Bose is rolling out a second-gen version of the SoundLink Micro. The speaker is still small — just slightly less so than the first model. (The second-gen Micro measures 4.06 x 4.06 x 1.54 inches.) But in exchange, you get much longer battery life. Bose says the new speaker lasts up to 12 hours, an increase from six hours in its predecessor. The SoundLink Micro also includes some modernizations. First, it now works with the Bose app. The speaker also ditches the micro-USB charging from its predecessor in favor of USB-C. Elsewhere, it adds the same Active EQ and Bluetooth Core 5.4 support in its mid-range sibling. The company claims that the speaker plays back sounds more clearly at higher frequencies. (And it does so without muddying bass.) It also has a removable nylon strap. This should be handy for attaching the speaker to bags, bikes, shower heads and the like. The Bose SoundLink Micro will be available in black and blue dusk. It costs $129. The company will provide specific launch info later this summer.
Engadget
26-05-2025
- Business
- Engadget
Skullcandy Method 360 ANC review: A cheaper version of Bose's best earbuds, with a few key sacrifices
Skullcandy isn't a name that usually comes to mind when you think of premium headphones. The Utah-based company has primarily made its name in the budget space, selling more on low prices and loud, sports-heavy marketing than the promise of excellent sound quality. With the new Method 360 ANC, the audio maker is trying to change that by latching onto another brand entirely. Skullcandy proudly boasts that its latest wireless earbuds feature 'sound by Bose,' which is to say that Bose has supplied the acoustic tuning, ear tips and overall shape of the device. In fact, the new buds look quite similar to Bose's QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds from afar. But that upscale pair retails for $299 and the Method 360 ANC only costs $130 (or as low as $100 at third-party stores of this writing). So has Skullcandy managed to capture the best of Bose at a more affordable price? Kind of. With its Bose-inspired design and rich feature set, the $130 Method 360 ANC is a fine value, though it's still a level below actual QuietComfort earbuds. $100 at Amazon Explore More Buying Options $100 at Best Buy The Method 360 ANC is indeed roughly as comfortable as the QuietComfort Ultra. Each earpiece is slightly heavier and more plastic-y — and Bose's pair was already on the bulky side — but the soft ear gels and stability fins help them fit snug without creating too much pressure. I had no issues with them coming loose over several weeks of testing. The earbuds have an IPX4 water-resistance rating — not the best, but enough to survive most people's workouts. The larger frame creates more space for the side touch panels, and all the controls do work reliably, which isn't a given in the $100 range. These earbuds also come with most of the features you'd want from a modern pair. There are active noise cancellation (ANC) and ambient sound modes. Battery life is fine at eight to 11-ish hours, depending on ANC usage. They can dependably connect to two devices simultaneously, and they work with Google's Fast Pair tech on Android devices. They support wear detection, too, and there are three different sets of ear gels and fins in the box. Any settings tweaks I've made in Skullcandy's Skull-iQ app have taken effect quickly, and in general the software is easy to navigate. The only major omissions here are the lack of wireless charging and a short one-year warranty. The Method 360 ANC is almost identical to Bose's QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds in terms of design. For this review, we mainly compared the new Skullcandy buds against the QC Ultras and Anker's Soundcore Space A40, the top pick in our budget earbuds buying guide. (Jeff Dunn for Engadget) Once you start listening to the Method 360 ANC, though, you start to see why it's priced under $150. The default sound signature is extremely V-shaped: The bass is massive, the treble is bright and everything in between is recessed. Bass lovers should appreciate this with hip-hop, dance music and many pop songs. A track like Kendrick Lamar's 'DNA' becomes particularly easy to rock to: The low-end is deep and impactful, while a giant spike around the upper midrange keeps the vocals clear throughout. In general, the Method 360 ANC is a step up from the Anker Soundcore Space A40, the longtime top pick in our guide to the best earbuds under $100. That pair is far more muffled in the treble, whereas the Skullcandy pair's crisper, more extended highs tend to make songs feel less closed-off. That said, it's very easy to see how this kind of signature could get fatiguing over time. It's consistently intense, and the recessed mids cause it to lose details in moderately intricate compositions. An indie rock track like Hop Along's 'The Knock' is a bit of a mess, as the bassline and crunchy rhythm guitar overwhelm the lead guitar riffs and rob the raspy vocals of air. With America's 'Ventura Highway,' the folksy acoustic guitar comes through clearly, but the overemphasized treble makes 'ess' sounds a touch too sharp. The QuietComfort Ultra doesn't exactly sound neutral, but it always comes off as more balanced by comparison. Skullcandy has also omitted support for higher-quality Bluetooth codecs, so it only supports the basic SBC and AAC. All of this is still better-than-average for bassheads shopping in this price range — just don't expect it to compete very far beyond that. Thankfully, you can rein in some of the default profile's excesses with a custom EQ in Skullcandy's app. The charging case is on the larger side, to put it mildly, and uses a sliding mechanism to open and close. (Jeff Dunn for Engadget) Skullcandy's ANC is perfectly respectable for $130, and it's great you can customize the intensity of the noise-canceling effect via the app. But it's not on the level of the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds or even the step-down QuietComfort Earbuds. It cuts out a fair chunk of the bassy rumble of an NYC subway train, but higher-pitched screeches and stop announcements are very much audible with music playing at moderate volumes. The 'Stay Aware' (ambient sound) mode, meanwhile, is passable but nothing more; it's one of those deals where you need to keep the volume somewhat low to ensure you can hear yourself clearly. Call quality isn't great, either: The mic does well to limit background noise, but it struggles with wind and makes your voice sound noticeably thin and processed. My testing partner said it made me sound like I was in an elevator. My biggest complaint, however, is with the ginormous tube of a case. It's comically large next to pairs like the QuietComfort Ultra or Space A40, so much so that I have to question just how spacious Skullcandy thinks most people's pockets are. There is a built-in clip that lets you hook the case to a bag or belt loop, but as a resident of New York City, I will never be comfortable sauntering around with anything of value dangling on my person. Actually snapping the earbuds back into the case is cumbersome as well: You have to slide the case open, then flip the earpieces upside down and insert them on opposite sides. I can understand wanting to make something unique, but this is an instance where boring would've been better. The Method 360 ANC's case has a built-in clip for attaching to bags or belt loops. (Jeff Dunn for Engadget) The Method 360 ANC has its problems, but most of them aren't too surprising for a relatively affordable pair of wireless earbuds (oversized case aside). Don't be fooled into thinking the Bose branding means you're getting a Bose-level product — the real-deal QuietComfort Earbuds are better if you're willing to pay more. But this is still a tier above most budget pairs we've tested. It has nearly all the features we're looking for (unlike, say, the Beats Solo Buds), it's comfortable and the sound signature will hit right if you're hungry for bass. At its normal $130, it's well worth considering for bassheads who can go one rung above the bargain bin. For $100 or less, it's a great value. Just make room for that case.
The Verge
15-05-2025
- The Verge
Sony WH-1000XM6 hands-on: back to the fold
Sony's WH-1000XM6 noise-canceling headphones have arrived three years after their popular predecessors. That's a longer gap than usual for the lineup, but don't expect any earth-shattering changes. Whereas the 1000XM4 to 1000XM5 upgrade brought a significant design overhaul, this time Sony is mostly focusing on sound, noise cancellation, and quality-of-life hardware refinements, rather than messing with the visual style. The 1000XM6 are an amalgamation of the best traits from Sony's past models and should be the best of the series. But they're also the most expensive. Sony has raised the price to $449, a $50 jump compared to the prior model and $20 more than Bose's QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds. That's a lot of money for headphones that are unabashedly plastic. Apple's AirPods Max have a design befitting of their price, even if they're overly heavy as a result. But much like Bose, Sony sticks to a different game plan by prioritizing long-term comfort for frequent flyers, commuters, and anyone who needs to dial down the outside world for a few hours. The 1000XM6 borrow most of their DNA from the 1000XM5 with one extremely welcome change: they can fold up again. Sony added a joint to each arm that lets the headphones collapse down and take up less room in their carrying case; similar joints were found on earlier models but were absent on the 1000XM5. I'm already leery about how robust these hinges will prove over several months or a year; Sony has a mixed track record there, so stay tuned. But the return of folding means the case is noticeably smaller than last time, and Sony has also completely ditched the zipper for a magnetic clasp. I've really come to love this tweak. It's possible to close the case and lock the clasp with just one hand, which you're obviously not going to pull off with a zipper. And the fabric case is designed in such a way that it remains tightly shut even at the far ends away from the clasp. Well done, Sony. There's a 'right way' to position the headphones when putting them in, which takes a beat to memorize, but it's a vastly better situation for headphones you're meant to tote everywhere. Sony has made several other smart revisions: the headband is wider and puts less pressure on the top of your noggin. Both pleather ear cups are removable (though it takes a good tug) and easy to clip back in should you need replacements. The power button is now round, so you can quickly distinguish it from the ANC button just by feel. And for the first time in the 1000X lineup — don't ask me how it took this long — you can charge the headphones and listen to them at the same time. But it's not the approach I would've preferred. Bafflingly, Sony still doesn't support audio over USB-C with these $450 headphones, so you have to use two cables in this scenario — USB-C for charging and the 3.5mm jack for your music. Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Those are the functional differences, but Sony also upgraded its silicon this time around. The 1000XM6 use the company's latest noise-cancellation chip, which produces class-leading ANC that surpasses the 1000XM5 and, according to Sony's claims, all competitors on the market today. If you were already impressed by how well the 1000XM5 dialed down the outside world, hearing that these do an even better job might push you toward upgrading. (The transparency mode on the 1000XM6 remains natural-sounding, and you can still temporarily activate it by covering the right ear cup with a hand.) Sony says its latest headphones outshine all previous 1000X models in sound quality. This can be attributed to two factors: first, the company says it consulted audio engineers at Sony's various music studios for input on tuning the headphones. And second, the 1000XM6 includes new drivers that output clearer vocals and richer details. I haven't spent enough time with them to reach a full verdict, but these still sound every bit like Sony headphones. They're dynamic, lively, and don't shy away from bass. If the default sound profile isn't your jam, Sony gives you a 10-band EQ for customizing the sound, and I'm sure owners will be comparing their favorite settings on Reddit and elsewhere. The AirPods Max still have a wider soundstage to my ears and win out on overall clarity, but I don't think Sony fans will be disappointed. Multipoint Bluetooth and Sony's signature LDAC codec remain present. This being Sony, there are always some gimmicks tossed in, and with the 1000XM6, the gimmick is spatial audio upmixing. Inside the Sound Connect app, you'll find new options for simulating a room, coffee shop, or movie theater — with each effect adjusting the 'immersion' and ambiance of stereo content with virtualized fakery. These are all terrible. I mean, bad bad. They're easily the low point of the 1000XM6 but are easy to completely ignore or try once and never again. It's starting to feel as though Sony has run out of ideas for competing with the ecosystem advantages that Apple, Google, and Samsung can offer. As for voice calls, the company says it's using AI beamforming to better isolate your speech from the surrounding environment. And Sony's also throwing more microphones at the problem: the 1000XM6 use six mics for voice pickup compared to four last time. (There are 12 in total, with the others dedicated to noise cancellation.) I'm sure you'll soon be able to find all sorts of mic tests around YouTube to gauge any improvements for yourself. Battery life is one area that's completely unchanged from the 1000XM5. You'll still get up to 30 hours with ANC on or 40 with it off. Sony's 1000XM6 headphones don't come with another head-turning visual makeover, but they wisely bring back a folding design while improving comfort, noise cancellation, sound fidelity, and small touches like the physical controls. Their higher-than-ever price might push Sony loyalists to explore what else is out there, and 1000XM5 owners shouldn't feel any rush to spend the $450. But if your older Sony earbuds are on their last legs, these could be worth saving up for.
