Reviews
4.2
3,340 reviews
Great "in-earbuds" that aren't in-ear 🤔
omghax· Review provided by bose.com · April 12, 2024
I really prefer in-earbuds to headphones, but even after I got some foam tips for better comfort - my ears still get "swamp ear" and get irritated after long use. I finally decided to see if there was a better solution and stumbled upon these Bose Ultra Open Earbuds, which seemed like they could be the answer.

After about a week or so of using them, I have been pleasantly surprised at how well they perform. They are by far the weirdest pair of earbuds I have ever owned, and I was considering buying the Sony LinkBuds but I was really hoping for something different like bone conduction rather than in the ear (which seem to be my main problem).

I also was hoping that I'd be able to wear them for longer than my in-ear pair, which definitely is the case. Comparatively I'd have to take my in-ears out every so often to clean my ears as with these the only issue is my ear tends to get a tad irritated after long-use but it also could just be my ears getting used to something being there, hard to say right now until I've had them for longer but I just adjust them slightly up or down when I feel discomfort.

I actually got these as my "gaming" earbuds, which after turning off "Immersion Mode" and using "Stereo Mode" I feel it's best unless you're listening to music it's just too bassy for regular stuff in my humble opinion (still sounds great, YMMV). Battery life has been a lot better than my other pair of earbuds which would die after ~4-6 hours, so far the lowest I've gotten these have been around 40%. I'm also not too sure how fast they charge, since they live on my desk and I charge them overnight but when I first charged them it took about half hour to fully charge from ~60%.

It's a bit difficult to figure out what the optimal spot is for these earbuds to perform their best, I believe for me at least when they're at their lowest on/in your ear it seems to be the best. I'll randomly check that they're evenly pushed into my ears and not falling out from time to time, but generally they're pretty snug fit that don't move much once on.

As far as "noise cancellation" or "passive hearing" goes, they do a pretty good job at blocking out sound when turned up I generally have mine around 60% at that's loud enough for me - I can still hear around me, if need be which I like not having to take off my earbuds in between sessions to multitask. There was a recent firmware update that adds auto-volume, which increases the volume in louder environments which is kind of "noise cancellation" in its simplest form. You're also able to control the earbuds pretty well with just the button on either earbud, play, pause, skip track, reverse track, toggle immersive mode or you can customize the shortcut which is nice. I have left as cycle thru still/motion/off immersion, and right as toggle immersion but there's also "switch devices" and "access your voice assistant" as options.

I look forward to future updates and possibly v2 of this product if it performs well, a great niche product for an oversaturated market. I would recommend trying these out if you're at all interested, the price is a bit hard to swallow but they may become your favorite pair of earbuds 🫠
My new favorite earbuds!
karannmill· Review provided by bose.com · February 18, 2024
My first impression of these Ultra open earbuds was that their design is different from any other earbuds I've ever used. There is a bit of a learning curve if you are used to plugging up your ear canal with more traditional noise cancelling earbuds as well as the unique cuff design, but once you get used to the feel and fit of how these should be worn, it's a game changer. Even with hours of use, they are so lightweight and comfortable, you'll forget you are wearing them. Battery life seems to be good, and you get a couple/few charges from the case as well. I use headphones or earbuds primarily for listening to music. I don't usually use them for calls, nor do I exercise with them on, although these feel stable enough on your ear that I think they would handle activity well without falling off. As with my Bose QC 35 II over-ear headphones, I would have liked a bit more volume, but the richness and clarity of the sound more than makes up for this. I will opt for sound quality over volume, and I find that I tend not to max out the volume on these anyway to have the best and most enjoyable listening experience. The open ear design and immersive sound makes you feel like the music surrounds you, which you will never have experienced in any other earbuds you have ever used.

While absence of these features is not a deal breaker for me personally, it is worth mentioning that these are not noise cancelling, nor is there a rubber ear piece adapter option to make them fit into your ear canal to make them noise cancelling (which would be contradictory to their open ear design), the case does not have wireless/Qi charging, and the call quality according to the party on the other end was not clear/loud enough. (On my end the call sounded fine). I actually prefer being able to hear what's going on around me and to engage in a conversation if I need to while wearing these earbuds. The only other thing I would like to see improved might be the modes in the Bose Music App settings. I have not really been able to notice any discernible difference between most of the modes offered, but again this is hardly a deal breaker as there is an equalizer and some other settings you can adjust and most music apps also have their own equalizers for additional fine tuning to your listening preferences. I will be interested to see what additional features and/or improvements future updates may bring to these earbuds.

These Ultra Open earbuds have quickly become my favorites in the short time I have been using them, and I know they will be my go-to because nothing compares to the quality you expect from a Bose product, the immersive sound these offer, and the ability to wear them for long periods of time without any discomfort or having to recharge them often. I'd have given these a solid 4.5, but 1/2 stars weren't an option, nothing is perfect and there is always room for improvement. I definitely would recommend to go buy yourself a pair – you won't be disappointed!
[Rewarded Review] Great Sound Unique Fit
BryBryJ· Review provided by bestbuy.com · February 26, 2024
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds are the newest premium set to be released by Bose.

I'll start with the unique thing about these buds, and thats the design. These are "Open-Ear buds", not In-Ear buds, which is what a majority of buds on the market typically are. This means that these buds don't go into the ear canal and actually sit on the ridge of your ear outisde the canal, and the barrel shaped part hooks around your outer ear to hold it in place. This makes them sit and look almost like a futuristic ear ring or piercing which doesn't hurt or pinch you at all, but will feel awakward at first, especially if you have always used in ear style buds. Typical of Bose the sound quality is great, I expected nothing less from them, whether you're listening to music or a podcast or just answering a call, the sound quality will be crisp and clear. This set of buds also has great immersive audio stereo technology, which enhances your listening experience. The coolest mode was the Motion Immersion, which adjusts the audio quality to make it sound like the direction of your audio aligns with the motion of your head, so if you were listenining to a band play live and turned your head to the left you will hear the music more prominently on your right side and viceversa, so you're getting a true 360° audio experience. Connecting these buds was easy, just install the Bose Music app, open the case, and the app detects the buds almost immediately, it took me less than a a minute. Through the app you can adjust your EQ and Immersion settings as well as track the battery life of the buds and case. These buds have an IPX4 rating so they are water resistant to sweat great and light rain. The battery life is 7.5hrs which is great for long uses.

I like these buds but I have a few gripes with them that keep them from being perfect in my eyes (or should I say ears lol). While the sound quality is clear, the bass is underhwleming, even at the highest setting its not as deep as some other premium buds I own, which was a bit of a bummer since I like bass heavy music. Also, since these are open-ear design it means they dont have Active Noise Canceling. The fit will take sometime to get used to and will vary by person, but in my experience when using these buds at work for a 5 day week with over 4hrs of continuous use each of those days, I found myself constantly adjusting them because it felt like they were sliding off, despite them being in place.

The Bose Ultra are a good set of premium buds, if not a bit weird to wear at first. For the sound quality alone I would recommend them.
The perfect earbuds for those on the go
Soundman· Review provided by bose.com · February 29, 2024
These earbuds are simply in a league of their own. Rather than sitting inside of your ear canal and being destined to eventually make your ear sore these earbuds latch onto to the back of your ear and immediately disappear from thought. They sit so snug and comfortably on your ear that I frequently forget that I am even wearing them even though I have audio playing full blast. These earbuds simply immerse you into a perfect blended state of being in the moment and aware of all your surroundings while also being in a private audio world of your own where you are listening to your favorite album or podcast. This type of audio listening experience is honestly one of my favorites, especially when you are living an active on the go lifestyle. These are great for throwing on to walk the dog so I can hear any cars coming up behind me when I am crossing busy streets, when I am in the office and still want to be aware of anybody calling my name, when I am in the garage doing some bike repairs and want to be able to hear what noises my bike and tools are making while I listen to my favorite podcast, and of course when I am doing cardio or weightlifting so I don't have to deal with gross sweaty silicone ear tips on my Airpod pros. The audio quality is phenomenal and absolutely up to standard of modern day high quality earbuds, the construction of both the earbuds and case is sophisticated and durable and the design and vision of is incredible and works extremely well in practice. Trust me do not fear this unconventional earbud design, these stay on my ear significantly better than any airpod has and I have taken these with me on several mountain bike rides where I am going quite fast through very rough and bumpy terrain and these earbuds never felt loose for a second. However, I must say, these earbuds are not for taking to the library to isolate yourself and deeply focus on your work, or for on the airplane to block out any white noise. These earbuds were designed for being able to engage in your environment while having audio not having the most secluded stuio-like audio listening experience you could have possible with features like noise cancelling, that simply was not the designed purpose of this product which may not work for some, but is seriously awesome for others like myself. I am genuinely stoked on this product and new perspective on audio listening from Bose, If you are on the go and have some gripes with your current bluetooth earbuds I highly recommend that you give these a try.
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