After renewing its mid-range QuietComfort in 2024, Bose is returning to the high-end with a second generation of QuietComfort Ultra. The program includes rich sound, comprehensive connectivity, and above all, smarter active noise reduction. All for a lower price. What more could you ask for?
In September 2023, Bose renewed its Quietcomfort range with two pairs of headphones. The "standard" QC and the QC Ultra that we tested. A year later, the "standard" QCs were renewed to catch up with very aggressive competition in the price segment around 200 euros, notably Apple with its AirPods 4 ANC. But the American brand did not touch its QC Ultra, which remained a fine reference for high-end TWS earphones, alongside the Sony WF10000-XM5.
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But, while rumors speak of a launch of the AirPods Pro 3 at Apple in September 2025, Bose had to prepare the ground. Especially at a time when artificial intelligence is invading everything to improve the user experience. Less than two years after the arrival of the first QC Ultra, the American brand is unveiling a second generation, which we will simply call QuietComfort Ultra 2. They were announced on June 12, 2025, and will be available worldwide on June 26. And fans can already pre-order them.
Bose lowers the price of these high-end headphones
There are several notable differences between the QC Ultra and the QC Ultra 2. The first is financial. The QC Ultra 2 are less expensive than their predecessors: they will be marketed in France at 299 euros, 50 euros cheaper than the QC Ultra. That's the price of the 2022 QC Earbuds 2. A more sensible return that should have an impact on the attractiveness of these headphones. Note that the first-generation QC Ultra are now sold for 250 euros. Which seems like a pretty good deal to us.
The second big difference is that Bose has reworked the adaptive noise reduction (called ActiveSense) by integrating artificial intelligence. The goal is to provide better responsiveness to environmental changes, as well as smoother transitions between the different noise reduction levels. A very good idea given the general brutality of this function, whether with Bose or its competitors. Bose is also using AI to improve voice isolation during phone conversations.
Wireless charging is back in Bose QuietComfort
Third major change, Bose has listened (very belatedly) to those users who were demanding the return of wireless charging, which disappeared with the QC Earbuds 2 and QC Ultra. However, there is no change to the advertised battery life of 6 hours without ANC and 4 hours with noise cancellation (the case offers three additional full charges). We were hoping that Bose would catch up with Sony on this point, which reached 9 hours without ANC.
Other small tweaks have been made, particularly to the tips (better suited to extended listening). But overall, the QC Ultra 2 retains many elements of their predecessors, including the design, the touch surface, the transducers, the microphones, the Bluetooth 5.3 connection and the Snapdragon Sound processor. They retain their compatibility with the aptX codec from Qualcomm and with Fast Pair from Google, not to mention the equalizer in the smartphone app. We're on familiar ground. It remains to be seen whether these changes justify the price difference compared to the first-generation QC Ultras. We'll find out in our upcoming review on Phonandroid.
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