Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds

Out with the old Bose and in with the new

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When Bose announced the arrival of the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds, one of two new flagship pairs of wireless headphones for 2023, we were rather surprised.

That was because the pair they replaced, the QuietComfort Earbuds II, were barely over a year old. In their relatively short life, they had already managed to bag a five-star review and a 2022 What Hi-Fi? Award in their category. So you’ll forgive us for having thought there still might be some life left in them.

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds were priced £300 at launch, but at the time of writing are heavily discounted everywhere, coming in at £219. Now, at this price there’s serious competition, not least from the Sony WF-1000XM5, which can be bought for £219 right now, and the Apple AirPods Pro 2, currently £229. Both pairs can frequently be found with money off, especially around big sales events such as Prime Day and Black Friday. That means the Bose have their work cut out in this price range even with that discount.

If you own or have seen a pair of Bose’s QuietComfort Earbuds II then you will be familiar with the look and feel of the new Ultra Earbuds. The design is pretty much identical, save for a couple of things.

First, there’s a tweak to the finish on the outer stems of each earbud. They have been given a new metallic treatment for, in Bose’s words, “a sleeker, more luxe look”. You need to be the one to make a judgement on that; we’re not quite convinced, at least on the White Smoke finish of our review sample.

The second visible tweak relates to the way the stability bands attach to each earpiece. Look on the top edge of each bud and you will see a small notch which helps you to line up the bands more easily and lock them in place more securely.