Bose QuietComfort Ultra Bluetooth Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones for music with Spatial Audio, Over-the-Ear Headphones with Mic, Up to 24 Hours of Battery Life, Deep Plum - Limited Edition

These headphones are absolutely incredible — from the moment I put them on, I could tell Bose really nailed the balance between comfort, sound, and design. The noise cancellation is next-level, blocking out everything from chatter to background hums, so you can just sink into your music or podcasts without distractions. The spatial audio feature makes the sound feel like it’s coming from all around you — it’s genuinely immersive and makes every song feel fuller and more alive. The comfort is amazing too. The ear cushions are soft and snug, so I can wear them for hours without feeling any pressure, whether I’m working, traveling, or just relaxing. The battery life easily lasts all day (around 24 hours as advertised), and the Bluetooth connection is seamless — no lag, no drops. The built-in mic is also clear for calls, which is a nice bonus. And that White Smoke color? So sleek and premium-looking — it’s subtle but elegant, exactly what you’d expect from Bose. Pro tip: Try using them in “immersion mode” with spatial audio for movies or gaming — it’s genuinely mind-blowing how realistic everything sounds. Overall, these are top-tier headphones — comfortable, stylish, and unbeatable in sound quality. Definitely worth the investment if you love music and want to tune out the world. So yes — Bose can be “better” than Sony in certain areas, but it’s not a clean sweep. If I were you and had to choose, I’d think about how long you wear them, whether battery life matters a lot, what kind of sound you prefer, and how much you’re willing to spend.

Comfiest over-ear headphones I have ever worn! They're so soft, comfortable and don't squeeze my head! I have a very sensitive head and ears, so they tick all the boxes for me. Not forgetting they have amazing sound too! The Bose app provides access to EQ controls, programming shortcuts, as well as different modes. Noise cancelling is fantastic, aware mode is very handy and the immersion mode is superb! Very much worth getting! There's so many neat features to experience on these headphones, should you get them. I should mention the automatic pause/sleep when you take the headphones off. Which not only helps to pause whatever you're listening to, but also save battery if they're off your head for a few minutes. They're not the cheapest headphones, no. However, it's money well spent if you want to treat yourself or someone you know.

*Please be aware this review is being written from a totally blind person's perspective. * As I’ll be one of the first to review these headphones due to how new they are, I’ll try to go into as much detail as possible. First off, upon opening the box, you are greeted by a simple layout. The box purely contains the case and the manual. The case is more of an oval shape compared to the NC700, which is more of a square. Inside the case you’ll find the headphones, USB C to A charging cable and an audio cable if you want to connect it to a wired source. Opening the case up, the headphones feel very sleek, around the same size as other pairs, but the first thing I noticed was the fact the cushions mould seamlessly with the headphones, creating a complete seal. There is not that tiny gap like on the NC700 and others. What I liked immediately though was the fact the cushions slip into place with the use of six little tabs which simply snap into place. It’s a lot easier, for me at least, than trying to line them up with a tiny crack as with previous designs. When you turn them on, they have to be on both ears to activate, so Bose can use its tuning technology to personalise to the shape of your ears. This has to be done every time you put them on, turning them on with only one earcup in place won’t work. They truly live up to their name of ‘quiet comfort,’ I am wearing them right now as I type this, and you can almost forget you’re wearing headphones, you can hardly feel them, they almost mould to your head. They truly do hug your ears. The most comfortable pair I’ve ever owned. I also like how the Bluetooth and power button is slightly indented, whereas the multi-function button is perfectly smooth. The volume strip is also able to be felt, and I love how you just swipe it with a finger to change the volume, and you can also configure a shortcut to it, in the Bose Music App. Now moving on to connecting them, it’s just the same as with previous Bose headphones. Turn them on, you’ll hear the tone, and then the voice prompt will tell you they are ready to connect. Select your device and away you go. You can also store up to 8 Bluetooth devices in the headphones, which is a nice feature. The noise cancelling is without doubt the best I have heard yet. You can hardly hear anything when it’s on ‘quiet’ mode. You can also adjust the level of ANC you want, plus in aware mode, there are also ‘active sense’ settings, which block out loud noises by briefly turning on ANC, then turn it off again when the sound stops. This is good for if you're in a restaurant and a blender starts up, for example. These also have ‘wind block’ which mutes the microphones for NC while you’re on a call, so you don’t hear the wind against them. The person on the other end will still hear it though. Now the highlight, the immersive audio. I personally think it’s incredible. I’ve heard details in my music I’d never heard before, it gives the song or other content a completely new layer of depth. Bose weren’t kidding about that. I also have the Apple Air pods Max and these knock spots off those for their spacial audio and head tracking. It really does sound like the music is coming from a speaker in front of you, it sounds like the speaker nearest you when you turn your head, whichever way you turn it. I flicked between spacial and stereo, and I tell you what, I’ll never go back. Stereo sounds bland in comparison to this. I will always use spacial now wherever possible. The base is full, as is the treble and mid-range. You don’t miss anything, just like the artist intended. If you’re like me, you won’t go back either! As soon as I heard these were coming out, I just had to get them. It’s my birthday next month and my family said they would pay for them, but I just had to have them now and wow I do not regret it at all, and neither will you! Just one final note, I researched it last night and Bose will be releasing Ultra ear cushion kits for these headphones soon so we can buy replacements, if necessary, mine will probably wear quickly the amount I’m going to use them. I’ll probably use them on my work laptop too. All in all, yes, their pricey, but your ears will thank you, for both the superior comfort and second to none sound at the same time. Worth every penny, happy listening! Edit: (Because I struggled with this too,) if you want to clear the Bluetooth list and start over, press the power and multi-function buttons at the same time for a few seconds while the headphones are on, until the voice says 'bluetooth device list cleared.'

I tested these headphones in comparison with the Sony WH-1000XM5, Cambridge Audio Melomania P100 and Sennheiser Momentum 4. Despite the cons below, I chose the QC Ultra over the others based on sound quality and ANC effectiveness. It was a very close run thing with the Sennheiser. Pro The sound quality is outstanding, with sparkling, punchy dynamic sound. Vocals and guitars sound great, treble is smooth and bass is deep. I think the sound is easily a match for the Cambridge Audio and Sennheiser phones and streets ahead of the Sony. I hear something new in every one of my favourite tracks, which makes me want to re-visit them all. The ANC is the best I have experienced, it blocks out almost everything - TV in the same room only just makes it through, but not enough to distract from podcasts at normal listening levels. Once, I was listening to a podcast while using a cordless stick hoover and I didn't even notice that it had run out of battery - the ANC is that good! There are no strange artifacts when moving around a room. I found the headphones very comfortable - the clamping force is just right for me and my ears did not get too hot. In terms of weight, they are about the same as the Sony and much lighter than the Cambridge Audio. Con I find the controls fiddly - I can never find the main button for play/pause/skip. There is a touch slider control for volume and custom function, which I also miss every time! *Update - I'm getting used to the controls now and can find them about 50% of the time! There is a base level of hiss which can be heard when there is no audio input - you can also just about hear it when listening to podcasts at normal levels, it does not change with the volume level, ANC level or EQ setting. You get used to the hiss over time, I hardly notice it now. The immersive audio feature only makes a small minority of my music sound better - the rest just sound strangely different. Also, it makes speech sound even stranger! The head tracking feature is a silly gimmick - they should have spent the money on designing better amplifier circuitry. I keep the immersive audio switched off.

The physical product is well built and sound excellent. Out of the box, they are well tuned with an emphasis on bass but that can easily be tweaked with a companion app. The EQ provided only has three bands with no indication of the centre frequency which is a bit disappointing. More granularity in the number of bands and frequency would be appreciated. The noise cancellation is also excellent, easily blocking out a fan on max and the transparency mode sounds natural with minor background hissing. Unfortunately, there is no way to completely disable its noise processing function with only a slider between full transparency and full noise cancellation. This means that when nothing is playing there is always a slight hiss which is noticeable. As most controls are performed through the Bose app, it is almost a requirement to have. On Apple devices every time you exit the app, you have to go through a process to reconnect to the headphones as the app kicks you out of its settings. This leads to waiting around a lot for the app to re-load the settings each time you exit, say to reply to a text or something. Overall I would recommend these to most, however, I’ve returned mine as the inability to disable noise processing made it unsuitable for me.

I got my hands on the Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones as soon as they dropped, and let me tell you, these things are not messing around. Right out of the box, you get a sleek, slightly oval case, a charging cable, and an audio cable for those “I want to feel vintage” wired moments. Honestly, the case itself could double as a stylish paperweight on your desk if you wanted. Slipping the headphones out, the first thing I noticed was how the ear cushions actually make me feel like they’ve been custom-molded for my lobes. No awkward gaps, no weird pinches—just instant coziness. The cushions snap into place with little tabs, and I genuinely thought, “Why has no one done this before?!” It’s like magic but for your ears. Powering them on is a little ceremony. Both earcups have to be on, so Bose can scan your ears and make sure you’re getting the full “immersive experience.” I imagine they’re taking mental notes, like, “Ah yes, these ears are worthy of ultimate comfort.” Wearing these headphones is basically like having a cloud sit on your head. I put them on to write this review, and I literally forgot I had them on for a solid hour. They hug your ears in a way that makes you think, “Why do other headphones even exist?” The buttons are smartly designed. The power and Bluetooth buttons are subtly indented, so you don’t accidentally hit them, while the multi-function button is smooth as butter. Volume control is a delight—you just swipe your finger, and you can even assign a shortcut through the Bose Music App. It’s like the headphones can read your mind. Pairing is effortless. Just turn them on, hear the little tone, listen to the voice prompt, and boom—they’re connected. They can store up to 8 Bluetooth devices, which is perfect if you’re like me and juggle a work laptop, phone, tablet, and possibly a smart fridge. Noise cancellation? I don’t even want to talk to my neighbors anymore. Turn it on and suddenly the world goes poof. There’s also adjustable ANC levels, an “aware mode,” and a nifty “active sense” function that blocks sudden loud noises—so no more freak-outs when a blender starts mid-lunch. There’s even wind-block for calls, so your important Zoom meetings don’t turn into “Who’s wrestling with the wind today?” Now, the audio. Oh boy. The spatial audio feature blew my socks off. Music no longer comes from headphones—it comes from… somewhere magical. Songs suddenly have depth I didn’t know existed. I tried stereo afterward, and honestly, it felt like I was listening to an MP3 from 2005. Full bass, crisp mids, sparkling treble—nothing is missing. Your favorite tracks will never sound the same again. Comfort plus sound equals a dangerous combination. I may never take them off, which is great for music, but not so great for conversations. They do make you feel like a professional DJ even if you’re just cooking pasta. One tip: if you ever need to clear your Bluetooth list (because let’s face it, we’re all hoarders of random devices), press the power and multi-function buttons together for a few seconds until the voice tells you “Bluetooth list cleared.” Feels like magic every time. All in all, yes, they’re pricey, but your ears will send you a thank-you card. You get sublime comfort, next-level noise cancellation, and sound so immersive it might make you question your life choices before these headphones. Worth every penny—and then some.

I've now had these headsets for 6 months so I feel qualified to provide an accurate assessment, in addition to this I've also had multiple QC 35's, the QC SE and now the QC Ultras. I don't know how Bose have managed to make these headphones progressively worse when it comes to adapting to the iPhone as a device to speak through. I have had every single person on a call complain about the poor audio they are subjected to. Sometimes even randomly through a call, I'm asked if I've suddenly buried my phone under a pillow despite literally not having moved a millimeter. In addition to this, the headsets will randomly choose to connect to my laptop, which is in the house as I walk away, and not my iPhone which is literally in my pocket, so I have to manually connect quite frequently. But the absolute worst part of the QC Ultra is the absolute pain in the back buttons. Their predecessors had legitimate problems with the switches from the previous models. After a few years, if treated carelessly, they could break. However, despite that risk I still miss the absolute hell out them as all those wonderfully tactile and intuitive switches have been replaced instead by flush buttons. In order to change the volume you need to slide your finger down the side of one of the ears. It sounds cool in principle but is super annoying as it's not easily found and there's zero response to activating it. The on/off switch drives me utterly insane - it can take up to 5-10 seconds to switch on or off, so you never really know if the button (which you have to press and hold for an unknown amount of time) has accepted your request to either switch it on. And THEN when it switches on, you have to wait for the verbal announcement to say "Battery Low - connected to.... iPhone and Macbook" - by which point you've missed your damn call. I'm a technologist, I run a software company and I'm an early adopter of technology - so I'm no stranger to using hi-tech items. But every time I have to turn this device on as a call is coming in, I'm sent into an absolute rage of fury. And let's not even talk about the battery life which is honesty significantly worse than any of its predecessors. However. The good news is that the device has absolutely fantastic audio fidelity. It genuinely is a great place to be when listening to your Spotify playlists while doing any activity of your choice. They are punchy, have excellent range and a level of sharp fidelity that belies a headset that focuses on noise cancellation, something it does extraordinarily well. I genuinely believe Bose are market leaders in combining both noise cancelling, qualify hi-fi and all round comfort. It's a shame that I don't want to give this product a better review as the user engagement via the buttons is implemented very poorly and detracts from what is otherwise a fantastic headset that feels good on the head, has a great weight to it and plays your favourite music in a rewarding enviornment. The software is good and the adopted audio technology, both around musical playback and also noise cancelling is effective. Just please Bose, fix these damn buttons, bring back switches and fix the telephone support.

Great product at a great price, the person who ended up with these is very happy, noise cancellation is great, they work with a variety of devices and look and feel great.