Bose Ultra Earbud Review

Tom's Guide

The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds promise comfortable, all-day wear so you can listen to music while leaving your ears free to stay aware of the world around you.

Transcript

00:00 Should you buy or skip the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds?

00:03 I'm Kate Kozich and I've been testing these $300 earbuds.

00:07 Let's talk about whether I think you should spend your money on them.

00:09 The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds are Bose's attempt to rethink how often you wear your earbuds

00:15 and how long you wear them for.

00:17 They're marketed as earbuds you can keep on all day long,

00:20 thanks to this barely-there, almost earring-like fit that leaves your ears free

00:25 so that you can stay engaged with the world around you.

00:28 Now, in general, open earbuds tend to suffer in the sound quality department,

00:32 but Bose surprisingly managed to outfit these with some of the spatial audio features

00:36 from its mainstream noise-canceling headphones.

00:38 In other words, these should deliver a satisfying listening experience

00:42 despite not giving you a true seal.

00:44 And I mean, that's definitely what you deserve if you're going to spend $299 on them.

00:49 So, are they worth the price?

00:50 The first reason I think you should buy the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds

00:55 is that they might be the most comfortable earbuds I've ever worn.

00:59 They have this super flexible and soft silicone exterior that wraps around your upper earlobe.

01:04 Besides the fact that I think they look stylish alongside of my earrings,

01:08 they fit so well that I wore them for hours at a time with no problem.

01:13 I even fell asleep with them on.

01:14 I was staying at a hotel room with a friend and wanted to watch some shows

01:18 and do some work on my laptop while being respectful, and these are perfect for that.

01:23 Another reason you should buy the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds is that the sound quality is actually great

01:28 as far as open-ear earbuds are concerned.

01:30 Bose's Open Audio Tech gives you distinct bass,

01:33 while the auto-volume feature intelligently adjusts to the ambient sound levels of your environment.

01:38 But what's really special is the spatial sound,

01:40 which I don't think I've ever seen before for this category of earbuds.

01:44 There are still motion modes, still was solid for when I was doing some work at my desk,

01:49 but motion was awesome when I was commuting to work or just getting around the city

01:54 or moving around the gym, keeping my ears in the sweet spot of the soundstage at all times.

01:59 A final reason you should buy the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds is for the battery life.

02:04 These are earbuds that you're supposed to be able to wear all day,

02:07 even when you're running errands, cooking dinner, like as 24/7 as a pair of earbuds can be.

02:12 Now, the battery life is seven and a half hours with continuous listening,

02:16 but the battery won't drain when there's no playback,

02:18 and you get up to 27 hours with the charging case.

02:22 In attempting this all-day experience for this review,

02:24 I was able to get past almost three full days before needing to charge,

02:29 though that will vary depending on how many hours you're listening on average.

02:32 There are a few other things that impressed me about these earbuds

02:36 that you can see on my full review on tomsguide.com,

02:39 but there also are some reasons that these might not be worth your money.

02:42 I think you can skip the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds if you don't actually see yourself

02:48 being in situations where open earbuds make sense all day.

02:51 Personally, I wanted to switch out to my noise-canceling earbuds while at the office,

02:55 and if I were traveling in any form,

02:58 I would definitely need a pair of beefier headphones that essentially block out the world.

03:02 Another weak point is call quality, especially when I was outside on busy streets,

03:06 so I actually ended up having to switch to my phone

03:09 as an audio source for those important calls.

03:12 Consider what your average day looks like.

03:14 I also think the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds aren't necessarily the right choice

03:18 for someone looking to spend $300 on earbuds.

03:22 I could make the argument that these are overpriced,

03:24 considering that the Shox OpenFit are just $180 and still keep your ears open.

03:29 Even if you're looking at these as a lifestyle product,

03:32 the Meta Ray-Ban Smart Glasses also start at $300 and do a lot more than just play music.

03:37 Of course, noise-canceling earbuds with pass-through or aware modes

03:41 like the AirPods Pro 2 or Bose's QC Ultra Earbuds are also hard to turn down

03:45 if given the same budget.

03:46 Finally, if you're someone who tends to lose earrings or fusses

03:50 or touches the areas around your ears a lot,

03:52 you probably want to avoid the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds.

03:55 They do feel secure enough, but for example, when I said I slept in them,

03:59 they weren't still on my ears in the morning.

04:01 Luckily, I looked for them right away,

04:03 but I can already see them ending up lost in the sheets heading to the laundry

04:07 with how small these truly are.

04:09 I also wouldn't be surprised if I ended up knocking one off when fixing my hair

04:13 and not realizing before it's too late.

04:15 If it were me spending my $300, I would buy the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds,

04:20 but keep in mind that I sort of specialize in wearable tech

04:23 and I've even done a full video on this channel before

04:26 talking about why I'm a big proponent of open ear headphones

04:30 from a personal safety standpoint.

04:32 But to have a pair of open ear earbuds that have the more premium

04:35 spatialized audio features is a game changer

04:38 and I could see people who are moving around a lot during the day

04:41 being able to embrace them.

04:42 That said, the price is tough to swallow,

04:45 especially since these probably aren't the only pair of wireless earbuds

04:48 you're going to ever want to own if you need to tune ambient noise out.

04:52 These also are a no-go if call quality,

04:54 no matter what environment you're in, is a big priority.

04:57 I think if Bose was able to make these less expensive

05:00 than the more traditional QC Ultra Earbuds,

05:02 we'd be having an entirely different conversation.

05:06 Either way, I've linked the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds

05:08 in the description of this video if you're interested,

05:11 but I also included some of the other earbuds

05:13 that I've mentioned for good measure.

05:15 As always, you can see the latest tech we're testing

05:17 on our socials everywhere @tomsguide.

05:19 And for me, I'm @katekosich.

05:21 Thanks for watching.

05:22 I'll catch you next time.

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