So right now, Bose is kind of in a low where they aren’t innovating too much, but some of their products are still really good like lets say their mid sized smart sound bar… but their speakers are very underwhelming when compared to the rest of the competition like the Bose Soundlink Max or the Flex 2 or the Micro 2. But still, Bose’s headphones are perhaps some of the best headphones to travel with cause they’re super comfortable. So today we’re going to compare the new Bose QC Ultra Headphones 2 to the Bose QC Headphones which are one of my favorite headphones to travel with, and they’re also one of my favorite pair of headphones to recommend for non tech savvy people.
Regarding pricing, the Bose QC Ultra headphones 2 have a retail price of $450, which is a lot but these are starting to go on sale now. And the Bose QC headphones, these now have a retail price of $360, but they can also be found on sale. Nonetheless, both of these headphones are solid choices for traveling cause they are super comfortable. So if you want to pick either of these two headphones up they’ll be linked down below or you can also press on the YouTube shopping button, and if you want to further support the channel then you can also watch some of the related videos in the description below.
So first there’s the case, now bose has always done cases very well. Both of these cases are hard shell cases so they are both going to do a great job of protecting your headphones even if you were to cram them into a cramped backpack… but more importantly both of these cases have a small foot print cause thankfully both of these headphones are fully collapsable and these cases are relatively thin as well. So overall, there are no issues here when it comes to these cases, and both of these cases are great for traveling.
But with the cases out of these way, lets talk about the headphones themselves. Now these two headphones look very different from one another, and they fit slightly differently as well. Now both of these headphones have ear cups that fully pivot and swivel, both of these headphones also have a mostly plastic body, however with the Ultra 2’s these do have more exposed chrome arms than the Bose QC’s giving them a more premium look. But more importantly, the arms on the QC Ultra 2 glide in and out, where as the arms on the Bose QC click, and personally I prefer when my headbands click cause its easier to find your fit. But more importantly, both of these headbands are properly padded so hot spots on the top of you’re head are never an issue and the leatherette on both of these headphones feels very nice, its smooth and there’s a very slight grain to it. Build quality wise and look wise, the Bose QC Ultra 2 look and feel more premium than the Bose QC’s cause their exposed chrome arms… where as the Bose QC’s these are more subtle, but still with good and durable build quality.
But when it comes to fit, these two headphones are very different. Now when it comes to clamping force, both of these headphones should fit most people just fine, they’re both Big head approved and even if you like to wear hats, they’re both going to have you covered. However, with the QC Ultra 2, these have a neutral amount of calming force, as in they aren’t too tight or too loose, where as with the Bose QC, these have a much looser fit to them, making them more comfortable for traveling. But more importantly, both of these headphones sit very naturally on your head cause their ear cups pivot and swivel very well, and they both have adequate padding so hot spot are never an issue.
And when it comes to the ear cups on these headphones, they’re both very spacious, so they are going to have no problem fitting large ears or ears that stick out a lot. However, the ear pads on the Bose QC’s are a little more spacious than the ear pads found on the Bose QC Ultra 2. Now the ear cups on the bose QC Ultra 2 are already more spacious than Sony’s XM6’s and XM5’s, or the Sennheiser Momentum 4’s, AirPods Max or the Bowers and Wilkins PX7 S3’s… but still, if you want something with more room then you should look at the Bose QC’s. But also since both of these earpads have very little surface area coming in contact with your skin, both of these earpads do a great job of staying cooler for longer, but the Bose QC’s do manage to stay a little cooler for a little longer cause they do have a little less surface area coming in contact with your skin.
But then there also their weight, now the Bose QC Ultra 2’s went on a bulk and they added 10 grams from their predecessors, so now they weigh in at 262 grams, now 262 grams is still light weight for a pair of premium ANC headphones, but the Bose QC’s weigh in at 235 grams, which I would consider to be super light weight for a pair of premium ANC headphones cause premium and headphones weigh in between 280 to 300 grams and there are some heavy boys like the AirPods Max which weigh in at 387 grams which is just way too much. So with the Bose QC Ultra 2 you don’t notice these headphones too much when you’re walking around with them on and they are easy enough to forget that you’re wearing them when you’re sitting at your desk, in bed or if youre flying with these headphones… but with the Bose QC’s since these weigh 27 grams less, these are even less noticeable, and 27 grams is a big deal when its resting on your head for long periods of time.
So build quality and design wise, I feel that both of these headphones are neck and neck, they both have a subtle design to them, but the Ultra 2’s do command more looks thanks to their new polished arms. And both of these headphones have good built quality to them. But when it comes to fit, both of these headphones are comfortable… but the Bose QC’s are more comfortable for multiple reasons. The Bose QC’s have a looser fit to them, their ear cups are more spacious and they stay cooler for longer, and the Bose QC’s are noticeably lighter, so they are easier to forget that you’re wearing them. No, the Bose QC’s don’t have the best tech specs, but they excel when it comes to comfort. And no matter how amazing your tech specs are, if your headphones don’t fit well, you’re not going to want to wear them.
But now lets talk about tech specs. Regarding battery life, the Bose QC’s have an advertised battery life of 24 hours with their ANC turned on, which is good, but the Bose QC Ultra 2 now have an advertised battery life of 30 hours with their ANC turned on, which is an upgrade over the originals. But one of the big differences between these two headphones is that you can now turn off the ANC on the Bose QC Ultra 2, so you can extend their battery life that way if you want.
Where as with the Bose QC’s you can not turn off the ANC on these headphones even with the latest firmware, so if you want to be able to turn off your active noise cancellation, then you do want to go with the Bose QC Ultra 2, which I do feel is dumb, but being able to fully turn off your ANC is going to allow you to extend your battery life if you want and you’re going to get better sound quality as well.
Now both of these headphones charge via a USB C port, as they should, however with the USB C port on the QC Ultra 2’s, you can use it as a wired connection if you want, and you can use these headphones while they are charging as well, making them a good option if you want to use them for gaming. Where as with the Bose QC, you can only use this USB C port for charging.
Now both of these headphones also have an audio jack, and they both come included with an audio cable… so you can use them with a wired connection that way, which I feel is super important for flying… but with the Bose QC Ultra 2, even if you want to use them with a wired connection, they have to be powered on, where as with the Bose QC’s you can use them passively if you want or need to.
But when it comes to bluetooth connectivity, both of these headphones can be connected to any two bluetooth devices at the same, making them a great option for any power user out there that likes to hot swap between lets say your PC and iPhone… and latency is not an issue for either of these headphones so you can use them to watch videos with on your phone. And when it comes to audio codecs, they have support for SBC, AAC and Snapdragon sound… but in order to use Snap dragon sound you do have to be an android user cause iPhones top out at AAC.
But now lets talk about sound, cause there’s a lot to say here. So for starters the Bose QC Ultra 2 sound the same as the original Bose QC Ultra, and the QC Ultra 2’s sound similar to the Bose QC’s. Both of These headphones are going to be better suited for someone that like a more neutral sound signature or a more vocals focused sound signature cause these headphones just don't have a lot of kick in their bass. You can hear the bass, but you can’t feel the bass. And even if you were to go into their EQ and raise their bass all the way up, you’ll be able to hear it, but you’re not going to get too much of a resonance or kick from your bass. So they might not be as fun. And this goes for both of these headphones.
However, the Bose QC Ultra 2’s do sound very different with their ANC turned off. I feel that the Bose QC Ultra 2’s sound better with their ANC turned off , cause with their ANC turned off they sound a lot more open, the bass is a little more present and the mids and vocals aren’t over emphasized like with the original Bose QC Ultra or the Bose QC’s which you can only use with their ANC turned on. And this is a big deal, cause ANC changing the sound of your music, that’s something that happens on older headphones, cause with newer headphones, their sound doesn’t change all that much whether their ANC is on or off. So with the Bose QC Ultra Headphones 2, for the best sound quality, you do want to use them with their ANC turned off… but still these are going to be better suited for someone that likes a more neutral sound signature.
And then there’s the immersive audio on these headphones… and this is a feature that’s you’re not going to find on the Bose QC’s… and this is a feature that I never use for two reasons. For starters, immersive audio is going to take a toll on your battery life cause the Bose QC Ultra 2’s will go from 30 hours to 23 hours… but more importantly, I dont like immersive audio cause it adds a lot of reverb to your music, making it sound very unnatural. And with cinema mode, which is an all new feature for the Bose QC Ultra headphones 2… its another version of immersive mode which adds a lot of reverb to your audio, but it also amplifies the vocals.
So overall, i do not touch immersive mode or cinema mode cause it makes your audio sound very unnatural cause of all of the added reverb and it also takes an additional toll on the battery life. Also keep in mind, the Bose QC Ultra 2’s sound very different with their ANC turned on or off… I feel that for the best sound you want to use them with their ANC turned off cause your music is going to sound more open. The Bose QC Ultra 2’s sound good enough to get the job done, but these are still better suited for someone that like a more neutral or vocals focused EQ cause you’re not going to get a lot of kick out of their bass. But technically yes, the Bose QC Ultra 2 do have better sound quality than the Bose QC’s but only if you use them with their ANC turned off.
Now when it comes to your media controls, the QC Ultra 2 have a hybrid system, they have a physical button so you can play and pause your music and you can double tap to skip through your music, but to adjust your volume they have a touch pad that you swipe up or down on. But honestly, I don't like this touch pad cause it very hard to get the volume that you actually want. I just really wish they had a physical volume rocker like on the Bose QC headphones, so anytime that I need to adjust my volume on these headphones, I usually just use my phone cause I don't want to deal with the QC Ultra 2’s touch pad. And the media controls on the Bose QC’s is one of the big reasons why I like recommending these headphones either to non tech savvy people, or older people, cause not only are the Bose QC’s super comfy… thanks to their physical buttons and power on switch, these headphones are super easy to use. So as the tech savvy person of the family, these headphones will save you a lot of head aches, trust me.
However, something the Bose QC Ultra 2 have over the Bose QC’s is that they have wear sensors, so they will automatically pause your music and when you put them back on they’ll start playing your music again, but personally I don’t care for wear sensors on my headphones, so I just turned them off, but again, the Bose QC Ultra 2 are probably going to appeal more to your more tech savvy person that might actually care for wear sensors.
But now lets talk about the active noise cancellation on these headphones. Both of Bose’s headphones do a great job of blocking out a lot of noise with very little cabin pressure making them a great option for flying. And just like before, the Bose QC Ultra 2 block out a little more noise than the Bose QC’s but so that you can see for yourself we’re going to jump into an ANC test.
ANC Test
So like you may have just seen, both of these headphones are doing a good job of blocking out lower frequency sounds like road noise and they both do a good job of blocking out higher frequency sounds like chatter. And just as you’d expect, the Bose QC Ultra 2 are blocking out a little more noise than the Bose QC’s… However, the performance difference between the Bose QC Ultra 2 and Bose QC’s isn’t all that different, So for me it wouldn’t be worth paying the premium for the Bose QC Ultra 2… but its actually very good that bose isn’t artificially holding back the Bose QC’s and their active noise cancellation to get people to buy the Ultra 2’s. But the award thing here is, the Bose QC Ultra 2’s are actually blocking out a little less noise than the Original Bose QC Ultra’s. So here’s hoping that bose improves the ANC on the Bose QC Ultra 2 through a firmware update… or lets just hope that bose doesn’t degrade the ANC on the their Bose QC and Original QC Ultra to make the Ultra 2’s look good cause there is precedent for this.
But overall, yes, both of Bose’s headphones block out a lot of noise, but the Bose QC Ultra 2’s don’t block out all that much more noise than the Bose QC’s. They’re bassicly the same. And yes, there are other ANC headphones out there that block out more noise than both of Bose’s headphones. But Bose’s headphones still block out a lot of noise while being super comfy.
But then there’s the ambient mode on these headphones, now the ambient mode on both of these headphones sounds good and it sound fairly natural, it doesn’t sound as natural as the ambient mode found on the AirPods Max, but its still good. And with the Bose QC Ultra 2, its easier to adjust how much noise they let in, and both of these microphone arrays do a really good job of blocking out wind noise when walking out doors.
But something the Bose QC Ultra 2’s do have over the bose QC is active sense, however Active sense is another feature that I don’t use cause it reduces road noise when you’re walking out doors and peoples voices can sound a little muffled, and when Im using my ambient mode, those are the exact sounds that im listening for. So that’s why I don’t use this feature.
And unfortunately, another feature that’s missing on both of these headphones is a conversation mode, and that’s a shame cause the Bose NC 700’s had one of the best, and it works like this.
Conversation mode
So like you may have just seen, with the Bose NC 700, at the press of a button they will quickly lower the volume of your media and pump in all of the ambient sound around you so that you can quickly talk to someone without having to remove your headphones, and this feature is super useful especially when you’re traveling with your headphones. And a conversation mode is super standard on premium ANC headphones, but for some reason Bose just abandoned it when they can easily add it to both of these headphones through a firmware update.
Mic Bose QC Quiet
But finally here’s the microphone test, and for the last few years bose has been struggling with their micrphones for phone calls.
Mic Ultra 2 quiet
But the mic on the Bose QC Ultra 2 has been improved. Now while in a quiet room, both of these headphones sound good… however I do feel the Bose QC Ultra 2’s do a slightly better job of focusing on your voice. But its a very slight difference.
Mic Ultra 2 road noise
But more importantly, the bose QC Ultra 2’s do a better job of dealing with noise pollution. Cause when it comes to blocking out road noise, these are doing a better job of reducing this noise pollution, cause for comparison sake, if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone, you’re going to clealery hear all of this road noise, but if we were to switch back over to the Bose QC Ultra 2, it is reduced.
Mic Bose Road Nosie
Cause with the Bose QC headphones, you can still somewhat understand me, but there is a lot of road noise in the back ground by comparison and my voice is pushed down as well.
Mic Bose QC chatter
And when it comes to blocking out chatter, you can also hear a lot of noise pollution in the background, my voice does sound a little hollow and its getting pushed down on.
Mic Ultra 2 Chatter
Where as with the Bose QC Ultra 2’s these are doing a much better job of reducing that noise pollution, however my voice might not be as front and center. But regardless this mic is doing a better job of dealing with noise pollution, cause again for comparison sake, if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone, you’re going to clearly hear all of this chatter, but if we were to switch back over to the Bose QC Ultra 2’s it is reduced. So overall, the Microphone on the Bose QC Ultra 2’s is better and its doing a better job of dealing with noise pollution… but there are still plenty of other earbuds and headphones out there that have better sounding microphones on them like for example the AirPods 4’s or AirPods Max. And yes, the Bose QC’s do have a built in mic in their audio cable… but who’s actually going to use it?
So with all of that being said, Bose’s headphones don’t have the best tech specs out there, they don’t have the best battery lives, they don’t block out the most amount of noise, they don’t have the best sounding microphones for phone calls and they don’t have the best sound quality. However both of Bose’s headphones fit very well and they are both very comfortable. And now matter how amazing your headphone’s tech specs are… if they don’t fit well, you’re not going to want to use them. And both of Bose’s headphones fit well. But when it comes to choose between the Bose QC Ultra 2 and the Bose QC’s, personally I still prefer the Bose QC’s. For starters the Bose QC’s are more comfortable than the Ultra 2 cause they are lighter, they have a looser fit, their ear cups are more spacious and they earpads stay cooler for longer. Now yes, the QC Ultra 2 do block out a little more noise, they have a slightly longer battery life and they can sound a little better with their ANC turned off… but personally I can’t justify paying the premium for the Bose QC Ultra 2 when the Bose QC’s are super close in performance but are much more comfortable.