Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2024

The key difference: The new Bose QC earphones are slightly more compact, making them less bulky and more comfortable in the ear.

The housing itself is made up of a matte touch surface and a glossy body for a high quality finish.

With an IPX4 rating, the earphones are resistant to water droplets, making them ideal for use in light rain or during exercise. However, the manufacturer does not specify an IP rating for the housing itself. The case looks a little clunky and is therefore a little bulky in a trouser pocket.

Small rubber wings in the centre of the earphones provide additional support – these were present on previous models but have been reduced in size to improve comfort. There are also three pairs of oval ear tips in S, M and L sizes.

Nothing new – the Bluetooth specs

Bose is not known for being a pioneer when it comes to wireless transmission technology. This is no different here: The QC Earbuds do not include Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Sound with aptX codecs, nor do they support Google Fast Pair. Although the Bluetooth version is still up to date at 5.3, Bose has reverted to the old SBC and AAC standards when it comes to codecs. This is not necessarily a bad thing – more on this in the sound section. German manufacturer Sennheiser, for example, proves that there is another way: codec diversity, Auracast support – you name it.

As well as multipoint (2 devices at the same time), the QC earphones also support single mode, so you can use just one pair of earphones.

Operation – not so smooth

The matte touch surfaces respond to long presses. You can use basic commands such as play, pause, skip forward/back, change volume, toggle ANC, manage calls, take selfies with the smartphone camera or call up the voice assistant. The touch surface is also responsive on the edges, which means that you may accidentally press a button while adjusting the earphones. Unfortunately, this cannot be locked via the app. Nor is it possible to mute the voice prompts, which sound less than motivated in German.

Of course, if you prefer to talk to yourself, you can. Bose has its own assistant that can perform various tasks by voice. With ‘Hey Headphones’ plus ‘Command’ you can pause your media, turn up the volume or switch on the ANC. In practice, this works quite well, especially if you deliberately pause between ‘Hey Headphones’ and ‘Command’. Unfortunately, not all commands are implemented straight away, and the voice control is also inflexible: the headphones don’t understand ‘ANC on’ or ‘Transparency mode off’, so you have to follow the manufacturer’s nomenclature and use terms such as ‘Quiet on’ or ‘Aware off’.

Much simpler – the new Bose app

To coincide with the launch of QC Earbuds, Bose has released the new Bose QC Earbuds app for iOS and Android. The new app is easy to use with small tiles that give you quick access to the most important features. However, some features that were available in the older Bose app are missing, such as the ability to gradually adjust noise cancellation.

In their place are convenience features such as battery prediction: a bar shows you how much battery life you have left when listening to music and making calls.

There is, of course, an equaliser with five presets (‘Flat’, ‘Bass Boost’, ‘Bass Reducer’, ‘Treble Boost’, ‘Treble Reducer’) and a five-band EQ for customisation. This can be saved; the Bose QC Earbuds do not support multiple custom presets, as we know from Soundcore, for example.

Battery life: true endurance runners

Bose claims that the QuietComfort Earbuds will last around 8.5 hours. They easily achieved this in our tests, putting them at the top of the category. The Apple AirPods Pro (review) lasted around 3 hours less, so if you’re looking for true endurance runners, look no further than Creative’s range.

The charging case itself can provide the earphones with 2.5 extra charges for up to 31.5 hours of continuous sound. The case can also be charged wirelessly via a Qi charging mat, and the quick charge function provides 3 hours of playback after 20 minutes, while the earphones themselves are fully charged in 1.5 hours and the case in around 2 hours.

Noise cancelling and aware mode

Bose has described the active noise cancellation (ANC) on the QC earphones as ‘legendary’. One of the most effective on the market, ANC works by using built-in microphones to pick up ambient noise and generate a counter-noise signal.

In practice, the QC Earbuds are truly effective at absorbing external noise across the entire frequency range. Only slightly muffled dog barking or voices reach your ears. Static noise, such as traffic coming from the main road a hundred metres away, is reliably eliminated.

In complete silence, the background noise is not quite as low as with the Apple AirPods Pro 2, but it is barely noticeable.

The transparent mode (here: ‘Aware’ or ‘Perceptible’) allows ambient noise to pass through, so you can hear more of the outside world when you need to. The background noise here is considerably higher than on Apple’s competitors, and the Bose can’t keep up in terms of naturalness either. Nevertheless, the Aware mode does its job well, and we never had any problems following announcements and fellow passengers on platforms without having to take the headphones out of our ears.

Sound quality: powerful bass, restrained mids and treble

Bose loves powerful bass. So much so that it tended to take centre stage in previous models. With the QuietComfort Earbuds, the bass is still there, but a little more subdued than in the first version. The really deep 808 kicks are reproduced in a slightly queasy way, but the overall bass is harmonious and harmonising – which is particularly pleasing with modern EDM tracks.

For our taste, the mids could be a little more present, especially when the bass is really pushing the mids. It’s worth turning on the EQ to counteract this.

The treble is muted. Songs with a sharp mix (e.g. Madonna’s ‘Jump’) sound less strenuous as a result, which also prevents premature listening fatigue. However, this sonic trick lacks glamour, sparkle and expression. Don’t get the wrong idea: The Bosse QC Earbuds are capable of reproducing high frequencies cleanly, but in our listening tests we always had the custom EQ on with a slight boost to the treble (and a slight cut to the bass).

Anyone expecting an audiophile performance will be disappointed, as intimate details such as the subtle buzz of a string or soft breathing are easily lost in quiet singer-songwriter tracks.

However, the Bose QC earphones do illuminate the virtual stage in your head beautifully – especially from left to right. Panoramic views are easy to follow.

The bottom line

The new Bose QuietComfort Earbuds deliver solid sound and, thanks to their excellent noise cancellation, are among the best in-ear headphones in this segment. Priced at around €200, they offer good performance but don’t come close to the sound quality of the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II. They sit more comfortably than their predecessors and have a very good battery life, but despite the improvements, this is not enough to win the award.