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

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

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

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

00:10The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds are Bose's attempt to rethink how often you wear your earbuds

00:15and how long you wear them for.

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

00:20thanks to this barely-there, almost earring-like fit

00:24that leaves your ears free so that you can stay engaged with the world around you.

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

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

00:36from its mainstream noise-canceling headphones.

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

00:42despite not giving you a true seal.

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

00:49So, are they worth the price?

00:52The first reason I think you should buy the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds

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

00:59They have this super flexible and soft silicone exterior

01:02that wraps around your upper earlobe.

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

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

01:13I even fell asleep with them on.

01:14I was staying at a hotel room with a friend

01:16and wanted to watch some shows and do some work on my laptop

01:20while being respectful, and these are perfect for that.

01:23Another reason you should buy the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds

01:25is that the sound quality is actually great as far as open-ear earbuds are concerned.

01:30Bose's open audio tech gives you distinct bass,

01:33while the auto-volume feature intelligently adjusts

01:35to the ambient sound levels of your environment.

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

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

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

01:49but motion was awesome when I was commuting to work

01:52or just getting around the city or moving around the gym,

01:55keeping my ears in the sweet spot of the soundstage at all times.

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

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

02:07even when you're running errands, cooking dinner,

02:09like as 24-7 as a pair of earbuds can be.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

02:44I think you can skip the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds

02:46if you don't actually see yourself being in situations

02:49where open earbuds make sense all day.

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

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

02:58I would definitely need a pair of beefier headphones

03:00that essentially block out the world.

03:02Another weak point is call quality,

03:04especially when I was outside on busy streets,

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

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

03:12Consider what your average day looks like.

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

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

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

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

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

03:32the Meta Ray-Ban Smart Glasses also start at $300

03:35and do a lot more than just play music.

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

03:41like the AirPods Pro 2 or Bose's QC Ultra Earbuds

03:44are also hard to turn down if given the same budget.

03:47Finally, if you're someone who tends to lose earrings or fusses

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

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

03:55They do feel secure enough, but for example,

03:58when I said I slept in them,

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

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

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

04:06heading to the laundry with how small these truly are.

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

04:12when fixing my hair and not realizing before it's too late.

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

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

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

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

04:30from a personal safety standpoint.

04:32But to have a pair of open ear earbuds

04:34that have the more premium spatialized audio features is a game changer

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

04:41being able to embrace them.

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

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

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

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

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

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

05:00than the more traditional QC Ultra Earbuds,

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

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

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

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

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

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

05:17on our socials everywhere at Tom's Guide.

05:19And for me, I'm at Kate Kozich.

05:21Thanks for watching. I'll catch you next time.

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