Bose QuietComfort Earbuds Review: Great Sound, Comfy Fit

My ear holes have had dozens of earbuds in them, and I have liked a lot of those buds. It’s been a minute since Bose earbuds have pumped music into my skull, so it was nice to get my hands on the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds. The company has introduced a new Twilight Blue colorway and that’s what came to me for review, a really great-looking color. As always, I have high expectations for Bose products and these earbuds didn’t disappoint, but they did surprise in a few areas.

Estimated reading time: 12 minutes

One of the best things about the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds, is the fact that Bose didn’t go the route of so many earbud makers in their design. These are not AirPods Pro clones, like so many others, and that I appreciate. Let’s get into the full review now.

The Quick Take

Bose is an iconic brand in the audio space, and that just shows in most of their products. The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds bring not only great sound, but a great fit and design to the table. The one area where I felt that perhaps Bose fell short (but only slightly), is in the ANC. The ANC isn’t bad, it’s just maybe not up to Bose standards. That being said, for a hundred and eighty bucks, these are excellent earbuds, and you can find them on sale from time to time. I would recommend the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds in a heartbeat.

Score and Bottom Line

Bose QuietComfort Earbuds

$179

Ease of Use/Features

9.5/10

Sound/Call Quality

9.5/10

Nailed it

• Nice design, not an AirPods Pro clone
• Super comfortable in my ears
• Nice app with good features
• Excellent sound quality, great soundstage
• Competitive battery life
• Price point was actually less than I expected

Needs work

• ANC is good, but maybe not at Bose levels
• Charging case feels a bit cheap

The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds are unapologetically different from the rest of the mass market earbuds you can buy. Bose did not go the route many brands have gone in its design, and that’s copying Apple. Bose opted for a different design and I truly appreciate that. The AirPods Pro are a great set of earbuds, but it’s great to have something different.

I was also pleased with the comfort of these earbuds and their passive noise-cancelling. They fit nicely in my ears and were easy to insert. The app is also useful and simple to use, as are the controls and overall operation.

Of course, the sound quality and soundstaging is excellent. Bose sound is one of the reasons people buy Bose headphones, but so is the noise cancellation. The ANC on these is good, but I felt like it was maybe a level below what I know Bose can do. That doesn’t make them bad, in fact, they’re great. It’s just an observation, and ANC on earbuds may perform very differently from person to person due to ear canal shapes and fit.

Battery life is competitive with other brands and is excellent, no complaints there. The price point is actually excellent and on par with the competition. One other area I think Bose could do better is the case materials. The charging case works great, but it does feel a little cheap, mostly the lid and hinge. A bit more premium build for these and it would feel great.

Overall, the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds are an excellent set of earbuds that look great, fit great, and sound excellent.

Affiliate Link Disclosure

In some of our articles and especially in our reviews, you will find Amazon or other affiliate links. As Amazon Associates, we earn from qualifying purchases. Any other purchases you make through these links often result in a small amount being earned for the site and/or our writers. Techaeris often covers brand press releases. Doing this does not constitute an endorsement of any product or service by Techaeris. We provide the press release information for our audience to be informed and make their own decision on a purchase or not. Only our reviews are an endorsement or lack thereof. For more information, you can read our full disclaimer.

Bose QuietComfort Earbuds Specifications

• Headphone Fit: In Ear
• Microphones: Built-in Microphone
• Noise Cancelling: Yes
• Noise Control Type: Adjustable Noise Cancelling
• Water-Resistant: IPX4
• Dimensions:
  • Bud Single: 1.14″ H x 0.99″ W x 0.83″ D (0.024 lb)
  • Case: 1.38″ H x 2.76″ W x 1.9″ D (0.104 lb)
  • Entire Product System: 1.38″ H x 2.76″ W x 1.90″ D (0.152 lb)
• Product Material Plastic: (PC-ABS), Silicone, Metal
• Rechargeable: Yes
• Battery Life: 8.5 hours
• Battery Charge Time: 1.5 hours
• Charging Interface(s): USB-C PORT
• Wireless Connectivity: A2DP Bluetooth Audio Streaming, HFP Bluetooth, AVRCP Bluetooth
• Bose App: Bose QCE App
• Colorways: Twilight Blue, White Smoke, Chilled Lilac, Petal Pink, and Black

What’s In The Box

• Bose QuietComfort Earbuds
• Charging case
• USB-C cable (USB-A to USB-C, 12″)
• Fit Kit (Small, Medium, and Large eartips & stability bands for each earbud)
• Safety sheet

Design/Comfort

The design of the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds is actually something I really love. I love the design because Bose chose to go its own path and not be like many other brands who copy Apple. These earbuds have their own look and shape, but still have the features others have. The new Twilight Blue colorway looks great as well, and there are five colors to choose from.

Fitting these earbuds is easy and the default eartips worked perfectly for me. The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds are very comfortable, at least in my ears, with no pressure or discomfort at all. I also love how clearly the left and right indicators are on these, many brands don’t make this as clear as it should be.

The case is pretty average looking and not as exciting. It looks like many other cases on the market, an oblong plastic case, but at least it has wireless charging. The case lid is a bit cheaply made, and I think Bose could do better and also give it a nicer hinge. I understand that these aren’t their premium SKU, but the earbuds look and feel premium, and I feel the case could be as well.

Overall, the design of the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds is really great, my only complaint is we need a nicer build on the case.

Ease of Use Features

The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds are straightforward to use, with the typical features you’d find on most earbuds these days. The touch surface is located on the outer surface of both earbuds. With the touch control, you can play/pause audio, change the volume, perform basic call functions, adjust the audio, and change the noise-cancelling mode.

• You need to wear the earbuds to use touch control.
• You can use either earbud to control media playback and phone calls. When controlling volume, the left earbud and right earbud have different functions.
• You can modify some of the touch control functions to personalize controls for your preference using the Bose QCE app.
• See below for the gesture control features

You can also control the earbuds with your voice with various available commands using the phrase, “hey headphones.” You can play/pause audio, answer or reject phone calls, skip tracks and more. There are a ton of features, and my guess is that you’ll likely use maybe thirty percent of them. But they are here and nice to have.

Overall, the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds are easy to use and have a large range of features most users can figure out quickly.

App/Software

The Bose QCE app is pretty robust with a lot of control and options. I mostly like that it has an EQ and that the EQ is set to flat out of the box. Below are some screenshots of the app, so you know what to expect. This is the Android version, the iOS version may look a little different, but not much.

Overall, the app is excellent and simple to navigate and use. Most people will get the settings exactly where they want them and never really hit the app after. Though, I suggest you check in once in a while for firmware updates.

Sound/Call Quality

Out of the box, the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds come with the flat EQ setting in the app. You can change that to what you like, but I left it flat, as I like to hear the music as the artist intended. The passive noise-cancelling from the ear tips is excellent, but make sure you have the right fit, and they are in properly. Bad fitting ear tips can affect passive and active noise-cancelling.

Speaking of ANC, Bose is well known for its ANC, and they are in the top three when it comes to effectiveness of its ANC. It’s important to remember that the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds are not the company’s flagship earbuds. That being said, the ANC on these is great, but probably falls a little short of what we expect from Bose. But again, maybe some understanding is in order, considering the price point and these are not the flagship.

Still, I would say that the ANC is much better than some cheaper brands, undoubtedly. Call quality is also great, and noise-cancelling works nicely here too. Transparency mode works good, I rarely ever use it, but it works well enough.

Overall, the sound is what we would expect of Bose, though the ANC could be better. That’s not to say it’s bad, it is not, it is good. I just feel like it might have been better. I don’t think it’s that unreasonable to expect a bit more from the company who is known for making outstanding ANC tech. But again, I do understand these are not the more expensive QuietComfort Ultra earbuds, which are probably given the gold star treatment in terms of features.

Battery Life

The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds claim 8.5 hours of battery life, and I was able to get just over 8 hours in my normal use. Reminder that battery life is subjective and will vary from one user to another and depends on how you use the product and what settings you use. That said, just over h 8 hours is pretty close to the advertised number.

The case provides another 2.5 charges for up to 31.5 hours of battery life, which is very impressive and is on par with some of the competition. Overall, the battery life is excellent here and provides a ton of value to the user. I think the majority of users will see good battery life, especially those users who may only use the earbuds for short spurts throughout the day.

Price/Value

The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds are priced under one-hundred eighty dollars, and you can usually find them on sale for less on the company’s website. This price is competitive with other brands and, in some cases, better. The value is here for these earbuds, and if you’re a buyer who loves Bose, these are right up your alley. There are plenty of other options that compete, but you do get some comfort knowing these are made by Bose.

Wrap Up

The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds are unapologetically different from the rest of the mass market earbuds you can buy. Bose did not go the route many brands have gone in its design, and that’s copying Apple. Bose opted for a different design and I truly appreciate that. The AirPods Pro are a great set of earbuds, but it’s great to have something different.

I was also pleased with the comfort of these earbuds and their passive noise-cancelling. They fit nicely in my ears and were easy to insert. The app is also useful and simple to use, as are the controls and overall operation.

Of course, the sound quality and soundstaging is excellent. Bose sound is one of the reasons people buy Bose headphones, but so is the noise cancellation. The ANC on these is good, but I felt like it was maybe a level below what I know Bose can do. That doesn’t make them bad, in fact, they’re great. It’s just an observation, and ANC on earbuds may perform very differently from person to person due to ear canal shapes and fit.

Battery life is competitive with other brands and is excellent, no complaints there. The price point is actually excellent and on par with the competition. One other area I think Bose could do better is the case materials. The charging case works great, but it does feel a little cheap, mostly the lid and hinge. A bit more premium build for these and it would feel great.

Overall, the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds are an excellent set of earbuds that look great, fit great, and sound excellent. The more expensive QuietComfort Ultra will probably give you better ANC, but at this price, these earbuds should make most users happy and at a reasonable price.