Bose QuietComfort Ultra review

When it comes to premium noise cancelling headphones, two names that quickly come to mind are Bose and Sony. Both have long been trying to outdo each other with headphones that not only look and feel premium, but also sound worth every penny you fork out.

Now, after what seems like a long wait, Bose has come out with a flagship pair of headphones, called the QuietComfort Ultra. Succeeding the NCH700, the new pair is pitted against the excellent Sony WH-1000XM5. So, how does it perform? Having used it for the past couple of weeks, here’s our Bose QuietComfort Ultra review.

Bose QuietComfort Ultra design

The Ultra looks every bit a Bose headphone, especially in its black avatar. Like most modern headphones, the Ultra fold flat and are also hinged, which means they are as flexible as a yogi. Once folded, they can fit into a compact carry case, and generally take lesser space than headphones from Sony or Apple.

The use of metal arms, a leather headband and soft earcups come together to make the Bose headphones feel premium. They sit well on the head, and there’s a comfortable amount of pressure on the ears, which helps when listening for long hours. In other words, you can wear the headphones continuously without feeling any fatigue on your next flight to Europe.

Coming to the earcups, the right one features the power button that also doubles up as Bluetooth pairing, a capacitive touch strip to control volume, and a customisable button that can be tasked to do things like answering calls, controlling playback or switching between the preset listening modes. The left earcup, on the other hand, features an LED indicator, a 2.5mm audio jack, and a USB-C port.

Bose QuietComfort Ultra connectivity

Connecting to the Bose headphones is a breeze courtesy of the Bose Music smartphone app. In addition to connectivity, the app also lets you significantly customise the overall headphone usage experience. This includes tuning the sound, tweaking the sound modes, setting up the multifunctional physical button, and more.

There’s also support for multipoint Bluetooth connectivity, which is really useful in the office environment. I connected the headphones to my phone and office laptop, and it seamlessly switched between the two when I wanted to listen to music and answer Teams calls.

Bose QuietComfort Ultra sound

There is much to say about the QuietComfort Ultra’s sonic capabilities. But the TL;DR version is that these are some of the best Bose products I have heard in a while. Whether you’re listening to the soulful voice of Arijit Singh or the thumping beats of Gustavo Bravetti’s Babel, the headphones impressively handle both spectrums. We couldn’t help but notice the extra punch in the bass, which was very evident when listening to Babel or even Time from the movie Inception.

One of the key features on the new Bose headphones is what is called ‘Immersive Audio’, which is essentially, Bose’s take on spatial audio. The basic idea behind this concept is that the audio moves with you when you turn your head. There are two modes to choose from – Still and Motion. The first mode is for when you want your music to be in a fixed position, while the second mode moves the music with you.

In my experience, Immersive Audio felt a bit of a hit-and-miss. It works as advertised on some acoustic tracks, but some of the DJ mixes sounded a tad off. After a couple of tracks, I found myself switching if off and still enjoying the whole audio experience.

The noise cancellation continues to be top-notch on the Bose headphones. Whether sitting in a noisy bay among your office colleagues or in an autorickshaw zipping through Mumbai traffic, the headphones offer a blissful escape.

Bose QuietComfort Ultra review verdict

It’s safe to say Bose is back with a bang. The QuietComfort Ultra offer what can be easily described as an ‘ultra’ audio experience. With a price tag of Rs 35,900, it may not be the cheapest around, but you do get a lot of bang for your buck.

Immersive Audio is a hit-and-miss at the moment, but there is every possibility that it will get better in the near future. Noise cancelling, unsurprisingly, is top-notch, and we can safely say that these are some of the best sounding Bose products we have used in a while. Sony’s WH-1000XM5 has some stiff competition.