Bose Ultra Earbud Review
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.