Bose Ultra Open Earbuds (2nd Gen)

The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds (2nd Gen) are a premium open-ear option with 9-hour battery life, Bluetooth 5.4 multipoint, and a comfortable cuffed design. At $299 USD, they're pricey but deliver solid sound and excellent connectivity for a niche form factor. Best for runners and fitness users who need situational awareness, not for commuters or anyone wanting noise cancellation. The 71/100 overall score reflects a product that excels at its specific job but isn't a general-purpose pick.

Bose claims updated drivers deliver deeper bass and more volume than the first gen. The sound score lands at the 72nd percentile, which is solid but not going to blow anyone away. For an open-ear design, that's actually respectable. Open-ear buds typically struggle with bass because there's no seal, so the fact that Bose is even talking about bass response suggests they've done some clever tuning. The TrueSpatial head tracking and Cinema Mode are the flashy bits, but keep in mind that Immersive Audio drops battery life from 9 hours to 5.

The connectivity score is the real standout here at the 93rd percentile. Bluetooth 5.4 with multipoint means you can pair to your laptop and phone simultaneously and switch without fuss. That's the kind of thing you don't appreciate until you've fought with earbuds that refuse to let go of one device. The mic setup scores at the 82nd percentile, with two mics and noise cancellation for calls. Bose's SpeechClarity Tech is doing real work there. Battery sits at the 73rd percentile, which is fine but not exciting. The quick charge is nice though: 10 minutes gets you 2 hours of listening.

The most direct comparison is with the Sony WF-1000XM6 and Apple AirPods Pro 3rd Generation. Both of those are traditional in-ear buds with active noise cancellation, and both will sound better in noisy environments. The Bose wins on situational awareness and comfort for long wear. If you're a runner who wants to hear traffic, the Bose is the safer choice. If you're a commuter who wants to disappear into a podcast, the Sony or Apple buds are better.

The Technics EAH-AZ100 is another premium option worth considering. It's a more traditional design with strong sound and ANC, and it competes directly on price. The Soundcore P31i and EarFun Air Pro 4+ are budget alternatives that undercut the Bose significantly. They won't match the open-ear comfort or the Bose tuning, but they'll save you a lot of money. The Bose is really in a category of its own among these competitors, which is both its strength and its weakness.

At $299 USD, the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds (2nd Gen) are asking flagship money for a niche product. You can get the Sony WF-1000XM6 or Apple AirPods Pro 3rd Generation for similar money, and those give you proper noise cancellation, better sound isolation, and more versatile use cases. What you're paying for here is the open-ear form factor and Bose's tuning. If that's what you need, the price is defensible. If you're just looking for good earbuds, it's harder to justify.

The value proposition gets murkier when you look at the budget score of 69.3. This isn't a value play. It's a specialty product for people who specifically want open-ear audio and are willing to pay for the Bose name. The CAD 380 and MXN 11,010 prices track similarly in their respective markets. You're not getting ripped off, but you're also not getting a bargain.

The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds (2nd Gen) are for people who hate the feeling of things jammed in their ears but still want decent sound. The cuffed design wraps around the outside of your ear instead of plugging into it, which means you hear your music and the world at the same time. That's either a feature or a bug depending on who you ask. For runners, commuters, and office workers who need situational awareness, it's a feature. For anyone trying to block out a crying baby on a flight, this is not your product.

Bose is leaning hard into the fashion angle here, with a metallic finish and a case they clearly want you to show off. The 2nd Gen bumps the battery to 9 hours on the buds and adds wireless charging, plus a new Cinema Mode for spatial audio. At $299 USD, this sits in premium territory, right up there with flagship noise-cancelling earbuds from Sony and Apple. But it's playing a different game entirely.

Our database puts this at 71 out of 100 overall, with fitness being its strongest use case at 73.2. The weakest area is commute at 57.7, which makes sense. Open-ear designs let in road noise, train rumble, and everything else. If you want to hear your podcast over a subway car, you'll be cranking the volume and still losing the battle.

If you commute by train, bus, or plane, skip these. The commute score of 57.7 is the weakest area, and without noise cancellation, you'll be fighting ambient noise the entire time. You'll end up cranking the volume to unsafe levels just to hear your content, and the open design means everyone around you can hear your music too. Look at the Sony WF-1000XM6 or Apple AirPods Pro 3rd Generation instead. They cost about the same and will actually block out the world when you need them to.

Also skip these if you're a bass head or an audiophile who wants the richest possible sound. The open-ear design inherently limits bass response and overall sound quality. The sound score of 72nd percentile is respectable for the form factor, but it won't compete with sealed in-ear buds at the same price. If sound quality is your top priority, the Technics EAH-AZ100 is a better use of your money.

If you're a runner, cyclist, or someone who works in an environment where you need to hear what's happening around you, the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds (2nd Gen) are one of the best options out there. The cuffed design is genuinely comfortable for long sessions, the battery life is solid, and the connectivity is excellent. The open-ear approach means you won't get the deep, isolated sound of traditional earbuds, but that's the trade-off you're signing up for.

For everyone else, this is a harder sell. The commute score of 57.7 tells the story. These buds struggle in loud environments, and without any noise cancellation, they can't compete with the Sony or Apple flagships for travel or office use. If you want one pair of earbuds that does everything, look elsewhere. If you want a specialized tool for staying aware while you move, the Bose delivers.