So these are the Bose QC earbuds, and as always, Bose’s earbuds are very comfy, they offer great lockdown, they block out a lot of noise and they sound good. But as always, Bose’s earbuds are not the most convenient earbuds out there cause of their large case and poor case to battery life ratio, and they dont have the best sounding microphone out there for phone calls. Nonetheless lets see what the Bose QC earbuds are all about, and we’re going to be comparing them to a lot of other ANC earbuds for late 2024 early 2025.
So first theres the price, the Bose QC earbuds retail for $180, its ok but these wouldn’t be my first pick because of their reduced convenience when compared to other earbuds out there. Cause whether you’re an iPhone or an Android user, the AirPods 4 with ANC also retail for $180 and these things are perhaps the most convenient earbuds on the market. But for comparison sake, the Bose QC ultras and the Bose Ultra Open both retail for $300. Nonetheless, if you want to pick any of these earbuds up they’ll be linked down below.
So first theres the case, and bose has always struggled with their cases for their earbuds. The Bose QC’s case has both a large foot print and it is pretty thick, its noticeably thicker than both the QC ultra’s and Ultra Open’s case, which means this case is very noticeable then its in your pocket. And more importantly, this case is much larger and a lot more noticeable when its in your pocket when compared to other earbuds out there like especially the AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2’s, but also other earbuds like the Galaxy Buds 3, Galaxy Buds 3 pro, Sony’s headphones, pixel buds or the sennheiser Momentum 4’s case. So personally, I find the Bose QC earbuds very inconvenient cause of their large case, but from a usability standpoint this case is fine, it has a slate finish to it, so its easy to get a grip of this case, the lid opens very easily and the magnets are reeltivly strong. And when it comes to chargning, this case charges via a USB C port as it should… and it has wireless chargning, and thats a pretty big deal for bose cause the Bose QC ultra dont have wireless chargning. But still, this case is lack luster case a lot of these smaller cases also have wireless charging and some of them even have built in speakers so that you can locate them more easily for when you eventually lose them.
Now when it comes to battery life, the Bose QC’s have a long combined battery life and they have a lot of stamina, but their case to battery life ratio is meh. Now the Bose QC’s have a combined battery life of 31 and a half hours and thats with their ANC turned on. The earbuds themselves can go for up to 8 and a half hours and the case can supply 2 and a half extra charges. But also, whats new here is you can use these earbuds with their ANC turned off, so you can extend their battery life that way.
And for comparison sake, the Bose QC ultra have a combined battery life of 24 hours with their ANC turned on and immersive audio turned off. the earbuds can go for 6 hours and the case can supply 3 charges. So the Bose QC’s have a much longer battery life and stamina, but that is to be expected just given the size of their case and the size of the earbuds themselves.
So yes, the Bose QC’s have way better battery life performance than the Bose QC ultra, but the bose QC’s are still trialing behind other earbuds out there that have a combined battery life of 30 hours of more with their ANC turned off, while still having a smaller case… or other earbuds that maybe dont have as long of a combined battery life with their ANC turned on, but they still have a much smaller case like the AirPods 4. So yes, the Bose QC’s have great stamina which is great if you work retail or in a warehouse or drive a lot, but the case size to battery life ratio is very poor for 2024 2025.
But with the case out of the way, lets talk about the earbuds themselves. Fit wise, the Bose QC’s fit very similarly to the Bose QC ultra. Now we do have silicon ear tips, but these earbuds dont actually go into your ear canals like lets say the AirPods Pro 2, or Galaxy buds 3 pro, or any of Sony’s other earbuds. Instead these earbuds rest in the bowl of your ear just like the AirPods 4, or Galaxy Buds 3. But thanks to the silicon ear tips on Bose QC’s these do a much better job of passively blocking out noise than either the AirPods 4 or Galaxy Buds 3, so these are going to be able to block out a little more noise and they are also going to prevent noise pollution from messing up your sound quality. But also, since these silicon ear tips dont actually go into your ear canals like these other in ear earbuds, they are a lot more comfortable as well. And something that Bose’s ear buds have over these other earbuds is that they have builtin ear fins, so not only are they super comfortable cause they aren’t as intrusive as in ear earbuds, they also offer much better lock down than either the AirPods 4 or Galaxy Buds 3 so they dont wiggle out as easily. So even though I really criticize the Bose QC’s cause of their poor battery life to case size ratio… the Bose QC’s offer a very comfortable, non-intrusive fit but they still have a lot of lock down and they passively block out a lot of noise. And this is a combination that many other earbuds dont offer and it could be a big enough reason for you to put up with their bulky case.
Now when it comes to connectivity, the Bose QC’s work well with both iPhone and android devices. But more importantly, each earbud establishes a connection with your phone so if you just want to use one earbud at a time you can use either one it doesn’t matter. And I know that this sounds super basic but this is something that took bose a while to get right.
But more importantly, these earbuds can be connected to multiple devices at the same time so you can easily hot swap from one device to another regardless of eco system… these earbuds have zero latency across the board so you can use them to watch movies or videos with on your phone, but when it comes to audio codecs, the Bose QC have support for SBC and AAC but they don have support for snapdragon sound like the Bose QC ultra which I personally feel isn’t a big deal.
But when it comes to sound… the bose QC’s sound pretty good. Now first off since these earbuds are able to passively block out noise pollution thanks to their silicon ear tips, you’re music isn’t going to get ruined how it would with lets say the AirPods 4 or Galaxy Buds 3. And through Bose’s new QCE app, you can adjust the EQ on these earbuds so you can make them sound however you want. But from a performance standpoint, these earbuds have good instrument separation, the highs are very crisp and theres a good amount of resonance in their bass. And since these earbuds passively block out noise, its very easy to hear the details in the instrumentals. But just like with Bose’s other earbuds and headphones, these are going to be better suited for someone that like a flat or vocals focused sound signature. Yes these earbuds have a good amount of resonance in their bass and you can in areas their bass, but the bass on these earbuds doesn’t hit anywhere near as hard as any AirPods, Sony’s earbuds or Sennhesier’s earbuds. And also, unlike the Bose QC ultra, the Bose QC dont have immserive audio. And personally I dont care that the Bose QC dont have immersive audio, cause I never use immersive audio on any of Bose’s products cause first off it takes a considerable toll on the battery life, but also all immersive audio does is add reverb to your music. And also, the Bose QC dont do the head tracking thing, but that’s another feature that I dont care for. But overall, the Bose QC’s sound good and since they passively block out noise pollution, the instuemtnals on these are going to be better than on the AirPods 4 or Galaxy Buds 3… but these earbuds are still going to be better for someone that like a flat or vocals focused EQ cause their bass doesn’t hit as hard as other earbuds out there.
But then there are the media controls on these earbuds, now these have tap based touch pads. So you can tap to play or pause your music, skip through your music and to accept or reject phone calls. We also have proximity sensors so they’ll automatically play and pause your music when you take them out or put them in your ears. But unlike the Bose QC ultra, these dont have swipe gestures so you can’t swipe up or down to adjust your volume. Now you can always active your phone’s voice assistant by pressing and holding on the touch pads… but also, the Bose QC’s have their own built in voice assistant.
Now with the built in voice assistant, you have full control over these earbuds. You can control your music and you can control your active noise cancelation settings. And you can also train this voice assistant to only work with your voice. However, in order to activate this voice assistant you have to say, “Hey Headphones” which isn’t as sleek as just saying “Siri” like you can with the AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2… but nonetheless this voice assistant works well, and its handy, but I would rather have the touchpads laid out so that you can do what you need to do from the earbuds themselves.
And also, theres the fact that the Bose QC earbuds have a separate app from all of Bose’s other products. Now I dont know why the Bose QC have a separate app, and this app layout is pretty busy, but it gets the job done. You can adjust the EQ, you can change between the ANC settings, you can see your voice command options, you can see your battery life estimates, and you can also use these earbuds to take selfies. Overall the app is fine, but I just wish that you didn’t have to download yet another app.
But now lets talk about the active noise cancellation on these earbuds, and the ANC on the Bose QC earbuds is super impressive… and the ANC on the Bose QC’s blocks out more noise than the Bose QC Ultra… which isn’t surprising, cause back then, the Bose QC45’s blocked out more noise than the Bose NC700’s, and it looks like were having a repeat of that now.
Now when it comes to my 2024 ANC earbuds ranking list, in first place we have the Sennhesier momentum 4 which block out a ton of noise, but they also go in super deep into your ear canals. right below them are the AirPods Pro 2 which are a lot more comfortable. Below them are the Sony WF-1000XM5’s which aren’t as comfy cause of their foam ear tips, right below them are the Bose QC earbuds, below them are the AirPods 4 and below them are the Bose QC Ultra earbuds.
Then right below them are the Sony Linkbuds S, below them are the Pixel Buds 2 pro, below them are the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, followed by the Galaxy Buds 2 pro, below them are the Galaxy Buds 3, below them are the Sony Linkbuds Fit, below them are the Galaxy Buds 3 and below them are the Beats Studio Buds Plus.
So obviously, these aren’t all of the ANC earbuds on the market cause there are a lot, but I think that these are some of the most important ones for late 2024. And the Bose QC earbuds block out a lot noise, and they do so without having an intrusive fit, so if you’re someone that wants to blockout noise, but you dont want in ear earbuds, or you want something sleeker than over ear headphones, then the Bose QC’s are a great pick. However, I do want to taper expectations here, dont expect these to block out as much noise as a pair over ear headphones like either the Sony 1000XM5’s, AirPods Max, Bose QC Ultra, and so on.
And then theres the Ambient Mode on these headphones. Now the ambient mode on the Bose QC’s is overall decent. It sounds fairly natural and their microphone array does a good job of rejecting wind noise when walking out doors. However even though this ambient mode sounds fairly natural, people’s voices aren’t as emphasized, you also cant adjust how much noise these earbuds let in and this ambient mode lets in everything. But regardless, its good.
Mic QC earbuds Quiet
But finally heres the microphone test, and sadly the microphone on the Bose QC earbuds isn’t all that great. Now while in a white room this mic sounds decent…
Mic QC ULTRA Quiet
But the mic on the Bose QC Ultra has better clarity to it and it does a better job of focusing on your voice.
Mic AirPods 4 Quiet
But for comparison sake, these are the AirPods 4’s, and for all intents and purposes the AirPods 4’s sound a perform the same as the AirPods Pro 2. And in general this microphone has much better while in a quiet room.
Mic AirPods 4 Road
And when it comes to noise pollution, the AirPods do a much better job of blocking out all of this road noise, cause for comparison sake if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone, you’re going to clearly hear all of this road noise, but if we were to switch back over to my AirPods 4 it is severely reduced and my voice sounds very clear.
Mic Bose QC Ultra Road
Where as with the Bose QC Ultra, these are trying to reduce this road noise a little bit and my voice is very prominent, but you can still here a lot of noise pollution in the back.
Mic QC Road
And with the Bose QC’s these are trying to reduce this road noise but there is a lot of interference going on with my voice to the point where I feel that this is unable.
Mic QC Chatter
And when it comes to chatter, again these are trying to reduce this noise pollution, but there is a lot of interference going on with my voice.
Mic QC Ultra Chatter
And with the Bose QC ultra, these are doing a better job of dealing with this chatter, however my voice sounds very hollow.
Mic AirPods 4 chatter
And again for comparison sake, these are the AirPods 4, and if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone you’re going to clealery hear all of this chatter, and if we were to switch back over to the AirPods 4 it is severely reduced and my voice sounds very clear. So overall, the microphone on both of Bose’s earbuds really needs work cause it just doesn’t compare to the mic on AirPods.
But with all of that being said, the Bose QC earbuds offer a very comfortable and secure fit, they also block out a lot of noise, their earbuds have a lot of stamina and these earbuds have a very pleasant neutral or vocals focused EQ. However, the Bose QC’s are not the most conviente earbuds out there when compared to other earbuds on the market. Like you may have just seen, their microphone for phone calls isn’t the best. And even though these earbuds have a long combined battery life and the earbuds have lots of stamina, their case to battery life ratio isn’t the best cause this case is huge compared to smaller cases out there. The Bose QC’s are a pair of headphones that I would mainly recommend to someone if they are extremely particular about their fit.