Bose Open Ultra: https://amzn.to/4eVqQmH
So these are the Bose Ultra Open earbuds, and over the last few months, other manufacturers have also come out with their own open earbuds. Now personally for me, these earbuds are pretty hard to justify, but its cool to see companies experimenting with their products. So lets see what the Bose Ultra open earbuds are all about, and lets see if open earbuds are a good option for you and your super fringe cases, or should you just go with earbuds like the AirPods 4 or in ear earbuds.
Now the Bose Ultra Open earbuds retail for $300, which I feel is a lot but they like to go on sale from time to time for $250. Still pretty up there, but there are more affordable none bose options out there. So if you want to pick these earbuds they’ll be linked down below, or you can always press on the YouTube shopping button.
So first we have to talk about the fit of these earbuds cause this fit is very unique and its their main selling point. Now the Ultra Open rest in the bowl of your ear very similar to the AirPods 4 or Galaxy Buds 3. But unlike these other earbuds, they dont create any type of a seal and instead they are pushed back a little bit. So these are less like earbuds and more like little mini speakers that you place on your ears. So as a result, you’re still going to be able to hear everything around you. Which I feel that for your average person, thats going to be bad. But maybe you work retail, or in a warehouse or in construction or maybe as a driver, and your ears always need to be open. Or maybe you’re a cyclist or runner and your want to always be aware of your surroundings. But nonetheless, since these earbuds rest in the bow of your earbuds, they’re super unobtrusive unlike in ear earbuds and they are less unobtrusive than AirPods or Galaxy Buds. And to keep them in place they have these rubber cuffs that go around your ears. However, I dont think that these earbuds are more comfortable than AirPods or in ear earbuds cause they have their own set of problems. Since these earbuds have these cuffs that go around your ears, I have noticed that you can really feel these earbuds shifting around while you walk or run with them… and I assume that if you have ears that stick out a lot, then you’re going to feel this wiggling around even more. So I think the concept of open earbuds is cool and it can be useful for certain situations, but I think that these are less comfortable than earbuds specifically when you’re walking around with them on.
But then theres the case. Now bose has always struggled with their cases for their earbuds cause the Bose QC ultra and the Bose QC’s have significantly larger cases than the other popular earbuds on the market. However, the Bose Ultra Open earbuds case is significantly smaller than Bose’s other cases, but this case is still larger than other earbuds cases. But more importantly, this case is going to be less noticeable when its in your pocket than these other bose cases, but its going to be more noticeable than lets say AirPods. But from a usability standpoint, this case is pretty good. The lid snaps open and closed very well, and the magnets in this case are pretty strong. This case also charges via a USB C port as it should, but it doesn’t have wireless charging, which is unfortunate and typical for bose.
But when it comes to battery life, the Bose Ultra Open earbuds have the best battery life to case size ratio for any bose earbuds. these earbuds have a combined battery life of 27 hours. The earbuds themselves can go for 7 and a half hours and the case can supply 2 and a half charges. And for comparison sake, the Bose QC’s have a combined battery life of 31 and a half hours with their ANC turned on. The Earbuds themselves can go for 8 and a half hours and the case can supply 2 and half charges as well. And then there are the Bose QC ultra which have a combined battery life of 24 hours with their ANC turned on.
Now just so that there isn’t an confusion, the Bose Ultra Open dont have active noise cancelation, where as with these other two earbuds do, and if you use the Bose QC’s with their ANC turned off, you can extend their battery life that way. But regardless, the Bose Open Ultra have the best case size to battery life ratio here cause they have a combined battery life of 27 hours while having the smallest case here. And the case size to battery life ratio on the Bose Open Ultra is on par with other earbuds out there, but they are still trailing behind cause there are plenty of earbuds that offer the same combined battery life or longer, while still having a smaller case.
Now when it comes to connectivity, the Bose Open Ultra 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 Open Ultra have support for SBC and AAC but they dont have support for snapdragon sound like the Bose QC ultra which I personally feel isn’t a big deal escpially just given the fit of these earbuds.
And when it comes to listening to music with these earbuds, due to the fit of these earbuds, these are not the best option if you want the best sound quality. First off, since these are open, you’re going to be able to hear all of your surroundings, which means a lot of noise pollution is going to get in and thats going to mess up your music and you’re going to lose a lot of details in the mids and instrumentals. As a result, these earbuds have very strong vocals, but they end up sounding very shallow and hollow. And since these earbuds are bose earbuds, the bass on these earbuds doesn’t hit all that hard. Now you can always go into their app and adjust their EQ, but even if you were to increase the bass on these earbuds all the way up, you’re not going to get much kick or resonance out of them. So overall, these earbuds are better for passively listening to music, which is fine if you plan on working out with them or wear them while you’re working, but more realistically, I think these earbuds are going to be better for someone that plans on listening to a lot of podcasts or audiobooks with these earbuds.
And when it comes to the media controls on these earbuds, theres a physical button on the drums of these earbuds. And from here you can play and pause your music, you can skip through your music and if you press and press and hold you can adjust the volume of your music as well. You can also press and hold to do a quick action which you can customize through the app as well. Overall these buttons are easy to use and they have a good click to them.
But a new feature that bose recently released for these earbuds that works with their new Smart Ultra Soundbar… is if you were these ear buds while watching a movie with your soundbar… then the earbuds themselves will act as your rear satellite speakers. Again, this is a another super niche function of these earbuds… personally for me, as someone that is constantly building out his home theater set up… I would rather just get a proper pair of rear satellite speakers so that multiple people can enjoy a surround sound experience… but maybe you live in an apartment and you happen to have a bose ultra smart sound soundbar… and maybe you just dont have the room to properly instal rear speakers… then maybe you’ll want to use this feature. Again, these open earbuds are a very niche product for very fringe situations.
Mic Bose Open Quiet
But finally, heres the microphone test. And sadly, Bose’s microphones on their earbuds and headphones have regressed over the last few years. And I think the Bose Open Ultra have the worst performing microphone on them for bose earbuds.
Mic Bose QC Ultra
Because for comparison sake, these are the Bose QC ultra earbuds, and even though this mic is still pretty bad, it performs better than the mic on the Bose Open Ultra and it performs better than the Mic on the Bose QC.
Mic AirPods 4 Quiet
Because these are the AirPods 4’s and these sound a perform the same as the AirPods Pro 2. And as you can hear, while in a quiet room this microphone has a lot better clarity than either of Boses’s headphones.
Mic AirPods 4 road
But also, the AirPods 4 do a much better job of dealing with noise pollution. Cause right now this microphone is doing a great 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 switch back over to the AirPods 4, it is severely reduced and my voice sounds very clear.
Mic QC Ultra road noise
Where as with the Bose QC Ultra, these are trying to reduce this road noise, but my voice sounds very hallow.
Mic Open Ultra road Noise
And then here are the Bose Open ultra, and I feel that this is unusable cause there is a lot of road noise in the back ground and my voice is hard to hear.
Mic Open Ultra chatter
And its the same thing when it comes to blocking out chatter, theres a lot of interface going on with my voice and there is a lot of noise pollution in the background.
Mic QC Ultra Chatter
Now the QC ultra’s do a slight better job of dealing with this noise pollution, but they are still pushing down a lot on my voice.
Mic AirPods 4 chatter
And finally here are the AirPods 4 which again are doing a great job of dealing with all of this noise pollution, cause if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone, you’re going to clearly hear all of this chatter, but if we were to switch back over to the AirPods 4, it is severely reduced and you can very clearly hear my voice. So if you plan on taking lots of phone calls, the Bose Open Ultra wouldn’t be my first pick.
But with all of that being said, the Bose Open Ultra earbuds are not for me and I find them very hard to justify. However, I understand that these are a very niche product for very fringe cases, and I think that its cool that companies, not just Bose, are exerpiamenting with new designs and form factors. The Bose Open Ultra earbuds offer a fairly comfortable fit which allow you to always be aware of your surroundings, which could be good if you work retail, in a warehouse, or if you drive, or they can be great for cycling. These earbuds also have a lot of stamina so they’ll be able to keep up with you for long use sessions, and they have a decently small case. Their case is still big compared to other cases out there, but for bose, this is small. And if you happen to have a newer Bose Soundbar, then you can also use these earbuds as your rear satellite speakers… again another super fringe case. Personally, I think you’ll be better off just using a normal pair of earbuds and just turn on their ambient mode… but if you absolutely need a lot of stamina, then you’ll might want to go with these.