I tested them, and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) are the absolute best active noise cancelling cans for the money

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): two-minute review

The original QuietComfort Ultra Headphones from 2023 are still a competitive product, so for this second generation Bose has wisely left a lot unchanged. Even more wisely, the changes it has made turn out to be judicious and useful, and serve to make the QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) even more competitive than the model they replace – a shoo-in for our best noise-cancelling headphones guide and honestly, they're some of the comfiest and best over-ear headphones in general.

Battery life, at 30 hours with ANC switched on, is improved. The ability to switch ANC off, in order to eke out as much as 45 hours of action from a single charge, is worthwhile too. Adding a ‘cinema’ mode to the ‘Immersive’ audio offering is a smart move. And being able to hard-wire the headphones to a source of music in order to enjoy truly hi-res audio quality can’t be sniffed at either.

These improvements just enhance what is class-leading noise cancellation, a sky-high comfort quotient, excellent portability thanks to the degree of articulation in the frame, and vigorous, entertaining sound quality.

In truth, similarly priced alternatives from other brands will give you a slightly fuller sonic picture. But these alternatives are heavier, not quite as comfortable over the long haul – and in ultimate terms they can’t lay a glove on the immaculate noise-cancellation these headphones offer.

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) review: Price and release date

• Released on September 10, 2025
• Price: $449 / £449 / AU$699

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) launched in September 2025 and in the United Kingdom they’re priced at £449. In the United States they cost $449, and in Australia they go for AU$699.

In the UK this is the same money at which the original QuietComfort Ultra Headphones launched back in 2023, while in the US and Australia it’s nudged upwards a little. In any event, though, this price indicates the QC Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) are up against some capable and credible opposition…

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) review: Specs

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) review: Features

• Bluetooth 5.4 with aptX Adaptive codec compatibility
• ‘Immersive’ audio
• 30 hours of battery life (ANC on)

There are some aspects of specification that Bose has never been all that keen on divulging, and it seems never will be. So as to the drivers fitted to the QC Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen), their size and material and frequency response, well, your guess is as good as mine. Quite why this run-of-the-mill information should be considered so sensitive is anyone’s guess, but here we are…

Still, there are things about which Bose is happily forthcoming. So we know these headphones use Bluetooth 5.4 for wireless connectivity, and are compatible with the aptX Adaptive codec as well as the less glamorous SBC and AAC alternatives. And in a notable upgrade for the model they replace, the QC Ultra II can be hard-wired to a source of music using their USB-C slot – connected this way, they can deal with audio content up to 24bit/48kHz resolution.

The company’s ‘Immersive’ take on the whole spatial audio thing is on board, too – the system can be switched off altogether, or set to either ‘still’ or ‘motion’, and this new model also features a ‘cinema’ mode that seeks to offer a more – hey! – cinematic presentation for that content that might benefit from it.

Active noise-cancellation, the area in which Bose has historically been the front-runner, is back in its ‘ActiveSense’ guise – the headphones can automatically adjust ANC levels to respond to environmental changes. There’s a slider in the control app to adjust the intensity of the ANC and also to dictate the amount of external sounds you hear while in ‘Aware’ mode – and unlike the original model, the ANC in the QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) can be turned off altogether.

Battery life is improved for this new model, too. You can now expect 45 hours between charges with ANC off, 30 hours or so if you switch it on, and around 23 hours if you’re enjoying ‘Immersive’ audio at the same time. The thick end of three hours of playback can be liberated from a 15-minute connection to mains power.

There are a total of 10 mics in and around the ear cups, and no matter what you’re using them for – ANC, telephony, voice-assistant interaction – they prove sharp and rapid in their response.

• Features score: 5 / 5

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) review: Sound quality

• Energetic and engaging sound quality
• Not, perhaps, the last word in fine-detail retrieval
• Absolutely superb ANC

I’ll start with the least surprising thing about these headphones: they're fitted with the best active noise-cancellation you can buy at anything like this kind of money. In fact, they have better ANC than plenty of wireless over-ear headphones costing two or three times this amount. Somehow Bose has worked out how to banish external sounds almost entirely from the experience of wearing a pair of QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen). And it’s done so without altering the sonic character of the headphones in the slightest, and without introducing any sensation of noise-floor disruption or that weird ear-sucky-vacuum thing that less accomplished companies deal in. It’s remarkable, really.

That eerie silence outside leaves you free to enjoy sound quality that’s upfront, entertaining and thoroughly vigorous. There’s a very agreeable up-and-at-’em attitude to the way the Bose go about delivering a 16bit/44.1kHz FLAC file of Never Stop by Echo & The Bunnymen – momentum levels never dip, there’s confidence in the way the rhythm is expressed, and the broad dynamic shifts in volume and intensity are dispatched with something approaching relish.

The overall frequency response, from the very bottom of the range to the very top, is nicely even. The bottom end hits hard and digs deep, but is controlled enough to stop bass sounds dragging at the sound, while at the opposite end there’s just about substance to treble sounds to keep the bite and shine in check. In between, the midrange communicates in a forward and direct manner, and voices feel the benefit of this positivity no end.

The soundstage the QC Ultra (2nd Gen) create is large and quite convincingly defined, and even in a fairly hectic mix like this one the Bose can create enough space for each element of the recording to express itself fully. The headphones tie everything together pretty well, too, so even though there’s plenty of separation to the sound the recording is still presented as a singular event rather than a collection of individual occurrences.

A switch to Nina Simone’s version of Isn’t It a Pity? establishes that the Bose can do ‘stripped back’ and ‘slow burning’ just as readily as they can sink their teeth into the uptempo stuff. The balance and poise they exhibit here is the mark of an accomplished product – but the relatively spare recording also exposes the fact that the QC Ultra II are not, in ultimate terms, the most detailed headphones around.

They’re not a blunt instrument by any means, you understand, and they have some insight into harmonic variation and transient details. But the more minor, more fleeting episodes in this recording are rather glossed over. As a shortcoming it’s hardly the end of the world – and, in fact, it’s a testament to just how good the ANC is here that the listeners can enjoy enough isolation to be able to identify this little deficiency in the first place.

• Sound quality score: 4.5 / 5

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) review: Design

• Choice of five finishes
• 250g
• Folding design

What’s most immediately striking about the design of the Bose QC Ultra II – and, to be fair, striking for quite a long while afterwards too – is how light and comfortable they are. At just 250g they’re usefully lighter than pretty much every price-comparable rival, and the combination of carefully judged padding in the headband and earpads, along with well-judged clamping force, means they’re a comfortable proposition even after you’ve been wearing them for hours. The pleather that covers the earpads and inner part of the headband stays cool for a good long while, too.

There’s plenty of articulation in the frame of the headphones, so they fold in on themselves to the point that the semi-hard travel case Bose supplies is helpfully smaller than the majority of alternatives. Despite the amount of movement available in the frame, though, the headphones don’t feel flimsy or vague in their construction.

The QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (Gen 2) are available in five finishes. My review sample is in a rather insipid medicine color that Bose optimistically describes as ‘white smoke’ – the alternatives (‘black’, ‘midnight violet’, ‘driftwood sand’ and ‘desert gold’) are all more agreeable. For several of these colourways, including mine, the brightwork at the yokes and headband adjustment mechanism are much brighter than previously.

• Design score: 5 / 5

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) review: Usability and setup

• Physical and touch controls
• Control app for iOS and Android
• ‘Immersive’ audio calibration

When it comes to set-up, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) are no more tricksy than any other wireless headphones. Power them up, put them in ‘pairing’ mode and your source device will locate them in no time. And it’s no more difficult to pair to two devices at a time as it is one.

There is a combination of physical and touch controls on the right earcup. The physical stuff consists of a button taking care of power on/off and Bluetooth pairing, and a second slightly larger button that can deal with play/pause, skip forwards/backwards and cycling through your ANC options. The ‘touch’ part consists of a slider that controls volume – a ‘touch and hold’ can act as a ‘shortcut’ to either hearing the battery level, cycling through ‘Immersive’ audio options, summoning a voice assistant, or waking Spotify. You can decide which of these shortcuts you’d like in the control app.

The app itself is useful as far as it goes, though it’s far from the most visually exciting example of the type around – it’s just that when compared to the alternatives from the likes of, say, Bowers & Wilkins, it doesn’t go all that far. Volume control, EQ adjustment, ANC and ‘Immersive’ audio settings, as well as that ‘shortcut’ nomination, are all catered for, and here’s where you can check on software updates and what-have-you too. For all its stability and ease of navigation, though, it lacks the ability to integrate music streaming services or access to internet radio that many price-comparable rivals provide.

• Usability and setup score: 4 / 5

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Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) review: Value

• Some rivals are better-value
• Top sound quality, ANC and comfort

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the way the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) are constructed or finished, and the quality of the materials is unarguable too.

Somehow, though, the perceived value is not as high as it is with some rival models – perhaps that’s to do with the color of my sample, perhaps it’s the slightly hard- and thin-feeling plastics that make up the bulk of the earcups.

What can’t be argued with, though, is the experience – and in every respect, from sound quality and active nose-cancellation to extended comfort and portability, these headphones are right up there.

• Value score: 4 / 5

Should I buy the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen)?

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Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) review: Also consider

How I tested Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen)

• Wireless connections to an iPhone 14 Pro, FiiO M15S digital audio player and MacBook Pro
• A variety of music, a variety of file types and sizes
• Connections wirelessly but also via USB-C cable

I connected the QC Ultra II wirelessly to an Apple MacBook Pro, an iPhone 14 Pro and a FiiO M15S digital audio player, in order to get as wide an experience of codecs and audio content as possible.

I also connected the headphones to the laptop using USB-C in order to get a little flavour of their high-resolution credentials. Lots of styles of music came through them, of lots of different file-types and -sizes… and I did plenty of listening outdoors as well as at home, too.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed: October 2025