Bose QuietComfort Ultra Review 2025

Design and Build Quality

The QuietComfort Ultra showcases Bose's commitment to premium materials and construction. The headphones feature a sophisticated design with soft-touch plastics, metal accents, and luxurious padding throughout. The build quality feels exceptionally solid, with no creaks or flex in the headband or ear cups.

The foldable design is both practical and robust, collapsing down to fit in the included semi-hard case. Weight distribution is excellent despite the 254-gram heft, thanks to the well-padded headband that spreads pressure evenly across the top of your head.

Physical controls are a highlight – the button layout is intuitive with satisfying tactile feedback. The power button, noise control button, and volume rocker are all perfectly positioned and easy to locate by feel. This is a significant advantage over touch-only control systems.

Comfort and Fit

Comfort is where Bose has always excelled, and the QuietComfort Ultra continues this tradition. The ear cups use exceptionally soft protein leather that creates an excellent seal without feeling hot or sweaty. The memory foam adapts to your ear shape, maintaining comfort during hours-long listening sessions.

Clamping force is perfectly calibrated – firm enough to maintain a good seal for noise cancellation but gentle enough to prevent fatigue. The headband padding is generous and prevents hot spots that can develop with other headphones during extended use.

For users with glasses, the ear cups compress enough to maintain comfort without breaking the seal significantly. The adjustment range accommodates a wide variety of head sizes and shapes effectively.

Sound Quality and Spatial Audio

The QuietComfort Ultra delivers Bose's signature warm, balanced sound with impressive detail and dynamics. The 40mm drivers produce rich, full sound with excellent bass extension that doesn't muddy the midrange. Vocals are clear and present, while treble is smooth without harsh peaks.

The standout feature is Immersive Audio – Bose's spatial audio implementation. Unlike simple surround processing, this creates a genuinely three-dimensional soundscape that places instruments and voices in specific locations around your head. The effect is subtle but compelling, particularly effective with well-recorded jazz, classical, and acoustic music.

CustomTune technology analyzes your ear shape and adjusts the sound profile accordingly, providing personalized audio optimization. While the adjustments are automatic and not user-controllable, the system works effectively to optimize sound for your specific anatomy.

Noise Cancellation

Noise cancellation performance is excellent, though not quite matching Sony's latest offerings. Low-frequency rumble from planes, trains, and air conditioning is effectively eliminated, creating a peaceful listening environment for travel and commuting.

The system includes three noise cancellation modes: Quiet (maximum ANC), Aware (ambient sound passthrough), and Immersion (ANC optimized for spatial audio). The transitions between modes are seamless, and each serves its purpose well.

Wind noise handling is particularly good, with minimal artifacting when walking outdoors. The system adapts quickly to changing noise environments, maintaining consistent performance across different scenarios.

Battery Life and Connectivity

Battery performance varies significantly based on feature usage. With spatial audio disabled, the QuietComfort Ultra delivers up to 24 hours of playback with ANC active. However, enabling Immersive Audio reduces this to approximately 18 hours – still respectable but notably less than competitors.

Quick charge functionality provides 2.5 hours of playback from a 15-minute charge session, which is adequate for emergency top-ups but not as fast as some alternatives. Full charging takes approximately 3 hours via the USB-C port.

Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity is stable with good range and supports multipoint connection to two devices simultaneously. The headphones remember up to 8 paired devices and switch between them reliably. Codec support includes SBC and AAC, though there's no aptX or LDAC support.

App and Features

The Bose Music app provides control over the headphones' various features, though options are somewhat limited compared to competitors. You can adjust noise cancellation levels, manage device connections, and access firmware updates, but there's no traditional EQ available.

Shortcuts allow customization of the noise control button, letting you cycle through your preferred ANC modes. The app also provides battery status, connection information, and enables/disables the Immersive Audio feature.

Voice assistant integration works well with Siri, Google Assistant, and Alexa. The wake word detection is accurate, and voice recognition performs well even in noisy environments thanks to the advanced microphone array.

Call Quality

Call quality is excellent with clear voice transmission and effective background noise rejection. The 6-microphone array with advanced processing ensures your voice comes through clearly during phone calls and video conferences, even in challenging acoustic environments.

The sidetone feature lets you hear your own voice naturally during calls, preventing the sealed-ear sensation that can make it difficult to modulate your speaking volume. Mute functionality is available through the app for professional applications.