{"id":434,"date":"2024-05-15T19:12:26","date_gmt":"2024-05-15T19:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sixminutemile.com\/headphone-review-bose-quietcomfort-ultra-earbuds-299\/"},"modified":"2024-07-12T05:10:30","modified_gmt":"2024-07-12T05:10:30","slug":"headphone-review-bose-quietcomfort-ultra-earbuds-299","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sixminutemile.com\/post\/headphone-review-bose-quietcomfort-ultra-earbuds-299\/","title":{"rendered":"Headphone Review: Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds ($299)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By <\/span><\/span>Rebecca Trachsel<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/u><\/p>\n

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Moving right along. We\u2019re back with our fifth review of headphones for active humans. I\u2019m not going to lie, when SMM said I could tackle this project, Bose was at the top of my list.\u00a0 Even way back when, as a young music fan, I knew that Bose was one of the highest caliber brands for stereo equipment.\u00a0 My dad, also a music lover, always preferred Bose speakers for his sound systems which I was obviously not allowed to touch.\u00a0 I could, however, appreciate the sound and knew, even then, that it was high quality.\u00a0 Prior to this test, I had never used any type of Bose headphones for running; primarily due to the cost.\u00a0 And honestly because I didn\u2019t want to risk ruining such a high end product by running with them and potentially losing or damaging them.\u00a0 Personally, I always just assumed they were super nice and likely worth the high price but ultimately not for me.\u00a0 So, as you\u2019d imagine, I was thrilled when I learned I would be able to give them a go, thanks to SMM.\u00a0 For this test they purchased the <\/span><\/span>Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/u>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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These are specifically designed with athletes in mind.\u00a0 I definitely thought I would end this test with these Bose headphones at the top of my list.\u00a0 Not so.\u00a0 And I\u2019ll tell you why.\u00a0 But first, a reminder that I wear all of the headphones I test for a minimum of 50 miles and in all types of weather conditions.\u00a0 I also try to use them for multiple types of workouts and races when I can.\u00a0 As soon as these arrived I took them out of the box and leashed up my dogs to go for a walk.\u00a0 And the rest, well, see below and judge for yourself.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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QUALITY: <\/strong><\/span><\/span>As far as headphones go, these are a thing of beauty.\u00a0 Yes, that sounds dumb.\u00a0 But unlike the other brands I have tried, these just look fancy.\u00a0 Big, bold case.\u00a0 Shiny, sleek-shaped earbuds.\u00a0 If you were going to judge a book by its cover, and you should never do that, you would think these were a sure thing.\u00a0 I turned them on and jumped as I heard the Bose voice tell me they were connected.\u00a0 Even the \u201con\u201d sound is legit.\u00a0 The earbuds have up to six hours of battery life and the case holds an extra three hours.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Plus you can get up to two hours of listening time with a twenty minute quick charge, which is a nice option if you forget to charge.\u00a0 That said, this battery life isn\u2019t worlds better than any other pair that I\u2019ve tried to date so you\u2019re not getting something special here in this category.\u00a0 The case and the earbuds themselves are kind of big compared to most.\u00a0 Not that there's anything wrong with this.\u00a0 But I wouldn\u2019t run with this case in my pocket as I have with other brands.\u00a0 So something to note.\u00a0 They are water resistant but not fully waterproof which, if you live in an area where weather is iffy, might cause you to pause.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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OK, so bear with me on this next bit.\u00a0 The first time I tried them I wore them for a run on my treadmill.\u00a0 Mid-run, the music stopped and the Bose voice said <\/span><\/span>\u201cimmersion.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/em>\u00a0 I did nothing because I had no idea what that meant.\u00a0 Seconds later the voice said <\/span><\/span>\u201cquiet.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/em>\u00a0 Again, no idea.\u00a0 Naturally, I started tapping the earbuds in hopes that she would stop talking.\u00a0 Nope.\u00a0 Back and forth between quiet and immersion which I later learned are modes you can put the two of several modes that you can put the headphones in.\u00a0 Finally, I took them out and switched to a different pair.\u00a0 Very annoying.\u00a0 But, in fairness to Bose, I did not read the manual before I used them.\u00a0 So after I ran, I got online and did some digging.\u00a0 I learned a little more about the modes available to the user but I couldn\u2019t find any reason that mine were bouncing back and forth between two modes on their own.\u00a0 The site has a chat option and claims they are available to help 24\/7 but when I chose this way to ask my question, I got a message that said they were not, in fact, available.\u00a0 So much for 24\/7.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Finally, I called customer service.\u00a0 I explained what was happening.\u00a0 She also had no idea what I was talking about.\u00a0 Now, I\u2019m guessing she doesn\u2019t work for Bose, so I get that.\u00a0 But even after putting me on hold and asking someone else if they knew the issue I was describing, she came back with nothing.\u00a0 So she sent me a return label and I sent the headphones back to them.\u00a0 OK, I can appreciate that.\u00a0 It\u2019s inconvenient but at least they took them back for the exchange.\u00a0 A couple weeks later I got a second pair.\u00a0 I probably got about 30 minutes into a run before the same thing started happening — immersion to quiet. And repeat.\u00a0 Now, I\u2019ll admit, this is likely an error on my end.\u00a0 But, even so, I can\u2019t figure out how to solve it and I have legitimately looked.\u00a0 So, I am now reluctant to wear them for running and will only use them for dog walks or other activities where I\u2019m not leaning hard on my music.\u00a0 Obviously, none of this is ideal so this piece alone greatly impacts my overall grade of the product.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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SOUND: <\/strong><\/span><\/span>When they work, the sound is pretty incredible.\u00a0 You really feel like you\u2019re sitting in a room with a very high end stereo and having a one-on-one experience with your music.\u00a0 As I\u2019ve mentioned in my past reviews, I\u2019m not super picky about this category.\u00a0 If they play music and I can hear it I\u2019m pretty content.\u00a0 But I will say that these do honestly sound better than all the other pairs I\u2019ve tried.\u00a0 Everything is crisper, bolder and I can hear things in my music that I don\u2019t necessarily hear with a lower quality product.\u00a0 So that\u2019s a big plus for them.\u00a0 As you now know, they have multiple modes (immersion, home, quiet, loud) that probably make things ideal for what you are using them for.\u00a0 But, as you also know, I couldn\u2019t figure this out on the app or anywhere in the site so I\u2019m waving the white flag on this feature.\u00a0 Godspeed if you can figure it out.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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CONNECTION: <\/strong><\/span><\/span>The Bluetooth connection is perfect.\u00a0 I never had any issues with this.\u00a0 They connect quickly and easily.\u00a0 And calls sound really good; very clear.\u00a0 I don\u2019t use my headphones for calls very much but if I needed to, these are a very good option.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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FIT: <\/strong><\/span><\/span>I\u2019m not wild about the shape of these earbuds.\u00a0 First, they seem to be unnecessarily large.\u00a0 Second, they have a lot going on as far as an inner piece, a fit around the ear and a piece that comes down.\u00a0 Granted, this might be necessary for the high end sound they provide.\u00a0 But I find them bulky in my ears and that they don\u2019t feel very snug when I\u2019m moving.\u00a0 It honestly feels like they tried too hard and it backfired on them.\u00a0 But what do I know about technology other than how it feels and if it works for my needs?\u00a0 The earbuds are very sensitive to touch, so when I twist or push them in to re-fit them into my ears, the music inevitably skips or turns off.\u00a0 Again, why?\u00a0 You\u2019re going to touch them non-stop if you\u2019re moving, right?\u00a0 If they are this sensitive, there is always going to be an issue when you try to make them fit.\u00a0 Bottom line, too complicated for me and overall incredibly annoying to deal with.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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PRICE: <\/strong><\/span><\/span>At $299.00 (discounts are available occasionally) these are, in my humble opinion, ridiculously costly for the value of the product.\u00a0 If I\u2019m paying this much, I want it to work and if it doesn\u2019t, I want someone to help me figure out why.\u00a0 Neither of these were the case for me.\u00a0 The only thing they have going for them is the high quality sound, so if this is your most important feature, they might be worth exploring.\u00a0 If you figure out the mode thing, I\u2019d love for you to let me know.\u00a0 It still happens daily.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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OVERALL RATING: C-<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Rebecca Trachsel Moving right along. We\u2019re back with our fifth review of headphones for active humans. I\u2019m not going to lie, when SMM…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":490,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_breakdance_hide_in_design_set":false,"_breakdance_tags":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gear-reviews"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sixminutemile.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sixminutemile.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sixminutemile.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sixminutemile.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sixminutemile.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sixminutemile.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":545,"href":"https:\/\/sixminutemile.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434\/revisions\/545"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sixminutemile.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sixminutemile.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sixminutemile.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sixminutemile.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}