Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2 Review

We reviewed the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds this time last year, we said that it had a lot to offer despite the premium price point. The noise cancellation was best-in-class while the sound quality was on par with the best out there. Enter this year’s Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2, which from an aesthetic standpoint, looks so different from its predecessor. Does it improve upon an already solid device? Let’s find out.

Table of Contents

Design and Construction

The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2 is much smaller in every way from the first edition of the earbuds. That’s not saying a lot though as the first QC earbuds were bigger than anything in the market. I extensively used the first edition throughout last year and the size was never an issue for me. The smaller size of the Bose QC2 is a welcome addition to this year’s release, both the case and the earbuds themselves are around half the size of its predecessor.

What hasn’t changed though is the solid construction of the whole package. The case feels super solid and would survive being both in your pocket or shaking around inside a bag. The earbuds themselves are smaller but again, just feels solidly built. They are a bit bigger than your regular earbuds but it gives you a sense of security that these buds just look so well built.

The QuietComfort 2’s have one of the best fits that I have tried from earbuds. They come with silicone stability bands in 3 sizes, small, medium, and large that wrap around the body of each earbud that allows the earbuds to fit securely in your ear. Aside from that you get the usual different sizes of ear tips that would suit your preference.

The Bose Quietcomfort Earbuds 2 comes in 2 different colors, Triple Black or Soapstone. We hope that Bose will release more colorways in the future just like the first QC’s which came in a variety of different colors.

Comfort

One of the most important factors in choosing earbuds is the comfort they afford the user. The QC2’s I can positively say get a big plus in this category. The smaller size really makes a difference here and the bands also help secure that fit.

I tested the QuietComfort earbuds on a long trip and it never got to the point that I had to rest my ears. Compared to the first version, I had to take those out every once in a while when I’d be on a long airplane or car ride as they started to get uncomfortable after a few hours. Maybe it’s the smaller size of the earbuds that don’t fatigue my ears as much.

I never actually had an issue with the earbuds falling out of my ear. I used to walk and jog and I always felt that the earbuds were secured no matter what exercise I was doing. I use the smallest ear tips as my ears are a bit smaller than average and I never had trouble finding the perfect fit in my ear.

Sound Quality

Same as my previous sentiments, you expect a different level of sound quality when it comes from a company such as Bose. Given the premium price you are paying for, there has to be a certain standard when it comes to sound quality. Right off the bat, the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2 are not the best sounding earbuds you can buy at this price point, there are other brands that do sound quality better, but they aren’t bad as well.

When you first put on the QC2’s the earbuds will send a short test signal to calculate and adjust the sound to your ears. It’s a very cool feature at first, but in practice, I don’t really see the difference versus just wearing the earbuds. There’s more of a difference in adjusting the EQ settings in the Bose Music App. The Bose QuietComfort 2 sounds similar to its predecessor, solid treble and vocals and just a decent enough amount of bass. If you are a bass-head then you are definitely going to be looking for a bit more even with the bass boost preset on in this device. Listening to a mixture of different genres yielded similar results for me. Elton John and Dua Lipa’s Cold Heart produced the full range of sound you would want to hear from the song without the bass overpowering everything else. It was a pleasurable listening experience for me. Listening to The Weeknd’s new song Best Friends left me wanting for a bit more bass as the electric nature of the song naturally pulls the bass back a bit so you would want to use the bass boost feature in a song like this to truly immerse yourself. Watching media using the QC2 is a different story though, I tremendously enjoyed watching all sorts of content on this device. Watching Top Gun: Maverick created the kind of surround sound experience I was looking for. The sound of planes flying past you can clearly be recognized while dialogue is crystal clear using the earbuds.

For fun, I used the earbuds to play a couple of games of Call of Duty: Warzone from my PC. Surprisingly I didn’t have any issues when it came to sound delay on the device. Everything seemed fine from my experience, given that both the QC2 and my PC have Bluetooth 5.3. Lastly, call quality was clear even in areas where there was a lot of ambient noise. I tested the QC2 in a mall with a lot of noise around me and the person I was talking to on the other end could clearly hear me. Using the earbuds on Discord also yielded similar results albeit they needed to boost my volume a bit in order to hear me clearly.

Battery Life

Bose claims that the QC2’s would last for up to 6 hours with ANC on and I barely got there during my tests. I tested 5 hours and 46 minutes with the ANC on and volume at 75%. You can get up to 3 full charges using the case though so that’s more than enough for my use. Sadly, wireless charging still isn’t available with the QC2, which is something people might complain about given the price tag of the device.

The Bose Quietcomfort 2’s also feature fast charging which allows the device to get up to 2 hours of playback with just a 20 minute charge.

Noise Cancellation

I had to create this category to highlight the one feature that Bose has over any other brand or earbud out there: Noise Cancellation. By far the Bose has the best ANC in the market full stop. If you are going for earbuds for ANC then the Bose is the best you can get. The world just disappears when using this device and it’s not something you would want to be wearing if you are walking down the road or on a bike, you wouldn’t hear anything that’s coming. I give props to Bose for being able to improve upon an already great ANC product in the first iteration of the earbuds. I used the first version in a recent trip to the US and it was a godsend in a noisy airplane with even noisier people. The QC2’s just take it to the next level, I wish I had these on my recent trip.

The QC2’s would’ve made me forget my surroundings or things happening around me with how good the ANC is on this device. This makes watching or listening to anything while you are somewhere more immersive as it just sucks you into your own world. For people who need to listen to the world around them though, the aware mode of the device delivers in spades. For the first time in a set of earbuds, I don’t feel as if the ambient noise mode sounds artificial. Bose has made a product that makes it seem like you aren’t wearing anything and just hearing the natural noise around you with the QuietComfort 2.

Conclusion

The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2 is simply the best earbud out there if you are looking for Noise Cancellation. If that’s number 1, then you don’t have to look elsewhere. But if you’re looking for the best sound quality then you have other choices out there. For me though, I’d put the Bose QuietComfort 2 at the top right now of premium earbuds as the combination of solid sound and the amazing ANC really puts it over the top. I can live with its sound signature as the Bose Music App allows me to customize the sound to fit my needs (as I’m not much of a basshead) and the new form factor of the case and the amazing build quality of the earbuds themselves really has me sold on the device.

I love solid, sophisticated, and futuristic looking things like the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2 and in a market where most earbuds look like each other (ahem, stems), I’d like to stand out. So check it out and try the QC2’s yourself, Bose even has their own demo in certain stores for customers to experience how amazing the ANC is on this device. The Bose QuietComfort 2 is priced at PHP 19,500USD 332INR 28,170EUR 316CNY 2,420 and is available at Bose stores nationwide.