Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones: Are They Worth The Splurge?

With a baby and a loud and playful dog at home, cancelling out as much noise as possible has been crucial for me to get work done. Before getting noise cancelling headphones, I wasn’t able to focus because I was getting distracted by these two beings! While I love them, getting my work done is key.

I took it upon myself to find the best noise cancelling headphones (I toyed between earbuds and over-the-ear headphones, and decided to get over-the-ear headphones because they provide better noise cancellation and acoustics than earbuds).

There are hundreds of headphones in the market. After doing a lot of research, I landed on the Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones.

Why these? The Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones — also called the “Bose QC Ultra” — caught my attention because of their durability and noise cancellation quality. 

I tested them for 90 days, taking them on plane rides, to the gym, on walks outdoors, and to loud coffee shops. I made phone calls with them from my phone and took video calls while they were paired to my laptop. In this guide, I’ll cover design, functionality, and the pros and cons of the Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones.

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Purchase

I bought these headphones directly from the Bose website because they offer a 90-day return policy, a price match promise, and free shipping and returns. When I bought them, they cost $429, plus $34.32 for taxes, coming to a total of $463.32. Shipping was quick — I received them two days after purchase.

Design

Overall Design

The headphones are beautifully designed. The exterior and ear pieces are made of plastic and aluminum, and are lightweight. The inside of the band and the cushions are made of pleather. 

The headphones are lightweight and don’t weigh down on your head. The headphones weigh a little bit more than half a pound (.56 pounds, to be exact). The dimensions are 7.7 inches high, 5.5 inches wide, and 2.0 inches deep. They come in black, white smoke, lunar blue, and deep plum (the color I got).

Headband

The headband is easily retractable and maleable. You can lengthen or shorten it to fit your head. It doesn’t have the clicking that other headbands do, but I didn’t find the clicking necessary, as adjusting the band to your head is very easy. You simply slide the headband and it stays at the setting you want. 

Earpads

The earpads are soft and comfortable, cupping your ears without pressing on them. (Note that if you wear long earrings, you might have to take them off when wearing your headphones so that your ears don’t get tugged.) The earpads are designed to cup your ears at an angle, so they don’t press uncomfortably on your ears.

Case

The case is stunning — sleek, elegant, and compact. It can easily fit in a small backpack or travel bag. For me, the downside with the case is that inserting the headphones into it is difficult. The case has two concave areas, one for each ear cup. You must adjust the cups to face the same direction so that they fit into the case. Once I realized that you have to fully retract the band and then move one earcup upwards, it was all fine. 

Charger

The headphones come with a charging cable (USB C to USB), which only works for charging, not for listening. You can charge your headphones and listen at the same time, as long as there is some battery in them. 

Note: The cord provided is not very long (20 inches). If you want to listen while you’re charging your phone, you will have to connect your headphones close by or get a longer cord. You may also need your own USB wall charger (a block), if you’re not plugging them into a USB socket on your laptop or other device.

Audio Cable

The headphones come with a 3.5 millimeter to 2.5 millimeter audio cable, which can be used as an alternative to Bluetooth or wireless connectivity. Unlike the charging cord, the audio cord is long enough to connect it to your device or the airplane monitor while you have your headphones on your head. 

Functionality

Set Up

Unboxing and setting up the headphones is an easy process: You take them out of the box and can start using them. They’re partly charged when you receive them — mine were charged about 70% when I unboxed them. Downloading and setting up your device on the app is also very simple (more on the app below).

Controls and Customization

The headphones have two buttons (Bluetooth/power and the multi-function button) and a slider for volume on the right ear cup. This works very well, as the buttons and slider (to make a swiping motion) are all on one side. To increase or decrease the volume, you swipe up or down.

The multi-function button allows you to go to the next or previous song, as well as answer or hang up a call. You can also switch between paired devices and change modes. The Bluetooth/power button allows you to pair your device and turn your device on and off.

When you take the headphones off, they turn off. When you put them back on, they automatically power back on and resume playing in the last mode used (unless you’ve set specific preferences on the Bose app). This saves battery, which is great. I found this to be very useful as you can take the headphones off, then put them back on and the music will resume. 

Bose App

With the Bose app, you can customize your headphone experience and create settings specifically for you, or use the pre-set modes. You can also switch from one mode to another, but you can only do this through the app. 

Setting them up on the Bose app is quick and simple. I highly recommend doing this so you can see what mode you have your headphones in and can create custom settings (including the level of noise cancelling you want, etc.). I also recommend playing around with the “Tips” section of the app to learn how to use your headphones in a way that’s ideal for you. 

Modes

There are various modes already available on the app. These modes have pre-set controls for noise cancellation and/or immersive audio. You can listen to music while you’re on any of these modes, or you can have a mode on without any music. You can create your own modes and choose one as your preferred go-to so that the headphones start at that mode. You can switch modes on the app or with the multi-function button on the right ear.

The pre-set “Quiet” mode has a higher noise cancellation control, so you can focus on your work or tasks. The “Focus” mode has a Wind Block mode that reduces noise in windy situations. When toggled on, the wind block kicks in and adjusts the noise cancellation.

The pre-set “Aware” mode allows you to hear everything that’s going on while you have the headphones on. So, you can wear the headphones, have your ears covered, and still hear everything going on in your surroundings. You can also listen to music and hear everything going on. This mode can be particularly useful when you’re walking in the street and want to hear cars coming by, but don’t want to take your headphones off. 

My favorite mode is one I created and called “Focus.” I like this mode because the music sound is pristine and allows me to do just as the mode says — focus. I set the noise control to full noise cancellation and the immersive audio to still, so the audio stays in place. It’s very similar to the pre-set “Quiet” mode available.

If you’re into listening to music and content, the “Immersion” mode has full noise cancellation and has enhanced depth with motion audio that follows you when you move around.

Bluetooth

The Bose QC Ultra headphones easily connect to Bluetooth. It’s a simple process where you connect them to your laptop, PC, or other devices with the Bluetooth button on the right side of the headphones and pair them with your device.

You can have multiple devices paired at once and switch between them. With the Bluetooth/power button, you can control and switch which device is connected to your headphones.

An important note:  If you have more than one device paired and take a video call on your laptop or PC, I suggest turning off the “multi-point connection” in the Bluetooth settings. Otherwise, the audio from your laptop will get interrupted by the audio from your phone (if you get a phone call or a notification, for instance). It’s a quick solution and will prevent your calls or audio from getting interrupted.

Making Calls

The Bose QC Ultra headphones are excellent for calls. When I make calls, I am able to hear people perfectly and folks report that they hear me clearly. You’re able to answer calls and hang up with the control button on the right ear.

Equalizer

The equalizer, labeled “EQ” on the app, allows you to control the bass and treble. Play around with this feature: It makes for a customizable and very fun experience when you’re listening to music.

Battery Life

The headphones have a battery life of 24 hours. The headphones can be charged using the USB (A to C) cable that comes with the headphones. You can plug the cable into a PC, laptop, or wall charger (block). The headphones take up to 3 hours to charge fully. 

To make sure the headphones are charging, there’s a battery light that’s amber or green. Amber shows that the headphones are charging (and also when they’re low in battery) while green shows you that they’re fully charged. There’s a 15-minute fast-charge feature that gives you between 2.5 and 3 hours of battery life, depending on what you’re using the headphones for.

When you put your headphones on, you receive an update announcing how much battery life is left. You can also see the percentage on your Bose app. While I do wish the included charging cord were longer, I found the battery life to be very good. Another bonus is that when you take your headphones off your head, they go to sleep to save battery life. You can also turn them off with the Bluetooth/power button.

Noise Cancellation

The noise cancellation is fantastic. Note that you can still hear outside noise, as they don’t cancel 100% of it. They do allow you to concentrate and block out most noise: I took them on long flights and wore them in loud coffee shops, and I found that they work very well in different noisy circumstances, allowing me to work, make calls and focus. 

If you’re in a quieter space, like a coworking space or at home, you may still hear noise, especially if you’re not listening to music and just have the headphones on. Make sure you choose the right mode on the app to have them on noise cancelling mode.

Like I mentioned in the “Modes” section of this article, selecting or creating the mode that works best for you will be a game changer, since you can create the exact ambiance you want. This way, you can get the exact level of noise cancellation that works best for you. For me, creating a mode with full noise cancellation has been key to focus better.

Wrap Up

They are worth the splurge! The Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones are definitely worth the price thanks to their quality noise cancellation, sleek and comfortable design, and customizable audio modes. With these headphones you can focus, listen to music and content clearly, and make phone calls from very loud places without all that background noise.