Bose Ultra Open Earbuds

Verdict

An impressive take in the wearable audio category, the Bose Open Ultra Earbuds boast good sound, great comfort and a solid list of features. Call quality is still hit and miss, and the premium price is arguably a little too premium

Introduction

Bose Ultra Open Earbuds look to capitalize on the growing interest in the wearable audio.

Wearable audio comes with compromises but the concept is becoming more popular as people seek to be in tune with not just their music but their surrounding environment.

Open-air headphones offer the freedom that other types of headphones can’t quite achieve. They’re a tricky concept to pull off, so how well has Bose executed it with the Ultra Open Earbuds?

Design

• Comfortable design
• IPX4 rating
• Physical controls

Bose’s approach to Ultra Open Earbuds’ aesthetics is more in line with fashion accessories than true wireless earbuds. The brushed metallic finish gives them a distinct look, and though only black and white finishes are available now, the design lends itself to different colourways.

It’d seem natural enough to have a variety of colours to personalise the earphones – although perhaps not to the extent of Maluma’s diamond encrusted version worth about $20,000.

The earphones fasten around the earlobe in a “cuff design” made up of three parts: the driver section along with the battery barrel, which connects via a silicon coated flex arm. Unlike a traditional wireless earbud, these don’t block the ear canal but allow sounds to pass through freely.

On top of the battery barrel is a physical button. I tended to hold the top and bottom in a pincer, that way the earbuds wouldn’t move. You can control playback, volume, the Immersive Audio feature, as well as any shortcuts through the clicky buttons on each earphone.

It’s incredibly easy to clip them on even with my predominantly weaker hand. And once they’re attached they don’t pinch or cause irritation. They’re light, and you can shift them up and down your ear for the best comfort or position to play audio – it’s a rather clever design. Wearing the earbuds with music playing, there’s little audio leakage even at high volumes.

They’re rated IPX4 to guard against water and moisture. The charging case is compact, and the earbuds magnetically fasten inside. There’s a Bluetooth pairing button on the case with a USB-C port for charging on the underside.

Features

• aptX Adaptive support
• 28 hours battery total
• Bose Immersive Audio

Bluetooth 5.3 supports SBC, AAC, and aptX Adaptive (for Android devices). There’s also Snapdragon Sound support for higher quality sound and lower latency Bluetooth with compatible devices.

There’s Google Fast Pair for connecting to Android devices, while Bluetooth multipoint was added in an update in July 2024. Wireless connectivity has been solid – weak connections have been few and far between, and the buds maintain a strong connection to my phone even when I’m far away.

Through the Bose app you can monitor battery life, volume control, adjust EQ settings and switch modes – Stereo or Immersion. The app has a tendency to be flaky, connection issues or unresponsiveness seem par for the course. Sometimes I’ve had to restart my smartphone or put the earbuds in the case to get the app working again.

Immersive Audio is supported on the Bose’s Ultra headphones range and turns stereo audio into 3D. It requires (a very brief) calibration to set up. If you find that Immersive Audio doesn’t sound right, it can always be re-calibrated.

There’s a choice of modes in Still and Motion. The former keeps 3D audio fixed to your position, while with Motion, music moves as you move your head, keeping the listener immersed as you walk about.

In general, Bose claims 7.5 hours from the Ultra Open Earbuds, which is more than the Sony LinkBuds‘ 5.5 hours. With Immersive Audio that figure drops to 4.5 hours.

There’s another 19.5 hours from the charging case (12 with Immersive Audio on), which makes for about 27 hours in total. In the battery drains I carried out, the Open Ultra lost 30% battery in two hours, which puts them around the 7+ hour mark, in line with Bose’s claims.

Fast charging is supported with two minutes providing two hours, and there is wireless charging support though it requires a slip-on accessory. For a £299/$299 pair of headphones, it’s starnge that’s not standard. Even £70 wireless earbuds have the feature.

The buds have been updated with the Auto Volume feature that adapts the volume in accordance with how loud the environment is; while voice pickup has been tweaked though it doesn’t seem to have yielded a positive effect.

The call quality of these earphones is still rough. Like the noise-cancelling model, they have a trend of picking up noise as soon as I open my mouth. While voice pickup seems reliable enough when it’s quiet, the person on the other end found it hard to hear what I was saying and divorce it from the noise around me.

On my side I found it hard to hear what they were saying even with the volume turned up to the max. Any continuous loud sound (basically being outside) made it difficult to have a conversation. If you’re going to use these earphones for calls, make sure you’re in a very quiet place.

Sound Quality

• Clear audio
• Lacks bass extension

These wireless earphones will live or die on the sound quality. There are obvious compromises due to the form factor – quite frankly I would not recommend them on public transport or anywhere else that’s loud as you’ll struggle to hear anything.

But in the right environment, these are one of the better-sounding open earphones I’ve tested. They sound better than the Sony LinkBuds, and where they edge those earphones is in the clarity they afford mids and highs.

A listen to Esperanza Spalding’s I Know You Know and the Bose offers a crisper, more defined midrange compared to the Sony’s smoother and warmer performance. The LinkBuds don’t carry as much detail and sound softer as a result.

With Bill Evans’ All Of You, the Bose are clearer and brighter in describing the tinkling of the ivories. The Ultra Open Earbuds show a more capable and assured hand in reproducing high frequencies.

They’re also capable of going louder than the Sony, useful enough in noisy environments but just better in terms of the default volume. Ultimately though, the louder they get, the thinner and more hollow they sound.

Where the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds most obviously falter is with bass. While there’s some bass presence, clearer and slightly bigger than the LinkBuds are capable of, there’s a flatness to tracks such as Katy B’s Katy on a Mission.

Where I can see the Open Ultra Earbuds being a very good choice is listening to the audiobooks. Without needing to deal with bass heavy soundtracks and focusing on voices, I feel as if I could listen to my Audible book of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy for the entire 13 hour run-time.

The soundstage is not the widest but the Immersive Audio works well in creating a soundstage in front of you and not just to the sides. But of the recent Bose headphones I’ve tested, the Open Ultra Earbuds are the ones where the Immersive Audio features feel the most limited because of the lack of noise isolation.

Turning on Immersive Audio thins out music and makes it sound softer. But the worst aspect is the lack of noise isolation. When I used them on a train it sounded so faint that I could not get a sense of where the sounds were or what I was even listening to.

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