Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones bring spatial audio and fresh looks
Fresh looks and day-long battery life promised for new flagship ANC cans
Bose, purveyors of some of the best noise-cancelling headphones money can buy, has unveiled its latest and greatest pair of over-ear cans. The QuietComfort Ultra Headphones get a chunkier new look and have been complete re-engineered inside with advanced mics, an uprated chipset and proprietary signal processing.
- Check out our Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones hands-on review
They replace the Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 as the brand’s flagship ANC model, with Immersive Audio tech bringing a Bose take on spatial sound for more immersive listening. We’re promised a more expansive, multi-dimensional soundstage that’ll put you in the sonic sweet spot for a more authentic experience. ‘Still’ mode will deliver a fixed sound when you’re sitting down, and ‘Motion’ is for when you’re on the go – or it can be turned off to save battery.
It’ll work alongside the CustomTune personalised EQ that debuted last year in the QuietComfort Earbuds II, adjusting audio playback and noise cancellation based on the shape of your ears. There’s also beamforming cleverness going on to pick out your voice from 360-degrees of unwanted exterior noise, which should mean crystal clear phone calls.
Design-wise the QuietComfort Ultra Headphones aren’t quite as slender as their predecessor, but they still follow the brand’s minimal stying and fold flat into their bundled travel case. Extra physical controls aim to make them easier to use, with power/Bluetooth pairing, multifunction button and capacitive volume slider on the right ear cup, and an LED indicator, 2.5 mm jack and USB-C charging port on the right.
Bose reckons the QuietComfort Ultra Headphones should manage up to 24 hours of battery life on a single charge, as long as you disable Bose Immersive Audio; with it on you should expect closer to 18 hours. That’s a bit behind our current favourite ANC over-ears, the Sony WH-1000XM5, but still enough for the longest of long haul flights.
You’ll be able to pick up a pair from early October, in a choice of Black or White Smoke colours. Pre-orders are open right now on the Bose website. Expect to pay $429/£450.
Bose also used its New York launch event to announce the QuietComfort Headphones, an update on the already superb QuietComfort 45 cans. They don’t get Immersive Audio like the Ultra, but still promise high fidelity audio, adjustable ANC, and 24 hours of listening per charge. They’ll be available on the 21st of September for $349/£349 in Black, White Smoke and limited-run Cypress Green colours.
Lee Bell
Freelance contributor 
