Bose has now officially unveiled its next-generation QuietComfort wireless earbuds. Very much like Apple just did at its Glowtime event just over a week ago, Bose isn’t dethroning its latest generation flagship QuietComfort Ultra earbuds – its direct competition for the AirPods Pro 2 – but rather updating its mid-ranger QuietComfort buds with the next-gen set.
Next-gen Bose QuietComfort earbuds debut today
It wouldn’t be out place for Bose to decide to launch its new earbuds at the same time Apple debuts its latest AirPods, it has certainly done it before and, in fact, literally just minutes after the AirPods debut on the virtual stage in Cupertino. But this time around it has decided to give Apple (a little bit) of breathing room for one reason or other, debuting its direct competition for the new AirPods 4 just over a week late(r). And more specifically, we are talking about the AirPods 4 with Active Noice Cancellation. The new Bose buds debuting are, after all, a set of QuietComfort earbuds complete with the brand’s world-class noise cancellation tech in tow.
The new Bose QuietComfort are available for purchase today and at the exact same $179 as Apple’s latest AirPods 4 with ANC.
Bose is once again marketing its next-gen QC buds with “best-in-class” noise cancellation by way of six onboard microphones analyzing the noise around you, alongside a “rich listening experience that hits all the right notes.”
They are a workout and everyday lifestyle-ready set of personal listening devices. The new buds feature an IPX4 rating to withstand “daily commutes and walks in the park” as well as an “evening run” with a trio of earbud and stability band sizes included in the box.
The buds themselves deliver 8.5 hours of listening while the included charging case carries an additional 2.5 charges – that’s roughly 21+ hours in total by my math, which is not overly impressive but also just about on par with the status quo in this weight (price/quality) class. They can be powered back to full strength in 1.5 hours while a 20-minute quick charge delivers an additional 3 hours of battery life.
The Bluetooth 5.3-equipped earbuds feature a 30-foot drop out distance – you can be up to 30-feet away from the audio source device – and leverage multipoint connectivity to multiple devices for seamless and quick switching.
Onboard touch controls – Multi-tap, swipe, and trigger selfies
The entire experience is customizable by way of the free companion app, as is customary these days with just about all headphones out there.
The on-bud touch controls allow for the usual stuff – stop, play, pause, skip to next song, and the ability to adjust the noise cancellation – configurable single, double, and triple tap, plus swipe gestures included. You can switch between the Quiet (full noises cancellation) and Aware (hear what’s going on around you) modes. You can adjust the EQ settings, and “unleash the power of your voice” – answer calls, play media, control volume, and tap into your voice assistant of choice just by saying Hey headphones. And some other cool stuff too:
Bose says you can even “strike a post and capture the moment of the day” with the Remote Selfie feature that effectively turns your earbuds into a remote camera shutter trigger. Does that mean all my pictures are going to show me touching my ear? Let’s hope not. I guess there’s a delay in place here or something, I haven’t tried this out yet, but I guess it could be cool…maybe.
Either way, Bose makes some of the best earbuds on the planet, are among some of the only options that actually give Apple an honest to goodness run for their money in my opinion, and there’s a brand new set looking to take on AirPods 4 – perhaps the only legit contender out there releasing in the same window too.
The new Bose QuietComfort earbuds are available in black, white smoke, and chilled lilac for $179.
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