Bose QuietComfort Active Noise Cancelling Earbuds | White Smoke is rated
4.5 out of
5 by
24.
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Baz from
Better than expected
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] The Bose QCE set a new standard with their exceptional noise-canceling ability, effortlessly blocking out even the most persistent background noise. The long battery life means you can enjoy uninterrupted playback throughout your day without constantly needing a charge.
Designed for comfort, they fit securely and don’t budge, even during intense activity. What’s more, their significantly smaller size compared to the predecessor makes them lightweight and discreet without sacrificing sound quality. With this perfect balance of comfort, performance, and convenience, these earbuds are a top choice for any audio enthusiast.
Date published: 2024-09-24
Rated 5 out of
5
by
JamesP from
My new, favourite noise-cancelling ear-ware!
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I’m an autistic-ADHD audiophile, hypersensitive to noise, so, effective noise-cancellation is vital for me! I’m, therefore, thrilled to share my review of these awesome new Bose QuietComfort Earbuds!
Sound Quality
Earbuds perform superbly in terms of overall audio quality!
Nice balanced sound, good bass/treble.
EQ settings in companion app to tweak sound to taste (5 pre-sets & customisable one with 5 sliders.
Sound quality matches my QuietComfort Earbuds II & Bose 700 headphones.
Clarity & detail on podcasts, music & phone calls good. Each word & instrument clear from sound stage.
I’m very particular about sound & report no hums/buzzes, listening on low volume (or with audio input off), & noise-cancelling on.
Earbud mics picked up my voice clearly on phone-call, filtering out kitchen noises, but struggled with Alexa alarm.
Comfort
As well as looking stylish, Earbuds are extremely comfortable to wear & water-resistant!
3 different sizes of soft silicone eartips & stability bands.
Selecting appropriate combo to form seal with ear - aids noise-cancelling tech to block unwanted sounds & stops audio leaking out too. Default pre-fitted eartips/stability bands worked well for me!
Have to rotate Earbuds slightly, to "lock" in place on ears; neither has fallen out after hours of use!
Earbuds are 2g heavier than my current Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II, chunkier & rounder, & protrude slightly more – but just as comfortable!
Silicone eartip exerts little pressure on my ear canal. Feels similar to resting finger tip on ear opening!
Earbuds reasonably comfortable to sleep in; I sleep on side, & weight of head, pressing Earbud against pillow, doesn't cause it to dig in to me.
Noise-Cancellation
Impressive noise-cancellation!
Noise-cancelling on a par with Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II, & slightly better than Bose 700 headphones & Bose QuietComfort® Earbuds (Confusingly named Bose QuietComfort Earbuds too!)
Earbuds’ noise-cancellation blocks repetitive, low frequencies particularly well, e.g. dehumidifiers, dishwashers, washing machines, base-y music, stormy weather.
It doesn’t cope as well with higher-pitched, less repetitive sounds, e.g., speech/TV, which are muffled, but not cancelled completely.
Earbuds have 3 noise-cancellation modes:
Quiet Mode - Full Noise-Cancellation
Aware Mode - Hear Surroundings & Audio
Off – Noise-Cancellation Off (Saves Battery)
Quiet mode is extremely effective, it almost entirely cancels my wife’s CPAP machine noise, meaning I can sleep well!
Also, I had to switch from Quiet to Aware mode to know if “silent” dishwasher was on or off; it was on!
Aware mode gives exceptional transparency with no distortion of sound.
Earbud sensors register if one/both earbuds are being worn. If Earbud removed, sensor will detect & pause audio.
A slight issue - my phone alarm didn’t sound in Earbuds, although audio did pause; & noise-cancelling is so good I only realised phone alarm was ringing on checking why music had stopped!
Bluetooth
Strong Bluetooth signal, easy switching between different devices!
Linking Earbuds to my Android phone was simple; with Earbuds in ears, using phone's Bluetooth settings to pair a new device, took 30 seconds.
Linking Earbuds to Amazon Firestick, by selecting “Bose QuietComfort Earbuds” from an “Add Bluetooth Devices” sub-sub-menu in Settings, worked seamlessly. Earbuds’ audio synchs perfectly with Firestick video!
Once setup, it takes seconds to re-connect Earbuds to phone or Firestick.
5 most recent devices are stored in Earbuds’ device list. List can’t be viewed, only deleted.
Earbuds offer convenient multi-point connection feature. This allows 2 active devices to be simultaneously connected by Bluetooth to Earbuds (though only 1 device can play at a time); &, if you stop playing audio on one device, you can immediately play other device's audio in your Earbuds, without pain of re-pairing devices each time.
Earbuds use Bluetooth 5.3. Range is excellent - I can leave phone in kitchen & wander apartment with no dropouts/stuttering!
Sadly, my microwave oven, when on, interferes with Earbuds' Bluetooth signal, causing audio to break up.
Battery Life & Charging Case
Solid battery life, speedy Earbuds charging from charging case, additional charge stored in charging case
Long battery life is vital for wireless Earbuds, especially if using for sleep.
Happily, Earbuds last up to 8½ hours playback on a full charge (My Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II last only 6 hours!).
Earbuds’ hard plastic, charging case provides extra battery life, up to 2½ full charges (21+ hours).
Case is slightly fiddly to open; front has a tiny LED status light; & small groove, indicating lid opening; rear has USB-C port.
The chunky, bean-shape (flat bottom, outwardly sloping sides & curved top) fits awkwardly in hand, & this, plus smooth texture, means I’ve dropped case a few times & scuffed it already!
Case is small enough to fit in pocket or bag, but lacks fastening mechanism & can fly open on impact.
Magnets orientate & snap Earbuds into correct left/right case charging-slot, with a reassuring click.
Earbuds require slight “wrestling” to remove from case.
Case status light colour (green, amber or red), & whether it’s solid/pulsing, indicates remaining case charge, or Earbuds charge, depending on whether or not Earbuds are in case, & whether case is powered (via USB-C cable or wireless charging).
Status lights are unintuitive, but, usually, green is good!
My Earbud batteries haven’t yet fully depleted, & putting them in case, after use, recharges them quickly.
Earbuds support fast charging.
When batteries drained, 20 minutes charging provides up to 3 hours of power to Earbuds.
Up to 1½ hours in case fully recharges Earbuds.
2 hours connected to power fully recharges case, which can charge whilst Earbuds inside are charging!
Removing Earbuds from case & positioning correctly in ear, triggers a remaining battery life voice prompt, e.g.: "BATTERY 100%!"
Controls & Features
Jam-packed with lots of controls & exciting functionality!
Earbuds/case have no physical buttons, but various patterns of single/double/triple taps & holds, on touch-sensitive areas on each Earbuds’ rear, allow control of functions, such as noise-cancelling mode, volume, play/pause, & skip.
Touch-sensitive areas are highly sensitive - brushing against them can set off unintended actions. Sadly, sensitivity level can't be changed.
Touch control combinations are a little tricky to master. Trying to increase volume, I've inadvertently skipped tracks, or changed noise-cancelling mode!
Control options can be customised in brand-new Bose QCE app, with a choice of actions, or non-action (Earbuds don’t work with earlier Bose apps).
App displays percentage of battery life left for each Earbud, & predicts remaining play/phone time.
Earbuds can be used without QCE App, but using App vastly improves experience.
Opening App for first time, an Earbuds firmware update message appeared. Easy to follow instructions meant I managed to update firmware quickly without issue.
As well as touch controls, you can use phone directly to change things like volume, skip tracks; also can change various Earbuds settings via App.
Enabling Voice Control in App (App needs to run in background, along with phone being paired with Earbuds), is another way of controlling Earbuds’ functions.
Voice control fairly intuitive, but commands have to be worded precisely.
"Hey headphones. [Earbuds Tone] Volume Up."
increases volume,
but: "Hey headphones. [Earbuds Tone] Increase Volume."
does nothing, as it’s unrecognised!
Saying: "Hey headphones. [Earbuds Tone] Assistant" & then e.g.: "News Headlines", or "Weather", opens up phone's Assistant (e.g. Google Assistant) & completes requested action.
Taking photos “remotely”, using “Hey Headphones” voice command: "Take Photo.", is a cool feature!
Sadly, my voice control is temperamental, working for a few minutes before stopping. Going into App Voice Control setting, to toggle off/on, gets it working again, but only for a few minutes.
Trying to fix this issue permanently, by stopping "Bose QCE" App from "sleeping", by selecting "Always Allow" option in "Optimise battery usage", in Android phone settings, sadly, didn’t work. Hopefully, Bose will be able to identify a fix soon.
I find voice prompts, such as: “BATTERY 100%!!”, “QUI-ETT!!”, “Ah-WARE!!” quite loud & intrusive. Initially, they made me “jump”! Prompt volume can’t be changed.
Generally, Earbuds are easy to use, although it’s frustrating when touch controls do their own “thing”, or voice control stops responding!
Bose don’t include a physical manual with Earbuds, but there’s a link in App (& also on product page) to 59 page manual (pdf format), which is worth skimming through, as Bose have packed many brilliant features into these Earbuds, & other goodies, like Bose Immersive Audio, are promised soon!
My Verdict
I'm loving these Earbuds!
Delivering high-quality noise-cancellation & sound experiences, they live up to both parts of their name – Quiet & Comfort!
Longer battery life, voice control, multipoint connection & wireless charging are welcome improvements over my current Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II.
Significantly cheaper than QuietComfort Earbuds II’s replacement (QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds), QuietComfort Earbuds exceeded my expectations, despite technical issues with the voice control feature, which Bose will hopefully fix soon.
These are now my go-to noise-cancelling ear-ware! I heartily recommend them!
Date published: 2024-09-27
Rated 4 out of
5
by
VB from
Small yet mighty!
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I have been using these for almost 4 weeks now and I am very impressed by these. They are cheaper than the BOSE QUIETCOMFORT ULTRA EARBUDS yet, the sound quality is on parr in my opinion. The case material could be improved to have more grip along with a softer closing mechanism but that’s my preference. I used these on a 3 hour flight recently, in my woodworking shop, on long walks in the countryside and on shopping trips in town; the sound quality is truly what is expected from Bose. The app certainly delivers and the fact that I can customise the functions/ taps makes it more personal and practical. If this suits your budget, I would strongly recommend these earbuds.
Date published: 2024-10-04
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Annie097 from
Excellent Noise Cancelling
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I am a long time wearer of over ear noise cancellation headphones and always thought the noise cancelling of ear buds would never match. I was wrong. These ear buds have amazing noise cancelling abilities, just as good as the over head ones. The feature to go from quiet, aware to noise cancelling off was also very good and easy to use. The sound quality, again, was faultless.
The sound quality of phone calls when outside/ in noisy environments is very good. Had no issues with any calls I made.
The ability to customise the ‘touches’ to specific actions you want in the Bose App was also very good and a great idea. The accompanying app itself is good - easy to use and great way to configure your buds.
I can also say they are very durable - I managed to drop the case several times (on wood and vinyl floors) and the case never split open, broke or had a scratch on it. The earbuds are the same- I feel confident that if one accidentally fell- they wouldn’t break.
Comfort- their size to me is no issue, they are on the bulkier side. The sizing/ variety of their changeable buds could use improvement. I think offering smaller sizes would be beneficial. I use the smallest size on offer and could do with an even smaller size for the best fit. Despite this, they are not uncomfortable.
The battery life is exceptional! Barely needed charging compared to my other devices.
I would definitely recommend these to friends and family, and would definitely purchase these again in future. They are expensive, but for the noise cancellation quality- they are worth every penny.
Date published: 2024-10-23
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Shoaib1308 from
Worth Every Penny!!
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I have been delaying to review this product for around 3 weeks, just so I can maximise my time with these earbuds and put it through it's paces.
I will start of with cons, this is really hard for me to do as I am a massive BOSE fan. There are 2 things I felt could of been better.
1. Comfort. These earbuds never truly settled in my ears, I 0tried the various diffrent adjustments provided but in the end, it always felt like they were about to pop out.
2. Appearance, I just didnt like the look of these earbuds. They felt to big and looked to big. I would of preffered If they were a little smaller. It felt as if someone had pushed golf balls into my ears.
Thank god thats over, here comes the PRO's!
1.Sound Quality, I also have the QUIET COMFORT ULTRA EARBUDS, I genuinley thought they were untouchable, these are just as good, or dare I say it...better. when listening to music or watching a movie, i always felt the bass was right when it needed to be, the clear crip voice sound..everything was on point in terms of sound quality. CAN NOT FAULT THEM.
2. These earphones feel solid and are so easy to use. So easy to use the app and in terms of connection. Honestly, I have never used any earbuds/earphones that connect as quick as these do.
Overall, an excellent piece of equipment, for me it will be a SOLID 8/10. If I didnt have the Quiet Comfort Ultras, these would be my daily go to's
Date published: 2024-10-17
Rated 4 out of
5
by
P Mistry from
Another Bose Masterpiece!
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Another well thought out product from Bose, easy to pair and use, with a great app to customise and maximise the listening experience.
The battery life and longevity of the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds is great. I used them on a long-haul flight for about 3/4 hours straight, at a quality volume level and they were very comfort throughout.
Would highly recommend, replaced my airpods!
Date published: 2024-10-07
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Jessg from
Best noise cancelling
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Noise cancelling for these are so very good compared to previous versions. The smaller buds look cuter and are comfy. These are perfect for uni when trying to focus.
Date published: 2024-09-27
Rated 5 out of
5
by
SBL from
A Fantastic Earbud
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I have had the QuietComfort earbuds for week.
As expected from Bose, the sound quality is excellent and can be personalised using the EQ function in the dedicated BoseQCE app. I have enjoyed listening to a range of music and hearing elements that are not distinguishable using other earbuds.
The noise cancelling lives up to Bose’s reputation and is excellent, blocking out all background and distracting noise in the office. With the ability to sync to multiple devices I have been able to seamlessly switch from listening to music on my phone to joining Teams calls on my laptop.
The earbuds fitted perfectly out of the box, with a snug, comfortable and secure fit that remained in place whilst running or working out in the gym. No worries they will fall out. The introduction of Voice Control - a feature not available on my QuietComfort Ultra earbuds - I found a useful feature whilst running.
The only slight downside I have found is occasionally one of the buds does not connect with my iPhone, requiring replacing the buds into the case and refitting into the ear.
Oh - and another Bose App. Whilst the QCE app works brilliantly, I now have 4 Bose apps
I am a big fan of Bose and this is another product that I definately recommend
Date published: 2024-09-21
Product Care
Protect your purchase with Product Care™. Get a brand new replacement if your product suffers an eligible fault through our hassle free support process, plus enjoy a range of exclusive benefits like a product health check and free prints each year so you experience your new product even more.
Discover all of the benefits Product Care™ brings you:
Protection
With Product Care™ you can relax knowing your purchase is protected. After an assessment, if your product suffers a fault covered by the terms of your plan, we’ll arrange to have a brand new replacement delivered to your doorstep.
Support
Our range of support options ensure you experience an easy and hassle free process when you need to talk to us about your Product Care™ plan. Whether you are experiencing a fault, or wanting to redeem your entitlements, we will provide you with guidance and support every step of the way.
Advantage
Having Product Care™ with your purchase means you can enjoy a range of special benefits that are exclusive to you and will help you enjoy the experience of your new product even more.
