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Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds
Noise-canceling kingsAt $300, these earbuds need to be fantastic to warrant their price tag. Thankfully, they meet the mark. The ANC is some of the best we've ever seen, and the Immerse Audio feature is genuinely impressive. The lack of wireless charging is a big oversight, but the good outweighs the bad.
Pros- Excellent ANC
- Impressive spacial audio
Cons- No wireless charging
- On the expensive side
- No Bluetooth multipoint
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Source: Samsung
Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro
Ecosystem master$168 $230 Save $62Samsung's Galaxy Buds have been a hit since the first generation, and they only get better with each version. The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro have solid ANC, and incredible sound, especially if your streaming service supports 24-bit audio, and the ecosystem benefits from Samsung users are hard to ignore.
Pros- 24-bit audio support
- Wireless charging
- Samsung ecosystem benefits
Cons- Mediocre transparency mode
- Best audio codec is Samsung-only
Earbuds have come a long way in recent years, especially when it comes to noise cancellation, which is getting closer to headphones all the time.
There are a lot of earbuds to choose from, so Bose is going to have to do something special to stand out against the competition with its new QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds. How do they stack up against the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, some of our favorite earbuds? Let's find out.
Price, specs, and availability
The QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds are available for $300 from Bose and major retailers. They come in Black or White Smoke and have impressive specs like Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and a new Immersive Audio feature we'll discuss later.
Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are $230 and can be purchased from Samsung directly or any major retailer. You can get them in Graphite, White, or Bora Purple. The specs for the Buds 2 Pro are pretty impressive, with support for 24-bit audio, seamless multipoint connection, and more.
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Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro Battery Life 6 hours per charge, total of 24 hours with case 5 hours (ANC on), 18 with case Noise Cancellation Yes Yes IP rating IPX4 IPX7 Weight (earbuds) 7.7g 5.5g Dimensions (earbuds) 31.2 × 20 × 24.3mm 19.9 x 21.6 x 18.7mm Waterproof Yes IPX7 Charging USB-C USB-C, wireless
Design and fit
The QuietComfort Ultras fit snuggly into the ear, while most of the hardware sits inside a rectangular piece just outside your ear. A key benefit to this design is that they don't stick out too far, so you don't feel they'll wobble out of your ears as you run. The case is a similar shape to the Google Pixel Buds Pro, with a tall and thin design. There's a USB-C port on the bottom; sadly, that's your only method of charging these earbuds. This is a major oversight, given that earbuds are much cheaper than this and have included wireless charging for years.
The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are more spherical than the Bose, so they stick out of your ears slightly more. Thankfully, the difference is minimal, and the Buds 2 Pro are quite light, so they feel secure when moving your head quickly. They're made of a soft-touch matte plastic that feels lovely against the ear. The charging case is the antithesis of the one that comes with the Bose. It's a small flat square, which fits in small pockets better than any other case design. There's a USB-C port on the back and a Qi wireless charging coil on the bottom.
Sound and call quality
Both sets of earbuds sound great. The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro uses a proprietary codec that makes them sound best when connected to Samsung devices, and they can play 24-bit audio when connected to a Samsung device using a compatible streaming service, like Amazon Music. Call quality is rock solid, thanks to the array of microphones that cancel ambient noise.
The Bose QuietComfort Ultras sound better, though. You'll get their full quality regardless of which device you connect them to, which is a big plus. The $70 price difference is known here, with deeper bass and crisper highs than the Galaxy Buds. The Buds 2 Pro doesn't sound bad, but the Bose is just better.
The difference is even more apparent with features like ANC, ambient passthrough, and Immersive Sound. Both sets of buds have these features, but the QuietComfort Ultras do it best. This is especially true of Immersive Sound. It can simulate 360-degree sound or track your head movement, so it always sounds like your music is coming from whatever direction your phone is in. The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro does this, too, but only on Android devices with the Galaxy Wearable app. The Bose does all of this on the buds themselves, so it works with any device.
Software and compatibility
Both earbuds support Bluetooth 5.3 and can be controlled and customized with an app. However, Samsung has a major advantage — a diverse ecosystem of products. The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro supports Bluetooth multipoint connections, although it's only with Samsung devices and computers with Windows 10 or 11. When connected to your phone, you can control them using a Wear OS tile on your Galaxy Watch. Said Galaxy Watch can pair directly to them and play downloaded media if you leave your phone behind.
If you're watching a video on your Samsung tablet and receive a voice note or phone call, Buds 2 Pro will automatically pause your video and connect to the phone. When you're done, they'll return to the tablet and resume your video. It would be nice if this worked on any device with the Galaxy Buds app rather than just Samsung devices, but it's better than nothing, and the Bose QuietComfort Ultras don't have anything like this.
Battery life
The Bose QuietComfort Ultras have a weird quirk. Your three listening modes are ANC on, Immersive Audio (which also uses ANC), and Transparency mode. That means you can't turn ANC off to extend battery life, which is an odd omission. This leads to a maximum of six hours of battery life in ANC mode, with four hours when using Immersive Audio. The charging case can recharge the buds enough times to give you a maximum of 24 hours. In our experience, the quoted battery life is dead accurate.
The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro do let you disable ANC to extend battery life. The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro can last up to eight hours with ANC off and five hours with ANC on. The case has enough charge to give you a maximum of 30 hours and charges the buds rapidly. As previously mentioned, the Buds 2 Pro have wireless charging, so in a pinch, you can reverse wireless charge the case from your phone.
Which is right for you?
While expensive, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds get an easy recommendation from us. The lack of multipoint connection and wireless charging is an annoyance, but the fantastic sound quality and noise cancellation make up for those shortcomings.
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds
At $300, these earbuds will need to be fantastic to warrant their price tag. Thankfully, they meet the mark. The ANC is some of the best we've ever seen, and the Immerse Audio feature is genuinely impressive. The lack of wireless charging is a big oversight, but the good outweighs the bad.
If you're invested in Samsung's ecosystem and own a Galaxy Watch, tablet, or phone, then the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro could be your better option. The benefits that come with a tightly integrated ecosystem are hard to ignore.
Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro
Samsung's Galaxy Buds have been a hit since the first generation, and they only get better with each version. The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro have solid ANC, and incredible sound, especially if your streaming service supports 24-bit audio, and the ecosystem benefits from Samsung users are hard to ignore.
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds vs. Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro: Escaping the Galaxy garden - Android Police
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