The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds are new headphones that have an open design that’s ideal for staying aware of your surroundings on the run. They are a rival to the likes of the Shokz OpenFit and Clear Arc II open headphones, and bone conduction headphones like the Shokz OpenRun. So how do the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds fare on the run? Nick has been using them during his marathon training of late and gives his verdict on the £300/$300 buds here.
JUMP STRAIGHT IN:
00:00 – Intro
00:13 – Design & Fit
03:02 – Controls
03:59 – Sound Quality
07:42 – Battery Life
08:42 – Verdict & Alternatives
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Hello and welcome to run testers my name Is Nick and this is our review of the Bose Ultra open [Music] Earbuds so the ultra open earbuds are New headphones from Bose that were Released in February this year they are Open design headphones which Bose has Had in the past but they never crossed Over to the UK so we didn't test their Previous stab at an open set of Headphones but these are an all new Design a very unique design design that Clasps onto the year instead of hooking Over the top of it they're expensive Headphones they cost £299.95 in the UK and $299 in the US That is a really really high price tag You know that's equivalent to Bose's top In earbuds it's more expensive than Things like the Apple airpods Pro 2 or The Jabra Elite 8 active and it's about 100 quid or $100 more than other top Open headphones like the shocks open fit Or the clear Arc 2 buds so you know Everything in this View kind of has to Be taken into the context of that price Which is so high but they are unique and Very impr impressive headphones I found In my testing the design is really the Key aspect of them you've got this hook And then the little Barrel that rolls Around the ears so it clasps to the side Of your ear at a slight angle to
Position the speaker near your ear canal It leaves your ear canal clear so you Can still hear your surroundings that's The benefit of the open design which Makes them more suitable for running in Busy environments and then you have that Secure but comfortable attachment Through the barrel which rests on the Back of the ear and classit there Without pinching too tight I found that The fit really was amazing with these Headphones I think it's one of the key Selling points for sure you've got no Unwelcome pressure on any part of the Year with that clasp design it really Does sit very comfortably for hours on End I've used them like most of my day As well as runs I've done a 2 and a half Hour run whilst wearing the headphones And you can wear them very easily with Glasses hats everything else obviously They don't go over the top of the year In general the fit you know the best I've come across really it is very Comfortable and the speaker rests very Naturally in the right place within your Ear so you get clear sound from that Speaker without having to fiddle with it Too much on the run or at any other Times really so yeah it's an exceptional Fit for sure like even other open Headphones that sit over over the top of The ear sometimes I found that they Clasp the ear too tightly they put a bit
Of unwelcome pressure obviously in ear Buds aren't for everyone I don't love Amount pressure on my inner ear if I Wear them for very long period some of Them but so this is a key selling point Of the ultra open headphones is you've Got that awareness and a very Comfortable and secure fit so other Design notes these are not waterproof Headphones but they are ipx4 rated which Means they're sweat and water resistance Now there are Sports headphones with Higher ratings that might give you a bit More peace of mind in comes to Durability but but I've used ipx4 Headphones for many years of running in All kinds of conditions very sweaty hot Conditions and rainy conditions and I Don't really have any concerns about the Durability of these headphones on that Front it's always been a high enough Rating for me in the past as note the Headphones come in two colors there Black and this kind of Whitey silvery Color I've got here I come with the Carry case which is reasonably small and Pocket sized and obviously add a bit More battery life which we'll talk about In the battery life section and you Don't have any attachments on the Headphones to change the size at all cuz They just not needed with this uh clasp That obviously varies in size as it Rolls around the ear to class to
Individual ears so you don't need Different size ear tips or anything like That that with [Music] Them on the control front you've got a Button that is sits on the barrel that Goes on the back of the ear on each Headphone there are some controls that The same across both things like play And pause and Skip tracks you can do Very easily by the amount of presses you Have on the button you can raise and Lower the volume so on the right side That will raise the volume and on the Left that will lower the volume slightly Trickier control than the other ones That to get right the press and then Hold and then the general hold command Will activate different things on the Buds you've got B's immersive audio here That you can AC with that you can change The setting on the immersive audio Between still and motion or turn it off Entirely you can also set up that whole Control in the app to do other features Depending on what you want from it the Buttons are really good I think I like Buttons on headphones I have to say when You're running it's a lot easier to hit A button and it's more reliable to do so Than use touch controls like the ones on The both QC earbuds or any headphone With touch controls really you know Click the button you know you've clicked
It you've activated the command so yeah They're really good controls and I think There's enough controls there to suit Everyone's needs they're not missing Some like Bose have done with some of Their headphones in the past So sound quality is obviously a big Feature with the both Ultra open Headphones so in General open headphones Lack a little on sound quality compared To in your headphones almost by Design Because with that open design that lets In more noise from your surroundings Makes you more aware more safe you lose The passive and obviously sometimes Active noise cancellation you get with In earbuds you get less powerful bass That kind of thing so it is generally a Black mark against open headphones they Don't sound as good as in a buds but They are getting better and I will say The both Ultra open headphones are the Best sounding open headphones I've come Across in quiet environments like when You're working at your desk or that kind Of thing they are the match of in here Buds for me you get a real depth and Clarity to the sound especially in the Upper ranges they have really nice warm Sound profile that works really well for The kind of music I like listen to a lot Of alternative music or singer Songwriter stuff or classical music Sometimes and then you get enough punch
And power there when you're listening to Poppier rockier tracks or dance music Especially on the run when you put on Your power playlist whatever it is the Base here is pretty good you can up it In the app as well there's a kind of a Three bar EQ setting you can use in the App still not going to be as powerful as Any buds but certainly in quiet Environments the bass is good enough to Really enjoy your music there's enough Punch and power there to give you that Full sound profile that you want that Isn't always there with open headphones And then on the run the headphones are Really good they don't get drowned out At all so when I've I've done track Sessions with these headphones in very Windy on a very windy day when you know Track is the windiest place in the world And sometimes that blocks out the sound From your headphones if they're open Designed and that wasn't the case at all With these I've run by busy roads and Music and podcast neither of them are Drowned out on these headphones when You're in those kind of environments Whereas they often are with bone Conduction headphones I found it's very Hard to hear musical podcasts on bone Conduction headphones by busy roads and You still get that awareness ivly if you Have the volume turned up very loud of These you know don't get as much
Awareness as with headphones that leave The ears completely clear or a bit Quieter but you can obviously turn them Down and still hear everything around You really well in most environments I Did not miss having in earbuds using These headphones which is not the case With other open headphones they sound Really good to wear all day and use at Work and they sound loud and you Punchy Enough on the run that you can really Enjoy your music as well like when your Big playlist comes on on the run you can Really get into your music like at the End of a couple of long runs in issues 24 Mile and the last couple of tracks That came on were the the main song from The film Eurovision and uh All Saints is Pure Shores you know it's not Particularly great music but it's the Stuff that gets me going at the end of a Run and they you know they sound really Good they deliver the power to help you Just sail through that last mile or so If anything they're too clear for tracks Like Eurovision because then you get More of willare of's backing vocals Which are not great certainly across Nearly all of my use case scenarios the Headphones have been amazing on sound Qualtity there is still the problem with Open headphones if you are going to go Traveling on like bu trains and things Like the London Underground they are not
As loud and they don't offer any noise Cancellation and that is one of the big Drawbacks of open headphones in general It Remains the case with the ultra open Headphones you know it's hard to use Them in those kind of if you're going Traveling on a plane that kind of thing You want the inear bud or the ere ear Bud that blocks out more external noise You just not going to get that here they Also have Bose's immersive audio setting Which is like Bose's spatial audio the Idea is to almost position the music in Front of you and have it create more Depth and that more natural sound to it That's been blasted in front of you with Music um there's two settings still and In motion so you can use it on the Run Where you're turning your head a lot you Won't get kind of weird sound coming From just from one ear because your Phones in one pocket or something like That M of audio is nice sometimes on Like tracks from bands like beach house Like big soaring atmospheric tracks it's Quite nice to have it I think but a lot Of time I didn't really notice it that Much and it does kill battery life quite A lot it knocks 3 hours off the battery Life from 7.5 to 4.5 hours so for the Most part I did turn off the immersive Audio like occasionally it's nice I Don't think it offers a massive Improvements sometimes it makes certain
Types of music sound a little bit weird As well so don't think it's a must and You can certainly save the battery life And not having it on but occasionally if You're sitting at your desk and Listening to like I said that kind of Big soaring atmospheric tracks it can be Nice to turn it [Music] On battery life the bud is 7.5 hours on A charge that's up to 7.5 hours if you Turn on the immersive audio it drops to 4.5 you get another 19.5 hours of Battery life in the case for a total of 27 hours and the total is only 16.5 Hours if you're constantly using the Immersive battery mode and and there's a Handy Quick Charge feature which gets You 2 hours of playback from 10 minutes In the case so across my time using the BS uh whether it's on long runs or time At my desk I have found that they have Lived up to those battery numbers from Bose they will last more or less what They say even if you have the volume Cranked up on the run I did find that They hit the numbers listed by Bose and The Quick Charge feature is good it Really does fill them up pretty quickly If if you are you know if you do are Caught short on battery life and need a Bit in a pinch so yeah it's not Exceptional battery life you can get Smaller earbuds in buds that have a bit
More like the Elite 8 active but it's Certainly more than enough I'd say 7.5 Hours if you have the immersive audio is Really good it's going to see you Through most of your runs if you're Going on any run longer than that you Probably going be able to carry the case With you and that's not too hard to do It's fairly pocket size if you're going Out on a run with a a big running belt Or a backpack you can slip it in there Quite [Music] Easily so verdict on the Bose Ultra open Is that they are the best open Headphones I've tried quite comfortably And my favorite running headphones now I Do prefer open headphones on the Run for The most part for the awareness but also The comfort of the fit I quite like open Headphones as well at home if I'm Sitting at my desk in a quiet place and These sound a lot better than other open Headphones and the fit is the best I've Come across it's really comfortable for Long periods running and then not Running and just stays really securely In place no matter how sweaty you are or How long you're running for so really They live up to their billing they are Excellent headphones with great sound Quality more comfortable than in buds as Well which I do find irritate my ear a Little bit if I wear them for really
Long stretches so yeah pretty much Perfect that is except for the price now Can open headphones ever be worth this Much like you can get really fantastic In earbuds for the same price or less Than this like the Bose's QC earbuds or The new Ultra earbuds the Apple airpods Pro 2 the jabber active are a lot Cheaper and you are going to get beefier Base that more immersive sound quality Of in your headphones with active noise Cancellation and passive noise Cancellation and you know obviously you Get things like transparency modes too Which can bring a little bit of extra Awareness on the run or you can pop one Earbud out if you want to and you are Going to get more rounded headphones There that are better for the lifestyle Running crossover use like if you are in Noisy environments a lot you're going to Feel the benefit of those in your buds Like if you're traveling or you're on The tube or something like that these Are amazing like for my use case they're Great I don't go out of my house very Much apart from to run I don't travel a Lot so I prefer using these on the run And I actually kind of prefer them using Them at home because of the comfort Factor of this open design and that Really nice sound quality they have with A almost more open feel because of the Fact they're not blocking the earbuds
But if your use case scenario is a lot More traveling then you're going to get Better value from in buds for sure and Also if you just need open headphones Sometimes you can certainly get much Cheaper options there's the one more fit SE open earbuds s30 which is a bit of a Mouthful but they're 70 quid or $70 They're pretty solid open headphones you Can get those and the Jabra Elite a Active in earbuds which are amazing for Less than the open headphones and you'd Have great set of inbs and a solid set Of open headphones to use for you know Those occasions when you do want the Open design like they're also really Good open headphones that sound pretty Good for a lot less like the shocks open Fit the clear Arc 2 the Ola dance ows Sports so it's a hard sale at that price Like I think they're better than all of Those open headphones the fit is Exceptional the sound quality is great But if you need to travel a lot or do Just like having the extra base of in a Headphones sometimes it's it's hard to Justify spending this much on an open Set of headphones and then also getting Another set they're the best open Headphones out there they're my favorite Running headphones but you can get Better value I think than the B Ultra Open headphones unless your use case Scenario very similar to mine or if
Money is No Object obviously in which Case go for them they're amazing I loved Using them I think they're brilliant but Yeah 300 is a lot for a set of open [Music] Headphones That's our review of the Bose Ultra open Headphones let us know what you think in The comments below are you a big fan of Open headphones in general for your runs Now or do you prefer in ear buds or bone Conduction buds even please do like Subscribe ring the little bell and we Will see you next Time