Headphones and earbuds · Bose
Owners keep the Ultra 2 for long days of wear: they are light and comfortable enough for full work days, and many rank the noise cancelling among the best they have tried.
Comfort is clear praise. Owners describe the Ultra 2 as light and easy to wear for long stretches, and several who tried Sony and other rivals side by side chose the Bose mainly because it felt better on the head.
Customer support is a clear complaint. A firmware update removed features owners had paid a premium for, with no way to roll back, and owners who pushed Bose for a fix describe escalations that went nowhere, including a scheduled follow-up call that never happened.
The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) are wireless over-ear headphones with active noise cancelling. They are for people who want to block out noise on flights, commutes or at work, and who want long battery life. "Ultra 2" could also mean Bose's QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen). This page covers the over-ear headphones.
| Type | Over-ear (around-ear), wireless |
|---|---|
| Noise cancelling | Yes, adjustable active noise cancelling |
| Battery life | 30 hours |
| Charging | USB-C; 3 hours for a full charge; 15 minutes gives 3 hours of play |
| Bluetooth and codecs | Bluetooth 5.4, 30 feet range; codecs not listed in the specs |
| Weight | 0.583 lb |
| Water resistance | Not water resistant |
| Warranty | 1 year |
From the maker's spec page, checked October 5, 2026. A blank row means the maker does not state it.
30 hours of battery covers several long flights or about a week of commuting before you need to charge. If the battery is empty, 15 minutes on a charger gives you about 3 hours of listening. They weigh about 264 grams, a normal weight for large noise-cancelling headphones. They have no water rating, so don't use them in the rain or for sweaty workouts.
Pick up to three. You get a page with just those, side by side, on the subjects owners raised.
What keeps people happy is wearing them for hours without noticing. Owners who work long shifts say the comfort and seal let them keep the headphones on all day, and those who praise the noise cancelling put it level with or ahead of the Sony XM6. Several owners also point out that buying on sale or open box makes the price easy to justify.
Sound quality divides owners. Some prefer it to the Sony models they had before. Others, testing with no EQ, found rivals such as the XM4 cleaner, and one owner who returned them was put off by the limited 3 band EQ and the app. Views on the noise cancellation are mixed too: it can take a moment to adjust when surroundings change, and one owner was bothered by background hiss and how it handled sudden sounds. Battery life is also split, with one owner preferring the Sennheiser Momentum 4 for longer runtime.
On the hardware, owners are divided. One says Bose headphones can take plenty of rough handling before they fall apart, and another found the hinge a little sturdier than the Sony's, while other owners were less happy with the build. Durability is split down the middle. The clearer problem is software: owners say a firmware update took away features that set the Ultra 2 apart, and a longtime Bose owner says earlier models also had their noise cancelling made worse by updates. Affected owners have pooled feedback, contacted Bose escalation, and in some cases are thinking about switching to Sony. One owner of the earbuds version found the buds useless after losing the case, because the two are paired to each other.
Long-term accounts are thin. Most of what owners shared comes from the first days or weeks of side by side comparisons, so there is little here on how the headphones hold up after a year or more of daily use.
From 0 owner accounts that said how long they have had it. Own one? Add how long yours has lasted.
Counted from the owners who raised each subject, not from everyone. A subject is judged once at least 4 owners raise it.
38 more subjects came up from fewer than 4 owners each, which is not enough for a fair reading. To see how it stacks up, compare it with another machine.
The same owner, asked again at each point. Fills in as owners answer.
Two questions: how long you have had it, and anything you would like to say about it. Then we ask again as it ages. This helps our mission.
More in headphones and earbuds: Sennheiser Momentum 4, Sony XM6, Sennheiser M5.
Among the 0 owner accounts here that gave a duration, 0 described a failure.
Before you buy one used, ask the seller: how old it is, whether it was ever repaired and by whom, and whether any of the parts above have been replaced. Ask to see it run. A receipt tells you the warranty start date; most makers honour the term only for the first owner.
Public discussions we read and summarised in our own words. Nothing here was submitted to Still Kicks.
Counted from public accounts by people who said they own it, and summarised by Still Kicks in its own words. Not a manufacturer claim, a lab test or an estimate.
No account needed to look. Sign in with Google only if you want to track something you own.