Bose Ultra Open Earbuds Black

With the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds, sound sounds so spacious and detailed that it seems as if it is playing live in space. I hardly feel them thanks to the open design. Unfortunately, they do not have noise cancellation.

Spatial sound with Bose Immersive Audio Bose Immersive Audio provides a spacious sound and has 2 settings. In Static mode, the sound sounds as if it comes from one corner. If I move my head, the sound continues from that angle. For example, if I turn my head to the left, I only hear music in my right ear. In Dynamic mode I hear the sound around me and it does not change when I move my head. It sounds so spacious that I feel like it sounds in my entire studio. With podcasts I feel like I'm in the same room as the creators. Due to the spatial sound, music or a podcast sounds a bit further away than when I listen to stereo.

Earplugs that I hardly feel I have to get used to the fact that the earphones are clamped around my ear, but that goes quickly. After one song I don't feel them anymore. I like this because it doesn't press on or in my ear. This means I don't get any pain if I wear them for a long time.

Detailed sound I find the sound that comes from these earbuds powerful and detailed. I can hear the bass tones clearly, which makes the beat of a song sound clear. I think instruments and voices in podcasts sound realistic because of the detailed sound. I hear little ambient noise, despite the open design and the lack of noise cancellation.

Stylish design Because the earphones fit around your ear, I think they almost look like an accessory. I think the shiny detail that is visible from the front gives it a luxurious look. I like the charging case because of its minimalist design. It's a bit big to fit in my pocket.

Service The side that clamps to the back of your ear has buttons on top. This allows you to operate the earphones. You perform actions with the different number of presses. For example, starting and stopping music, but also switching between the Bose Immersive Audio modes. You can set how often you click for which action in the Bose Music app.

Skeptical as I was, I first bought a second chance. When I arrived I connected them to my phone and I was really surprised, many reviews indicate that the sound was flat and had no bass. I have tried other open ears but these have a lot more bass in comparison, really a lot more. And also a greater dynamic range. I regularly walk on country roads and with my AirPods Pro 2 and my Quiet Comfort Ultra I am still surprised by traffic coming from behind, such as electric cars or cyclists. But that won't happen to you with these open Ears. The music really does sound fuller, especially with the Queit Comfort Ultras. But you wear them in different circumstances, in places where ambient noise is less important. If you want to hear traffic clearly, these are the headphones to buy. Highly recommended. Make sure you wear them properly, if they don't fit properly the sound image will change enormously. And putting it on takes some getting used to at first. The pair I bought was white/silver, but many people thought I was wearing earrings. So I thought I'd send them back, because that's possible at Coolblue, and order black ones. That didn't work, because my wife wanted the white one from me. It's a lot of money, but safety is worth something to me.

If you are looking for earplugs that do not go into your hearing canal, then you should really try these. They don't go into your hearing channel. Your channel itself remains completely free/open. It's as if there are loudspeakers very close to your ears. The sound is what you would expect from Bose, just good. Just like with tips that enter the hearing canal, you can move the tips deeper into your canal, or in the case of these tips, bring the tips closer to your ear canal. Then you will notice the difference of these caps is very good. When you use them “without hands” the sound is simply very good.

Obviously safer than in-ear headphones, because you can continue to hear the environment faithfully.

You can feel the earphones, but the feeling remains the same throughout the hours. They won't irritate anything. They fit well and stay in place. In the beginning it feels like you can shake them out, but good luck, you won't be able to do that...

Sound, especially immersive audio, is very good. Volume can be more than loud enough. In the softest setting, the sound is still very present, but this is more due to the phone or device than to the earphones. I would personally like the sound to be even quieter, to place the sound even more into the background.

Operating the earphones is easy. Reading the instructions for use and installing the app on your device is recommended to take advantage of all the possibilities of the earphones. There is a setting to adjust to ambient noise. Using this option remains personal. Works fine, perhaps a bit too fast. (harder/softer).

In the app you can see the status/charging level of your earphones. Charge level of the case is not visible in the app. Based on the LED color on the case, you can only see when the case needs to be charged again (amber).

Connecting the Airbuds is fast, but especially in the beginning I had some issues with the Bluetooth. I had to reset the buds for this. After this things went well.

I do expect Bose to make some updates in the near future. Bluetooth is not 100% stable. This manifests itself in earphones that randomly restart once in a while. Or sound that suddenly stops and can only be solved by putting the earphones back in from the case. I haven't been using them for long, so this will resolve itself over time.