The physical controls are complemented by a loaded Bose Music app, which allows you to significantly customize performance, from adjusting the timing of the auto-off to fine-tuning the different sound modes and disabling Bose’s oddly awkward voice prompts.
There’s a lot more to tinker with, and it’s all pretty neatly organized on the homepage and settings, but I recommend skipping through the tutorial or you might miss some important useful features. For example, the headphones offer a nice feature that can reduce loud sounds, like Apple’s AirPods Pro (8/10, WIRED recommended), when you use Aware mode to hear the world around you. You just have to activate it in the Aware mode settings.
Likewise, features like adjusting noise cancellation or activating wind buffering to prevent gusts of wind from blowing out your ears are apparently only available if you create a custom ambient audio mode. The default modes are Quiet (also called noise cancellation), Aware and Immersion, which activate both noise cancellation and Bose’s new spatial audio mode (more on that below).
Another key feature is the three-band EQ, which isn’t as comprehensive as the multi-band EQ you get from the Sony app, but it does the job. In fact, I’d call it an essential addition for sensitive ears, as, as with most new headphones, the Ultra’s bass response is quite powerful as standard.
Swirling sound
Looking at the home page of the QuietComfort Ultra, you’d think spatial audio was the most important feature in the package. It can be fun, but its uses are limited in my experience. Unlike the latest AirPods and AirPods Pro, which can decode Dolby Atmos mixes from sources like Netflix and Apple Music, Bose’s system aims to simply “spatialize” any stereo feed.
It works well with some music, especially acoustic tracks, where instruments are virtually stacked around you in a layered soundstage. But I found it less fun for more complex stereo mixes and especially limited for video content. Try it with Netflix Our planet (with an impressive Dolby Atmos mix) adds some immersion, but Attenborough’s signature dialogue feels diminished, awash in metallic reverb.
Additionally, the optional head-tracking feature, designed to keep the sound centered as you turn your head, isn’t hard-wired to your playback device. So if you turn your head for too long, the sound strangely adapts to the new position of your head. The Ultra’s 24-hour battery life, which is already mediocre for the class, also drops to 18 hours with Immersive mode enabled.
The good news is that regardless of spatial audio, the QuietComfort Ultra delivers perhaps the best sound I’ve ever heard from Bose headphones. It’s sensitive and exactly where it needs to be, offering fantastic instrumental separation and spreading the sound across a wide and spacious soundstage.
As mentioned, the bass is booming by default, but if you turn the EQ down a few notches, everything is nicely balanced. When the bass becomes sufficiently powerful, it does so with clarity, musicality and authority that adds an exciting weight to hip-hop and electronic melodies.