TESTED BOSE UTRA OPEN EARBUDS
These clip-on earphones keep your lugs clear while still piping tunes in, but how do they match up to Bose’s usual noise-cancelling in-ears?
£300 /go.stuff.tv/UltraOpen
■ The Ultra Open Earbuds are especially funky-looking ’phones. Each one is essentially two parts held together by a flexible rubber strip. The bit with the speaker driver goes in your ear, but doesn’t cover the ear canal; the bit with the battery and playback button hooks on behind it.
■ Comfort is king when it comes to open-fit earphones, and the pressure applied here is just right: when there’s no music on you’ll practically forget you’re wearing them. IPX4 sweat-resistance makes them ideal for exercise, though they’ll struggle to compete with the average gym PA system.
■ These Boses sound clear and precise, with plenty of detail, an impactful mid-range and crisp highs… if not much in the way of sub-bass. Of course, the open design means you can forget about using them in very noisy places.
■ Bose’s Immersive Audio mode is present and correct, expanding the soundstage without losing any chunks of the frequency range. It can also move the mix around as you turn; this is more subtle than some head-tracking spatial audio.
■ The buds can last up to 7.5hrs of stereo playback (Immersive Audio brings it down to 4.5hrs), with enough standby time to stay on your ears all day. And they’ll tell you how much life is left in them whenever you put them on, so you shouldn’t get caught short.
