OPEN QUESTION
Bose’s Ultra Open Earbuds don’t go into your ears and always allow ambient sound in – but are they good full-time earbuds?
SPECIFICATIONS
Audio features immersive audio Connectivity USB-C, Bluetooth 5.3 Microphones 2 per bud Weatherproofing IPX4 Battery life 7.5 hours buds; 27 hours total Dimensions 19x17x27mm bud; 42x65x26mm case
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds are earbuds that don’t actually go into one’s T ears at all. They’re also earbuds that don’t isolate – quite the opposite, in fact, as environmental sound is purposefully allowed to pass through at all times. But are they the best all-time earbuds for those of a niche audio persuasion?
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds aren’t exactly awash with features that you’ll often find in pricey competitor headphones. But that’s because many features, such as ANC, would simply unravel the whole point of a product such as this.
For us it’s the Ultra Open Earbuds’ design that truly sells them. If you dislike earbuds probing your ear canals, the way Bose has designed these ’buds is a true accomplishment. There’s no aggressive hook or clip to concern yourself with here, as the earbuds simply wrap around the outer edge of your ears using the flexible section between the earbud itself and the battery ‘barrel’ at the other end.
And their comfort factor is off the charts. We’ve genuinely forgotten at times when we’re wearing them, as the mere 6.35g per earbud mass is more-or-less unnoticeable. You can wear from morning to mid-afternoon or from noon to night with no bother.
To get the most out of the Ultra Open Earbuds you’ll want to download the Bose Music app for Android/iOS first. The Bose Music app shows you how to wear the earbuds as, frankly, we could see how easy it’d be to make a dog’s dinner out of that the first couple of times.
Fortunately, a couple of tries later it’s easy as pie though.
Load of app
The Bose Music app is also the place where you get to tweak other settings. Adjust the equalisation (EQ), which we’ve found handy to get the sound to give that little extra, and toggle between usual stereo and static/ motion Immersive Audio. This spatial audio ‘soundstage’ adds a real widening of the audio – although it’s less impactful in these passthrough earbuds compared to full-on ANC over-ears in our opinion.
Which brings us to the sound. Generally speaking the audio from the Ultra Open Earbuds is solid, but as the earbuds don’t fit in your ear, instead hovering nearby, you’re not going to get the very biggest audio profile that you’ve ever heard. The Bose are absolutely not bone conduction earbuds though. Each earbud uses Bose’s OpenAudio Acoustic di-pole proprietary technology to funnel the
