https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/bose/quietcomfort-ultra-headphones-wireless

I'm not an insiders member at Rtings, but I'm quite curious to know what is Rtings opinion on the new Ultra headphones. Hope it will be available to all soon.

The preface of this review is that the standard 2023 QC headphones cost 200€, with the QC Ultras costing 350€. I wanted to understand if the extra +150€ could be justified.

Sound: I am no audiophile by any means, but I have very sensitive ears. The sound on the QC Ultra's was a touch better, but to anybody's untrained ears, there is nowhere near a substantial enough difference to call this any more than a tie. Most of the frequency tests I could find online showed minimal differences between the two. I wondered if the difference I could feel was actually placebo based on how both headphones felt different on the head, something I bet is a factor - despite never being talked about by reviewers.

ANC: Again, a very slight increase on the QCU. Then again, the clamping force is stronger on the QCU, so I wonder if this is actually giving the impression of less noise. Both are excellent. I would say the ANC on the standard QC is still an upgrade over the AirPod Max, for those who have tried them.

'Aware-mode': The transparency on the QCU was noticeably better, especially when listening to one's own voice. I wouldn't put it very far behind the AirPod Max transparency, which many consider to be the GOAT. The standard QC's were definitely good enough though - good enough that I wouldn't feel the need to take the headphones off when talking to people (although I often find it is more polite to do this with strangers...).

Comfort: Both are extremely comfortable, as everybody already knows. The clamping force is stronger on the QCU, and it is a tad heavier. This means the QCU does get hotter on the ears quicker. I would definitely give the point to the standard QC here, especially for those with large heads like myself.

Build Quality: both have great build quality. The QCU is a bit better, with aluminium arms and more protein-leather rather than plastic. Personally I prefer an all-black headphone, I wasn't too happy about having satin silver visible on the QCU. The point would still go to QCU, though subjective.

Controls: QCU has the annoying touch capacitive volume which is absolute sh*t. I have medium-length hair, which often covers that area and stops me from using the volume, not to mention when wearing gloves how difficult it is. Even with a bald head, it's hard to get the volume exactly where you want. Standard QC just has traditional buttons, much easier! They also have an easier on/off switch, though I do not understand why they chose to put it in the middle of the cup!?!? Point goes to QC, though I admit the QCU looks cleaner with less visible buttons. Subjective.

Portability: The standard QC's can be ordered with the SC (soft-case) version, which has a significantly smaller profile whilst maintaining decent protection. Personal preference I guess, but for me, the soft case is much better for travelling, especially since it takes up no space without the headphones inside.

QC Ultra Extra Features: I found the immersive mode to me pretty crap. I knew I wouldn't be using it much for music since I am mostly on the move, but I thought maybe it would be good for podcasts. It's not. Voices just sound weird, and actually makes it harder to focus on what they are saying with other distractions around you. Apple does a better job with their Spatial Audio. I'd argue that maybe for watching TV it could be cool, but then again, there aren't many people who use headphones with a TV! QCU also uses a more modern Bluetooth version, I doubt anyone in this price range cares about the difference between Bluetooth 5.1 and 5.3, though. QCU also has head detection, for me it is more of an annoyance.

QC Extra Features: the standard QC comes with an inline microphone attached to the audio cable, the QCU does NOT! This is a big one for those who want to use the headphones for gaming on PC or Console. The QC with their inline mic work great on my Xbox Series X. I have actually gotten rid of my previous gaming headphones. Mystery why the QCU does not have an inline mic included, since they actually also work on the QCU with no problem. QC also has better latency, twice as fast, according to RTINGS.

App: both use the same app and have access to pretty much all of the same important features, like wind-reduction and EQ etc. Both can do multi-point connection.

Conclusion: It is an easy choice to return the QCU and keep the standard QC. The upgrade is absolutely not worth 150€. In fact, the standard QC just wins in most of the categories for me anyway. Better portability / better comfort / better controls / "all-black".

Let me know what your thoughts are!

https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/bose/quietcomfort-ultra-headphones-wireless#test_423

Ultra are providing not that great ANC measurements but contrary to that Rtings is claiming ANC is the best. What a mess. Measurements seem not to be able to realistically capture the ANC behavior.

Hello everobody,

Can somebody tell me the difference between this two headphones, like why is so big price gap and why are Ultra Headphones so much expensive?

I am thinking about to buy one if this two - just for meetings and music…and want some user expiriencies, to see what is better for me…Thanks!

I am in the market for some new headphones. I went and tried on both headphones at an electronics store and the comfort was pretty much the same. The QC Ultras did have a more premium feel but for an extra $130, are the Ultras worth it over the QC? Just wondering if the sound quality is much greater in the Ultras and if Bluetooth 5.3 is worth the upgrade from 5.1 in the QC?

I've had many headphones and played different games with them, ranging from battlefield, escape from tarkov, slender the eight pages, and many more. I used Audeze Mobius for example, I loved the 3D audio feature, I also loved how good the mic was. My crusher anc 2's broke last night, and I'm wondering if this headphone is good for gaming? I mean I read that the mic was decent, it has punchy bass, and even has spatial audio. Do any of u have issues with the headphones or do you love it just as much as the people in the amazon and bestbuy reviews do? I already have an arctis nova pro wireless which is my 7.1 headset, though it really isn't that good at it imo and does not fit my head well at all. I guess what I'm wondering is, would it make sense to get these headphones for music and gaming or should I possibly consider going for a newer true surround headset with 7.1 audio like the arctis has?

I'm debating between https://www.bose.com/p/noise-cancelling-headphones/quietcomfort-acoustic-noise-cancelling-headphones/QC-HEADPHONEARN.html and these https://www.bose.com/p/headphones/bose-quietcomfort-ultra-headphones/QCUH-HEADPHONEARN.html?dwvar_QCUH-HEADPHONEARN_color=BLACK&quantity=1 . I currently have the QC45 and want to get an update because I have had them for a while. Are the ultras worth the extra $100? I use my headphones for music and noise cancelling and I am interested in the spatialized audio but I don't know anything about headphones. What are the pros and cons? Please dumb it down for me because I literally don't know anything about headphones. Thanks!

Hello guys,

I was plannig to buy the new QC ultra but I was wondering if they are a viable choice for gaming.

I know theres steelsseries and such but as a business person / major gamer i need something that can be ok to use in a boss in front of my employees and good at home to play helldivers.

Will they be good to be on discord? Will I need smt else like an external mic?

I know bose used to have a gaming set for the old QC#% unfortunatley they didn t do it for the ultra tho

Just got a pair of QC in white smoke for our daughter and spent some time comparing against my Utras.

For me, the Ultras win in comfort. The earpads and headband cushioning are thicker and more plush. The QCs aren’t uncomfortable, but the thinner cushioning is noticeable.

In our house the ANC sounds and feels the same between the two. Any difference in quiet and aware mode is splitting hairs in a relatively quiet environment.

Both have Bose’s warm sound profile, but the QC is more forward sounding, so the soundstage isn’t as wide as the Ultras. The bass on the QC extends a little lower and has slightly more attack and definition than the Ultras.

The mids and highs are decently represented on both. The QCs are more forward/direct while the Ultras have a more delicate touch with both.

A couple of reviews I watched noted some channel imbalance with the QC and I hear it. Out of the box they favored the right side slightly or quite a bit depending on the song. I did a factory reset which helped, but I can still hear some imbalance and it’s still more prominent on some tracks vs others.

I like both and I think it comes down to preference in soundstage. Those who like a more forward punch may prefer the QC. Those who like more spaciousness may prefer the Ultra. I prefer the Ultras for classical and acoustic stuff, but I’d have no problem using the QC for punchy rock and pop stuff…especially if I were in the mood for more bass.

Hi,

I've been using QC25 for several years now and am really happy with them. However I wouldn't mind an upgrade to Bluetooth, as the cable is a bit annoying sometimes, and I'd welcome it too in case the NC is slightly better (the NC of the QC25 is already really good, but better is always better :) ).

My questions...: Are the QC Ultra really better than the QC25, and in what regards? According to RTings ( Bose QuietComfort 25/QC25 vs Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones Wireless Side-by-Side Headphones Comparison - RTINGS.com ) they're pretty similar in sound quality, and the QC Ultra are very slightly heavier and have slightly higher clamping force, which is a minus for me, as weight and clamping force bothers me quite a lot.

Additionally I'd be using it mostly with an iPhone, which according to my understanding, doesn't support Adaptive aptX, so would I be stuck with noticeably bad Bluetooth audio quality and latency? Would I notice lip-sync issues when watching a Netflix movie on the iPhone with the QC Ultra? (I usually do notice these things more than the average person and I care about them, I would say I like good sound & video quality and can hear/see some differences, but I'm not a super extreme audio/videophile either.)

Is the NC in the QC Ultra significantly better?

Would the QC Ultra be a good upgrade for me or do I better stick to the QC25 (which are still great...) and just continue living with the (slightly annoying) cable?

If I sometimes also listen from a PC (where I could use the Bose USB Link thing I guess), would that change things significantly?

Thanks a lot for any input.

Hello community ! :)

I’m looking for a new pair of Headphones. I currently have no headphones and I’m looking for the best first purchase (i’m not upgrading from anything)

I used to have the Sony MX-4 but I didn’t like them because they weren’t comfortable for me and because the mic quality was mediocre.

I’m looking mainly for comfortable headphones with great NC and a good mic. **Note: I wear glasses

I will be using them mostly for long travel (airplane) and work (meetings+music).

I listen to a little bit of everything , I love R&B and EDM.

I’m currently hesitating between the QC45 and the QC Ultra (I don’t think the new regular qc are worth it considering they have the same bluetooth version as the qc45). I did go to the store and tried them on. I find the QC ultra a lot more comfortable but I’m not sure the price tag is worth it…

Where I am, the QC45 go for $300 (black friday deal) and the QC ultra go for $500 (black friday deal).

Thank you for your help :))

TL;DR Just a small town girl, livin’ in a corporate world

I had Sony WH-1000XM5 for 6 months. After that, unfortunately, right earcup stopped working. I was compensated the money and decided to buy a Bose QuietComfort Ultra as I thought it'd be an upgrade. I used Bose QC Ultra for 2 days which was enough for me to make a comparison between them.

Sony

Pros:

• Good sound.

• Good ANC, no white noise at all.

• Great buttons: easy to alter sound level (it changes sound by the same small rate I change it using laptop keyboard keys which is great for me), switch between ANC and ambient mode (no need to press and hold, just press).

• Fast charging: 30 minutes to full charge. If you need it quick, 3 minutes charging gives you several hours of headphones working.

• Decent ambient mode, fast to enter. It feels a little muffled, but it's still great. There is absolutely no hiss.

• Almost 0 (0.4 ms) latency on wired connection.

• Can work wired without turning the headphones on (this saves battery). Though in that case ANC doesn't work and I personally don't see use cases for this. ANC is great during playing games - it blocks fans, neighbours and other noises which disrupt gaming experience.

• Pleasant voice assistant: it's only a bit loud which is not a problem. Music when turning on/off and changing ANC on / ANC off / ambient mode is great and not loud at all.

• Astonishing call quality. In noisy enironments, you're gonna be heard clearly and loud enough, blocking the noises around.

Cons:

• Terrible headband: top of my head is aching bad after long sessions because the headband is too narrow. This is a well-known issue for a lot of people which keep them from buying these headphones. This was the only reason I wanted to change to Bose QC Ultra.

• Terrible grip: the headphones are not sitting tight, every head turn makes them shift their position. When you move, the headphones are shifting a bit. Also, it makes ANC to recalibrate, as a result you hear surrounding noises better. But overall it's not that bad and won't give you much trouble.

• Multi-connection is not working the best: when I'm playing games on a laptop and want to switch to listen to memes on the phone, the sound moves to phone for a couple of seconds and then gets back to the computer even though I still listen to the phone. Music is playing on both laptop and phone, so the headhones might not understand which device to prioritise and maybe just sticks to the laptop as a default behaviour implemented in them. So perhaps it's not a drawback. However, Bose sticks to the phone when I turn it on and then gets back to the laptop when I turn the phone off - this is the behaviour I'd expect to see.

• A couple of times the headphones turned off during playing games (interesting thing that it only happened during playing Alan Wake (official, not a pirate version) and once playing Overwatch. It's weird. Yet it happened only like 5 times in general in 6 months).

• It takes much space to carry them as they are big and don't fold.

Bose

Pros:

• The headphones fold, so they take smaller amount of space.

• ANC blocks external noises well.

• Good switching between devices (multi connection).

• Pretty comfortable, wider headband and bigger earcups.

• Good sound quality (unless you hear white noise during listening, as it completely nullifies this pro).

• Immersive audio.

Cons:

• Constant hiss (background white noise) from ANC (and it doesn't help to further attenuate noises meaning you hear noises, which ANC cannot block completely, as if without the hiss. But the thing is that it makes noise even when you are in a quiet environment which is strange as you come to ANC for the purpose of being in quietness, so hissing ANC in a quiet room is questionable. It's ANC, it shouldn't give noise to cancel other noise).

• When you listen to music in a normal sound level (not high) or a low one, background hiss is audible, especially when you're in a quiet room. It undermines the experience as you hear noise added to music and don't hear its details.

• Ambient mode adds more hiss to already terrible white noise from ANC.

• Not the best ANC (I still hear noises I wouldn't expect to hear). QC Ultra is said to have the best ANC. I don't have appropriate conditions to fully test it. But according to rtings, it only has 1 - 3 dB difference in noise attenuation (for example, Mid range (people talking): Sony: -28.25 dB, Bose: -29.81 dB). So ANC is pretty much the same as Sony's regarding noise attenuation, but Sony doesn't have hiss at all. You really want to hear constant hissing all the time even when being in a quiet environment for this extra 3 dB attenuation at max?

• Buttons are not really convenient: you cannot adjust sound gradually (only by big chunks), you have to press and hold a button to turn ambient mode on which is not OK when someone starts to talk to you and with Sony you can engage in a conversation right away (because of a quick button press) whereas for Bose you have to hold the button and wait for the headphones to react. Also clicking a button has its own noise (clicking noise, not from the headphones) which some people may find irritating. Also, double-press and triple-press don't really seem convenient nowadays to skip a song or return to the previous one.

• The headphones are too loud for my laptop. I have to make all sounds (in all applications) lower but even after that, the overall sound is at 6 max (out of 100!). The only solution people found on the internet is to turn down frequencies using ANC. I don't need to say this will result in a worse sound, right? And this is for the premium so-called the best headphones where you expect to get the best sound possible for that amount of money, yet you have to sacrifice it for being able to control sound level. For Sony, I had sound at 16. If I wanted music to be really quiet, I set it at 8.

• When you walk, with every footstep you hear unpleasant thud due to ANC recalibrating and trying to block the footsteps. This one really drives me crazy. Sony recalibrates as well but without that sound of knocking at all.

• Terrible sound of turning on and off (I really hate it!). Also it's too loud and no way to change it.

• No fast charging - you need to spend several hours charging the headphones.

• When you use mic in noisy environments, noise around you will be blocked, but so is your voice - it will be quiet and you won't be heard clearly.

• It has 35 ms latency on wired connection. For a casual user, this is ok, I believe (though I don't really play online games and not sure whether it's appalling). But for a professional who works with sound editing, this is a deal breaker.

• In order to work wired, the headphones must be turned on. Have a meeting but your headphones are dead? Poor you. This is generally not something that is very useful, yet in some situations you may encounter issues because of Murphy's law and the fact they don't have fast charging. BTW, there is no way to turn ANC off. So when you can plug Sony in while they're off and they'd work normally but without ANC (the battery would not drain in that case), Bose is not gonna work like this. You're gonna experience ANC with its hiss all the time even in complete quietness.

• App problems: I was logged out of Bose app 2 times in 2 days. Maybe some unlucky coincidence, but it was super annoying and I've never had such an issue with Sony.

• Price is bigger than for Sony. Why it costs more than Sony, given it comes behind in a lot of regards?

Sony and Bose:

• Sony has smaller latency both wired and via Bluetooth (from specs, though not noticeable for me as a laymen).

• Sony charge takes 30 min (because of quick charge support), Bose takes 3 hours to charge.

• Sony changes sound level by a small amount (for my laptop, it's by 2 points out of 100). Bose - strange pretty big amounts (for my laptop it's by 7 points; I set Bose headphones at 6-th level out of 100 due to their loudness and changing sound for 7 points is huge and not practical).

• Bose have deeper earcups. Though I didn't have any issue with Sony whatsoever.

• Bose case for headphones is 1.5 times smaller than Sony. I should say that Sony headphones require quite much space.

• Bose has immersive audio which I didn't find revolutionary but it's interesting anyway. Sony has 360 Reality Audio but I happened to never have used it. I suspect it's available from the app directly. If that so, Bose and Sony may be the same in this regard.

Summing up:

Bose QC Ultra: expensive headphones that have a lot of drawbacks which are not told on the Internet but obvious from the beginning when you get them. They are more portable due to smaller case, its ANC blocks external noises well, multi-connection works perfectly. They also seem to be comfortable (that's a known advantage of Bose in general as I understand) as they have wider headband than Sony does, but I didn't have opportunity to check because I was absolutely shocked by the constant hiss which prevented me from wanting to use them. I love quietness and I absolutely don't understand that everlasting noise from ANC when I'm in a peaceful environment, especially given that Sony eliminates noise by the same amount without giving its own noise. Furthermore, be ready to experience thuds when walking.

I hadn't understand why Sony was told to have the best ANC on the market. It didn't work perfectly and I still heard noises I didn't want to. When I got Bose QC Ultra, I finally got it. Sony has de-facto the best ANC that the mankind created so far and it didn't yield any noise at all. In quietness, you experience quietness, so do you with a moderate noise. In noise, it attenuates it as much as it can, producing no noise by itself as well. So it's absolutely true that Sony XM5 has the best ANC for now. I don't take Bose serious with their constant hiss.

Moveover, Ambient mode doesn't produce noise as well for Sony which is absolutely not true for Bose when the hissing is further amplified.

Sony, in my opinion, is the best ANC headphones existing at the moment. They have good sound, astonishing quiet ANC, great mic, convenient buttons, fast charging, cool ambient mode, almost 0 latency when wired (and can work wired without using its battery) and pleasant voice assistant when you press buttons.

It has only 2 drawbacks where Bose QC Ultra has an edge: comfort and case size.

Comfort. When I work from office, I wear the headphones all the day to block the noise. Though Sony XM5 cannot completely block constant people chatter (seems that QC Ultra won't be able as well). The issue is that the Sony presses on top of my head too much and it hurts quite a lot. When using them all the day everyday, this preasure is disgusting. Though it's worth mentioning that while a lot of people experience that, some people, on the contrary, say that XM5 is super comfortable. So your mileage may vary and you really should try using them in your conditions with your unique head to understand whether they're OK for you. But overall, the problem exists and top of your head is gonna hurt if you're not lucky with the head structure.

Case size. Travelling using the headphones means you need to get the case with you. Sony takes quite a lot of space due to the fact they don't fold. Meanwhile, Bose have a case which is 1.5 times smaller that will allow you to find the required space easier.

Overall, Sony, from my experience, is an almost perfect pair of headphones that have lots of advantages. It's ANC is on parity with Bose, with the latter being slightly better but noisy. It has only 2 cons: comfort and case size. Bose, on the other hand, for the higher price tag, delivers better portability, maybe cool comfort, good ANC. With these pros, there are a lot of disadvantages compared to XM5: mic quality, constant hiss, inconvenient buttons, thud noice when walking, too loud sound, terrible sound of voice assistant, lack of fast charging, underlying latency, no wired work without turning them on.

I absolutely cannot justify the price tag when comparing to features of the rivals such as Sony XM5.

Personally, I wanted to switch from XM5 to QC Ultra only for 2 reasons: comfort and ANC. I thought Bose will have a better ANC and I was terribly wrong. Noises that XM5 cannot block, QC Ultra cannot block either, yet it adds other noises like thud during walking and constant hiss. Bose seems to indeed be better regarding comfort. But all of other drawbacks cannot justify the switch for the comfort alone. Now I perfectly understand that comfort headphones which I don't want to wear is worth nothing to me. Between them two, Sony XM5 is my clear winner.

Links:

Comparing Sony XM5 and Bose QC Ultra
Bose QC Ultra White Noise / Static
Minimum volume is too loud solutions