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Credit: Illustration by Ian Moore and product image courtesy of Amazon.
If you’re seeking the best headphones at the best price, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra are at the top of the list for active noise-cancelling (ANC), while also excelling in other important categories. Right now, the Bose QuietComfort Ultras (in black, deep plum, or lunar blue color) are $279 (originally $429), a record-low price according to price-tracking tools. Other colors are also discounted but not quite as steeply—for example, you can get “white smoke” for $299.
Few other brands can compete with Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra lineup when it comes to ANC. Apart from the headphone model, they also make some of the best ANC earbuds, both using the same tech. PCMag’s “outstanding” review goes into detail on how the headphones do the best job at dialing back low-frequency rumbles, as well as lows and mids.
Despite those plaudits, they’re not perfect: Some high-frequency sounds still make it through the ANC technology (that’s the case for all ANC headphones, though). But these headphones performed better at ANC than their other two main competitors at the time of their respective release, Apple AirPods Max and the Sony WH-1000XM5. Of course, the new Sony WH-1000XM6 has new ANC technology that outshines the QuietComfort Ultra, but you’d be paying a premium for those.
The Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones launched in the fall of 2023 with many reviewers praising their overall quality, but earning complaints for their pricing, at almost half a grand. At their current discounted price, there is no better value for your money if you value top-tier ANC. Another great feature of the headphones is their transparency mode, meant to be used to allow you to better hear your surroundings (cars, bikes, or people around you) while wearing them.
What do you think so far?
You can expect about 24 hours of juice with a full charge, or about 18 hours if you’re using ANC. The accompanying app has a well-designed, customizable EQ.
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