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Tech brands love to tout their active noise canceling (ANC) earbuds, but none have reached the standard set by the Bose QuietComfort series. For my money, Bose makes the best ANC gear, and the Bose QuietComfort Ultra (2nd Gen) are the best ANC earbuds you can buy right now.
The downside of Bose buds is that they’re pretty pricey, but you no longer need to spend $300 to get great ANC—not during Amazon’s Big Spring Sale. The fantastic first-generation Bose QuietComfort Ultra earbuds in the Moonstone Blue color are going for $179.99 (originally $299) on Amazon, the lowest price they’ve ever reached, according to price-tracking tools.
Though they’re an older model, the first-gen Bose QuietComfort Ultra Bluetooth earbuds are still an excellent choice. They received an “outstanding” review from PCMag, not just for their best-in-class ANC, but for their great audio quality in general, Spatial audio support, and diverse codec Bluetooth support with AAC and AptX, which makes them great for Android and Apple users alike. However, they’re not perfect: They lack multipoint connectivity, which other high-end earbuds at this price point offer, and there is no wireless charging for the case (if you care about that).
The features are what really set these earbuds apart. They have a CustomTune feature that measures your ear canal’s shape to tune the sound and establish your best ANC profile. (You can make your own tweaks in the companion app as well.) Bose’s “Immersive Audio” feature allows you to hear your surroundings similarly to how you would when wearing open-ear headphones. You can also mess around with the settings to mix and match outside noise and ANC within the Immersive Audio setting on the app.
What do you think so far?
You’ll get about four to six hours of battery life from the buds and another 12 to 18 with the charging case. The earbuds aren’t waterproof, but they are water resistant with an IPX4 rating, so you can wear them to the gym without worrying about how much you’ll sweat.
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