These Bose Ultra Open Earbuds Are $100 Off Right Now

Open earbuds have been gaining in popularity, likely because active noise-cancelling tech has gotten so good that it’s a little too easy to entirely ignore the world around you. They’re also a great option for runners who want to have more spatial awareness, especially in heavily trafficked areas.

The Ultra Open Earbuds are Bose’s attempt at riding the trending tech wave, and they’re a pretty good option at that, earning an 8/10 from our colleagues at CNET. And at their current price of $199.99 (originally $299.99), they are also something of a steal. This is the lowest price they’ve reached so far, according to price-tracking tools, and they are available in six different colors at this price. 

Open-ear designs are not for everyone, and that’s because they have the same downsides as bone conduction headphones: They let noise pollution in, and the bass and mid-tones can sound weak. But the tradeoff may be worth it if you want to remain aware of your surroundings.

The Bose Ultra Open buds are not waterproof, but they are water-resistant; they carry an IPX4 rating, meaning they can take some splashes, but can’t be submerged in water. The charging case uses a USB-C cable, but you can buy a wireless charging case (sold separately) for an additional $50 if you don’t want to rely on a cable. Either way, you’ll get about 7.5 hours of juice from the buds if you have the Immersive Audio feature off, and about two full charges from the case, for a total of around 27 hours.

While these earbuds don’t have multipoint connection, they do have a feature to pair two devices simultaneously and switch between them by pressing a button on the earbud—a controlled multipoint connection of sorts. They are compatible with Bluetooth 5.3 and work with the AAC, AptX Adaptive, and SBC codecs, so Android devices will get better audio than Apple users. Both users will be able to customize the EQ on the app and use features, which you can read more about in CNET’s review.