Technologies
Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2 Review: Best Noise Canceling, Bar None
Sony and Bose have been battling it out for noise-canceling supremacy the last few years. Bose has taken the lead once again with its $300 flagship earbuds.

Bose headphones and earbuds have always skewed toward the more premium end of the price spectrum and the company’s QuietComfort Earbuds 2 are no exception, carrying a hefty list price of $299 ( 279, $AU429), or $20 more than the original QuietComfort Earbuds. While that will put them outside a lot of people’s budget for wireless earbuds, their design and voice-calling performance are significantly improved from the originals, and they deliver excellent sound and outstanding noise canceling — arguably the best out there right now. They’re easily among our top current earbuds, and a CNET Editors’ Choice Award winner.
That award came a few months after the release of the QuietComfort Earbuds 2 after some internal debate — most notably the earbuds’ missing support for the AptX Adaptive audio codec that’s compatible with many Android phones and some other devices. But Bose has since announced that AptX support will be added in the spring of 2023. «The QuietComfort Earbuds 2 will support the AptX Adaptive codec for audio streaming, including Lossless and low-latency capabilities,» Bose told CNET, «and enable more seamless and robust connectivity with premium Android devices.»
I’ll save that value debate for the end of the review after I go through all QuietComfort Earbuds 2’s strengths (or QuietComfort Earbuds II, as Bose calls them), along with a few weaknesses. But if you can afford them, these are certainly strong competitors against Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 and Sony’s WF-1000XM4, the latter of which have been out for a while and are being aggressively discounted at times.
Read more: Best Wireless Earbuds for 2022
Like
- Excellent sound and best-in-class noise canceling
- Significantly smaller than their predecessors
- New Fit Kit ear tips and stabilizer system gets you a secure, comfortable fit
- Improved voice calling with better noise reduction
Don’t Like
- Pricey
- No wireless charging
- No multipoint Bluetooth pairing
- AptX support not coming until spring 2023
Product details
- Battery Life Rated Up to 6 Hours
- Noise Canceling Yes (ANC)
- Multipoint No
- Headphone Type Wireless Earbuds
- Water-Resistant Yes (IPX4 — Splash-Proof
Initially the buds were only available in black — or «Triple Black,» as Bose calls it, but you can now also get the in the lighter soapstone color (basically off-white) and it’s possible Bose releases other special-edition colors in the future.
More importantly, the earbuds are about 30% smaller than their predecessors. Their case is about 40% smaller and truly pocketable (though it’s still about 25% to 30% bigger than the AirPods Pro 2’s case). The smaller size corrects a big downside of the original QuietComfort Earbuds, which featured excellent noise canceling and very good sound quality, but were pretty hefty and protruded from your ears. The new buds each weigh a little less than 0.25 ounces, or 7 grams, according to Bose — still not svelte but significantly smaller.
The other big change is to the ear tips. Bose has ditched its one-piece StayEar wing tips for a two-piece Fit Kit system that features separate ear tips and «stability bands» in three size options. That’s supposed to give users more flexibility to get a secure fit and tight seal. I liked the StayEar wing tips, but after trying the new two-piece system, I’m sold on it. I ended up going with the large tips and medium stability band, and that really locked the buds in my ears. I can’t tell you that this will fit everyone’s ears equally well, but if you’re someone who can’t get a secure fit with the AirPods Pro 2, which are lighter and quite comfortable to wear, this new two-piece Fit Kit may be a reason to give the Bose a go over the new AirPods Pro.
A handful of new premium earbuds feature a kind of auto custom tune feature that takes into account the shape of your ears — and ear canal. Following that trend, Bose has developed a new CustomTune sound calibration system that aims to optimize noise canceling and sound quality for your particular ears. Every time you place the buds in your ears, a proprietary tone is played and a microphone measures your ear canal’s acoustic response. It takes about half a second or so and you definitely notice that the noise canceling has undergone some optimization.
While the design improvements are a nice step forward, the QuietComfort Earbuds 2 really shine on the noise canceling front. It’s really impressive just how much the sound around you is muffled. Bose says it’s targeted frequencies that were previously difficult to reduce in the mid and high range, like the voices of nearby co-workers, screaming babies and family distractions in your home office. I used the buds in my home next to a relatively loud HVAC unit, and the noise canceling basically silenced it completely.
But I was more impressed with how much sound it reduced when I walked the streets and rode the subway in New York City. You can still hear people’s voices, but they seem to be muffled by about 60% and maybe even slightly more. It’s a little startling when you take the buds out of your ears or put them into transparency mode — Bose calls it Aware mode — and realize how much sound is being filtered out.
And yes, that transparency mode is also improved — it does sound more natural and lifelike. The best transparency modes, like that of the AirPods Pro, make it seem as if you’re not wearing earbuds and can hear the world as it would sound without earbuds in your ears. These do a good job of getting you close to that sensation.
While the drivers appear to be the same or very similar to those found in the original QuietComfort Earbuds, Bose reps told me that thanks to the CustomTune technology, the sound is noticeably improved, with more «nuance, clarity, depth» and better accuracy. And that’s pretty much what you’ll hear if you were to compare these to the originals. Everything is a little more clear and natural sounding. Their predecessors also had relatively big sound — and by that I mean they have a pretty wide soundstage. But the bass has a bit more definition and punch, and there’s a bit more detail and separation between instruments so you can hear them more distinctly. I also thought they had just the right amount of warmth, particularly with both men’s and women’s vocals. Their tonal balance is overall very good.
While software and advanced algorithms play a big part in the QuietComfort Earbuds 2’s performance, they feature four microphones in each bud, two of which are beam-forming microphones to focus on picking up your voice. Voice-calling performance was a weak point in the original QuietComfort Earbuds and Bose has clearly made an effort to improve it with better noise reduction — and voice pickup — during calls. I think it’s significantly better now (you can hear a sample call in my companion video review).
As for battery life, it’s rated at 6 hours with noise canceling on — that’s the same as the new AirPods Pro 2 — and you get about three extra charges from the new trimmed-down charging case, which features USB-C charging but not wireless charging. That latter shortfall is a bit unfortunate since most earbuds in this price range, including the AirPods Pro 2, feature wireless charging.
Like their predecessors, the QuietComfort Earbuds 2 are splash-proof with an IPX4 rating. They also have similar touch controls with a swipe gesture for volume control that I like. I thought the touch controls worked well, and they are slightly customizable in the companion app for iOS and Android (you have the option to select certain «shortcuts»).
As for Bluetooth flavors, these are equipped with Bluetooth 5.3. They use the AAC and SBC audio codecs but currently have no support for Qualcomm’s aptX Adaptive audio codec or multipoint Bluetooth pairing (I manually switched between an iPhone 13 Pro and a Galaxy Z Flip 4). In theory, you may be able to get slightly better audio quality if you use a device like an Android phone that supports aptX Adaptive and wirelessly stream high-resolution music files using services like Tidal, Amazon Music and Qobuz that deliver high-resolution music.
I was disappointed by that, particularly by the lack of multipoint Bluetooth pairing. But there’s some hope that may change in the future. That’s because a Bose rep told me these earbuds are equipped with a 5 Series Qualcomm chip. That chip supports multipoint Bluetooth pairing and has aptX support, which Bose now says is coming in 2023, so I think there’s a decent chance we’ll see multipoint Bluetooth pairing added in the future and perhaps other features. Bose didn’t mention anything about Bluetooth Audio LE and Auracast, a new Bluetooth audio broadcasting technology that’s coming to earbuds and headphones, but some new earbuds like the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Proare listed as being «ready» for LE Audio.
It’s worth noting that while the noise canceling is of the adaptive variety, you can adjust its levels between three settings. Also, the earbuds have adjustable equalizer settings so you can tweak the sound profile. And finally, you can use a single bud independently and leave the other one in the charging case though certain touch controls are available only on the right bud.
Bose vs. Sony, Beats and AirPods Pro
I’ll finish by saying that I did compare these to some other top earbuds, including Sony’s WF-1000XM4, which were released in June 2021 and list for $20 less. The XM4s are still excellent, but these QuietComfort Earbuds 2 have surpassed the Sony buds not only in terms of sound quality and noise canceling but voice calling and fit as well. The Bose buds are superior.
I also like the Beats Fit Pro ($200) for both everyday use and as sports earbuds (they also stay in my ears very securely). They’re probably the better value, particularly as we’re starting to see regular discounts on them. But the Bose offer better overall performance along with a comfortable, secure fit in comparably sized earbuds.
Apple’s AirPods Pro 2, which also earned a CNET Editors’ Choice Award, are lighter and smaller and deliver impressive overall performance in a smaller package (that includes the charging case, which does feature wireless charging). But if you’re someone who can’t get a really secure fit from the AirPods Pro — or are an Android user — these are a compelling alternative. That said, the performance improvements to the AirPods Pro 2 make them a pretty safe and enticing choice for iPhone users for $50 less than the Bose. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider the QuietComfort Earbuds 2 if you’re an iOS user, but the AirPods Pro have their own set of advantages for iOS users, including spatial audio, automatic switching between your Apple devices on your iCloud account and hands-free Siri.
The same can be said for Samsung’s excellent Galaxy Buds 2 Pro buds and Samsung Galaxy device owners. Those buds have certain features that only Galaxy owners can take advantage of, including high-resolution audio over Bluetooth if you have the right setup.
But again, the QuietComfort Earbuds 2 may offer a better fit for you, and I do think they sound a touch better than both the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro and Pixel Buds Pro and have better noise canceling. If you can get a tight seal with these buds, the noise canceling is really impressive. As I said, probably the best out there right now. And ultimately, that’s the reason why they may be worth $300 to some people.
Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2 key features, per Bose
- 30% smaller buds and 40% smaller case [compared to previous model]
- New CustomTune technology for optimizing sound and noise canceling
- Improved sound, noise canceling and voice-calling performance
- Touch controls with swipe gestures for volume control
- New two-piece Fit Kit system that features separate ear tips and stability bands in three size options
- Four microphones on each earbuds, two of which are beamforming for voice calls
- 6 hours of battery life with noise cancellation on
- Bluetooth 5.3
- Support for AAC and SBC audio codecs (aptX support coming in 2023)
- Customizable EQ settings
- Price: $299 ( 279, AU$429)
- Colors: triple black ships first, with soapstone to follow later in the year
Editor’s note: This review was originally published on Sept. 15, 2022 and updated in December to reaffirm our continued positive experience with the headphones and add an Editors’ Choice designation.
Technologies
He Got Us Talking to Alexa. Now He Wants to Kill Off AI Hallucinations
British tech pioneer William Tunstall-Pedoe wants to solve the biggest problem in artificial intelligence.

If it weren’t for Amazon, it’s entirely possible that instead of calling out to Alexa to change the music on our speakers, we might have been calling out to Evi instead. That’s because the tech we know today as Amazon’s smart assistant started out life with the name of Evi (pronounced ee-vee), as named by its original developer, William Tunstall-Pedoe.
The British entrepreneur and computer scientist was experimenting with artificial intelligence before most of us had even heard of it. Inspired by sci-fi, he «arrogantly» set out to create a way for humans to talk to computers way back in 2008, he said at SXSW London this week.
Arrogant or not, Tunstall-Pedoe’s efforts were so successful that Evi, which launched in 2012 around the same time as Apple’s Siri, was acquired by Amazon and he joined a team working on a top-secret voice assistant project. What resulted from that project was the tech we all know today as Alexa.
That original mission accomplished, Tunstall-Pedoe now has a new challenge in his sights: to kill off AI hallucinations, which he says makes the technology highly risky for all of us to use. Hallucinations are the inaccurate pieces of information and content that AI generates out of thin air. They are, said Tunstall-Pedoe, «an intrinsic problem» of the technology.
Through the experience he had with Alexa, he learned that people personify the technology and assume that when it’s speaking back to them it’s thinking the way we think. «What it’s doing is truly remarkable, but it’s doing something different from thinking,» said Tunstall-Pedoe. «That sets expectations… that what it’s telling you is true.»
Innumerable examples of AI generating nonsense show us that truth and accuracy are never guaranteed. Tunstall-Pedoe was concerned that the industry isn’t doing enough to tackle hallucinations, so formed his own company, Unlikely AI, to tackle what he views as a high-stakes problem.
Anytime we speak to an AI, there’s a chance that what it’s telling us is false, he said. «You can take that away into your life, take decisions on it, or you put it on the internet and it gets spread by others, [or] used to train future AIs to make the world a worse place.»
Some AI hallucinations have little impact, but in industries where the cost of getting things wrong — in medicine, law, finance and insurance, for example — inaccurately generated content can have severe consequences. These are the industries that Unlikely AI is targeting for now, said Tunstall-Pedoe
Unlikely AI uses a mix of deep tech and proprietary tech to ground outputs in logic, minimizing the risk of hallucinations, as well as to log the decision-making process of algorithms. This makes it possible for companies to understand where things have gone wrong, when they inevitably do.
Right now, AI can never be 100% accurate due to the underlying tech, said Tunstall-Pedoe. But advances currently happening in his own company and others like it mean that we’re moving towards a point where accuracy can be achieved.
For now, Unlikely AI is mainly being used by business customers, but eventually Tunstall-Pedoe believes it will be built into services and software all of us use. The change being brought about by AI, like any change, presents us with risks, he said. But overall he remains «biased towards optimism» that AI will be a net positive for society.
Technologies
Summer Game Fest 2025 Kicks Off Today. How to Watch the Biggest Gaming Trailers of the Year
There’s a whole wide weekend of video gaming happening at the Summer Game Fest. Get the full scoop on how and when to watch.

What started as a pandemic-related substitute for the long-running E3 trade show has turned into the one of the biggest video games event of the year. Fans and journalists will get early looks at the most anticipated AAA and indie video games, and we’ll all get tons of new trailers.
Heavy hitters like Sega, Bandai Namco, Capcom and Square Enix will be showing off their latest and greatest creations, while Xbox is hosting its own full showcase on Sunday, June 8, and Playstation will present the premiere of Death Stranding 2 on Sunday night.
The show kicks off at 5 p.m. ET on Friday, June 6, live from the YouTube Theater in Hollywood Park in Inglewood, California. Fortunately, you can catch all the nonstop gaming action right from your couch. Here’s how to watch Summer Game Fest 2025 live.
How to watch Summer Game Fest 2025 live
Summer Game Fest will be multicast on numerous streaming channels, but the official livestream will be shown on YouTube by the Game Awards. The channel will continue to show the trailer for Summer Games Fest 2025 until the live event begins at 5 p.m. ET (2 p.m. PT) Friday.
Summer Game Fest 2025 schedule
The official Summer Game Fest show kicks off at 5 p.m. ET (2 p.m. PT) on Friday, June 6, with 2 hours of Summer Game Fest Live, which should be chock-full of huge announcements from leading video game developers.
Immediately following the live kickoff event, the independent organization Day of the Devs hosts a showcase dedicated to indie games.
The weekend’s other big highlights include a Wholesome Direct showcase on Saturday at noon ET, focusing on the biggest releases, trailers and announcements for «cozy games,» and the premiere of Death Stranding 2 on Sunday night, which will feature an appearance from legendary game designer Hideo Kojima.
Here’s the full schedule of broadcasts for Summer Game Fest 2025. All times shown are ET. For PT subtract 3 hours.
Friday, June 6
- Summer Game Fest Live, 5 p.m.
- Day of the Devs, 7 p.m.
- Devolver Direct: Ball x Pit: The Kenny Sun Story, 8 p.m.
Saturday, June 7
- Wholesome Direct, noon
- Women-led games showcase, 1 p.m.
- Latin-American games showcase, 2 p.m.
- Southeast Asian games showcase, 3 p.m.
- Green games showcase, 4 p.m.
- Frosty Games Fest, 7 p.m.
Sunday, June 8
- Xbox games showcase, 1 p.m.
- PC gaming show, 3 p.m.
- Death Stranding 2: On the Beach premiere, 10 p.m.
Monday, June 9
- Black voices in gaming, noon
Technologies
Apple’s Siri Could Be More Like ChatGPT. But Is That What You Want?
Commentary: Should Siri evolve to become more of a manager than an assistant? Let’s hope Apple can listen to what people want from its voice assistant.
I’ve noticed a vibe shift in the appetite for AI on our devices. My social feeds are flooded with disgust over what’s being created by Google’s AI video generator tool, Veo 3. The unsettling realistic video of fake people and voices it creates makes it clear we will have a hard time telling apart fiction from reality. In other words, the AI slop is looking less sloppy.
Meanwhile, the CEO of Anthropic is warning people that AI will wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs. In an interview with Axios, Dario Amodei is suggesting government needs to step in to protect us from a mass elimination of jobs that can happen very rapidly.
So as we gear up for Apple’s big WWDC presentation on Monday, I have a different view of headlines highlighting Apple being behind in the AI race. I wonder, what exactly is the flavor of AI that people want or need right now? And will it really matter if Apple keeps waiting longer to push out it’s long promised (and long delayed) personalized Siri when people are not feeling optimistic about AI’s impact on our society?
In this week’s episode of One More Thing, which you can watch embedded above, I go over some of the recent reporting from Bloomberg that discusses leadership changes on the Siri team, and how there are different views in what consumers want out of Siri. Should Apple approach AI in a way to make Siri into a home-grown chatbot, or just make it a better interface for controlling devices? (Maybe a bit of both.)
I expect a lot of griping after WWDC about the state of Siri and Apple’s AI, with comparisons to other products like ChatGPT. But I hope we can use those gripes to voice what we really want in the next path for the assistant, by sharing our thoughts and speaking with our wallet. Do you want a Siri that’s better at understanding context, or one that goes further and makes decisions for you? It’s a question I’ll be dwelling on more as Apple gives us the next peak into the future of iOS on Monday, and perhaps a glimpse of how the next Siri is shaping up.
If you’re looking for more One More Thing, subscribe to our YouTube page to catch Bridget Carey breaking down the latest Apple news and issues every Friday.
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