Mirror, mirror on the wall, who helps make the fairest sound-cancelling earbuds of all? Is it Apple, with its very hot-promoting $249 AirPods Professional (2nd generation), or Bose with its $279 QuietComfort Earbuds II?
Soon after crafting in-depth testimonials of every prime-shelf solution, and then residing with them for numerous extra months, my swift remedy is you can’t go improper with possibly. About time, having said that, I’ve arrive to appreciate considerable individuality variances and use-situation scenarios in which a person performs greater than the other. I hope my observations assist you make your mind up which buds are for you.
Greatest for sound reduction: Bose (typically)
Magnets hold the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II in their charging situation.
Jonathan Takiff/Foundry
If you are a recurrent flyer, bus rider, or coach hauler, you are going to want to tote the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II. The maker states these are very best sound-eradicating telephones it has at any time built, which includes its above-ear styles. During a latest cross-place air journey, I identified them to be just as helpful at noise blocking and entertaining as Bose’s latest, biggest QuietComfort 45 over-ear headphones. A lot more to the point, the QC Earbuds II are notably outstanding to the Apple AirPod Professionals (2nd era) when it arrives to blocking out the noisy distractions of the earth.
Both equally sets of buds eradicated the bulk of loud jet engine rumbling on my flights, but only the new Bose proved able of also irradicating a persistent, low-frequency hull rumbling that resonated like a ghost in the equipment when Apple’s buds were in my ears. The only way I could mask that sounds with Apple’s buds was to crank up the tunes, but that should not be required with sound cancelling. You should really be equipped to hear at reduce volume to stop ear exhaustion and quite possibly steer clear of hearing destruction. And when you are using sounds-cancelling earbuds sans songs to capture some Z’s, you shouldn’t discover by yourself replacing 1 aural distraction with a different.
The Bose QC Earbuds II also proved capable of simultaneously masking various noises all through a go to to a crowded Starbucks, reducing back again on the area chatter as perfectly as dish clatter. And again house, in my bed room and house office environment, only the Bose product extensively eradicated the whirring enthusiast sound from my air purifiers.
Bose normally takes gain of the chunkier layout of its Peaceful Ease and comfort Earbuds II (appropriate) to position contact controls on the outer floor of the buds’ shells.
Jonathan Takiff/Foundry
I finally identified the QC Earbuds II’s Achilles’ heel though seated on the lower deck of a Megabus touring the New Jersey Turnpike: Bose’s ANC algorithm shown a terrible behavior of amplifying the metallic shaking and sputtering appears of the bus’s unfastened suspension program whenever its tires strike a pothole or an expansion strip.
The noise designed me believe there had been loose screws rattling around in the buds, in my skull, or equally. I repeated the scenario with a 2nd established of the Bose just to be absolutely sure I wasn’t testing a faulty pair, but I bought the incredibly exact consequence. The Apple AirPods Pros dealt much better with these undesirable vibrations, cutting down the seem of the rattling by at minimum fifty percent.
Ideal audio general performance: Bose for bass-a-holics, Apple for spatial audio
As I’ve presently claimed, each sets of earbuds are significant-carrying out headphones for music-listening sessions. Deciding on which is very best for you depends on how you strategy to use them.
Eight situations out of 10, the Bose QC Earbuds II provided more gratification from deep dives into a range of audio, providing additional ahead, in-your-encounter audio. They dig deeper into bass frequencies nevertheless deal with to audio a lot more nuanced at the similar time. On my jet-plane come across with Tom Petty & The Hearbreakers’s recently unveiled, 33-observe, addresses-heavy Live at the Fillmore, 1997, tunes like Lucille, Louie Louie, and Phone Me the Breeze, Bose’s earbuds sent way additional bounce to the rockin’ ounce.
Apple’s charging situation delivers far more battery lifestyle for its AirPods Professional (appropriate) than Bose’s scenario does for its QuietComfort Earbuds II.
Jonathan Takiff/Foundry
But it’s not just all about that bass. In the peaceful of my bed room, the QC Earbuds II squeezed out much more mid-vary nuance in the achy breaky vocals of Luciano Souza on the Brazilian artist’s tribute album The Book of Chet also did much better by Taylor Goldsmith’s bemused, bothered, and bewildered observations on the most current Dawes’ album Misadventures of Doomscroller. When that wry observer muses “There’s a Joke in There Someplace,” the QC Earbuds II are superior at emotionally digging it out.
Even a cursory glance at the way these factors are made is revealing. The QC Earbuds II are far more eccentrically shaped to stuff and seal improved in the ear canal. And their automatic equalization, based on a series of test tones that evaluate the user’s ears, seems additional subtle than Apple’s vehicle-EQ, which is centered on an investigation of photos of the listener’s ears and facial structure just after they’ve snapped pictures with their iPhones.
But that’s not the whole story, both. With much less bass receiving in the way, the AirPods Pro present a brighter take on trebly oriented audio (assume tremulous acoustic guitar plunks, splashy cymbal-driving drummers, and scorching violin soloists.) And the tables surely turned in the AirPods’ favor with material from the Apple Audio streaming support blended and served in Dolby Atmos. When the AirPods Pro see an Atmos flag in the facts stream, they activate Spatial Audio mode, which folds in some intriguing period-shifting and timing outcomes to place a sharper edge on and much more air about voices and devices.
The 2nd-era Apple AirPods Professional didn’t stay in the author’s ears as tightly as the Bose Quiet Convenience Earbuds II.
Jonathan Takiff/Foundry
I also suspect that activating Spatial Audio manner cranks up the AirPods Pro’s volume, relative to the other material I have fed them from a assortment of sources. Listening to Harry Connick Jr.’s holiday album Make it Merry, the Xmas tunes did not look really as playful or twinkle-star magical when listened to in simple old stereo as a result of the Bose buds. If you are an Iphone or iPad user as well as an Apple Audio subscriber, you’ll get some aural positive aspects by marrying your source product with the AirPods Professional.
In general, I’d argue that the additional intense, in-your-encounter nature of the Bose buds make them better companions for equally on-the-go use (for the reason that of their exceptional noise cancellation) and for serious, sit-down-and-pay attention sessions. I have no complaints about the musicality of the a lot more laidback, lighter-toned AirPods Professional, and listening to Dolby Atmos tracks is incredibly fulfilling.
Ideal for making and having telephone calls: Tie
When it comes to producing and taking fingers-free cellphone phone calls, each sets of earbuds are terrific. They supply terrific seem at both of those ends of the get in touch with, no matter whether you’re outdoor or in a tranquil zone. This one’s a attract.
Ideal for convenience: Apple’s are lighter, the Bose hang in tighter
This one’s a toughie, ripe for a Biblical Solomon (or Judge Judy) to adjudicate. Most enhanced-ergonomics honors go to Bose, as the radically redesigned, scaled-down, and lighter Tranquil Convenience Earbuds II do a considerably much better career of living up to their identify than the initial-era merchandise, which start off hurting my ears following two hrs of use.
Weighing just .2 ounces each—compared to .3 ounces for the authentic QC Earbuds and .15 ounces for the second-gen AirPods Pro—I can wear Bose’s hottest buds easily for a total 4 hours. The engineers at Bose changed the to start with-generation’s oversized wing stabilizers with smaller rubbery hinges that very easily lock into the rims of your ears for a quite safe fit. In actuality, they put up a bit of struggle when you pull them out—and that is a very good factor.
The larger dimension of the Bose QuietComfort II meant they were a bit fewer comfortable to dress in for prolonged listening classes.
Jonathan Takiff/Foundry
The AirPods Professional appear to count far more on gravity and the stickiness of their silicone ear suggestions to preserve them in place. This has not worked for me through major sweat-making exercise sessions, or even when I was just pulling a sweater over my head. On the constructive aspect, the lighter fat and semi-bulbous physique form of Apple’s buds make them even a lot more comfy in my ears—I can listen for up to 6 hours—which just so occurs to be the utmost runtime of the AirPods Pro’s battery. Bose presents the similar selection of several hours, but you can recharge the QC Earbuds II only three moments with the backup battery in its circumstance, wherever you are going to get 4 prices out of Apple’s case.
If you get the next-gen AirPods Professional and develop into dissatisfied with the match, you are going to uncover a sizable cottage industry of aftermarket memory-foam ear ideas and increase-on ear-wings that guarantee both better clinging and bass reaction than the factory-supplied strategies produce. I purchased a set of Lanwow strategies on a friend’s recommendation, but have so significantly resisted the urge to toss my working experience with them into this previously complicated shoot-out.
Best for customization: AirPods Pro for solutions, QC Earbuds II for simplicity
Apple’s AirPods Pro present a large amount much more customizable equalization profiles than the Bose earbuds, specifically if you are going to be making use of the AirPods Professional with an Apple iphone, iPad, or iMac. You’ll uncover a few dozen EQ options you can customize in accordance to the style of tunes you’re listening to, ranging from electronica and hip hop to jazz and classical.
Apple’s app features much more insights and EQ customizations than what Bose provides.
Jonathan Takiff/Foundry
The AirPods Professional also offer tools to support preserve and manage your hearing. You can keep an eye on the decibel output stage, connection to your connected iPhone’s microphone and repurpose the buds as hearing aids, or set them into a volume-reduction mode to use them substantial-tech ear plugs. You can wirelessly recharge the buds and their carrying situation using a Qi charger, an Apple Watch’s Magnetic Rapidly Charger, or with a USB-to-Lightning cable. If the AirPods Professional or their situation go missing, you can use your Apple’s Come across My purpose to enable track down them.
If simplicity of operation is much more your point, go for the Bose buds. The 3-way (bass, midrange, and treble), consumer-customizable EQ settings in the Bose New music Application are as straightforward to use as they are pleasurable. I also like how you can let some ambient sound in for situational recognition devoid of entirely defeating lively sounds cancellation. When you find the correct mix, you can retail outlet this benefit as a preset—one for four—that can be recalled from inside Bose’s application or with a tap on a single of the thermal handle panels on each and every bud.
All those very same pads can also be employed to alter the volume, enjoy/pause the present-day track, skip up or down your playlist, and tackle mobile phone phone calls. They’re a great deal easier to entry and manipulate when on the move than the controls found on the AirPods Pro’s small stems.
It is a lot more challenging to extract the smaller AirPods Pro from their charging scenario.
Jonathan Takiff/Foundry
Most effective ANC earbuds all round: It is Bose by a nose
We never hedge our bets at TechHive, so we’re naming the Bose Peaceful Ease and comfort Earbuds II as the winner of this competitors by advantage of their remarkable active noise cancellation and bolder seem. That said, no 1 must buy a item dependent on a solitary criterion, and Apple’s AirPods Professional provide a extremely refined listening expertise as nicely.
The true base line in this article is that you can’t go incorrect with both decision, but repeated tourists and long-length runners may possibly prefer the QC Earbuds II, although marathon listeners and multi-taskers may possibly be happier with the 2nd-gen AirPods Pro.
For these who still can not choose, we’ve boiled down every product’s pluses and minus here:
Most effective features of the Bose Peaceful Comfort Earbuds II
- Exceptional sound cancellation
- Fuller bass, hotter general presence
- Cling additional securely in your ears
- Less difficult physical controls
Drawbacks of the Bose Peaceful Comfort and ease Earbuds II
- Marginally bulkier and heavier
- They dress in out their in-ear welcome quicker
- ANC freaks out with loose bus suspension clattering
Most effective capabilities of the Apple AirPods Professional (2nd era)
- Really comfy in good shape
- Obvious, thorough sound
- Lengthier collective battery lifetime
- Decodes Dolby Atmos
Downsides of the Apple AirPods Pro (2nd technology)
- Not as functional at cancelling many noises concurrently
- Bass response is not as full bodied
- Not as great at being in the ears throughout robust routines
- Bodily controls are far more hard to track down and use
