Best earbuds: Apple AirPods Pro vs. Bose QC Earbuds II
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who helps make the fairest noise-cancelling earbuds of all? Is it Apple, with its scorching-selling $249 AirPods Pro (2nd generation), or Bose with its $279 QuietComfort Earbuds II?
Following producing in-depth assessments of every top rated-shelf product, and then living with them for quite a few added months, my speedy reply is you can not go incorrect with both. Above time, on the other hand, I have appear to take pleasure in substantial character variances and use-circumstance situations wherever a single performs improved than the other. I hope my observations assistance you determine which buds are for you.
Ideal for sounds reduction: Bose (mostly)
Magnets keep the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II in their charging scenario.
Jonathan Takiff/Foundry
If you are a frequent flyer, bus rider, or teach hauler, you will want to tote the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II. The maker states these are finest sound-eradicating telephones it has at any time made, which includes its above-ear styles. During a new cross-state air experience, I discovered them to be just as beneficial at noise blocking and entertaining as Bose’s most current, best QuietComfort 45 more than-ear headphones. Much more to the point, the QC Earbuds II are notably outstanding to the Apple AirPod Execs (2nd technology) when it will come to blocking out the noisy interruptions of the environment.
Both equally sets of buds eliminated the bulk of loud jet motor 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 device even though Apple’s buds were being in my ears. The only way I could mask that sound with Apple’s buds was to crank up the tunes, but that shouldn’t be necessary with noise cancelling. You must be capable to pay attention at lower volume to stop ear fatigue and quite possibly stay clear of hearing problems. And when you’re employing noise-cancelling earbuds sans tunes to capture some Z’s, you shouldn’t come across your self changing one aural distraction with one more.
The Bose QC Earbuds II also proved capable of concurrently masking distinct noises for the duration of a go to to a crowded Starbucks, cutting back on the room chatter as well as dish clatter. And again residence, in my bedroom and residence place of work, only the Bose item completely removed the whirring enthusiast sound from my air purifiers.
Bose can take benefit of the chunkier design and style of its Silent Comfort Earbuds II (ideal) to place touch controls on the outer floor of the buds’ shells.
Jonathan Takiff/Foundry
I finally found the QC Earbuds II’s Achilles’ heel although seated on the reduce deck of a Megabus touring the New Jersey Turnpike: Bose’s ANC algorithm demonstrated a terrible practice of amplifying the metallic shaking and sputtering appears of the bus’s free suspension method each time its tires hit a pothole or an expansion strip.
The sound built me believe there were unfastened screws rattling about in the buds, in my skull, or the two. I repeated the circumstance with a second established of the Bose just to be certain I wasn’t testing a faulty pair, but I got the quite similar final result. The Apple AirPods Execs dealt superior with these undesirable vibrations, lowering the seem of the rattling by at the very least half.
Ideal audio general performance: Bose for bass-a-holics, Apple for spatial audio
As I have now explained, both equally sets of earbuds are substantial-executing headphones for new music-listening periods. Deciding on which is greatest for you relies upon on how you strategy to use them.
8 instances out of 10, the Bose QC Earbuds II offered much more satisfaction from deep dives into a assortment of new music, delivering much more forward, in-your-face audio. They dig deeper into bass frequencies yet deal with to sound more nuanced at the same time. On my jet-aircraft experience with Tom Petty & The Hearbreakers’s newly released, 33-keep track of, covers-major Live at the Fillmore, 1997, tunes like Lucille, Louie Louie, and Phone Me the Breeze, Bose’s earbuds delivered way more bounce to the rockin’ ounce.
Apple’s charging scenario provides more battery life for its AirPods Professional (correct) than Bose’s scenario does for its QuietComfort Earbuds II.
Jonathan Takiff/Foundry
But it is not just all about that bass. In the silent of my bedroom, the QC Earbuds II squeezed out a lot more mid-vary nuance in the achy breaky vocals of Luciano Souza on the Brazilian artist’s tribute album The E-book of Chet also did far better by Taylor Goldsmith’s bemused, bothered, and bewildered observations on the latest 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 items are made is revealing. The QC Earbuds II are far more eccentrically shaped to stuff and seal improved in the ear canal. And their automated equalization, based mostly on a collection of test tones that measure the user’s ears, appears to be far more innovative than Apple’s car-EQ, which is based on an investigation of visuals of the listener’s ears and facial composition soon after they’ve snapped photos with their iPhones.
But which is not the full tale, either. With fewer bass receiving in the way, the AirPods Professional offer you a brighter consider on trebly oriented music (consider tremulous acoustic guitar plunks, splashy cymbal-using drummers, and scorching violin soloists.) And the tables unquestionably turned in the AirPods’ favor with substance from the Apple Music streaming assistance blended and served in Dolby Atmos. When the AirPods Pro see an Atmos flag in the knowledge stream, they activate Spatial Audio mode, which folds in some appealing phase-shifting and timing effects to set a sharper edge on and far more air all over voices and devices.
The second-generation Apple AirPods Pro did not keep in the author’s ears as tightly as the Bose Silent Ease and comfort Earbuds II.
Jonathan Takiff/Foundry
I also suspect that activating Spatial Audio method cranks up the AirPods Pro’s volume, relative to the other material I have fed them from a variety of sources. Listening to Harry Connick Jr.’s holiday break album Make it Merry, the Xmas tunes did not appear really as playful or twinkle-star magical when read in basic previous stereo as a result of the Bose buds. If you are an Iphone or iPad person as well as an Apple Music subscriber, you are going to get some aural benefits by marrying your supply material with the AirPods Pro.
In basic, I’d argue that the more intense, in-your-face character of the Bose buds make them improved companions for the two on-the-go use (due to the fact of their remarkable sounds cancellation) and for major, sit-down-and-hear periods. I have no problems about the musicality of the additional laidback, lighter-toned AirPods Professional, and listening to Dolby Atmos tracks is very pleasurable.
Best for producing and using phone calls: Tie
When it arrives to creating and taking hands-no cost cell phone phone calls, both equally sets of earbuds are great. They supply fantastic audio at both ends of the connect with, whether you’re outdoors or in a peaceful zone. This one’s a draw.
Very best for comfort and ease: Apple’s are lighter, the Bose dangle in tighter
This one’s a toughie, ripe for a Biblical Solomon (or Choose Judy) to adjudicate. Most improved-ergonomics honors go to Bose, as the radically redesigned, smaller, and lighter Quiet Ease and comfort Earbuds II do a significantly far better work of residing up to their name than the initially-technology product or service, which commence hurting my ears following two several hours of use.
Weighing just .2 ounces each—compared to .3 ounces for the initial QC Earbuds and .15 ounces for the next-gen AirPods Pro—I can use Bose’s latest buds comfortably for a complete four hours. The engineers at Bose changed the initially-generation’s outsized wing stabilizers with smaller rubbery hinges that conveniently lock into the rims of your ears for a extremely secure suit. In reality, they put up a bit of struggle when you pull them out—and that is a excellent point.
The bigger size of the Bose QuietComfort II meant they have been marginally much less comfy to have on for prolonged listening periods.
Jonathan Takiff/Foundry
The AirPods Pro appear to be to rely extra on gravity and the stickiness of their silicone ear strategies to hold them in put. This hasn’t labored for me throughout critical sweat-developing training classes, or even when I was just pulling a sweater more than my head. On the positive aspect, the lighter excess weight and semi-bulbous entire body form of Apple’s buds make them even far more comfy in my ears—I can listen for up to 6 hours—which just so transpires to be the highest runtime of the AirPods Pro’s battery. Bose offers the exact same variety of hrs, but you can recharge the QC Earbuds II only a few periods with the backup battery in its scenario, where by you will get four expenses out of Apple’s scenario.
If you get the second-gen AirPods Professional and grow to be dissatisfied with the in good shape, you’ll discover a sizable cottage field of aftermarket memory-foam ear recommendations and insert-on ear-wings that assure each better clinging and bass reaction than the factory-presented ideas provide. I acquired a set of Lanwow guidelines on a friend’s suggestion, but have so much resisted the urge to toss my encounter with them into this now complicated shoot-out.
Best for customization: AirPods Professional for solutions, QC Earbuds II for simplicity
Apple’s AirPods Pro offer a ton more customizable equalization profiles than the Bose earbuds, specifically if you will be utilizing the AirPods Pro with an Iphone, iPad, or iMac. You will find a few dozen EQ settings you can customise according to the design and style of new music you’re listening to, ranging from electronica and hip hop to jazz and classical.
Apple’s app delivers more insights and EQ customizations than what Bose offers.
Jonathan Takiff/Foundry
The AirPods Professional also offer resources to enable protect and manage your hearing. You can keep track of the decibel output level, website link to your linked iPhone’s microphone and repurpose the buds as hearing aids, or put them into a volume-reduction manner to use them large-tech ear plugs. You can wirelessly recharge the buds and their carrying scenario using a Qi charger, an Apple Watch’s Magnetic Quick Charger, or with a USB-to-Lightning cable. If the AirPods Professional or their circumstance go missing, you can use your Apple’s Obtain My operate to assist find them.
If simplicity of procedure is more your matter, go for the Bose buds. The three-way (bass, midrange, and treble), person-customizable EQ configurations in the Bose Music Application are as straightforward to use as they are enjoyable. I also like how you can make it possible for some ambient noise in for situational awareness with out completely defeating active noise cancellation. When you find the appropriate blend, you can retailer this worth as a preset—one for four—that can be recalled from within Bose’s application or with a tap on one of the thermal handle panels on every bud.
People exact pads can also be used to regulate the volume, participate in/pause the existing observe, skip up or down your playlist, and take care of cellphone calls. They’re significantly simpler to entry and manipulate although on the move than the controls situated on the AirPods Pro’s little stems.
It’s more complicated to extract the more compact AirPods Professional from their charging case.
Jonathan Takiff/Foundry
Greatest ANC earbuds all round: It’s Bose by a nose
We don’t hedge our bets at TechHive, so we’re naming the Bose Tranquil Consolation Earbuds II as the winner of this levels of competition by advantage of their superior energetic noise cancellation and bolder seem. That reported, no one ought to acquire a merchandise based on a one criterion, and Apple’s AirPods Professional produce a extremely refined listening experience as very well.
The real base line here is that you just can’t go completely wrong with either option, but repeated tourists and lengthy-length runners could possibly desire the QC Earbuds II, whilst marathon listeners and multi-taskers may well be happier with the next-gen AirPods Professional.
For all those who nevertheless can’t come to a decision, we’ve boiled down every single product’s pluses and minus here:
Most effective options of the Bose Quiet Ease and comfort Earbuds II
- Outstanding sounds cancellation
- Fuller bass, hotter over-all presence
- Cling a lot more securely in your ears
- A lot easier physical controls
Negatives of the Bose Peaceful Comfort and ease Earbuds II
- Marginally bulkier and heavier
- They use out their in-ear welcome quicker
- ANC freaks out with free bus suspension clattering
Ideal functions of the Apple AirPods Professional (2nd generation)
- Extremely cozy match
- Obvious, comprehensive seem
- Extended collective battery life
- Decodes Dolby Atmos
Negatives of the Apple AirPods Pro (2nd era)
- Not as functional at cancelling multiple noises simultaneously
- Bass response isn’t as full bodied
- Not as very good at keeping in the ears all through robust routines
- Actual physical controls are far more tough to track down and use
