Bose QuietComfort Ultra (Gen 2) ZDNET's key takeaways The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (Gen 2) are available for $449 in five colors.
They solidify Bose's warranted confidence in its design, comfort, noise cancellation, and sound performance.
The only major, eye-catching upgrades relate to battery capacity and power management. $399 at Amazon
Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.
How do you convince yourself to pay $400+ for a pair of headphones that look and operate almost identically to the previous generation? That's a question I hope to answer, and a question Bose hopes its latest flagship headphones will answer based on their performance alone.
Also: The 20+ best Black Friday headphones deals worth grabbing now
I spent months now working, traveling, and lounging in the QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (Gen 2), which I'll refer to as the QC Ultra 2, searching for how Bose spent two years making them more "ultra" than their predecessor. Without major upgrades to design, speaker drivers, or noise cancellation performance, I'll have to dig deep.
It's easy to position the Sony WH-1000XM6 as QC Ultra 2's direct competitor, but I wonder: are the QC Ultra 2 competing with their predecessors as much as they are with other brands? Let's find out.
Same look, smarter details
The QC Ultra 2's defining theme is that they don't attempt to rewrite Bose's legacy; rather, they refine it. They look identical to the first generation, except for the yokes, which swap a matte aluminum finish for a shiny, polished metal finish.
... continue reading