Bose Quiet Comfort II Review - ANC earphones of the year contender?

At a glance

Next Generation Quiet Comfort II!

Pros - Lightweight yet solid build, good battery life, balanced sound with great clarity, massive sound stage for earphones, comes with rubber stabilizers, Quick Charge

Cons - Hefty price tag, no wireless charging, No LDAC support

Verdict

Once opened

After a month of use and compared with similarly priced competitors, the Bose Quiet Comfort II is one of the contenders for 2022's earphones of the year.

It has a unique design with a solid but lightweight build with added features to secure the earphones in the user's ears.

The Qualcomm S5 Audio SoC with the 9.3mm dynamic drivers delivers a balanced sound signature with great clarity. We were impressed at how distinct each note was reproduced and at the size of the sound stage. It is near the size of a closed-back headphone.

It offers nearly 6 hours of playback time per bud and can be extended to 24 hours of total playback with the case. However, it does take around 90 minutes to charge the case and the earphones fully from 0.

When compared to the competition, its ANC is on par with the Sony WH-1000XM4 while delivering a very similar audio signature but with a large sound stage. When compared to the AirPods Pro 2, the Quiet Comforts deliver better audio quality and stronger ANC. However, the AirPods Pro 2's ANC is more tapered and refined while offering superior software integration with modern Apple devices.

Our only concern with the Quiet Comfort II is the lack of wireless charging and the price tag. 

Overall, it delivers one of the best performances in sound and in ANC in the Philippine market. However, whether or not it is worth the price tag is up to the user.

Build/Design - 4.25

Comfort/Isolation - 4.5

Battery Life - 4.25

Features - 4.5

Sound - 4.75

Average - 4.45/5

Here's our full review:

To recap, Bose brought the Quiet Comfort IIs to the Philippines back in November. We've been using the pair since then and here are our thoughts after two months as a daily driver.

It features 9.3mm drivers paired with the Qualcomm S5 Audio SoC. It has four microphones on each earbud and it supports SBC and AAC codecs over Bluetooth 5.3.

Each bud is IPX4 rated and charges thru USB-C.

In the Philippines, it is priced at a premium of PHP 19,500.

Let's have a look.

Unboxing/Accessories

Outer packaging

The Quiet Comfort IIs come in a black box with a white sleeve wrap. Around the wrap are the render of the buds, features, specs, and regulatory information.

Box inclusions

Inside, you will find the charging case, the earphones, two extra pairs of silicone ear cups, two extra silicone stabilizers, documentation, and the USB-A to USB-C cable.

Build Quality/Design

Charging case

The earphones and the case are made of mostly premium polycarbonate with a combination of matte and glossy finish. This makes the case and earphones lightweight but solid to hold. The matte texture also makes it easier to hold and reduces fingerprint smudges. However, the glossy finished areas are prone to fingerprint smudges.

In front of the case are the hatch, LED light, and the Bose branding while at the back is the pairing button.

USB-C port at the bottom

At the bottom is the aforementioned USB-C port. 

Earphones

On the outer side of the earphones are the microphones and the Bose branding while on the inner side are the silicone stabilizers, silicone cups, CPU contacts, more microphones, and the L/R indicator.

The silicone ear cups and silicone stabilizers are replaceable to fit the user's ears better. There are three pairs of each in total. 

Comfort/Isolation

Isolation

Because the device has no sharp edges and because of the soft silicone ear cups, the initial use of the earphones is comfortable. Users are encouraged to switch to the better-fitting cup and stabilizers to make a perfect seal.

When sealed properly, the passive isolation is immediate. There is a dramatic change from the environmental sound to minimal noise blew our minds.

We highly recommend getting the right size for the ear cups and maybe upgrading to foam ear cups to reduce fatigue.

The active noise cancellation on the Quiet Comfort IIs is on par with the Sony WF-1000XM4 and both are the most effective and powerful active noise cancellations we've tried so far. This is done thru the combination of the SoC and the four microphones on each earbud.

With the accompanying app, users can customize different profiles where they can set the level of noise cancellation and the amount of ambient noise to be heard by the user.

Battery

Each earphone is rated for up to 6 hours with Active Noise Cancellation. In our experience, we were able to get around 6 to 7 hours of continuous use and/or media playback with ANC.

Bose says that 20 minutes of charging can yield 120 minutes of playback. This is consistent with the charging speed of the case as it took under 90 minutes to charge the case from 0 to 100 percent.

The first generation of the Quiet Comforts had wireless charging but this has been removed on the new one.

Features

Bose iOS app

Using the Quiet Comfort IIs is very simple. When using it for the first time, you can connect it to your phone by opening the hatch and then by placing the device in pairing mode. This is done by pressing and holding the button at the back.

Alternatively, users can first download the Bose Music app. In the app, users can add their device by tapping the "+" button and then select "headphones." The app will then look for nearby Bose devices. Users can then select the device they wish to pair with.

It connects via Bluetooth 5.3 which gives the earphones ultra-low latency while operating with less power. This also allows for high bandwidth which helps with the supported codecs: SBC, and AAC.

In our experience, the earphones connect as soon as you wear the earphones. The connection to our phone, tablet, and laptop is stable with almost no lag especially when consuming video.

Our only concern is that when switching between devices is not as integrated as the AirPods Pro with other Apple devices. Otherwise, users can switch between paired devices thru the app or thru the Bluetooth settings.

The app shows you the current battery level of the earphones and the case while allowing users access to the settings that include Modes (Quiet, Aware, Music, Custom), Source (Paired devices), EQ (Bass Boost, Bass Reducer, Treble Boost, Treble Reducer), and Shortcut.

The controls:

Single Tap - Pause/Play

Touch and hold - Listening Modes (Quiet, Aware, Music) 

Calls/recording:

It has multiple microphones that work together to pick up the user's voice while picking up the ambient noise for noise cancellation.

When used for calls, our caller's feedback has been consistent that our voice was clear enough but it does not have the clarity and stability of the calls from AirPods Pro 2.

Audio

with the Sony WF-1000xm4

The Quiet Comfort IIs produce one of the more balanced sound signatures from wireless earphones. It is near the quality as the Sony WF-1000XM4s. The highs aren't brash or too bright while the lows are not muddy or laggy.

Surprisingly awesome sound!

When listening to audio or movies that support it, we would notice a massive sound stage that is near closed-headphone in size. What impressed us, even more, was when we were listening to movies on DTS-capable Netflix content, we were able to hear individual raindrops as they hit the ground in a scene where it was just about to rain. 

In short, this is a good all-rounder that you could use for listening to your favorite tunes, calls, and even watching movies on the go or privately. Users can then use the EQ to tune it to their preference.

This is a surprise as Bose isn't that often well-received in the audiophile community.

However, had Bose offered LDAC support, we imagine that the sound quality would be even greater. Hopefully in the next version, we will finally see support for the codec.

Overall, the Bose Quiet Comfort IIs is a great performing true wireless earphone with good battery life, great sound quality, and a compact and lightweight design. We miss wireless charging though.

Bose Quiet Comfort II Specs

Chipset: Qualcomm S5 Audio SoC

Driver: 9.3 mm dynamic bass drivers

Microphone: four microphones per earbud

Codec Support: SBC, AAC

Battery: Up to 6 hours (per earbud), Up to 24 hours (charging case), 20 minutes 2 hours playtime

Others: Tap control, IPX4 water resistance, USB-C, Colors: Triple Black, Soapstone

Weight: 6.2 grams per bud

Price: PHP 19,500