Bose

The noise-cancelling pioneer — the brand that made ANC mainstream, still a comfort and quiet leader

Worth It

Founded: 1964
Country: United States
Warranty: One-year limited warranty with optional paid BoseCare accident-protection plans and a 90-day risk-free return trial.
Support: Phone, chat, and a wide retail presence; the headphones lean on the Bose Music app, and units are sealed with no user-replaceable battery.

Overview

Bose, founded in 1964 near Boston, effectively invented consumer noise cancellation and remains synonymous with it. Its QuietComfort line is the benchmark for all-day comfort and quiet, and the QuietComfort Ultra adds spatial Immersive Audio. Sound and features have caught up to rivals rather than led them, and a 2026 firmware episode dented its software goodwill, but for comfort-first quiet, Bose is still a default.

Is it worth it?

Bose is worth it for buyers who prioritize comfort and noise cancellation above all and want spatial audio for movies. Those who want the longest battery, hi-res codecs, or deep EQ control will prefer Sony or Sennheiser.

Bose reports

All reports

Best for Comfort

7.4

Bose

Bose QuietComfort Ultra

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra (2nd Gen) is the comfort-and-quiet specialist — the headphone to pick if you wear it all day and want to forget it’s there. Its noise cancellation is co-best with Sony’s, it’s among the lightest and most comfortable here at 250g, and its Immersive Audio spatial mode with a Cinema setting is genuinely useful for movies. The trade-offs against rivals: shorter battery (~27–30 hours), only a 3-band EQ, no LDAC, and a 2026 firmware update that stripped popular features with no rollback — a dent in software trust on an otherwise excellent headphone.

$449Read report