Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen) Review: Noise-Canceling Champ
Bose’s sequel to the QuietComfort Headphones is incredibly comfortable and has excellent noise-canceling, but those traits are no longer enough to beat the competition.
Battery life is not great: 24 hours with ANC enabled is simply not long enough. I had to charge these midweek, every week. Yes, charging is quick, but compared to headphones like the Sony WH-1000XM4C (27 hours with ANC), Nothing Headphone (1) (35 hours with ANC), and Sonos Ace Ultra (also 35 hours with ANC), I noticed how fast the Bose ran out of juice.
I am baffled that these headphones don’t have wear detection. It sounds like a little thing; you can just hit pause before you take off your headphones, after all. But after testing so many headphones with wear detection, many of which are cheaper than these Bose, I was honestly shocked at the omission and thought I needed to change something with my settings, until I remembered: This is by design.
Call quality may be the most overtly bad thing about these headphones. My colleagues have called out that I sounded oddly quiet and processed on Zoom calls, which typically shouldn’t happen with premium, $300-plus headphones. If I have to take these off and switch to the $170 Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro earbuds to take calls in a quiet room, it’s an issue that Bose needs to address.
The $370 MSRP might be my biggest issue with these headphones, since that’s pretty close to the $450 Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen)—which happened to be on sale for $400 on Amazon at the time of writing this review. That’s a $30 price difference for a much better pair of headphones.
Passing the Crown
Bose's QuietComfort-series headphones are iconic for a reason. This midrange option is comfortable, sounds great, and blocks out the world. But so do a lot of headphones in 2026. The $300 Sony WH-1000XM4C’s ANC isn’t as strong, but it has wear detection, better battery life, and a lower price. The $300 Nothing Headphone (1) is a bit less comfortable but has similarly great button controls and a vastly superior 35 hours of battery with ANC. Bose’s own QuietComfort Ultra (2nd Gen) outclasses its sibling in most ways and doesn’t cost much more.
In the past, Bose could command such prices, but the competitive landscape has changed. By no means are these bad: The Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen) are indeed quiet and comfortable and have great audio quality, more so than most headphones. For a lot of people, especially Bose loyalists or those who value music over phone calls, that might be enough. But at this price and with all the gripes, there are really good alternatives. I would wait for these headphones to go on sale (like they are right now, as of publication), or even consider the first-generation version if the price is right (under $200).
Originally published on Wired
