Bose's New Earbuds Let You Hear Music and the World at Once
Bose announced two new earbuds that leave your ears open, the $299 Ultra Open Earbuds (2nd Gen) and the $199 Sport Open Earbuds. Preorders start September 19, with full sales from October 1. The Verge
The 2nd Gen Ultra is the top open model. The Sport Open arrives on the same dates and costs $100 less. The Ultra 2nd Gen comes in black, white smoke, cherry chocolate, olive green, and sky pink. The Sport Open comes in black, white smoke, and eucalyptus green.
For sound, the Ultra 2nd Gen has a new small speaker that plays louder, adjusts itself automatically, and gives deeper bass. It adds a Cinema Mode built on Bose TrueSpatial technology, which makes sound feel wider, like sitting in front of a movie screen, while keeping voices in the center. The wider lineup also includes TrueSpatial head-tracking, which keeps sound steady when you turn your head. SoundGuys
Battery life is one of the concrete differences. The Ultra 2nd Gen plays up to nine hours on the buds, up from seven hours on the last generation. The charging case adds 19.5 hours of playback, has a new design, and can stand upright for wireless charging. The buds have no noise cancelling and are made to let you hear your surroundings.
The Sport Open is the lower-cost option made to stay in place during exercise. It plays up to seven hours on the buds plus 22 more hours with its wireless charging case. Both models have AI-powered SpeechClarity voice isolation, which picks out your voice clearly on calls.
Bose now splits its earbuds into open and sealed. The first Ultra Open Earbuds clip around the ear like a cuff for sound quality and all-day comfort, and Bose now lists them at $199.00, down from $299.00. The sealed choice is the $299 QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen), with Bluetooth, noise cancelling, personalized sound, and all-day comfort, plus Bose Immersive Audio and its own Cinema Mode for theater-like sound. It comes in Black, White Smoke, and limited-edition Deep Plum.
The broader context here is simple. Open earbuds do not block the ear, so you can still hear traffic, bikes, or co-workers. That helps runners, cyclists, and office workers who need to hear a room. The tradeoff is more outside noise and weaker bass.
In my view, Bose is giving each need its own product instead of asking one product to do everything. One model offers more power, wider sound, and longer battery for all-day open wear. The other saves $100 and focuses on stable fit for movement, with the same clear-call and wide-sound tools in both. Pick open if you need to hear surroundings. Pick sealed QuietComfort Ultra if you need quiet. Open-ear has grown from a comfort test into its own full line with its own chip-level work for focusing microphones and placing sound.
