Customer reviews from bose.com
Bose - Refurbished Excellent - Ultra Open-Ear True Wireless Open Earbuds - White Smoke
Average customer rating
4.3
(3,714 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 3,714 reviews
5 Stars
2,380
4 Stars
682
3 Stars
345
2 Stars
160
1 Star
147
Customer Reviews for Bose - Refurbished Excellent - Ultra Open-Ear True Wireless Open Earbuds - White Smoke
Customer Rating
4
Wear them all day
on February 18, 2024
Posted by: Dustin
Gender:Male
Length of ownership:1 month
I got these ear buds about a month ago and they are a good addition to my Bose collection. They are great for when I am working in the office so I can listen to music yet hear when co-workers want my attention. I also love them for working around the house and in the yard, so I can hear if someone knocks on the door or if the dog barks. The amount of battery life is amazing for both the ear buds and the case, I use them at least 3 hours a day and have never dropped below 60% battery. They are also small and are very comfortable, so I often don't feel them on my ears at all. That's a big difference than wearing headphones or in-ear buds. However, they are not good for loud spaces (the gym, airport, etc), so I do switch over to my Bose QC45s when I need to shut out surrounding noise.
Written by a customer while visiting bose.com
Customer Rating
5
The most aesthetically earbuds in the market
on February 18, 2024
Posted by: heidyc
Gender:Female
Length of ownership:1 month
My experience with this brand new Bose Ultra open earbuds has been spectacular, I’m amazed in all possible ways that this product offers , such a open concept that allows me to be in contact with my surroundings, the 7hrs of non stop listening that this product offer, the quality and modes such like the motion mode that allows me moving around and don’t lose control of whatever I’m listening to, and not to mention the fascinated design is like a fashion accessory for me I can style it with my outfit perfection!!!! You’ll find yourself with your fav music, podcasts, call or video call and don’t even think that your are wearing earbuds the design allows you to feel the lightness and comforting is a dream.
Written by a customer while visiting bose.com
Customer Rating
5
Great new fit while maintaining superb Bose sound
on February 18, 2024
Posted by: Castle
Gender:Male
Length of ownership:1 month
Have used these new open ear buds for over 3 weeks now and am very pleased. The new cuff ear fit is a huge improvement over the old in ear method for 2 main reasons: 1. It perfectly fits any ear type which allows sharing. This was previously a problem since my wife's ears need a much smaller plug than I do. It also removes the need to clean the ear buds each time they are shared. 2. They maintain the great Bose sound and bass but also allows you to not be cut off from the outside world should someone wish to ask you something.
Some other major Pros are:
Great Bluetooth range - Better than my Bose QC II's. I can walk around my whole backyard while leaving my phone stationary with no issues.
Button control on each barrel - This allows an extremely easy way to pause, skip, volume control, answer calls, etc. This also compares very favorably towards my QC II's as well as other ear buds that get touched accidentally and stop playing or skip.
Not noise canceling - These do engulf you in the sound, so although you can hear outside sounds it is very close to noise canceling, basically the best of both worlds.
Perfect fit - Although the fit is mentioned above, the cuff/clip method also allows these to not fall out. Even though the QC II's and my other ear buds fit me very well, after a long day or some strenuous exercise there was the possibility, they would slip out. With the cuff/clip method they stayed on while I worked out at the gym, hit the batting cages, worked outside etc.
Battery Life - I have used these for 7 hours straight and not run out of battery life. In fact, I have yet to have them cut out due to dead battery.
Battery Case - Major improvement in the case as the magnetic grip has the ear buds fit correctly every time. Plus, they connect up towards the top of the case which avoids issues I have had in the past with the QC II's and others where the deep case can get dirty contacts which are hard to clean and cause the ear buds to not always charge correctly. The other plus is 2 different charging lights that give the current status of each ear bud. My other ear bud cases contain one light that shows the status as you put each ear bud in, so it wasn't as easy to know where they both stood at a quick glance.
Multiple Bluetooth connections - I had these connected to 2 or 3 different devices at all times and switching between was very easy and seamless.
Firmware update - This was very easy to perform and completed successfully. The latest firmware update appears to have solved all of the issues/cons I will list below so it is great to know any other potential problems or updates can be distributed and installed proactively or reactively by Bose in a quick manner.
Great Bluetooth range - Better than my Bose QC II's. I can walk around my whole backyard while leaving my phone stationary with no issues.
Button control on each barrel - This allows an extremely easy way to pause, skip, volume control, answer calls, etc. This also compares very favorably towards my QC II's as well as other ear buds that get touched accidentally and stop playing or skip.
Not noise canceling - These do engulf you in the sound, so although you can hear outside sounds it is very close to noise canceling, basically the best of both worlds.
Perfect fit - Although the fit is mentioned above, the cuff/clip method also allows these to not fall out. Even though the QC II's and my other ear buds fit me very well, after a long day or some strenuous exercise there was the possibility, they would slip out. With the cuff/clip method they stayed on while I worked out at the gym, hit the batting cages, worked outside etc.
Battery Life - I have used these for 7 hours straight and not run out of battery life. In fact, I have yet to have them cut out due to dead battery.
Battery Case - Major improvement in the case as the magnetic grip has the ear buds fit correctly every time. Plus, they connect up towards the top of the case which avoids issues I have had in the past with the QC II's and others where the deep case can get dirty contacts which are hard to clean and cause the ear buds to not always charge correctly. The other plus is 2 different charging lights that give the current status of each ear bud. My other ear bud cases contain one light that shows the status as you put each ear bud in, so it wasn't as easy to know where they both stood at a quick glance.
Multiple Bluetooth connections - I had these connected to 2 or 3 different devices at all times and switching between was very easy and seamless.
Firmware update - This was very easy to perform and completed successfully. The latest firmware update appears to have solved all of the issues/cons I will list below so it is great to know any other potential problems or updates can be distributed and installed proactively or reactively by Bose in a quick manner.
Cons:
Connectivity with the Bose Music App - I will start off by saying I believe all these issues were cleared up with the new firmware update, but I will mention them just in case. To be clear, these were only issues within the Bose Music app, my Bluetooth connections never dropped, and I never had any interruptions in listening. Within the Bose Music App, which is used to do things like adjust the equalizer and set various immersive audio settings (which are very cool), I had multiple occurrences where the app would lose connection with the ear buds at times for a few minutes and then reconnect. I tried to force reconnect via various troubleshooting methods but none of them worked, they just seemed to reconnect by themselves after a short period of time. As I mentioned there was no interruption at all in listening, it was just within the app. Along with that a few other times I also had one or the other ear bud drop off unexpectedly and then after 30-90 seconds pick back up again. In these cases, it did seem that if I clicked the barrel button on the ear bud that dropped it would come back, although this did not resolve it every time.
As mentioned above, all of these issues have not reoccurred for me since the firmware update, so I do not have any actual current Cons.
Connectivity with the Bose Music App - I will start off by saying I believe all these issues were cleared up with the new firmware update, but I will mention them just in case. To be clear, these were only issues within the Bose Music app, my Bluetooth connections never dropped, and I never had any interruptions in listening. Within the Bose Music App, which is used to do things like adjust the equalizer and set various immersive audio settings (which are very cool), I had multiple occurrences where the app would lose connection with the ear buds at times for a few minutes and then reconnect. I tried to force reconnect via various troubleshooting methods but none of them worked, they just seemed to reconnect by themselves after a short period of time. As I mentioned there was no interruption at all in listening, it was just within the app. Along with that a few other times I also had one or the other ear bud drop off unexpectedly and then after 30-90 seconds pick back up again. In these cases, it did seem that if I clicked the barrel button on the ear bud that dropped it would come back, although this did not resolve it every time.
As mentioned above, all of these issues have not reoccurred for me since the firmware update, so I do not have any actual current Cons.
To wrap it up, I highly recommend these ear buds as they provide much more fit/sharing flexibility, seem more rugged than other ear buds and keep that same great Bose sound.
Written by a customer while visiting bose.com
Customer Rating
5
Comfortable, great fit, and good sound.
on February 18, 2024
Posted by: Tsquared
Gender:Male
Length of ownership:1 month
I have been using these for the past few weeks most days and love them so far, oy earbuds i have ever said that about. So far I would say they have great comfort and stay in place! I have often found myself forgetting im wearing them if not actively listening to something and havent had them fall off at all when exercising. It does take some time to get used to wearing them as recommended but mainly to find the right position for the best sound, i do wish the band was slightly larger or adjustable so that it would be just ever so slightly louder and clearer at times.
They definitely have good range I'm able to walk around my house with my phone sittingon the charger with no issues. The sound is amazing in quiet places, but loud environmentscan be tricky.
The immersion modes are fun, still was great for watching show though I used motion a lot while walking around with them in stores or at home. It's a subtle sound adjustment but very enjoyable.
As i said before ut does have trouble with louder noises ie vacuuming was not as enjoyable as music was drowned out though still able to hear it. I tried out the auto volume adjust but it didn’t seem to do much in this situation and was subtle overall.
The app seemed to work well with them, it made it easy to add new devices, you can also do it via shortcuts but I never tried it that way. There is an option in shortcuts to change devices which was nice a bit slow but faster than going to app. Though the shortcuts did reset on me a couple of times which I noticed when trying to change devices.
Battery life seemed good, no issues with it running low aside from the time I left them out overnight on purpose. Otherwise they stayed charged just from dropping them in the case, though definitely wish the case was set up for wireless charging on it.
Overall I think these are excellent earbuds and definitely see myself using them more than any in-ear earbuds I have used in the past.
Written by a customer while visiting bose.com
Customer Rating
5
Simply Astounding Sound Experience
on February 18, 2024
Posted by: lprbose
Gender:Female
Length of ownership:1 month
I have to admit - I was skeptical of the "open earbuds" concept when I first received the package because they simply don't look like anything I've ever seen. The minute I clicked "play" on my favorite song, my jaw dropped. I felt as immersed as I do when I blast a song I love on a Bose *speaker* - except no one else could hear it, and I could hear everything else in my environment just as well.
About the reviewer: musician and music lover, always been extremely particular about earphones and headphones. I'm female, mid thirties, have tiny ears, listen to music (or something) all day every day (pretty much all the time unless I'm in a meeting).
Pros:
- If you live for music as I do, and this is the most important criteria, these have simply amazing sound.
- These allow you a pretty incredible listening experience without compromising safety if you are, e.g., cycling or running in a city or doing anything that requires environmental awareness (they don't go into your ear canal, so they don't dim outside sounds as other earphones do even without active noise cancelling).
- They took a minute to get used to, but now I find them as comfortable as any other earphone I've owned.
- Battery life seems very solid.
- They stay on well through strenuous activity like running or strength training.
- They're super light and the case is super light; comfortable to carry around in skinny jean pockets.
Cons:
- Some connection glitches at times (seems to have improved after a software update but still seems more glitchy than earphones native to your phone's manufacturer/operating system). I've also had some minor complaints on voice quality heard on the other side of phone calls and switching between Spotify/phone calls sometimes causes connection glitches.
- I really wish the buttons had a swiping motion sensor to make the volume changing easier and more precise.
- Hard to tell case battery level (it's not displayed on the app).
- If you can only own one pair of expensive listening devices, and especially if you fly somewhat often, it's probably better to have the versatility of noise cancelling earphones as I would say these have a narrower set of use cases.
- If you live for music as I do, and this is the most important criteria, these have simply amazing sound.
- These allow you a pretty incredible listening experience without compromising safety if you are, e.g., cycling or running in a city or doing anything that requires environmental awareness (they don't go into your ear canal, so they don't dim outside sounds as other earphones do even without active noise cancelling).
- They took a minute to get used to, but now I find them as comfortable as any other earphone I've owned.
- Battery life seems very solid.
- They stay on well through strenuous activity like running or strength training.
- They're super light and the case is super light; comfortable to carry around in skinny jean pockets.
Cons:
- Some connection glitches at times (seems to have improved after a software update but still seems more glitchy than earphones native to your phone's manufacturer/operating system). I've also had some minor complaints on voice quality heard on the other side of phone calls and switching between Spotify/phone calls sometimes causes connection glitches.
- I really wish the buttons had a swiping motion sensor to make the volume changing easier and more precise.
- Hard to tell case battery level (it's not displayed on the app).
- If you can only own one pair of expensive listening devices, and especially if you fly somewhat often, it's probably better to have the versatility of noise cancelling earphones as I would say these have a narrower set of use cases.
Overall though, strongly recommend on the basis of incredibly powerful and beautiful sound + elegant and practical design.
Response from bose.comBy Lau, Bose Customer Support, February 19, 2024
Hello,
Thank you for writing your review of the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds.
I am glad to hear that you love their immersive sound and comfort.
I am sorry you have experienced connectivity issues. If it occurs again, I would recommend perform a reset. You can find the steps here: https://support.bose.com/s/display-articles?language=en_US&productId=01t8c00000OlcI5AAJ&articleId=ka08c000001bufcAAA
If you need any further assistance or have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact our team: https://support.bose.com/s/get-help-landing-page?language=en_US
Best regards,
Lau - Bose Customer Support
Thank you for writing your review of the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds.
I am glad to hear that you love their immersive sound and comfort.
I am sorry you have experienced connectivity issues. If it occurs again, I would recommend perform a reset. You can find the steps here: https://support.bose.com/s/display-articles?language=en_US&productId=01t8c00000OlcI5AAJ&articleId=ka08c000001bufcAAA
If you need any further assistance or have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact our team: https://support.bose.com/s/get-help-landing-page?language=en_US
Best regards,
Lau - Bose Customer Support
Written by a customer while visiting bose.com
Customer Rating
5
Quality earbuds
on February 18, 2024
Posted by: Ammon
Gender:Male
Length of ownership:1 month
After personally having used the earbuds for a few weeks I thoroughly enjoy them. They have quality sound and bass as does all Bose products. Pros: easily put them on your ear, cause no discomfort to my ears after wearing all day, the Spatial Audio feature allows for a more rich sound when listening to music or watching something, the battery level lasts a very long time I was consistently using them throughout each day and didn’t have to charge them until about a week later, having the button instead of swiping motion allows you to have a “shortcut” set up but also control the volume instead of having to put the volume control as your shortcut like previous earbuds. Cons: there is no active noise cancelling and depending on what you are doing this can be annoying or could be a benefit, because of the style they don’t sit directly in your ear therefor someone next to you can still hear what you are listening to if they are loud enough, the button to control sits behind the ear and does make it a little trickier I feel to get to compared to the swiping and taping motion previous earbuds had. Overall I enjoy these headphones and will continue to use them.
Written by a customer while visiting bose.com
Customer Rating
5
“Immerse” Yourself in New Technology
on February 18, 2024
Posted by: JayGray07
Having never seen an earphone product like these I was intrigued. Having the opportunity to try them out was awesome. I started by just putting them in my ears to get the feel. Immediately I felt a comfort not felt with “regular” earbuds. They didn’t dig into my ears and the soft silicone of the clip portion was more comfortable than I would have thought, I couldn’t really even feel it even after wearing them for a couple of hours. After owning regular headphones and earbuds, both Bose, I was really excited about the immersive audio feature on this product. It did not disappoint. The music felt like it was all around me, akin to being at a concert. The battery life was also impressive I was able to listen for long periods of time with no interruptions. I will say there was one incident where the left earbud went out temporarily. This seemed to be fixed after a firmware update was run. I also let my wife and kids take a turn, all had glowing reactions to the buds. I would highly recommend these to anyone who is interested in a different kind feel and experience while listening to music. I also enjoy the fact that I can be listening to music but still hear the world around me.
Written by a customer while visiting bose.com
Customer Rating
5
My new favorite headphones for the gym!
on February 18, 2024
Posted by: BurtWR
Gender:Male
Length of ownership:1 month
I have been looking for the perfect headphones for the gym for a long time and my search may finally be over! I do a few hours of intense exercise (CrossFit, running) just about everyday and until now I haven’t found the right headphones yet. Other products fall out easily, have terrible sound or are just too uncomfortable to wear for extended periods.
First the fit, it takes a few minutes to get them into the right place on my ear. Part of that problem is that my off hand is clumsy. However once I had them in place they stayed there. I ran with them, lifted weights and did movements such and burpees and they didn’t fall out even once! Very impressive.
The sound was awesome. Plenty of bass but I’d say the sound is pretty well balanced. With the open ear design I worried I would be hearing my music AND the gyms music but that turnout to not be an issue unless I was right under the gyms speakers.
One of my favorite features of these headphones were the buttons. They feel solid and work well. I have some headphones that are controlled by tapping the sides and it’s super annoying to be lifting overhead and accidentally stopping your music or changing the volume. Physical buttons for the win!
I was able to wear the ear buds for hours with no problems with comfort.
Some miscellaneous thoughts. I was able to run about 100 meters from my phone and still maintain connection with my earbuds! Awesome! Call quality was very clear! And lastly this might be TMI but I have an ear that produces lots of earwax! It has wrecked in ear buds in the past. That is not an issue with the Ultra Ear buds because they don’t go into the ear canal that deep. So if you have ear wax issues these are perfect!
My biggest con is the charging case lid, the hinge seems a little fragile. Maybe the silicone case will help with that? I’ll find out once it arrives.
I am beyond happy with these earbuds and it’s nice to have finally found a product that fits all my needs while exercising !
First the fit, it takes a few minutes to get them into the right place on my ear. Part of that problem is that my off hand is clumsy. However once I had them in place they stayed there. I ran with them, lifted weights and did movements such and burpees and they didn’t fall out even once! Very impressive.
The sound was awesome. Plenty of bass but I’d say the sound is pretty well balanced. With the open ear design I worried I would be hearing my music AND the gyms music but that turnout to not be an issue unless I was right under the gyms speakers.
One of my favorite features of these headphones were the buttons. They feel solid and work well. I have some headphones that are controlled by tapping the sides and it’s super annoying to be lifting overhead and accidentally stopping your music or changing the volume. Physical buttons for the win!
I was able to wear the ear buds for hours with no problems with comfort.
Some miscellaneous thoughts. I was able to run about 100 meters from my phone and still maintain connection with my earbuds! Awesome! Call quality was very clear! And lastly this might be TMI but I have an ear that produces lots of earwax! It has wrecked in ear buds in the past. That is not an issue with the Ultra Ear buds because they don’t go into the ear canal that deep. So if you have ear wax issues these are perfect!
My biggest con is the charging case lid, the hinge seems a little fragile. Maybe the silicone case will help with that? I’ll find out once it arrives.
I am beyond happy with these earbuds and it’s nice to have finally found a product that fits all my needs while exercising !
Written by a customer while visiting bose.com