Bose
Headphones
Best Known For
Headphones
/
Used Products
0
 Available
Average Price
$500
Brand Popularity
793
 of 900+
Products Listed
5
Review Count
34
Founding Year
1964
Headquarters
United States
Bose
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

What's unique about the brand

Bose pioneered commercial active noise reduction with the first aviation headset in 1989, leading to their consumer QuietComfort line. The company operates with a unique ownership structure where MIT holds majority non-voting shares (donated by founder Amar Bose in 2011), enabling long-term research priorities while remaining private and independent.

What reviewers are saying

We read all the reviews. Here's what reviewers feel most strongly about:

  • Bose products prioritize unparalleled comfort, allowing for extended wear, a hallmark of the QuietComfort series.
  • They feature  effective and customizable active noise cancellation (ANC), with granular control to adapt to various environments, setting a benchmark in the industry.
  • The brand's companion app enables user customization through EQ settings and various listening modes like customizable active noise cancellation, spatial audio, and a transparency mode.

Our favorite reviewer quotes:

  • "The detail and resolution in these (after EQ) is simply incredible. Bose did a great job of smoothening out the treble frequencies, so they never sound too strident or sibilant, while still retaining tons of resolution and micro-details." (https://recordingnow.com/blog/bose-quietcomfort-ultra-review)
  • "The Bose QuietComfort Ultra offers the most expansive and immersive soundstage of any earbud we've reviewed — it is breathtaking. The crisp sound quality and multidimensional listening experience allow you to place each instrument and vocal riff in time and space, making the music feel vast, rich, and real." (https://www.techgearlab.com/reviews/audio/wireless-earbuds/bose-quietcomfort-ultra-earbuds)
  • "Among the top-rated earbuds, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra delivers the most captivating soundscape. Their best-in-class noise cancellation and immersive spatial audio mode pull you into the music, allowing you to place instruments and vocals in space." (https://www.techgearlab.com/reviews/audio/wireless-earbuds/bose-quietcomfort-ultra-earbuds)
Want to report a correction? Please contact us. We'd love to hear from you. Note that much of the data, recommendations, and summaries on ExtremeHiFi are researched after thousands of hours of loving labor. We archive our site's data and its pages on Archive.org and monitor for those repurposing the data. We also fingerprint data to know when text and numbers came from us.

Our interview with the brand

What are two key technological innovations or strong opinions that differ you from other brands?

What's your approach to customer support?

What are your favorite tracks for showcasing the strength of your products?

What other products pair best with yours?

From Julian's interview with
.

Lineup comparison

We think it's helpful to understand how their products compare. To learn more about each, scroll to the section above to click through to individual product pages.

Ultra Open Earbuds

  • Positioning: The entry-level, open-design earbud focused on portability and environmental awareness.
  • Description: Uses an open-ear architecture that keeps ambient sound in play and suits active or outdoor use. Compared to other Bose products, these earbuds provide fewer advanced noise cancellation features than the QuietComfort models while emphasizing light weight and lower cost for casual listening.

QuietComfort Headphones (in-ear)

  • Positioning: A standard in-ear solution aimed at delivering balanced active noise cancellation and clear audio.
  • Description: Features active noise cancellation and crisp sound quality in a compact design that fits everyday use. When compared with the ultra in-ear and over-ear offerings, they offer a moderate noise cancellation level and soundstage that is suitable for small to medium rooms.

QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds

  • Positioning: A premium in-ear option built for enhanced noise cancellation and refined sound clarity.
  • Description: Incorporates more sophisticated noise cancellation and improved acoustic tuning for clearer audio in bustling urban environments. In contrast to the regular in-ear model, they bring advanced connectivity and battery performance, while differing from over-ear headphones by prioritizing portability and a less enclosed listening experience.

QuietComfort Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones

  • Positioning: A mainstream over-ear model delivering effective noise cancellation and a comfortable fit.
  • Description: Combines solid active noise cancellation and an immersive sound profile suited for extended listening in quieter settings. When held against the ultra over-ear series, they deliver balanced performance without the premium build and extra features, and they offer a more enveloping sound compared to the earbud lineup with reduced portability.

QuietComfort Ultra Headphones

  • Positioning: A high-end over-ear flagship distinguished by next-generation noise cancellation and advanced audio performance.
  • Description: Integrates enhanced noise cancellation and upgraded drivers that provide a more expansive soundstage designed for focused listening in larger spaces. Relative to the standard over-ear model, they offer superior build quality, connectivity, and refined audio tuning, making them distinct from both the basic in-ear and ultra in-ear options.
Website author headshot
Julian Shapiro
ExtremeHiFi Writer

Used

Bose

Every month, we find the brand's used items for sale across the web and offline hifi stores.  We have the largest database of used hifi products. Search it here.

No items found.

Search hifi products

Explore our database of 10,000+ new and 25,000+ used hifi products.

Similar

Headphones

brands

Known For
Headphones
/
Average Price
$500
Used Products
0
 Available
Brand Popularity
794
 of 900+
Headquarters
United States

About the brand

Apple deserves credit for making its entire Apple Music catalog available in Lossless (ALAC) up to 24-bit/192 kHz and adding Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos at no extra cost, while creating Personalized Spatial Audio that uses an iPhone's TrueDepth camera to scan your ears and head to build an individualized HRTF profile applied across Apple devices. The brand has also engineered a proprietary lossless, ultra-low-latency wireless link between Apple Vision Pro and specific AirPods models that bypasses standard Bluetooth limits, and created the open-sourced Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) that makes its lossless format royalty-free.

Our interview with the brand

What are two key technological innovations or strong opinions that differ you from other brands?

What's your approach to customer support?

What are your favorite tracks for showcasing the strength of your products?

What other products pair best with yours?

Website author headshot
Julian Shapiro
ExtremeHiFi
Brand Page
Known For
Headphones
/
Average Price
$500
Used Products
1
 Available
Brand Popularity
595
 of 900+
Headquarters
United States

About the brand

Koss invented the world's first stereo headphones in 1958 (the SP/3, now in the Smithsonian), effectively creating personal listening, and has continued pioneering firsts including the first self-energizing electrostatic headphone (ESP/6, 1968) and the first dynamic headphone to reproduce all 10 audible octaves (HV/1A, 1974). The brand offers unusually broad limited lifetime warranty coverage on many models and created the modular Utility Series (2021) with detachable cords that let the same headphones work with future devices through different cable connections.

Our interview with the brand

What are two key technological innovations or strong opinions that differ you from other brands?

What's your approach to customer support?

What are your favorite tracks for showcasing the strength of your products?

What other products pair best with yours?

Website author headshot
Julian Shapiro
ExtremeHiFi
Brand Page
Known For
Headphones
/
Average Price
$500
Used Products
0
 Available
Brand Popularity
783
 of 900+
Headquarters
United States

About the brand

Master & Dynamic is a hifi audio brand that uses unconventional materials, including beryllium drivers across their entire lineup, tempered glass ear cups on headphones, and sapphire glass on earbuds, with handcrafted acetate shells reminiscent of luxury eyewear. They've also created unique products, such as a 35-pound wireless speaker with a concrete composite enclosure, and integrated EEG sensors into headphones to track focus and trigger brain-break prompts.

Our interview with the brand

What are two key technological innovations or strong opinions that differ you from other brands?

What's your approach to customer support?

What are your favorite tracks for showcasing the strength of your products?

What other products pair best with yours?

Website author headshot
Julian Shapiro
ExtremeHiFi
Brand Page
Known For
Headphones
/
Average Price
$500
Used Products
1
 Available
Brand Popularity
239
 of 900+
Headquarters
United States

About the brand

Beats is a hifi brand known for its bass-heavy sound signature and bold designs that appeal to both music fans and fashion enthusiasts, targeting young adult demographics through celebrity endorsements and music video placements. The brand has expanded beyond its signature headphones to include speakers like the Beats Pill, while integrating Apple's W1 and H1 chips for enhanced wireless connectivity.

Our interview with the brand

What are two key technological innovations or strong opinions that differ you from other brands?

What's your approach to customer support?

What are your favorite tracks for showcasing the strength of your products?

What other products pair best with yours?

Website author headshot
Julian Shapiro
ExtremeHiFi
Brand Page
Known For
Headphones
/
Average Price
$500
Used Products
0
 Available
Brand Popularity
805
 of 900+
Headquarters
United States

About the brand

Monolith, a hifi audio brand, stands out for its exceptional transparency by publishing full CEA-2010 burst-test output tables and third-party measurement results directly on product pages, while offering broad THX certification across multiple categories at accessible prices. The brand provides engineering details rarely shared by manufacturers, including 48-bit DSP data paths with per-woofer customized limiter profiles, along with customer-friendly policies such as 5-year replacement warranties and 45-day money-back guarantees.

Our interview with the brand

What are two key technological innovations or strong opinions that differ you from other brands?

What's your approach to customer support?

What are your favorite tracks for showcasing the strength of your products?

What other products pair best with yours?

Website author headshot
Julian Shapiro
ExtremeHiFi
Brand Page
Known For
Headphones
/
Average Price
$500
Used Products
0
 Available
Brand Popularity
833
 of 900+
Headquarters
United States

About the brand

HiFi For All, a boutique California-based headphone maker, is recognized for its unique snap-in resonator system that allows users to switch between "Balanced" and "Dynamic" tunings in 30 seconds. The brand distinguishes itself through a transparent development process documented on YouTube, glass-infused nylon construction, and exceptionally wide soundstage performance in the sub-$1k open-back category.

Our interview with the brand

What are two key technological innovations or strong opinions that differ you from other brands?

What's your approach to customer support?

What are your favorite tracks for showcasing the strength of your products?

What other products pair best with yours?

Website author headshot
Julian Shapiro
ExtremeHiFi
Brand Page