Review: Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II
According to Bose, this bravura efficiency is because of its CustomTune know-how. When the earbuds are taken from their charging case and positioned within the consumer’s ear, a short tone burst assesses the precise properties of the ear canal. In beneath half a second, the QCE II take the knowledge and set themselves up, for each audio and ANC, to finest complement the wearer’s particular traits. And then, by the use of an encore, CustomTune stays vigilant should you’re in “aware” mode, and can instantly kick within the noise canceling if a sudden loud noise ought to intrude.
Despite the dearth of headline codec compatibility, the QCE II are a unified, detailed, and spacious pay attention, and musical in a manner that must be a given however very often isn’t. Through the course of our testing, the Bose performed all the things from Warren Zevon’s Gorilla, You’re a Desperado to …and the World Laughs with You by Flying Lotus through the Cleveland Orchestra’s rampage by way of Orff’s O Fortuna—and at no level do they sound something lower than engaged and entertaining.
As is commonly the case with Bose headphones, low frequencies are beneficiant, however right here they’ve correct attack-and-decay management to go together with their prodigious extension and appreciable weight. This stage of authority makes for respectable rhythmic expression, and recordings have a correct sense of momentum in addition to stable underpinnings. Detail ranges regarding texture are excessive, and there’s punch and finesse in equal measure.
At the other finish of the frequency vary, treble sounds assault politely. Bose has erred on the facet of warning right here, however solely a bit. There’s ample chew and shine to the highest finish, nearly, and positively no suggestion of hardness even at quantity. Some listeners could hanker after a bit extra high-end aggression, however then once more, some listeners have by no means heard of tinnitus.
In between, the Bose do uncomplicated good work with singers of every type and all ranges of competence. The stage of perception accessible by way of the midrange means no element of timbre or method is simply too minor or fleeting to flee the attentions of the QCE II. And in consequence, vocalists are described with all their character and perspective intact.
The Bose consolidate all the frequency vary solidly, with a easy, bump-free journey from high to backside. Overall tonality might be simply fractionally on the nice and cozy facet of impartial when EQ settings are left effectively alone. Naturally, it’s doable to skew the presentation to your style throughout the app, though to be sincere, you’ll be hard-pressed to make a real enchancment. Different is about the perfect you possibly can hope for.
It’s straightforward to think about “good taste” being excessive on the sonic want checklist when Bose was tuning the QCE II. That would possibly go some approach to explaining the marginally inhibited dynamic response to huge Orff-style shifts in quantity and depth. There’s distance between quiet and loud right here, in fact, however it’s not fairly as marked as it’s by way of another equally priced alternate options. Where the low stage dynamic variations in devices or voices are involved, although, the Bose are on a lot surer floor.
The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II are smaller and lighter than the mannequin they change, which places them on par with their apparent rivals. They are totally aggressive, if not class-leading, the place sound high quality, battery life, and consumer interfaces are involved. And relating to really canceling noise, it appears like solely Apple’s next-generation AirPods Pros have a shot at dethroning them. Which means we’ll be updating that best-of checklist instantly.
