Bose - QuietComfort Earbuds (Original)

As someone with similar struggles - soft in-ear hooks. There's the occasional unicorn design that just works, but your best bet is something that fits securely not just into your ear canal. Unfortunately most of that category is sports gear that's both very bassy and uncomfortable to outright painful for longer sessions, but something like the Sony Linkbuds, basic Beats Fit Pro or previous gen of Bose QuietComfort might pop up just within your budget if you keep an eye on sales and discounts.

I've struggled time and again to find earbuds I could wear comfortably, and the one single model that wouldn't constantly slip out without hooks (Final ZE 3000) now went out of production to be succeeded by an all too average shape. And hooked designs aren't much better either - the only hooks that didn't irritate my ears in short order were those of the original Bose QuietComfort (can't stand the sound of the newer ones) and the adjustable slider hooks of older Sennheiser Adidas wired sports buds. I've gone through just about every big brand and highly reviewed offering including those praised for their comfort by now, so what else is there still out there for me to try and replace my final pair of Finals with that offers either an exceptional natural fit or hooks on par with Bose's for a soft but secure fit? -€200 budget, up to ~€350 if they're decently IP-rated and can be expected to last several years. -Should be available in Europe. -5-6h of battery is good enough. -ANC doesn't matter. -Not having an invasive app is a pre, mandatory app permissions are a dealbreaker. -Strong preference for neutral-leaning sound that suits all music genres, though a little bass isn't a dealbreaker - in terms of general sound signatures it's Sennheiser that most reliably hits the mark for me. I'd just be rocking a Momentum 3 if not for their dreadfully insufficient little hooks.

Lol yeah for years I wore the Bose Quietcomfort earbuds for my gym and cardio needs (hour on a bicycle daily outdoors for cardio and hour in the gym every other day) because they lock into the ear quite comfortably and have amazing ANC. But then I discovered open ear earclip style earbuds and they've changed how I use earbuds (wearing them literally all day long now lol). But yeah aside from comfort, they have never once fallen out of my ears regardless of how rigorous or sweaty I get haha.

>Don’t get the Bose QC Ultra If sound quality is the biggest reason, sure I'll agree >and they have severe connectivity issues Having handled the Bose QC original, QC2, and new QC-ultra. The connectivity issues only happen in congested areas (lots of people) - in suburbs or rural settings there is essentially never any connectivity issues. I only encounter issues a fraction of the time when I'm traveling through downtown or in an airport (and even then, the signal hops to another channel and the music continues). >and bugs such as? Because I can't think of one that I'd complain about having handled the Bose QC2 / QC-ultra earbuds for three years now. Not trying to dispel your opinions on the other earbuds, just trying to add some clarification because it bugs me when people flat out make the claim that bose have connectivity issues when it heavily depends on where the person is using the earbuds. For me, I have essentially zero connectivity issues unless I'm in heavily congested areas with lots of bluetooth noise. Just my $0.02

Bang & Olufsen Eleven would be high on my list >and Bose's have connectivity issues (more WTF) Bose's antenna is not the strongest. As such it tends to get more signal interference. In my rural area I notice a signal hopping issue rarely when a bus drives past full of people or when I ride past an apartment. But otherwise I use mine daily and encounter a connectivity issue where the music lags or pauses for a second maybe once or twice a year. I've been using Bose Quietcomfort earbuds and never had a major issue with connectivity on android phones - I suspect most complaints come from people in congested areas like cities where are countless bluetooth signals and other radio interference nearby. And of course, you'll get complaints from people who are running the AptX-adaptive codec, not understanding that the only way to get highest fidelity is very close line of sight transmission (IE 3 feet away on a desk nearby with direct line of sight to your earbuds)

So it depends on your needs - for many years I wanted nothing but pure ANC and good sound quality. For flying and when I want to 'turn off' the world, my Bose Quietcomfort earbuds have been solid. But Bose has a signature sound that some people don't like - however Bose is more focused on ANC over sound quality (and call quality in my opinion lol). For overall performers, I'd say you can scoop up a set of Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 for a fair price these days if ANC and Sound quality are important on a budget. But lately I find myself reaching for open-ear earclip style earbuds for my everyday consumption needs. I can turn the music down to moderate levels and go about my work day while still hearing and interacting with the world. Transparency mode on ANC earbuds is nice, but not something I liked using for everyday wear. With my ANC earbuds, they get hot and sweaty after 4-5 hours of wearing. But with open-ear clip style earbuds, I can go 7+ hours every day without any discomfort (the only annoyance is when the battery runs out after 6-7 hours lol)

I have a set of Bose Quietcomforts I bought direct from Bose in 2020. They were the first TWS earbuds on the market from Bose, and they still hold a solid charge lasting several hours (just tested them extensively before selling them on ebay recently to confirm they were fully functional). The reality is that cheaper earbuds use cheaper components. Those lower grade batteries are the issue, not the form factor. Plus it also depends on how you use the earbuds. Someone who uses them a few times a week is going to have a different experience from someone who leaves them in a drawer for months at a time because the earbuds are in standby mode waiting to turn back on - this slowly drains the batteries, eventually deep-cycling them (which does major damage to the battery).

For my gym needs for many years I've been using Bose Quietcomfort earbuds - first the original Quietcomforts with the StayHear earbud tips back in 2020, then I upgraded to the newer designed Bose Quietcomfort2, now I rock the Bose Quietcomfort Ultra earbuds (the first gen, the new second gen was released this year). You can likely find the Bose quietcomfort Ultra earbuds new-old-stock in your budget (just double-check the return policy as there are lots of knockoffs floating around, the only way to confirm yours are legit is to check if they connect to the Bose smartphone app, knockoffs won't). I like them because they have the extra wingtips that lock into your ears (takes a week or two to find the right pairing of inner eartips to outer wingtips), but the outer wingtips really help seal off the ear from external noise which really helps the sound quality (and noise cancelling capabilities). Only two complaints about the Bose QC Ultra earbuds - call quality is lackluster (functional, but not top tier for the MSRP price in my opinion), and some people complain about connectivity. The antenna seems a bit weaker than other brands - so if you're in a downtown area with lots of bluetooth signals, you may find the earbuds hopping signals often. I'm nowhere near a big city so that's not an issue for me - and I really only notice it 'hopping' to another frequency a few times when traveling through a busy airport, so it's not a big issue for me.

I only carry one set with me most of the time. But when flying, two to three pairs - an open ear (or two) for the airport, and my bose noise cancelling for the flight itself to block out ALL noise.

Not necessarily. There is a lot of unsatisfied people who can afford the APP3 but are returning them. The sound of APP3 is not as good as Apple has been claiming to be (they were hyping them up). I returned the APP3 after a few days and got Sennheiser IE 400 Pro instead. Couldn't be happier. The APP3 definitely cannot stand up to good-quality headphones / earphones. Apple have lost their magic touch. See for example here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/airpods/comments/1nocgtl/comment/nfrlom1/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/airpods/comments/1nocgtl/comment/nfrlom1/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)

Sennheiser IE 400 Pro only have passive noise reduction (no ANC). According to the specification they reduce ambient sounds by about 26dB. Normally I don't need strong ANC so it's a moot point. If there is indeed a rare need for ANC (for example exercising on a noisy treadmill or a squeaky stepper) then my trusty old Bose QuietComfort 1st Generation earbuds still do the job perfectly well.

Do not recommend the Bose quietcomforts. Had the first gen, failed under warranty (wouldn’t hold a charge), received quietcomfort 2 as replacement from Bose (after arguing with customer service) and maybe 18 months later the right earbud snapped in half when removing from my ear. I used to like Bose products a lot, but the quality on these multi hundred dollar earbuds was subpar in my experience.

I have absolutely loved my Bose QC earbuds first gen (had 5-ish years), but tried the Airpods Pro 3 at Apple just after they came out. The Airpods knocked everything else I’ve ever tried out of the water in terms of noise cancelling, and the sound quality was on par with the Bose. Just be aware if you travel by plane frequently, there are known issues with the noise cancelling at altitude- the kind which would be a dealbreaker for a lot of people

I've had both the first QC and QC2 and they have about a 2 year lifespan. Both right ear buds start crackling and losing volume. I'm assuming mostly because that's the earbud I use for control but for over $200 I had hoped they'd last longer. The sound and noise cancelling is good though

I don't understand how I've not seen more people saying this, but their firmware is garbage, so garbage in fact that it makes them entirely unusable. I am on my 6th pair, yes, 6th, because they keep continuously crashing, refusing to connect, and crashing some more, having extremely loud noise in one earbud all of a sudden, all kinds of random bs. I could write a 4 part essay, just listing every firmware / software issue these things got. I have never in my life gotten so angry from owning a product as with these literal pieces of manufactured e-waste, to the point I actually want to punch the firmware developer in the face. And a important note, this is the 4th device from Bose which has had these sorts of issues. Bose clearly does not give 2 shits about their firmware. I've had 4 pair of sleep buds, 4 pair of first gen Bose quiet comfort earbuds, they all broke through firmware issues. I have their headphones, literally need to factory reset them every single time I disconnect from my pc. And my 6th pair of quiet comfort ultra earbuds is again randomly crashing. And what makes me most angry of all is that if these pieces of garbage had proper functioning firmware, they would literally be the best earbuds on the market imo. I really want these things to get outclassed by any other company, so I can finally throw these out of a windows, drive over them with my car, smash them to pieces with a massive hammer, and set them on fire. But no, not a single other alternative I tried comes even close to the anc performance and comfort of these. I've tried plenty other ones, and they are just so much worse, I kept coming back to the Bose quiet comfort ultra's out of sheer desperation, just hoping they will have finally fixed the firmware, just to find out they probably just added 6 more bugs. These earbuds are like a toxic love hate relationship, there are moments where it's good, real good, better than anything else, and nothing comes even close, but the bad just is so bad, it's not worth it. Anyways, that was my 4am ramble. tldr, they are really good, but also the worst product on the planet, don't buy them

I love the Bose quiet comfort. I have the first edition for almost 5 years now.

Your current earbuds have the best ANC on the market. They’re buggy as all hell, but you aren’t going to find earbuds with better ANC. The AirPods Pro 2, Sony WF-10005, and JBL Tour Pro 3 all have competitive ANC with Bose, but Bose still has the best. The AirPods Pro 2 will provide a more solid experience if you’re using an iPhone. The Sony will have ANC a notch below Bose. But they do get a couple extra hours of use, their charging case is small and supports Qi charging, and I think their sound quality is better than Bose. I have the JBL Tour Pro 3. When music is playing, I can’t hear anything. Better audio quality than Bose and longer battery life (the same as Sony). Their charging case is large, but at least it has Qi charging and can act as an audio source for the earbuds. The touchscreen seems like a gimmick, but I actually use it from time to time instead of relying on the JBL app (which is a little slow but worlds better than Bose’s buggy app). I will never buy Bose earbuds again. I went through 5-6 pairs of QC earbuds 1, the same number of QC earbuds 2, and 4 pairs of QC Ultra. I just kept exchanging them for connectivity issues (Android and iOS), buzzing in the left ear on the Ultras, needing to factory reset the 2 and Ultras (which means plugging them into a USB power source), and overall just terrible experiences. I had the Sony WF-1000XM5, but their hybrid foam/rubber ear tips weren’t my favorite. Then I received a pair of JBL Tour Pro 3 and kept them because of their sound quality (I can get booming bass without distortion, unlike with Bose), competitive ANC, and having damn near every feature under the sun. The only thing you can’t do is control audio playback and adjust volume directly with the earbuds. But their case, my Apple Watch, or my iPhone can handle that.

Numbers 2 and 3 are too buggy and I don’t recommend buying them. Number 2 is also too old to buy into now. Number 1 was released late last year and will have about the same ANC as number 3, which has the best but they’re too buggy to use and are otherwise terrible earbuds because of those bugs and other issues they’re known for.

They need media playing. Find a 10 hour silent video on YouTube and play that. The regular QC earbuds have hardware from Bose but firmware and software from Skullcandy. Their app is 100% a rebrand of Skullcandy’s IQ app. I’m not sure why Bose went this route. Probably because they have issues developing their own app and firmware. Skullcandy releasing the Method 360 ANC was probably part of the agreement, those are essentially re-skinned QC earbuds II with a 30% reduction in ANC.

That’s idiotic, especially since they don’t have head tracking Spatial Audio. Return them and get a different pair from potentially a different brand. The QC earbuds aren’t the best anyway, even for their lower price.

I agree. I have my QC Ultra headphones and love them. Great ANC, the 3-band EQ is more than enough for me, and they have all day comfort. Even after testing out Sony’s WH-1000XM6, I don’t feel the need to switch to those like I did back with the QC45. Their Bluetooth speakers are even great and pack a punch above their size. The Soundlink Flex 2 has more bass and gets almost as loud as the JBL Charge 6 that’s almost twice as big. I’d even argue that the Ultra Open earbuds are nice. My original pair didn’t have any issues and I picked up a pair of their Lisa colab ones, they’ve still been solid. But in-ear wireless earbuds have been terrible. I remember the old Soundsport wireless with the wire between them, they were awful. The true wireless version of those were also bad as were the QC30. I wanted to like the QC earbuds 1, but hated them and couldn’t use each pair I went through. Same with the QC earbuds II. I haven’t even tried the newer QC earbuds. I have a pair of the QC Ultras, it’s my 5th or 6th pair and they’re still buggy. But I’m waiting until the second gen to exchange them, again, with Bose. I’ve had my QC Ultra headphones for almost 2 years now and haven’t had a single issue, they were a launch pair. But the QC earbuds and other wireless in-ear earbuds? Terrible. I’ve never been a fan of their soundbars, not when Samsung’s bars cost much less and sonically perform similarly or, for Bose’s prices for a complete surround, you can just get Sony’s expensive surround speakers that are stupid easy to setup and have a phenomenal Atmos experience.

I find them far too sensitive. As soon as I touch it, it activates a function, and destabilizes the noise reduction calibration. I much preferred the first QC Earbuds