We tested the best Bose headphones of 2024

Read our full review of the Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones here.

Who it's for:

If you wear headphones all day while commuting and working, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones are a match made. They're truly comfortable, as the circumaural design fully covers your ear without pinching or adding undue pressure. Plus, the 24-hour battery life will keep them running just as long.

If you're willing to spend a little extra, the QuietComfort Ultras are worth it. At $429, they're more expensive than similar quality headphones from Sony, but these will be a worthy upgrade thanks to the spatial audio and all-day comfort.

Why we like it:

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones are an excellent pair of headphones. They absolutely live up to their comfort name. While testing them, I wore the Bose QuietComfort Ultras for a full eight hours with glasses and earrings and experienced zero discomfort.

The headphones deliver gorgeous, rich audio no matter what you listen to. I enjoyed the peppy beats of Sabrina Carpenter's Espresso in equal measure to the lush strings of Vivaldi. Active noise cancellation blocked out the world while I was listening; however, it's weak on high-pitched noise compared to other headphones I've used.

It offers three different listening modes: aware, transparent, and immersive. All of them allow for a more customizable audio experience, best for the pickiest listeners. These headphones are expensive, but they are the best Bose has to offer.

Read our full review of the Bose QuietComfort Ultra earbuds.

Who it's for:

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra earbuds are for anyone who wants top-of-the-line ANC, sound quality, and comfort in the form of a pair of earbuds. You'll have to shell out for them, but these earbuds earned the Mashable Choice Award for a reason, and wowed both Mashable contributor Timothy Beck Werth and Shopping Reporter Sam Mangino.

If the price is a deterrent for you, picking up these earbuds during Black Friday can save you some cash. In the weeks ahead of the sale, they've dropped back down to their record-low price of $229, saving you $70 on their list price.

Why we picked this:

When we were considering the best of the best noise-cancelling earbuds, the Bose QuietComfort Ultras stood out as offering an excellent all-around package. First and foremost, the active noise cancellation works, as Timothy Beck Werth writes in his review, "Do they offer 100 percent sound dilution? No, but all but the loudest and closest sounds should disappear. On airplanes, they significantly reduced noise, making it much easier to take a nap. I have to warn my partner when I'm putting on these earbuds, otherwise, she'll think I'm giving her the silent treatment."

As for the audio quality, these earbuds come with Bose's immersive audio, which is essentially the brand's version of spatial audio. While both Mangino and Beck Werth enjoyed the feature, it's not necessarily the selling point of these earbuds. In fact, Mangino noted that "it felt like the music was all around me even when I wasn't using [immersive audio]" when she used the earbuds.

Still, even earbuds that sound great are of little use if they don't stay in your ears. Again, both of our testers found these earbuds to be incredibly comfortable, thanks to the combination of the various ear tip sizes and stability bands. Mangino wrote of her experience: "Whenever I wear earbuds on a walk, I constantly push them in, but I swear I didn't have to adjust these once on my entire three-mile loop."

The only real downsides of these earbuds are that they can be sometimes difficult to get out of the case, and more significantly, that they suffer from one issue that you'll find on other Bose headphones: Their Bluetooth connection isn't always as automatic as what you'd get from earbuds like AirPods, especially when it comes to multipoint pairing. If all of the above is worth disconnecting and reconnecting your earbuds every now and then, then you'll likely be more than happy with these earbuds, but if i

Check out our full review of the Bose Ultra Open earbuds.

Who it's for:

If you're working out in the evening or biking in busy areas, safety is a big concern. While you want to be able to listen to your music, it's essential to hear the world around you, too. The Bose Ultra Open offer an ingenious design. These earbuds clip onto your ear like a cuff and don't block your ear canal. They provide the right balance of high-quality audio while keeping you connected to the world around you.

Even if you're less concerned about noise transparency, these headphones are just flat-out comfortable. If you don't love the feeling of having earbuds in your ears, these are great in between.

Why we like it:

The Bose Ultra Open earbuds easily have the most unique design of all the headphones on this list. While I was hesitant about how well the clip-on style would work, I was quickly on board. They wrap around your ear, providing surprisingly good audio quality despite no noise cancellation benefits. Plus, they're super comfortable even for long periods of time, and they're ideal if you hate the clogged-up feeling of traditional earbuds. And while they seem like they might be less secure than regular earbuds, I found that they stayed in place even through frequent movements.

When working out, especially in busy areas, I'm often concerned about safety, and these buds ensured I could hear cars or bikes coming my way. That's why I loved the Bose Ultra Open; I had the best of both worlds — I could tune into my podcast and still hear the world around me.