Yes, I missed the big news from Bose this morning. I was busy with… other things. You too would be forgiven for missing the launch of the QuietComfort Earbuds II amidst the deluge of Apple news (including its own new buds), but Bose makes very good headphones and each new version of its flagship products deserves a mention .
The new buds are a third smaller than their predecessor and bring big improvements in noise-cancelling – which has long been Bose’s bread and butter. To achieve the latter, each bud features four microphones – three on the outside and one on the inside. These recognize ambient noise and counteract the sound accordingly in “less than a fraction of a millisecond”, according to the press release.
Photo credit: Evil
The buds also feature noise calibration technology, which uses a tone to determine the size and shape of your ear and adjusts the sound accordingly. A number of companies are doing something similar – notably Nura’s highly customizable sound profiles.
But what’s particularly interesting about Bose’s implementation here with CustomTune is that it re-measures each time you take the buds out of the case and put them in your ears. The buds come with three tip sizes and three stability bands to keep them in place while running. The Bose app walks you through a process to ensure a good fit.
Photo credit: Evil
The QC Buds 2 are IPX4 certified for water resistance and each bud should last six hours on a charge and another 18 hours with the case. They aren’t cheap. At $299, they’re $50 more than the new AirPods Pro. But if you’re a Bose fan, you can pick them up starting September 15th.
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