Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds is a flagship earbuds with active noise cancellation (ANC) from Bose, of the bests in the market. I got these at really good sale price a while ago, so this is a rather late review. To avoid confusion, these are the first gen model, not the second gen model just released last month. I do not see enough reason to upgrade to 2nd gen model for now, especially that these earbuds are still serving me really well.

Initial setup was easy. Bose app basically takes care of everything. Right after initial setup, it is always recommended to upgrade the earbuds to the latest firmware.

By default we get 3 modes: Aware, Immersion, and Quiet. Users can add custom modes if they want. For each custom mode, we can customise the level of active noise cancellation and the Immersive Audio (choice of off, still and motion). Custom modes are based on some pre-defined modes with names and icons already defined. I added Commute mode to my list because it is my common use of the earbuds.

As expected from Bose, sound quality is always top notch. I get the familiar deep-and-warm sound that I come to expect from by Bose products. For personal taste, the app allows us to adjust the equalizer (bass, mid, treble).

Pressing the left unit or right unit can activate a shortcut. I set my left unit to cycle through modes and my right unit to change Immersive Audio. Bose also allows us to choose shortcut to switch devices (these earbuds support 2 device connections), access voice assistant, or access Spotify.

Comfort level is really good. These earbuds sit comfortable on my ears without hurting them. I still have some weird pressure feeling after wearing it for 3+ hours, but I feel it with virtually every in-ear buds I have ever tried. For this reason, sometimes Bose Ultra Open Earbuds would still be my preferred choice in some circumstances.

Charging uses USB-C, which is kind of expected standard on any modern product already. Battery life has been quite good so far in the sense that I have never run out of battery when I need to use the earbuds.

My only gripe with Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds turns out to be the shape of the case. I mean I have seen it from pictures before I bought the product, but I did not think that it would annoy me this much. Yes, the case feels really bulky compared to my other earbuds, to the point I often subconsciously avoid it. It is noticeably bigger than the case of my Bose Ultra Open Earbuds, and the shape is rather awkward for quickly putting the earbuds back after use.

Overall, still a good product. Did not manage to become my #1 go to earbuds, but I still manage to get some good use cases for this.