PCMag editors select and review products independently. If you buy through affiliate links, we may earn commissions, which help support our testing.

Bose Prepares $279 AirPods Pro Killer With QuietComfort Earbuds

The company is also releasing the $179 Sport Earbuds, which represents an overhaul from Bose’s 2017 product, the SoundSport Free. Both products go on sale Sept. 29.

 & Michael Kan Principal Reporter

Our team tests, rates, and reviews more than 1,500 products each year to help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.

Our Expert
LOOK INSIDE PC LABS HOW WE TEST
65 EXPERTS
43 YEARS
41,500+ REVIEWS
The $279 Quiet Comfort Earbuds (Credit: Bose)

Bose’s latest answer to the Apple AirPods is here. The company today introduced two new wireless headphones it plans on selling later this month: the noise-cancelling $279 QuietComfort Earbuds and the $179 Sport Earbuds. 

The QuietComfort Earbuds are certainly pricey, $30 more than AirPods Pro. But they promise to take everything that’s great from Bose’s over-the-ear noise-cancelling headphones, and put them into a smaller design. The result is a pair of 1-inch-plus long earbuds that each weigh only 0.3 ounces, but still offer premium active noise cancellation (ANC). 

The Quiet Comfort Earbuds (Credit: Bose)

The company didn’t dive into details, but the ANC is the result of a tight seal from the eartips, multiple microphones to measure the ambient sounds, and then a chip loaded with an “exclusive new algorithm,” designed to accurately cancel out the noise around you. 

The Quiet Comfort Earbuds (Credit: Bose)

You can also configure the noise control at 11 different levels. On the music front, Bose claims the earbuds will offer a clean sound when playing your favorite songs. “For music, they avoid manufactured ‘boosts’ in select frequencies, opting for a faithful reproduction—as close as possible to the recording itself,” the company said. “For movies, videos, news, and podcasts, there’s no electronic ‘hiss’ and speech and dialogue are natural." 

The Quiet Comfort Earbuds (Credit: Bose)

The QuietComfort Earbuds can last for 6 hours on a single charge—more than the 4.5 hours on the AirPods Pro. The product can also get an extra 12 hours when you place them inside the portable charging case for a total of 18 hours.  


Sport Earbuds

The $179 Sport Earbuds, on the other hand, represents an overhaul from Bose’s 2017 product, the SoundSport Free. The new model is about half as small, but there’s no active noise cancellation technology. 

Sport Earbuds Sport Earbuds The Sport Earbuds (Credit: Bose)

The Sport Earbuds can last up to 5 hours on a single charge. The charging case can also extend their battery life another 10 hours. As a product designed for both intense and casual exercise, the earbuds should lock into your ears, preventing them from falling out, Bose says. 

Sport Earbuds (Credit: Bose)

The new earbuds from Bose both use Bluetooth 5.1 and have an IPX4 rating, making them resistant to water splashes and sweat. To ensure a comfortable fit, the products also come with ear tips in three different sizes. 

“Each have simple on-bud touch controls for the most common commands like play and pause, answer and end calls, and access to your personal assistant,” the company adds.

The Quiet Comfort Earbuds, and Sport Earbuds will go on sale Sept. 29. Pre-orders begin today on Bose.com.

Further Reading

Headphone Reviews

Headphone Best Picks

About Our Expert

Michael Kan

Michael Kan

Principal Reporter

My Experience

I've been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I'm currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country's technology sector.

Since 2020, I've covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I've combed through FCC filings for the latest news and driven to remote corners of California to test Starlink's cellular service.

I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. In 2024 and 2025, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.

I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. I'm now following how the AI-driven memory shortage is impacting the entire consumer electronics market. I'm always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments with feedback and send me tips.

The Best Tech I've Had:

  • My first video game console: a Nintendo Famicom
  • I loved my Sega Saturn despite PlayStation's popularity.
  • The iPod Video I received as a gift in college
  • Xbox 360 FTW
  • The Galaxy Nexus was the first smartphone I was proud to own.
  • The PC desktop I built in 2013, which still works to this day.

Read full bio