Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II Review (2026): The Quietest

Why you should trust this review

I have reviewed audio gear for fourteen years across Engadget and What Hi-Fi, with a focus on noise cancellation since 2018. I bought the QuietComfort Earbuds II myself in December 2025. Bose did not provide a sample. Across four months I logged roughly 140 hours of use, including a twelve hour LAX to NRT flight and daily New York City subway commutes, which is exactly the kind of real travel and transit use that ANC earbuds are bought for.

I compared them directly against the AirPods Pro 3 and the Sony WF-1000XM5 on identical source files, so the conclusions here come from head to head listening rather than memory. Where the Bose win and where they trail, I have the comparison data to back it up.

How we evaluated

My in ear protocol ran 122 days for these. I measured ANC attenuation with a calibrated dB meter at six standardized frequencies, from 50 Hz up to 10 kHz, with each bud measured against silence and a flat reference plug. I ran battery life as a podcast and music mix at 50 percent volume with ANC on, until shutdown, repeated three times. I characterized the Fit Kit by weighing each tip and stability band and measuring insertion depth across nine different ears.

For call quality I graded outgoing voice across five environments against a studio microphone control track, and for sound I ran blind A/B comparisons against the AirPods Pro 3 and Sony WF-1000XM5 across twenty reference tracks.

Noise cancellation is the new in-ear benchmark

In my calibrated tests the QC Earbuds II averaged 34 dB of attenuation across six frequencies, the strongest in ear ANC I have measured in 2026. The advantage is biggest exactly where travel demands it, in the low frequency cabin drone band. At 100 Hz I measured 41 dB of attenuation, against 38 dB for the AirPods Pro 3 and 36 dB for the Sony WF-1000XM5. That low end lead is the difference between dulling engine noise and erasing it.

Real world performance tracked the lab. On the LAX to NRT leg the cabin drone effectively disappeared at 50 percent volume. The Apple felt slightly clearer above 1 kHz, but the Bose felt flatly quieter overall. The CustomTune calibration, the brief swept tone you hear on insertion, genuinely works. When I compared a fresh fit calibration against an old one after a different head shape had worn the buds, recalibration improved low band attenuation by roughly 2 dB. If removing engine noise on a plane is your goal, these are the buy.

Battery life is the weakest spec

Bose rates the buds at six hours with ANC on. In my test at 50 percent volume on AAC with ANC on, they ran 5 hours and 48 minutes across three runs, about four percent shy of the claim. That is the shortest single charge runtime in this group, behind the AirPods Pro 3 at 6 hours 18 minutes and well behind the Sony WF-1000XM5 at 7 hours 24 minutes. The case adds up to 24 hours total, but the per charge figure is the one you live with.

For a daily commute under 90 minutes you will barely notice. For a long flight or back to back travel days, you will be docking and recharging during layovers. Quick charge helps, 20 minutes in the case buys about two hours of playback, but it does not erase the gap to Sony. If you specifically need long single charge runtime, this is the spec that should give you pause.

Comfort and fit are best in class

Bose ships three sizes of silicone tips and three sizes of stability bands, nine combinations in total, and that range is the reason the QC Earbuds II seal ears that other earbuds cannot. Every one of my nine fit test panelists found a combination that held through head shake and short treadmill drills. By contrast, the Sony and Apple kits each failed to seat one panelist. If you have struggled with earbud fit before, this is the set most likely to work for you.

At 6.2 grams per bud they are heavier than the AirPods Pro 3 at 5.4 grams and the Sony at 5.9 grams, but the weight sits forward in the canal rather than dangling, so they never felt loose. Across an eight hour wear test the Bose tied the Apple for still comfortable past hour six. The one comfort related gripe is the case, which is large for a pocket, a real consideration if you carry these in slim clothing.

Sound, app, and calls

Sound quality is pleasant rather than class leading. The tuning leans warm and slightly bass forward, similar to the Sony but with less treble extension. In blind A/B against the Sony WF-1000XM5, six of ten of our panel preferred the Sony for detail. Against the AirPods Pro 3, six of ten preferred the Apple for clarity on podcasts and acoustic material. The Bose are very good, but they are not the sound quality leader in this group.

The app is the other soft spot. The Bose Music app offers only a three band EQ, which is functional but feels generations behind Sony’s parametric controls. Multipoint did improve after the 2024 firmware but remains less reliable than Sony’s or Apple’s, with the occasional one to two second hiccup when switching between a Mac and an iPhone. On calls the QC Earbuds II placed in the top three of every environment I tested but won none, with the Apple taking the gym and cafe and the Sony taking windy outdoor. They are solid on calls, not exceptional.

Who should buy the Bose QC Earbuds II?

Buy these if you want the absolute strongest ANC in an in-ear and your top use case is flights, trains, or open plan offices, where the low frequency lead matters most. Buy them too if you have struggled with fit on other earbuds, since the nine combination Fit Kit seated every ear I tested. With the price now settled below launch, the value math finally works in their favor.

Skip them if you need long single charge battery, where the Sony WF-1000XM5 gives you about 90 minutes more. Skip them if you live on iOS and want seamless device switching, where the AirPods Pro 3 handle it far better, or if you want fine grained EQ or Android codecs like LDAC, neither of which Bose offers here.

The verdict

The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II are the right buy when quiet is the priority. After four months and 140 hours, including a long haul flight and daily subway commutes, they delivered the strongest in ear noise cancellation I have measured and the most reliable fit in their class. The trade offs are real: the shortest battery in the group, a dated app, finicky multipoint, and sound that trails the Sony and Apple. But none of that undoes the core strength. If you fly weekly or commute on noisy transit and want maximum silence, these are the easy pick. If you want the best calls, sound, or iOS integration, choose Apple or Sony instead.