Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen) Review: Comfort and ANC Shine, Battery and Price Lag

Bose's QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen) weigh 230 grams, making them lighter than nearly all premium over-ear competitors, and they deliver improved active noise cancellation that silenced a cafeteria of roughly 60 people. Sound quality is clear and detailed across bass, mids, and highs, with a V-shaped curve that keeps mids distinct. The headband adjuster switches to smooth-sliding plastic from notched metal, and the 3.5-mm port is replaced by a USB-C-to-3.5-mm cable for wired high-resolution audio; wireless lossless is unsupported. Bose Immersive Audio and Cinema spatial modes carry over from the Ultra 2 and QuietComfort Ultra 2 Earbuds. Battery life reaches only 24 hours with ANC, short of the Sony WH-1000XM4C (27 hours), Nothing Headphone (1) (35 hours), and Sonos Ace Ultra (35 hours). Wear detection is absent by design, and call quality drew complaints on Zoom about sounding quiet and processed. At $370 MSRP, the headphones sit close to the $450 Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen), which was discounted to $400 on Amazon at review time. Alternatives include the $300 Sony WH-1000XM4C and $300 Nothing Headphone (1), while the first-generation QuietComfort (2023) remains an option under $200.