Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) — Black | Bose's Best Active Noise Cancellation with Next-Gen ActiveSense | CustomTune Personalised Sound Calibration | Spatialised Bose Immersive Audio (Still / Motion) | All-New Cinema Mode | 4 Listening Modes: Quiet, Aware, Immersive, Cinema | Up to 30 Hours Battery (23 With Immersive Audio) | 15-Min Quick Charge = 3 Hours | Bluetooth 5.4 | Snapdragon Sound aptX Adaptive + Gaming Mode | USB-C Lossless Wired Audio | Listen While Charging | Protein Leather Cushions + Polished Metal Yokes | Around-Ear Over-Ear Fit | Carry Case Included

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) are Bose's flagship over-ear noise cancelling headphones, and the generation where the company stopped chasing raw ANC depth alone and started fixing what actually breaks concentration — inconsistency. The next-generation ActiveSense system doesn't just block steady drone like a cabin engine or an air conditioner; it detects and smooths sudden spikes in noise, the door slams, coffee grinders and announcements that punch through conventional cancellation and pull you out of whatever you were doing. CustomTune technology measures the acoustic response of your individual ear canal each time you put the headphones on and recalibrates both the sound signature and the noise cancellation to that measurement — meaning the tuning isn't a factory average applied to every head, it is generated for the shape of your ears, which is why the bass depth and midrange clarity hold up rather than shifting each time the fit changes slightly. Four listening modes cover the full range of real use: Quiet Mode for full cancellation, Aware Mode to let your surroundings in without removing the headphones, Immersive Audio for spatialised listening, and the all-new Cinema Mode.

Bose Immersive Audio takes the sound out of the centre of your head and places it in front of you, as though you were sitting in the acoustic sweet spot of a room rather than wearing headphones — with Still mode fixing the soundstage in place and Motion mode allowing it to track with your head movement. Cinema Mode is new to this generation and is built specifically for video: it spatialises and rebalances surround content and dialogue, so speech stays intelligible against effects and soundtrack instead of disappearing under them — the practical difference on a plane or a train being that you stop reaching for subtitles. Battery life is rated at up to 30 hours in Quiet and Aware modes, dropping to 23 hours with Immersive Audio engaged, and a 15-minute quick charge returns roughly 3 hours of playback, with a full charge taking about 3 hours. This generation also lets you listen while charging over the included USB-C cable, and adds power-saving behaviour that reflects how people actually use headphones — lay them flat on a surface and they disconnect within seconds, and taking them off your head triggers auto-pause and eventual sleep, all configurable in the Bose app.

Connectivity is Bluetooth 5.4 with Snapdragon Sound and aptX Adaptive support, including a Gaming Mode that adapts the codec for lower latency on compatible sources. For anyone who wants to bypass wireless entirely, USB-C wired audio delivers lossless digital playback at 16-bit / 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz — genuinely useful for gaming, desktop listening and lossless files, and a real upgrade over analogue-only wired fallback. Controls sit on the right earcup: a Bluetooth/power button, a multi-function button for playback, calls and mode switching, and a capacitive volume strip that doubles as a configurable shortcut for Immersive Audio settings, Spotify Tap, your phone's voice assistant or a battery readout. Construction combines plastic, aluminium and protein leather, with removable plush ear cushions, polished metal yokes and an inlaid logo, in an around-ear circumaural fit weighing roughly 265 g. The box includes the headphones, a carry case, a 3.5 mm to 2.5 mm audio cable, a USB-C to USB-C cable and a safety sheet. Note that these headphones carry no IP rating and should be kept away from water, and no mains power adapter is supplied.