Full transcript of “Bose QuietComfort Ultra Gen 2 vs Gen 1 – Mic Finally Fixed, but Not Much Else?”. Click a timestamp to open the video at that moment. Need another video? Use the YouTube transcript generator.
0:00 Hey guys, today we're going to take a look at the newly released Bose Quiet Comfort Ultra Second Gen, specifically how they compare to the first generation Bose Quiet Comfort Ultra. Let's find out more. Now, I've been playing around with the Quiet Comfort Ultra second gen and and if you look at the first gen and the second gen, they're indistinguishable and they look nearly identical, both the cases, but also the earbuds themselves. Aside from the color difference that I picked and the second gen also do come in that black color, they're indistinguishable. They do have, however, under the hood a couple of upgrades. I'm not sure I can call them upgrades. In my opinion, the second gen brought us what the first gen should have had in the first place. So, let's talk about what has changed. And let's
0:47 start with the case. It looks identical. However, there is one difference in the case. that is the second gen has wireless charging finally. I've been criticizing both for quite some time on the channel and I think the the absence of wireless charging on their flagship models has been unacceptable over the last couple years up until the latest release the quad comfort Ultra that was a flagship model that's not cheap released last year with no wireless charging. Finally, we have wireless charging over here on the case itself. very welcome upgrade but very late to the game and and as I said I think the initial Quiet Comfort Ultra should have had wireless charging in the first place. So that's what the case and the second major upgrade is the microphone
1:34 call quality which was subpar on the first generation and we'll see how it sounds on the second gen in just a bit when I do the call quality tests. But again, a flagship model from Bose in my opinion should have had better call quality in the first place. And the third upgrade, if I shall call it so, I noticed with active sense, and that is Bose's ability to automatically adjust the noise cancellation if you have sudden loud noises. That was improved on the Gen 2 drastically. So, it was noticeable. So, if you put the earbuds on and there's a sudden noise, and I would just clap to simulate that sudden noise, it's noticeably better on the second gen where it almost instantly increases the noise cancellation to cut
2:20 out that sound. It's way more responsive than on the first gen, which lags a little bit and the&c increase is a bit gradual. So, that is an upgrade on the Gen 2. Noticeable, much better, but it's a small thing. Now, beyond those upgrades, not much has changed. I did notice a slight change in the ANC and the active noise cancellation. It was excellent on the first gen, and I think it is ever so slightly better on the Gen 2. I did do a lot of tests trying to confirm whether there has been enhancements or not. And I I I think I noticed a 5 to 10% enhancement on the Gen 2. Mind you, the first gen comfort Ultra had stellar noise cancellation and I think it got just slightly better. Most noticeably, I noticed that with the
3:07 air conditioning on, and I I kept alternating between the first gen and the second gen. And there's just a a very slight enhancement in the low rumbling noise, low frequency noises of the air condition with the Gen 2. But I I think most people will not notice that. And again, the first gen had excellent noise cancellation, and that's still the case here. Sound quality-wise, they both still sound the same. You get that signature Bose sound. Some people like it, some people don't. I am a generally a fan of it, but if you're an audio file, you're probably looking for something else. They still come with the same stability bands and different size ear tips. So, you can customize the fit with up to nine different combinations to better fit your ear. And in terms of fit, as always, Bose, in my opinion,
3:53 have excellent fit, comfort, and stability in your ear. Especially if you find the right combination of ear tip, stability band for your ear shape, size, and and form. So, as you can see, very stable, very comfortable, identical to the first generation. Controls are also identical to the first gen. So, uh tapping and swiping on the touch surface over here, which is fairly responsive and and they do a good job there. Now, let me show you the voice quality or the call quality. These are the first generation Quad Comfort Ultra, and I'm starting with those so you can hear the difference between the first gen and the second gen. This is what they sound like in a quiet environment. I'm also going to do a stress test. I'm going to turn on a loud vacuum cleaner in the background to show you how they cancel
4:39 out background noises. So, this is now with the loud vacuum cleaner turned on in the background. And these are the Bose Quiet Comfort Ultra first generation. And now these are the Quiet Comfort Ultra second generation. And as you can hear, there's a noticeable improvement in the clarity of your voice and the microphone audio quality. Again, this is how they sound like in a quiet environment. Now, let's turn on a loud vacuum cleaner to see how these Bose Flight Conference Ultra second generation sound like in a loud environment with a loud vacuum cleaner in the background. So, again, these are the Bose Plus Ultra second generation. And this is how they sound like in a
5:24 quiet environment. And and now, just have a a better comparison and frame of reference. I have the AirPods Pro second generation. And this is what they sound like in a quiet environment. And just so you can compare the microphone call quality, I'm also going to turn on the loud vacuum cleaner. As you can see, although the clarity of my voice takes a really nich, you cannot hear the vacuum cleaner at all. And it is easier to understand what I I'm saying on the air versus the boat when my voice is fighting against the sound of the loud backing. Now onto real life loud environments. As you can see, busy street and cars all around. And these are the first generation Bose QC Ultra.
6:10 This is what they sound like. And to give you an idea how loud it actually is over here. This is the audio coming in from the iPhone's microphone. Let me now switch to the second gen for you to see if there's any difference or enhancements in the call quality test in a noisy environment. Now I have the Bose QC Ultra second generation on. Still standing in the same spot. It's quite loud over here. As you can see, there's a highway below me, but cars are passing by from earlier. And this is what the Bose QC Ultra second generation would sound like if you were on a phone call in a loud environment. And as you can notice, it sounds much better than the first generation. Let me know in the comment section what you thought about the call quality performance of the Bose QC Ultra second generation. So that's it
6:55 for the Bose Quiet Comfort Ultra second generation. As I said in the introduction, they bring good updates to the first gen, but in my opinion, these updates should have been initially in the first generation Quiet Comfort Ultra. And again, you might disagree, but in my opinion, a company like Bose selling a premium flagship model should have had better microphone call quality and a wireless charging case. I'm glad Bose finally brought these with the second generation, but I don't think I can call it a an upgrade. It's more of incremental updates. Kind of similar to when Apple started their S cycle with the iPhone 4 and and 4S. Just marginal incremental updates, which are welcome,
7:41 but there's not much that has changed from an already excellent product. That's still great, but there's not much that has changed. Now, in my review of the original Quiet Comfort Ultra, I thought they were excellent. Their noise cancellation capabilities were excellent. I do know a lot of people suffer from crackling noises or white noises in one of the earbuds and some with connectivity issues. I personally haven't experienced any of those. So, I am aware that these exist, but from the unit that I've had for over a year, I was extremely happy with both the comfort, the fit, the noise cancellation, which is in my opinion one of the best out there, especially for earbuds. And the Quiet Comfort Ultra second gen, they just build on that and enhance a few things here and there. That's it for me. I'll put links in the
8:27 description to the product page of the Quiet Comfort Ultra. These are affiliate links, so if you do decide to purchase, I would appreciate if you go through these links. I may earn some commission at absolutely no extra cost to you, but this will greatly help support the channel. Thanks for watching. If you like the video, please hit the like button and consider subscribing to my channel as this encourages me to continue producing content. Until next time, cheers.
