Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Bose QC II vs AirPods Pro 2

M

Miltz

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 6, 2013
887
506
I just went out and finally got my hands on the New Bose QC II earbuds. I wanted to compared them to my new
Airpod Pro 2.

Soiler Alert: the macrumors review is a complete lie.

My Review
Fit: They both fit great. Unlike the QC I earbuds which the fit wasn’t great, the new ones feel slightly more comfortable than the AirPods Pro 2. Overall I’m extremely happy with it as the fixed the issue I complained about with the original.

Looks: this is purely personal. They are equal in my book.

Sound Quality: There is where I was shocked. So I’ve had the air pods for 3 weeks now and they sound excellent. Zero complaints. Well the Bose sound slightly better which I wasn’t expecting. Not sure what Bose changed inside but wow. I didn’t need to touch the EQ settings on the Bose.

ANC: The ANC on the air pods is really good. It’s as good as my original Bose earbuds. The Bose QC II are much better. The difference is dramatic. If you’re like me and ANC is super important the Bose are ahead by a lot. Anyone who says the airpods are better never tried the Bose or is flat out lying just like the macrumors review.

Case: I have no issue with either of them. The Bose is slightly larger but makes zero difference in pocket. Apple also has wireless charging. I personally don’t care about that feature. The Bose case feels like the air pods case which I like.

Call Quality: I don’t like how the air pods are on calls. People on the other end always complain. When I use my original air pods no on complains. Very odd. I haven’t tested the Bose yet in this respect so I will update this once I get multiple calls in with multiple people.

Side notes: The air pods have a crackle when I use them with my Amazon fire tv. Yes I exchanged them so it wasn’t a defective item. I also get a crackle sometimes in Apple Music but very rarely. I suspect this is a software issue but definitely not acceptable.

Overall: Both are great earbuds. The Bose are just slightly better in ANC, Sound Quality, and fit. Don’t believe me, buy both and try them. Don’t believe BS reviews on websites or YouTube. I feel there is a strong bias, and I can’t understand why. If you think $50 more than the air pods is worth those features then I recommend them. To me, it was and I’m going to be returning the air pods today. From a quality standpoint I’ve had the original Bose QC earbuds since they came out I believe it was 2019 and they have been nothing but reliable and still work like new. I never liked the fit and I felt the sound quality was just okay. Bose fixed that now so if you have the old model these are worth it.

Questions are welcome.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: turbineseaplane, WilliamG, Farrellcollie and 1 other person
I really liked them but I just found the AirPods a better value for me at the time and they are much more comfortable to me for longer listening sessions. If they go on sale for around $250 I might pick them up because I could definitely use them on the plane. XM4s are usually my go-to's and while they still sound excellent for over ear listening, I found sound and ANC equally as good as those if not better on the QC 2's.
 
Similar experience here and I have both too. Sound quality is a personal taste thing maybe the edge to the Bose but It is close enough to not matter. ANC though is no contest, the Bose are significantly better.

I finally got around to doing a semi controlled test with my other headphones (APP1 and Bose QC45) and the new Bose buds were for me at least slightly better than even the QC45 over-ears which is pretty incredible. I have been unfair to the APP2 though as anecdotally I though they were no better than the APP1 initially but the testing showed they are noticeably better, just not as good as the Bose.

YMMV
 
  • Like
Reactions: Miltz
Update: on the drive to return the air pods I wore them both while driving at 65-80mph on the highway and the Bose did a much better job blocking out wind and road noise. I also put on the original Bose QC earbuds and they were so uncomfortable compared to the version II. I also think if you like to have intimate control over your sound the EQ on the Bose is great, I personally like them out of the box but the ability to adjust them is a big bonus. I know I didn’t talk about all the fit options that come with the Bose, mainly because the fit perfect for my ears out of the box. But you do get so many options between the bands and ear tips I think they can appeal to a broader assortment of ears than the air pods.
 
neil74 said:
Similar experience here and I have both too. Sound quality is a personal taste thing maybe the edge to the Bose but It is close enough to not matter. ANC though is no contest, the Bose are significantly better.

I finally got around to doing a semi controlled test with my other headphones (APP1 and Bose QC45) and the new Bose buds were for me at least slightly better than even the QC45 over-ears which is pretty incredible. I have been unfair to the APP2 though as anecdotally I though they were no better than the APP1 initially but the testing showed they are noticeably better, just not as good as the Bose.

YMMV
Click to expand...
So back when I got the original QC earbuds I tried the over ear options from Bose 35, 700 and Sony MX series and the in ear worked best for ANC, while the sound quality was better in the over ear. Since ANC was more important to me, I stuck with the earbuds. The original AirPods Pro’s weren’t even in the same league. I think now the new Bose and Airpods sound so much better they closed the gap between the older over headphones and the new in ear.
 
For me it’s about interoperability. Anything close in sound quality or ANC gives the win the the APP2. There are so many time I need to query Siri when my hands are tied up. And getting readouts from messages alone is great when I’m busy. Had the Sony’s and the previous Bose but I’m staying with the APP2
 
  • Like
Reactions: KO7
whsbuss said:
For me it’s about interoperability. Anything close in sound quality or ANC gives the win the the APP2. There are so many time I need to query Siri when my hands are tied up. And getting readouts from messages alone is great when I’m busy. Had the Sony’s and the previous Bose but I’m staying with the APP2
Click to expand...
I think hey siri works with Bose too but I never use it. I will try it and report back
 
Update: Call quality seems to be better on the Bose than the air pods in every way. The air pods case feels better than the Bose. The Bose feels cheaper, mainly the lid. The Bose also has a white noise effect when ANC is turned on fully. It doesn’t bother me, but it’s stronger than the QC I and definitely stronger than the air pods. I tested them with the Apple TV 4K and they sound amazing. Apple TV 4K has great sound overall.
 
Miltz said:
Sound Quality: There is where I was shocked. So I’ve had the air pods for 3 weeks now and they sound excellent. Zero complaints. Well the Bose sound slightly better which I wasn’t expecting. Not sure what Bose changed inside but wow. I didn’t need to touch the EQ settings on the Bose.

ANC: The ANC on the air pods is really good. It’s as good as my original Bose earbuds. The Bose QC II are much better. The difference is dramatic. If you’re like me and ANC is super important the Bose are ahead by a lot. Anyone who says the airpods are better never tried the Bose or is flat out lying just like the macrumors review.
Click to expand...

For sound quality, while I do think this is a personal preference, the Bose definitely has more bass out of the box with a more accessible and customizable EQ setting in the Bose Music App, whereas the Apple EQ setting is not so intuitive to find and not customizable.

For ANC, I definitely agree, Bose QC Earbuds II is noticably better than Apple AirPods Pro 2 which I think is the consensus with almost every review I've seen, except macrumors.

One thing I find that Apple AirPods Pro 2 is better at is transparency mode. It sounds much more natural with less effort in talking and listening to people speak than with the Bose QC Earbuds II.
 
Miltz said:
Update: Call quality seems to be better on the Bose than the air pods in every way.
Click to expand...
Interesting. I found the Apple AirPods Pro 2 Voice Call Quality better in every way when I compared against my Bose QC Earbuds II / Bose QC Earbuds OG and my Jabra Elite 7 Pro, in a Quiet Environment, Constant Loud Noise Environment (eg. like when beside an A/C or driving a car), Dynamic Loud Noise Environment (eg. like when in a busy Starbucks) and a Windy Loud Noise Environment. Everyone I talk to say I sound better on the AirPods Pro 2 than my Bose and especially better than my Jabra Elite 7 Pro.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AnthroMatt
WeekendGearGuide said:
Interesting. I found the Apple AirPods Pro 2 Voice Call Quality better in every way when I compared against my Bose QC Earbuds II / Bose QC Earbuds OG and my Jabra Elite 7 Pro, in a Quiet Environment, Constant Loud Noise Environment (eg. like when beside an A/C or driving a car), Dynamic Loud Noise Environment (eg. like when in a busy Starbucks) and a Windy Loud Noise Environment. Everyone I talk to say I sound better on the AirPods Pro 2 than my Bose and especially better than my Jabra Elite 7 Pro.
Click to expand...
Basically with the air pods with I was sitting still and not doing anything while indoors no one could tell. As soon as I went outside or let’s say turned the sink on, I heard people complain. I switched to the Bose and turned the sink on again and they said they could barely hear it.
 
I finally got a pair of QC2 earbuds (BF sale) to compare with my AirPods Max

(a strange comparison, but hey why not)

This is a tough one

The APMs have a bit better sound quality and "space" to the sound (expected with over ear, etc), but on ANC and convenience -- the Bose are right there. The ANC is slightly different. My bathroom fan test simply sounds "different" with each set ... but blocked mostly equally. I'll need to test this more in various situations.

As a glasses wearer, the convenience and comfort are immense with the Bose vs over-ear APMs
For travel, also, the convenience edge to the tiny Bose is very clear and obvious

My one main con on the Bose so far is the "hiss" when in ANC mode and nothing is playing. I don't love that.

Also, nothing beats the interoperability of the AirPods products when going from iPad to Mac to iPhone to Apple TV, etc

That said -- this is interesting.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do here long term.

I've been pretty unhappy with the APM ANC getting nerfed through firmware updates.
The thought of selling them has only occurred to me recently with a really viable and great alternative (as these Bose QC2 buds are)
 
turbineseaplane said:
I finally got a pair of QC2 earbuds (BF sale) to compare with my AirPods Max

(a strange comparison, but hey why not)

This is a tough one

The APMs have a bit better sound quality and "space" to the sound (expected with over ear, etc), but on ANC and convenience -- the Bose are right there. The ANC is slightly different. My bathroom fan test simply sounds "different" with each set ... but blocked mostly equally. I'll need to test this more in various situations.

As a glasses wearer, the convenience and comfort are immense with the Bose vs over-ear APMs
For travel, also, the convenience edge to the tiny Bose is very clear and obvious

My one main con on the Bose so far is the "hiss" when in ANC mode and nothing is playing. I don't love that.

Also, nothing beats the interoperability of the AirPods products when going from iPad to Mac to iPhone to Apple TV, etc

That said -- this is interesting.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do here long term.

I've been pretty unhappy with the APM ANC getting nerfed through firmware updates.
The thought of selling them has only occurred to me recently with a really viable and great alternative (as these Bose QC2 buds are)
Click to expand...

Why not keep both?

Use the Bose QC EarBuds II for travelling and commuting where both ANC and portability are obviously much better than the AirPods Max.

Use the AirPods Max at home where loud noises and lack of portability are not as much of an issue, and overall sound quality is better, unless you need more bass provided by the Bose QC EarBuds II. Also, microphone voice call quality is expected to be better on AirPods Max since the Bose QC EarBuds II is not that great to begin with, but I need to do a comparison test myself in different noise environments to confirm.
 
WeekendGearGuide said:
Why not keep both?

Use the Bose QC EarBuds II for travelling and commuting where both ANC and portability are obviously much better than the AirPods Max.

Use the AirPods Max at home where loud noises and lack of portability are not as much of an issue, and overall sound quality is better, unless you need more bass provided by the Bose QC EarBuds II. Also, microphone voice call quality is expected to be better on AirPods Max since the Bose QC EarBuds II is not that great to begin with, but I need to do a comparison test myself in different noise environments to confirm.
Click to expand...

I could I suppose
But I'm just not sure I want to have $250 laying around on something I won't use that much

What I really wish is that Apple could somehow give us back that more powerful ANC (perhaps with a slider for strength also)

All this said - I plan to give these a good test and see how it goes overall. The long holiday return policy is a blessing for this situation.
 
Last edited:
I bought the APM and have glasses and have not noticed any discomfort due to that.
However i am still on the fence between keeping them or exchanging for APP2.
 
As an update on my QC2 buds -- I'm leaning more and more towards keeping them, per the suggestion from @WeekendGearGuide

They have slid into my lineup really well -- even using them in a hot tub to have great music and block out the jet noise, etc
 
nph said:
I bought the APM and have glasses and have not noticed any discomfort due to that.
Click to expand...

Agree on this. I also wear glasses with them. The only thing I do notice is that it does diminish the ANC a bit, as expected
 
This thread is killing me. My wife's AirPods died last night, so I gave her my gen 1 APP. I have the QC2 headphones and love bose, and was wondering about the the new QC2 earbuds. I have a bit of trouble with keeping my APPs in my left ear at times, and was wondering if the bose version was too heavy and would fall out.

This is a tough one!
 
jonnysods said:
I have a bit of trouble with keeping my APPs in my left ear at times, and was wondering if the bose version was too heavy and would fall out.
Click to expand...
I don’t think you’d have a problem
It’s amazing how much they shrunk the physical size of the second generation QC buds
 
jonnysods said:
I ended up going with the APP2, as they were on sale at Best Buy today. The reason I thought I should was that its the devil I know, and Find My integration. Its a shame as I do like Bose products.
Click to expand...
It’s also the Apple eco like announced data
 
Just an update - I’m very, very impressed with the APP2. Noise cancelling is incredible, and the sound is so much richer that I was a little shocked listening to my beloved smashing pumpkins new album on them last night.

(I still love my Bose QC2 headphones!)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back