Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) review: The best Bose has to offer

Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.

How do you convince yourself to pay $400+ for a pair of headphones that look and operate almost identically to the previous generation? That's a question I hope to answer, and a question Bose hopes its latest flagship headphones will answer based on their performance alone.

Also: I tested Sony and Bose's best headphones for months - how my buying advice has changed in 2026

I spent months now working, traveling, and lounging in the QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (Gen 2), which I'll refer to as the QC Ultra 2, searching for how Bose spent two years making them more "ultra" than their predecessor. Without major upgrades to design, speaker drivers, or noise cancellation performance, I'll have to dig deep.

It's easy to position the Sony WH-1000XM6 as QC Ultra 2's direct competitor, but I wonder ...