Bose has updated its excellent QuietComfort Earbuds, adding a bunch of new features. Chief among these is a feature that makes the noise cancellation even more advanced.
It was already pretty advanced, with 11 levels of noise cancellation to choose from but now Bose has added new ActiveSense technology. This is automatically triggered when harsh external sounds occur, and only stays on as long for as long as the noise lasts. Once the sound has passed, the earbuds return to your preset level of noise cancellation.
As Bose puts it: "There are no manual adjustments to hear your music or podcast over a city bus or passing train... It all happens dynamically, wherever you are, wherever you go." It certainly sounds clever and should provide a neat solution to that particularly noisy part of your commute or a passsing motorbike.
The two ends of the noise-cancelling spectrum have been renamed, too: 10 is now called Quiet, for maximum noise cancellation, while 0 is Aware, which allows you to hear your surroundings. Bose hopes these new names makes it clearer what each end of the spectrum does.
Bose has also introduced some different modes of noise cancellation to match certain activities or places. Choose from Commute, Focus, Home, Music, Outdoor, Relax, Run, Walk, Work, and Workout. You can pick two of these as shortcuts using the Bose Music app, to be accessible via a double-tap on the left earbud. A voice prompt will confirm which mode you're in.
Elsewhere, Spotify Tap is now integrated, so you can jump straight back to your last Spotify session or personalised playlists by tapping and holding the left earbud. And you can now tweak the equaliser within the Bose Music app, allowing you to adjust the bass, midrange and treble frequencies to your heart's content.
The update also promises to improve how the earbuds work with multiple devices – they now remember the last seven connections and seamlessly change from one to the other without having to manually disconnect.
The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds launched in September 2020. Just weeks after launch, Bose added on-bud volume controls via a software update. This latest release builds on that considerably. The 2.0.7 software update is out now.
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