Just days after a surfaced video appeared to tease a new pair of Bose noise-cancelling wireless earbuds, Bose has officially announced two new true wireless options: The QuietComfort Earbuds and the Bose Sport Earbuds.
The two wireless earbud models originally slated to launch in 2020 were called the Earbuds 500 and Noise Cancelling Earbuds 700, respectively, with release dates planned for later in the year. A spokesperson confirmed to Gizmodo that the new buds announced this week are in fact the same products, just with different names for their official launch. Both will officially hit stores later in September, the company said.
The QuietComfort buds use proprietary noise-cancelling technology that, coupled with StayHear Max earbud tips, work to cut outside clatter that may interfere with audio quality. In addition, the earbuds allow you to adjust how much noise to let in or block entirely with 11 levels of noise-cancellation. As revealed earlier this week, the QuietComfort buds will get six hours of listening time on a single charge, but total playtime can be stretched to up to 18 hours with the charging case. (Apple’s AirPods Pro, by contrast, get up to five hours of playtime, depending on how you’re listening, and around 24 hours of continuous listening when using the charging case.)
The new Sport Earbuds, meanwhile, also use the new StayHear Max tips, which are engineered to stay in place even when performing high-intensity activities like HIIT and long-distance runs, the company said. They’re much slimmer than Bose’s previous sports-targeted earbuds, but Bose says they outperform previous models in audio. Both the QuietComfort and Sport buds are water resistant with an IPX4 rating, and support quick-touch commands. Both also use Bluetooth 5.1 and are compatible with the Bose Music app.
The Sport Earbuds will retail for $US179 ($AUD246), while the QuietComfort Earbuds will sell for $US279 ($AUD383). Both are currently available for pre-order beginning Thursday ahead of their release on September 29.
On the glasses front, Bose has announced the all-new Frames Tempo, Frames Tenor, and Frames Soprano, that latter two of which Bose says have its “most invisible” on-unit speaker systems to date. As with its headphones, the Frames are a true wireless option that allows you to hear your music and conversations even when others cannot.
While nowhere near as stylish as some of the other Frames options, the Tempo model is definitely more diesel. The Tempo is the sportier of Bose’s new Frames releases, packing in a 22mm full-range driver that supports rich sounds even while performing more intensive activities. The frames are resistant to water, weather, and scratches and get up to 8 hours on a single charge from a USB-C charging cable.
The Tenor and Soprano models, meanwhile, include a pair of 16mm speakers and get up to 5 and a half hours of battery life with an included pin charger. (These do not appear to be water-resistant.) Voice assistant support is included on all three. While these models lose a bit spec-wise when compared to the Tempo, you’re really paying for a much more stylish design that attempts to mask some of the heft needed to hide Bose’s sound-supporting tech in the glasses’ arms. These chicer models are still a little bulky, but not quite as bulky.
All three models are available today for $US249 ($AUD342) each.
Editor’s Note: Release dates within this article are based in the U.S., but will be updated with local Australian dates as soon as we know more.