© Marc Mitrani for Presse-citron
The Yankee manufacturer aims to offer a product that is pleasant to wear, has very good sound and above all does not cut the user off from their immediate environment.
In the same genre, we presented to you the FreeClips from Huawei, an astonishing and rather successful product. With the Ultra Open Earbuds (UOE), is Bose doing as well as its predecessor ? Good question…
If you are allergic to intrusive headphones that get stuck in the ear canal, you will love UOE. Each of them takes the form of a small loop whose ends are occupied by an excrescence.
© Bose
The cylinder-shaped one contains the electronics, a battery and a push button used for control. The other, longer and curved, carries the audio driver.
Once correctly put in place – which requires some trial and error the first time – the UOEs are very pleasant to wear. So much so that we quickly forget their presence. We were thus able to keep them in place for many hours without feeling the slightest discomfort.
Before first use, take care to install the Bose Music companion application on your smartphone. This allows the configuration of the headphones and especially the updating of their internal software. Do not hesitate to apply it: the one offered to us during this test (10.1.4) has greatly improved the quality of the connection!
As you can imagine, the open design of the UOE does not allow any passive or active insulation: they were designed precisely so that the user can perceive their immediate environment.
© Marc Mitrani for Presse-citron
For example, you can listen to music at work while still hearing what people are saying to you. Or, listen to a podcast while watching your children and even play sports. On this subject, let us point out that they are IPX4 certified, meaning that they will resist perspiration as well as some splashes of water.
When using the UOE, it feels a bit like listening to audio through speakers around you: the music is present, but not don't stifle the rest.
© Marc Mitrani for Presse-citron
The sound quality produced is surprisingly good considering the open design. Certainly, the bass suffers from the lack of acoustic isolation and loses depth. However, they remain remarkably present and are not drowned out by mids or high frequencies. An equalizer allows a basic adjustment of the listening in order to adjust it according to your desires.
Like all the brand's products labeled “Ultra”, the UOE features immersive sound made in Bose. We had big doubts about the contribution of such technology to an open product: we were wrong.
Immersive listening lives up to its name since it gives a welcome breadth to your playlists… So much so that we left it activated for the entire duration of our tests. With the consequence of a drop in autonomy, as we will see a little later.
We have the choice between three listening modes: traditional stereo, immersive listening, still or in motion. Switching from one to the other is done from the app by long pressing the button on the headphones. Let us point out in passing that this is customizable and that we can assign another quick access to it (voice assistant, for example).
© Marc Mitrani for Presse-citron
Another good find is the automatic adjustment of the listening volume based on ambient noise. By activating it, the sound will be increased or decreased depending on the listening environment. Of course, this function can be deactivated from the application.
Small disappointment on the other hand in telephone conversations, our interlocutors complaining of not hearing us clearly when we call them from the street or from public transport.
And the battery life, in all this ? Bose claims that its headphones last 7:30 hours in normal use and 4:30 hours when immersive audio is activated. The battery included in the storage case allows a little more than three additional charges, for a maximum autonomy of 27 hours.
These figures turn out to be close to reality. Our headphones lasted at least 4.5 hours using immersive audio and almost 8 hours when turned off. These values vary depending on how you use them. In our case, we left the automatic volume adjustment on.
© Marc Mitrani for Clubic
As we noted during our test of the QC Ultra headphones, Bose no longer equips its cases with induction charging. To benefit from this, you will need to purchase an optional case for around sixty euros which will provide this possibility. We find this a bit inflated for a product of this price…
In terms of reproaches, we regret the absence of a proximity sensor in order to automatically cut off playback when the headphones are removed. We would also have liked to find a multipoint connection, always useful with high-end headphones. Finally, the official selling price of 350 euros seems far too high to us. In comparison, Apple AirPods seem almost cheap…
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds are attractive headphones if you don't need to completely isolate yourself from your immediate environment. Both compact and pleasant to wear, they are quickly forgotten while benefiting from excellent support.
Bose's immersive sound technology is interesting despite the open design of the headphones and we also appreciate their good battery life. By design, sound insulation is non-existent here and that is precisely the objective. We will therefore use them in addition to traditional headphones with passive or active isolation.
They still suffer from a few flaws: no multipoint connection, although very useful, optional induction charging and very surprising absence of proximity sensor. Not forgetting their price of 350 euros, which we consider far too high, even for Bose.
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