As a parent with young kids, I always appreciate headphones that would still allow me to hear my surrounding. I am glad that I am not alone because big brands certainly see this need having significant market demand. My first experience with open-ear headphones was with Sony Linkbuds. It was a nice product that I use at home, but the sound quality was far from the level I was expecting. When I first saw the design of Bose with Ultra Open Earbuds, I was intrigued with its unique design, but at the same time I was a bit worried about how that thing would attach to my ears securely.

I ordered my Bose Ultra Open Earbuds a few months ago when it was on sale. This review is written after 6+ months of usage. I can share with confidence that this is now my primary everyday earbuds. I wear these when commuting to and from work, when I walk to the park with my kids, when doing my light exercise (walking around the block), and several other routine use cases.

First, the case is really compact and lightweight. Love it! I can easily put it in my pocket without adding much bulk. Took me a little while to get used to positioning the earbuds to charge inside the case, but once I figured out the placement, it becomes quick and easy. Attaching the earbuds to my ears took 2-3 learning curve attempts, then it becomes a natural thing to do. The fit is reasonably alright. It is super comfortable and stays well in most circumstances. After around half year of frequent usage, I had only one occasion when one unit fell off my ear when I exited a tram in a hurry (quickly realised something was missing and picked up the dropped unit, no damage).

Sound quality is really really good. I get the Bose signature sound that I know and love. It is probably slightly less than their flagship with active noise cancellation, but for the trade-off of being able to stay aware of my surrounding, the sound exceeds my original expectations. It is amazing how Bose manages to create this level of sound with a unit this small without anything entering the ear canals.

Surprisingly, I love the feeling of hearing great quality audio without anything in my ear canals. With zero pressure on my ears, I can keep these headphones for much longer compared to other in-ear products. This is a great benefit I did not expect. After getting used to these headphones, it is hard for me to enjoy most other in-ear headphones (with a few exceptions of some really good ones).

Connection is easy and stable. Just like some other Bose models, I can connect these headphones to 2 devices at the same time (but only 1 can actively supply the sound), which is handy when working with laptop and phone. So far I had not experienced any random disconnection.

Each unit has a physical button with tactile feedback, I find this a much better experience than using touch with such small unit. Thanks to its smart design, pressing the button is super easy because I can put other finger at the other side. Short press does play or pause, press-and-hold triggers shortcut functionality.

Downloading Bose app opens more possibilities for these headphones. Immersive audio could customise our experience for best sound when we’re moving around or sitting down. The immersive audio setting can be associated to some modes that we can set and customise (home, commute, work, focus, etc). We can set sound EQ. We can choose shortcut functionality from pressing and holding the left unit or right unit. The choices are: cycle through modes, change immersive audio, switch Bluetooth device or access your voice assistant.

Excellent product and could not be happier about it. Would recommend this to anyone who needs a great pair of wireless headphones with open-ear design for full awareness of our surrounding.