The innovative Bose Ultra Open Earbuds design folds around the lower part of the ear, holding to the antitragus, with an air conduction transducer - a tiny dipole - seating inside the concha. The electronics and battery are rolled-up tightly in a barrel behind the auricle to fit and hold. Compared to anything else that Bose tried before in open ear designs (usually too bulky and prominent), the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds look good - a fusion of earring and a cuff earpiece.
This design should provide superior comfort for most people and for all-day wear, while being practical enough to allow for soft fitness activities. More importantly, the design combines audio at enjoyable but safe levels and awareness, which is ideal in the wearable category. Bose made sure to try out the concept extensively before making the Ultra Open Earbuds commercially available.
Already available for weeks, countless influencers and public figures were given the opportunity to try out the new Ultra Open Earbuds design and report their experiences. Bose even engaged with designers and celebrities to create awareness for the new concept, creating custom luxury versions for the Grammy Awards ceremony.
"The one bud phenomenon is real. We know people want a way to listen to their music while still being connected to the world around them," says Raza Haider, chief product officer, Bose. "We set out to completely reimagine the future of wearable audio and deliver a better, more beautiful, and comfortable solution to provide the best of both worlds. The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds do just that. Now you can enjoy your music and life, all at the same time."
To make this concept work where many others have failed, Bose managed to get the air conduction transducer and vent to seat inside the concha, which helps deliver a wider range of lower frequencies that normally are missing in designs that seat outside. This also allows using the available signal processing to not only balance the response and extend the bass, but to deliver an enhanced spatial perception that matches the open ear experience better. That's when Bose applied its Immersive Audio algorithm to create the impression that the music is being played in the room around the user, instead of through the earbuds.
And the Bose OpenAudio technology also allows the earbuds to play rich, immersive audio privately, a short distance from the ear canal, and not spill too much to the outside. Sound leakage is a known side-effect of air conduction, normally requiring heavy beaming to avoid audio being audible to other people around the user (even high-frequency buzzing can be extremely annoying to other people noticing music is playing). This is still noticeable in quiet environments.
As Bose already had found out with the Bose Sport Open Earbuds, air conduction is a superior approach to bone conduction on its own, but it needs to be matched with a design like the Ultra Open Earbuds to match the expectations of users who want to feel the music. Otherwise, in some environments users tend to be frustrated with the lower volume and lack of bass, pushing the volume to compensate, which only adds distortion to the experience. This is also the reason why bone conduction is rarely satisfying for anyone that appreciates and expects high-fidelity in music reproduction.
According to Bose, the combination of OpenAudio air conduction technology and the tightly controlled acoustic structure of the Ultra Open Earbuds, not only delivers full audio range, but also benefits clear dialogue while the natural awareness is even better than any active Aware Mode available from ANC designs. For this design, that uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon Sound platform, Bose has not added any noise reduction, which indicates that the company doesn't expect that many users will attempt to make calls outside under heavy wind conditions with this product. The earbuds do have an automatic volume control feature, that can be controlled in the Bose Music app, so that the music is adjusted evenly as the environment changes from quiet to loud and back.
Powered by proprietary Bose digital signal processing software and an onboard IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit), the Ultra Open Earbuds also enable Bose Immersive Audio to bring the user to a wider, more spacious soundstage. Adding a three-dimensional and layered dimension to the music listening experience helps enhance the air conduction experience. And the IMU is used to enhanced the spatial audio experience with two listening options for listening to Bose Immersive Audio: "Still" or "Motion." The "Still" mode activates the head tracking and keeps the audio fixed in a specific position, emulating the listening room experience. The "Motion" allows the audio center to move with the user.
The design of the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds also allows for practical button controls to switch between stereo and immersive modes or to take a call. The physical buttons are on the top of the barrel that rests behind the ear, providing standard access to play, pause, skip, adjust volume, and more. With the Bose Music app, users have more personalization options not only for the controls, but also to adjust EQ settings.
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds are IPX4 rated for water and sweat resistance, and they come in Black and White Smoke finish, with a USB-C charging case. The earbuds provide up to 7.5 hours of use on a single charge when Bose Immersive Audio is turned off (up to 4.5 hours when Immersive Audio is turned on). The charging case also provides up to 19.5 additional hours (or up to 12 hours of Immersive Audio), and the buds take one hour to fully charge while a 10-minute quick-charge provides two hours of playtime.
Because the Ultra Open Earbuds feature Snapdragon Sound (Bluetooth Version 5.3) they support Qualcomm aptX Adaptive codec for lossless and low latency audio streaming capabilities, while supporting standard AAC and multipoint connection. They also work with Bose SimpleSync technology, allowing users to pair select Bose smart soundbars and speakers for a personal listening experience. Independent volume controls allow users to lower or mute the soundbar/speaker while keeping the earbuds as loud as necessary. Switch Source, a feature that can be controlled by the Bose Music app, allows users to switch between previously connected Bluetooth source devices with a press and hold of the earbud button.
The Ultra Open Earbuds are available for $299.
www.bose.com
