Bose – Sport Earbuds True Wireless In-Ear Headphones – Triple Black
Original price was: $129.00.$51.99Current price is: $51.99.
Last updated on August 26, 2024 3:51 am Details
Photos: Bose – Sport Earbuds True Wireless In-Ear Headphones – Triple Black
8 reviews for Bose – Sport Earbuds True Wireless In-Ear Headphones – Triple Black
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Bose – Sport Earbuds True Wireless In-Ear Headphones – Triple Black
Original price was: $129.00.$51.99Current price is: $51.99.
Intodogs –
These were on my adult daughter’s wish list for Christmas . She walks a high bridge in Brunswick, Georgia as part of her fitness routine. It can get noisy with cars going by. She had a pair of wired earbuds that needed replacing. These have been raved on by her since she started using them. I was afraid the larger size would be an issue. Quite the opposite. The blue color was an added bonus. I am so pleased I got these for her.
emiliosic –
These earbuds are specifically designed to be used during exercise or outdoor activities.
The successor of the SoundSport Free wireless headphones.
It has the clear, crisp and neutral Bose sound. Sound has clear detail, with balanced amount of bass: Feel the bass at louder volumes but it’s never overpowering. With higher sounds clear above the bass.
The earbuds are designed to stay as best as possible in your ears, with silicone tips that wrap around the ear bridge. It comes with three sets of ear tips (S/M/L).
The pill shaped charger is on the large side. The battery on the earbuds are rated for 5 hours, and the case provide two full charges, so around 15 hours combined before having to recharge the case.
The case has an USB-C connector, and the box comes with a short USB-C to USB-A cable.
The earbuds themselves have no physical buttons. Instead, each earbud has touch sensors, as follows:
Right earbud: Long press invokes the assistant from the phone (Siri on iPhone or Google Assistant on Android). It also handles call control during phone calls.
Right earbud: Double press: Play / Pause
The left earbud does nothing unless configured from the phone app: The choice is either to announce (voice) the battery level, or to skip song with a double tap.
That’s it. No other controls. It’s very minimalist; however it works. Unlike other headphones that have complicated gestures that are a hit or miss, this just works.
To pair with another phone, it can be done either via the app, or from the single pairing button that’s on the inside of the case.
App: It uses ‘Bose Music’ which is the same as for other newer Bose products like headphone or smart speakers.
The initial pairing can be done from the Bose Music app, and it has plenty of animated assistants to guide through the very simple process.
Also all the other pairing codes for the earbuds can be managed from the app, including removing other devices. This is pretty nice and I think Bose does this best.
That said, it connects to only one device at a time and it reconnects to the last one used, although it remembers several devices.
Another nicety is that removing the right earbud pauses the music, and continues playing when putting it back on. Removing the left does nothing (It doesn’t have the sensor to know it’s on). When on phone calls, sounds comes out of both earbuds, or one can just wear the right side.
Other details:
– Bluetooth 5.0. It can also connects to computers but one device at a time.
– IPX4 water resistant, not submergible.
– No active noise cancellation. Passive noise cancellation (insulation) is very good, and lets a minimal amount of ambient sound in to be aware of surroundings.
Overall it’s a great fully wireless earbuds with an excellent sound profile, and designed for sports, so they stay in the ears.
APFLORES413 –
I am always looking for a wireless noise canceling ear buds for my devices. I enjoy my AirPods but they are a little too big for my ears, and they seem to slip out at any movement of my head. I was excited to try these Bose Sport Earbuds and was happy tryst they fit well in my small sized ears. After a few weeks here are my thoughts.
Pros:
-Easy set up. So before I was able to use them, you download the Bose App to maximize the effects and usage of these buds. Connection to my devices (both Apple and Android) were effortless.
-Rich sound: they offer such a nice rich sound, weather watching a movie, tv show, or listening to music, all around sound quality is amazing. When using for phone calls, the bass is not too high and I can hear the other callers really well.
-Noise cancelling: this is where I feel they truly shine as an earbud. I was watching my Lakers on my tablet in the restroom because we have an air filter that turns on with the light switch, which can get rather loud. Testing them in that room, I was able to still hear the play by play without any straining (no pun intended). I then transitioned to watch a Star Wars movie and again was met with such clarity of sound, hearing the mix of dialogue and music while subduing that fan noise. Moving onto my music library I was able to get a great sound listening to some AC/DC guitar playing and not having to increase the volume to much because the noise cancelling was amazing.
-Fit: as stated before, these Bose Earbuds fit really well in my ear. They feel comfortable and they come with two sizes for wingtips. The default wing tips are the smaller ones and they fit nice and I was able to do some light jogging with the, on, not feeling them loose or about to fall out. This is a major plus for me as my AirPods feel weird because of their size, along with the stem touching my cheeks.
Mixed feelings
-Wireless charging/battery life. They come with a charging case, the earbuds themselves gives you decent battery life. I timed it to about 5.5 hours of constant use before they needed to be recharged. I wish they were just a little more in the battery life, maybe an extra 2 hours for those who take cross country flights, a solid 8 hours would have been ideal.
Overall, I am really excited at Bose’s Sport Earbuds.
Evolved1 –
The Bose Sport Earbuds bring a lot of versatility to your listening pleasure. These are designed to help you take on your workouts and rigorous activities without having to deal with wires, worry about them getting sweaty, or be concerned with them falling out.
First things first, let me share that these don’t really have noise canceling abilities. However, these come with 3 sets of StayHear Max tips that you can use to find a tight, comfortable seal in your ear canal. This is key for a couple of different reasons. The first is that it helps to muffle out some exterior noise to provide better sound. The second is that it allows the earbud to sit closer to the ear for a snug fit while on the move. I have worn these for as long as 3.5 hours and I never had any discomfort. Once I made sure that the earbud was snug in my ear, I never felt it move during outdoor activities like walking, running, and yard work. As far as the ambient noise goes, the earbuds did a really good job of muffling things enough so that I could listen to whatever. My favorite test with any headphones or earbuds is mowing the lawn. While it didn’t block out the lawnmower completely, it was good enough where I didn’t think the mower was loud and annoying.
To go along with that, I really liked the charging case. Compared to some others on the market, this thing is the hidden gem. The LED indicator on front is great to see the current status of what the case can provide. When full, the case will provide 10 additional hours of listening over 2 charges. It also claims to do a 15 minute quick charge that will give 2 hours of listening time. I was very pleased with the quick charging when I was shifting from activity to activity with downtime in between. I also love the magnetic snap when the earbuds attach to the case for the charging. That is so much easier than others that I have to squeeze and conform to the case.
Lastly, you have to download the Bose Music app. This was super easy to work with and it allowed me to customize the name of the earbuds as well as set up the functionality of the right and left earbuds. I use mine to check the battery level, answer calls, and play/pause music. It’s great to be able to have that touch functionality without a button present. Hopefully, the software connection will come with future updates to have more options.
All in all, the Bose Sport Earbuds are a great find. The sound is terrific and the fit is fantastic once you determine what set of tips fit best. I look forward to further fun when I try wearing them during longer runs and playing basketball. Not having wires and the sweat/weather resistance will allow me to push the limits of enjoyment with these earbuds.
Linksys –
These are the first earbuds with this design that I did not have to adjust one time after putting them in. Even using them on a treadmill for an hour long workout I did not have to adjust them. The Bose StayHear feature isn’t just marketing hype, it really works. Though fit is subjective, I think they are very comfortable to wear for a long period of time. Like most earbuds you get three different size ear tips, small, medium (what they come installed with) and large.
In terms of sound they are basically what you would expect from Bose with a nice balanced sound. Not to much bass, but not to little, so no matter the genre, I think you’ll be happy. Bose doesn’t give you any control over the sound though, even with the app there’s no sound profiles or EQ settings. When making calls I could clearly hear the person I was talking to and they said the same.
On the hardware front they’re a little bit bigger than others, especially for the case. It’s not that they’re huge, it’s just you’ll definitely notice these more than some in your pocket. The earbuds and case have a very nice high quality feel to them, the buds stay in place with a strong magnet and the case has a strong secure latch. They use USB-C to charge, but it’s 2020 so everything should by now!
The one missing feature…you can’t use the left one by itself for calls! You can use the left one for just music, but only the right has a microphone. This isn’t a dealbreaker for me, it’s just a feature I think they should have as I have cheaper ones that do.
If you’re looking for earbuds for working out or any kind of activity, next to the design that hook over your ear, personally I think you’ll be hard pressed to find a better pair.
Ponskippa –
I’m going to be a little critical about these earbuds because admittedly.. I had high expectations after getting my hands on them. So.. My first complaint, They are a little big and bulky. They don’t weigh hardly anything.. but they remind me of the first bluetooth earbuds that were sold , you know with the big hooks that go around your ear and you saw people in suits using to talk on the phone? They are stamped with a huge Bose logo on them.. not a big deal but im not the type of person who likes to walk around showing off brands and logos to the world. I prefer a clean, low key modern design. These earbuds do not have noise cancellation and the included rubber tips do not create a perfect seal in my ear. if you plan on using these earbuds outdoors or in loud environments, you will hear just about everything going on around you. I could still hear people talking 6 feet away from me with these on and the volume at about 60-65% The smaller ones were too small and only exacerbated the issue, and the larger tips were not comfortable for me. The hook design doesn’t stay put in my ears and kept popping out. The earbuds stayed in place, but I could feel the hooks pop out every now and then. It could be a personal issue. Maybe it’s my ears, maybe you’ll have a better fit and experience with them. They aren’t the worst.. but they certainly aren’t the best design either.
Call quality and microphone quality is excellent. The people I spoke to on phone calls all said I sounded nice , loud and clear. They all mostly said it sounded as if I was holding my handset up against my face.
Going back to the fact that the ear tips do not completely seal outside ambient noise.. It makes using these earbuds for phone calls a pleasure. Because I can still hear myself talking, even with both earbuds in place and I don’t feel like I need to scream or am talking too loud when I am on the phone with these. I adjusted to the fact and appreciate it a bit. Those of you who jog or bike ride will especially appreciate it because you’ll be able to hear any oncoming dangers.. ya know.. cars, etc etc. You’ll remain aware of your surroundings if you keep the music at a moderate volume.
They are sweat and water resistant so you don’t need to worry about your sweat or a little rain ruining them.
Sound quality is excellent, as expected from Bose. The sound is well balanced to my ears. Bass is nice and punchy without overpowering everything else. Mids are prominent without being muddy and Treble is crisp and bright without sounding tinny. Honestly.. these earbuds are best used in quiet environments because you will only hear the beautiful sound of music streaming into your ears. They do sound great and it makes me forgive the negatives about them. It’s just hard for me to recommend them to someone who wants to use these to drown out the loud sounds of the busy world around them. At the gym, I can still hear the weights clanking and the music they blast over the speakers. If the lack of outside noise isolation is not a deal breaker for you, or if you mostly plan on using these indoors in quiet environments such as the office or at home.. then Id say go for it. It’s a love/hate relationship with these for me but I will hang onto them and enjoy my music with them when I’m relaxing at home or in bed.
bTobin –
PROS:
– Audio quality is the best I’ve tested so far. It’s Bose, c’mon.
– comfort (yes I listed that as a con as well but since comfort is based very much on your ear shape, Bose has done a good job getting these as comfortable as possible)
– IPX4 resists sweat or getting caught in rain. Other non-sport buds tend to be IPX2
– Stay put during intense workouts. I’m not sure how but I jumped and threw my head everywhere and they stayed in
– Made with sports and active users in mind, great for workouts!
– 15 min charge gives 2 hours of playback (I tested this and they lasted about 2 hours 10 min.)
CONS:
– Voice assistant is phone default (samsung users, this means bixby NOT google)
– Can not turn off voice assistant touch shortcut
– Touch sensitivity is very high, accidental touch happens a lot. Make fitting adjustments carefully
– personal con but your ears may be different: Comfort is only decent. For me, they are starting to feel a little uncomfortable after about an hour (still better than other brands for me)
– “Standby mode” still drains battery. They will die if you set them down but not in the case. No off button.
– Battery life is only at the “average” of 5 hours. Airpods are similar but galaxy buds Live blow that out of the water and google “mentos” pixel buds are 5 hours but 24 hours more in the case
– Case only has 10 hours of spare charge despite being bigger/more awkward than airpods, galaxy and pixel and no wireless charging for the case
TL;DR:
The new Bose Sport Earbuds are made for active users who need a bud to stay in place no matter how much they sweat or move and bounce. So far they have passed that test and provide overall comfort while doing it. I do have weird ear shapes but I still get a pretty good fit and comfort from these buds. Make sure to try out all 3 sizes, I found one ear needs a small but the other needs medium. Overall they feel good, definitely for a short workout or run, and the audio quality is fantastic. There’s a tight seal that naturally blocks some background noise, they have touch controls, 5 hour playback and sturdy carrying case with 10 hours extra charge. They can take on sweat and rain but don’t go swimming with them in. Overall great sound, a bit quirky settings and app, but nothing that would make me return them.
WHAT’S IN THE BOX?! FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Packaging is nice and clean with a black box that has the case, earbuds, S, M, L ear tips, short USB-C charging cable, (NO wall plug) and some paperwork/warranty etc inside. The manual is found online but is not included in the box. My buds came with about 80% charge but it’s good practice to charge up fully before your first use.
Once I had a full charge and the Bose app downloaded, I was able to easily connect the buds to my Galaxy phone (s9+). I started trying the different ear tips with the helpful fit guide in the app and noticed a few annoyances. Not with the fit but with the touch sensitivity. As I’m fiddling with the buds, trying to get them in my ear, switching the tips out, or just making a small adjustment, I was constantly triggering my phone voice assistant or starting music or hearing the battery status. I went into the app to turn off or adjust those settings and was unfortunately unable to do much.
You can turn off the “in-ear detection” and auto play pause but there is NO way to turn off the voice assistant shortcut. This is extra annoying for any samsung user who chooses google assistant over bixby (aka 99% of galaxy owners) because these buds do not allow you to pick your voice assistant, it is only the factory default assistant on your phone. That also means iphone users who may choose google over siri, you will not be able to choose google. Almost more annoying is when I realized it was bixby only, I figured I would simply turn off the assistant feature, but I could not, so now I’m stuck telling my phone no I do not want to set up bixby right now every time I touch the right bud a little too long. I feel like this is a major oversight for Bose and hope that a firmware or app update will allow more options based on your preference for assistant. Luckily that can be addressed easily so I wouldn’t make a purchase decision based on that.
AUDIO PERFORMANCE:
Let’s be honest, the reason you buy headphones is to listen to audio, other features are nice, but what good are headphones with bad audio? Bose engineers have always been magicians at making powerful, immersive sound come out of small speakers and these sport buds are no exception. As I was struggling to get a good fit and the touch controls started triggering I thought these buds may not be worth it. The negatives were piling up and I was getting frustrated…Then I played some music and literally smiled and thought, Bose, you always crush it in sound quality and the frustration melted away. I started by playing some clean, well engineered acoustic music. A great place to start any audio test, providing deep punchy lows and full of dynamic shifts and large frequency range. I was immediately hit with the feeling I was surrounded by music and my body was full of sound. The guitar was coming through clean and crisp but still punching with low frequencies. The buds do a great job of filling your head with sound and cleanly providing equal levels to each ear at all volumes. Bose has some kind of fancy name for a feature that prevents “buzzing” or “rattle” noises at high volume giving you clean sound at any level, which I’m proud to say is true. I couldn’t crank them to 100 because it was getting too loud for comfort but at the highest I could take, they were still very clean and crisp. Look, in short, Bose will always have good quality, these aren’t going to be insane quality like headphones in the $250+ range from Bose or others but for the price, you get a very good quality and 90% of users don’t have well enough trained ears to notice a difference anyway. If you do, you’re not buying 170 dollar sports buds.
OTHER NOTES/OVERALL:
One thing I wanted to mention, I wanted to see what would happen if you put the buds down or in your pocket but NOT in the case. The manual says after 20 min it will go into standby to save your battery. Unfortunately, after my testing, I found this to not work well at all. When I set the buds on the table and left them there I noticed every time I bumped the table or moved the buds a little they would turn on and connect to my phone. I would have to disconnect them once I noticed and they would go to standby or reconnect to my phone in a vicious cycle. Eventually I went to bed leaving them out overnight and in the morning they were fully dead. The only way to turn them OFF is putting them in the case (as noted in the manual). I did not try this after turning off the “in-ear detection” so maybe connection issues would be less with that off.
Luckily a dead pair of headphones gave me the chance to do a 15 min charge and see if they truly last 2 hours. I used a stopwatch, charged for 15 minutes and then played spotify music streaming at about 70% volume and they lasted 2 hours and 10 minutes before they would start to turn off. I could wake them and use them about 10 or 15 minutes longer before they fully died.
The case still shows 4 dots of power but no way to get a percentage, however that is after 3 days of heavy use and at least one FULL recharge of the buds. Bose says it holds 10 hours but so far I think it may be a bit more than that. Figure 10 to be safe though.
Overall I really enjoy the audio quality of these sports buds. That’s the biggest use of headphones and get 5 stars for that, the reason I’m marking them 4 overall is because for all the great quality in sound, they have little quirks and annoyances that other big name buds do not have. They are minimal issues and ALL products will always have some falls, it’s up to you to decide if they are too bad to get over or not an issue at all.
These are Bose’s sport edition and therefore offer better sweat and moisture protection than most and will stay put no matter what kind of movement you do. They are not noise canceling, but they do seal tight in your ear and block out a decent amount of background noise because of it. Some people don’t like that effect so it’s worth noting, they do “plug” your ears pretty good.
Call quality is good in the minimum testing I did, just as good as any others, nothing I’m going to brag about though.
If you need a good, true wireless earbud option for your active lifestyle and don’t care much for custom features or controls but still want above average audio quality and long lasting comfort, you can’t go wrong with these sport buds from Bose.
JKinSYR –
In the box you get your Bose Sport Earbuds and 3 sets of eartips (S, M, L), the charging case, USB-C to USB-A charging cable, and recommended to download the Bose Music app from your devices’ App Store.
These earbuds are not at all what I would have expected from Bose, and trust me I’m a fan of Bose products. These are absolutely poor earbuds that don’t perform up to the expectations of their selling price or to the rich quality of Bose.
I have an iPhone XR and the earbuds were able to pair up quickly and I was ready to go. I like the pill case for housing and charging the earbuds because it keeps them protected well when they’re not being used in my ears. The issues started to occur when I placed these into my ears. These can’t stay put in my ears without constantly falling out. I know this is an anatomical issue that each person will have with his/her ear and shape. I have tried all 3 of the eartips provided and can’t find a fit that works and I feel that is due to the poor design of these ear tips. The umbrella tip is far too bulbous, and according to Bose it’s what they offer as the best suited fit for most to all ear types/shapes. The material used in these StayHear Max tips is not very good silicone. I compare the current tips on the Sport Earbuds to a pair of MIE2 Bose headphones that fit extremely well in my ears and never fall out. Not sure why the design team made such a flawed umbrella tip design that just doesn’t work well, and has too much material to fit into/onto the canal area comfortably. These are supposed to be sport headphones for moving and running, but I can’t trust these to stay in my ears when I walk from my desk to the fridge because they fall out. Let alone the design of these earbuds is just too bulky and not very form fitting or pleasant to look at. I feel like I look like Shrek when I’m wearing these because they look like bolts coming out of my ears.
As for the simple touch controls on these headphones, the features are truly underwhelming. Your right ear bud gives you Siri with one tap. Also a double tap on the right earbud answers a call, since this also is the side with the microphone. One nice feature is that in the Bose Music app you can toggle on/off a feature to stop the music when the earbud senses it is not in your ear any longer. The double tap starts or stops your music when listening to music. The left earbud is next to useless because the touch feature you can set is either 1) to skip forward a song or 2) hear your battery level. As for changing the volume on your earbuds, you will need to rely on your device. I was baffled by this shortcoming for a pair of headphones like Bose. If I’m using Bluetooth wireless earbuds, I’m using them because I don’t want to reach for my device to control the volume up or down, or to unlock my phone to replay a song or forward a song. Bose dropped the ball on the touch features because they are lacking severely on innovation and technology at this space and price point. You can activate Siri, accept a phone call, play/pause music, skip a track. That’s all the features built into the touch capability. You are not able to adjust volume up/down, replay a song, active ANC (because it’s not offered), or bring up a built in equalizer sound setting preference.
So let’s get to the sound quality next. The musical genres I listen to are various and I felt like these earbuds offer just mediocre sound. Nothing that is extra crisp for clarity allowing you to hear low tones or high tones. The bass capability on these is lacking as well, and it’s quite disappointing. Bose packages these earbuds as “volume optimized Active EQ” earbuds for an overall quality sound. I think the sound is just ok, and I have found better sound and depth to the same music and songs I listen to on other wireless earbuds that cost less than half of these. I have noticed that there is a lag on these Sport Earbuds that when you click the volume up/down on your device it takes a second for the earbuds to respond with a delay. Again, since my device is the only way I can control any volume this is another poor user experience. Another glitch I’m seeing on a continual basis is the volume resets on the headphones to a higher volume setting than when you left the phone earlier. My iPhone has the ringer and device volumes set to low. Any time that I get a new email or notification the chime is coming in at 100% volume on my earbuds, which can be harshly loud when you’re working. One good thing is that you can pull out only one of the earbuds from the case and have that work independently for listening to audio. If you want to have a chat, you’ll need to make sure the right earbud is the one you pull out since that has the microphone on it.
The Bose Music app allows you to see the battery levels for the independent earbuds so that’s helpful to see visually. The app doesn’t have many features to it that make it an app to accentuate the listening experience. Other audio makers have apps that offer listening customizations or preferred audio controls to space out your sound. This Bose Music app doesn’t offer any advanced features at all besides being a place to see battery levels or to instruct what your left tap will do on the left earbud.
As for making a phone call, the sound is acceptable and the microphone picks up my speech well so the other receiving party can hear my voice well. This is a great microphone for phone calls and using it for work conference video calls for example. I’m happy with the audio quality in phone and video calls.
Overall I had high hopes for Bose Sport Earbuds. These carry the Bose name on the side of the earbuds so it portrays a high quality product and will impress others. As a user/owner of these I just was not impressed with the fit, sound quality, touch features, or the lackluster app. I’m hoping that there will be many app updates that will make these headphones better for audiophiles that enjoy listening to music or videos. Sorry for the long winded review, but I hope this helps to make an educated purchase.
PRO:
Nice charging case
Good clarity on audio phone/video calls
CON:
Underwhelming Bose Music app
Mediocre sound quality
Poor comfort and fit
Lacking buttons and lack of advanced touch controls
Size and bulk doesn’t look appealing