[erockg]

Ordered. Intrigued. Will be interesting to see if there’s a use case for them.

I might give them a try. WFH use case when on calls. BB by me has them in stock, but I can save 75 if I use my work discount direct from Bose. FOMO is real.

Couldn't resist. Grabbed a pair of the Bose Ultra Open at BB. Had a gift card that was burning a hole in my pocket so that offset the cost a bit. Gotta admit, they're comfy. Been having hole issues with allergies and moisture build-up. TMI, but that's why I wanted to try these out for WFH. Going to take them for a spin now. So far, I think they sound better than the Sony Linkbuds. I can barely feel like I'm wearing them. Yes, bass is eh, but they do have a nice clear sound. For what they supposed to be, these might work out well. No wireless charging. Damn you Bose.

 

[Saraguie]

Couldn't resist. Grabbed a pair of the Bose Ultra Open at BB. Had a gift card that was burning a hole in my pocket so that offset the cost a bit. Gotta admit, they're comfy. Been having hole issues with allergies and moisture build-up. TMI, but that's why I wanted to try these out for WFH. Going to take them for a spin now. So far, I think they sound better than the Sony Linkbuds. I can barely feel like I'm wearing them. Yes, bass is eh, but they do have a nice clear sound. For what they supposed to be, these might work out well. No wireless charging. Damn you Bose.

Immersion mode, track your movement option.

 

[erockg]

Immersion mode, track your movement option.

I'm one of the few that just doesn't like Bose's Immersion Mode. It sucks out the bass and sounds unnatural to me.

 

[Markttp]

Further to this, and someone might know a fix. With my EX using Aptx Adaptive outside on my Oneplus Open, it's just awful. Stutters and then switches to what sounds like mono L&R. I have to switch to AAC to get a good connection. Guessing it's the OPO and the chip on the phone can't decode fast enough. Drives me nuts.

No issues when I had EX and used them with Xiaomi and Xperia phones, so would agree that it looks like the source device.

And lol, just to add more evidence to the subjective tilt on personal preferences, I sold the EXs mainly because I thought the Svanars had a noticeably less compressed/dry sound and wider soundstage. Sound not adjustable though (without using 3rd party EQ which I don't like doing) but luckily I'm enjoying how they sound with spinfit w1s (even if they are slightly loose on the nozzle). Other tips left me with a slightly too harsh treble.

Also preferred Svanars to DPPs myself, but the custom tuning thing didn't seem to work well with me. I got an open box pair which hadn't been reset and "Matthew"'s custom profile sounded better than mine lol. Maybe my ear/brain already do some auto EQing of their own so it's like double compensation?

Still thought they were good with EQ and no custom sound, I got a very solid seal and fit and isolation was better than Svanar. The earlier comment about it sounding a bit more digital could be the way I'd describe the difference in sound quality between the 2 pairs.

I think Svanars are currently overpriced though - maybe HFM should be discounting these by 25%ish now. Not sure how well they hold up to newer competitors without a price drop. (Also, a ridiculous markup vs their midrange model just for LDAC and a bit of carbon fibre.)

 

[assassin10000]

No wireless charging. Damn you Bose.

They're killing some sales that way.

I've skupped the qc, qcii & ultra because of it.

 

[clerkpalmer]

Couldn't resist. Grabbed a pair of the Bose Ultra Open at BB. Had a gift card that was burning a hole in my pocket so that offset the cost a bit. Gotta admit, they're comfy. Been having hole issues with allergies and moisture build-up. TMI, but that's why I wanted to try these out for WFH. Going to take them for a spin now. So far, I think they sound better than the Sony Linkbuds. I can barely feel like I'm wearing them. Yes, bass is eh, but they do have a nice clear sound. For what they supposed to be, these might work out well. No wireless charging. Damn you Bose.

Bummer on the bass. That may be a deal breaker for me. How do you think these might work in a bike at decent speeds?

 

[cresny]

They're killing some sales that way.

I've skupped the qc, qcii & ultra because of it.

What kills Bose for me is no multi-point.

 

[erockg]

@clerkpalmer Good question. I don't plan to bike today, but after walking my kid to school and back, it was nice to have that open feeling.

Force pair seems to work fine. I don't miss multi pairing.

Yes, everyone at school dropoff kept looking at my ears.

** One thing of note -- they're starting to hurt hugging my ears so I'm going to try different positions. Hey now.

 

[darveniza]

Couldn't resist. Grabbed a pair of the Bose Ultra Open at BB. Had a gift card that was burning a hole in my pocket so that offset the cost a bit. Gotta admit, they're comfy. Been having hole issues with allergies and moisture build-up. TMI, but that's why I wanted to try these out for WFH. Going to take them for a spin now. So far, I think they sound better than the Sony Linkbuds. I can barely feel like I'm wearing them. Yes, bass is eh, but they do have a nice clear sound. For what they supposed to be, these might work out well. No wireless charging. Damn you Bose.

My son bought them as well , I tried them pretty quickly , so cannot speak to the sound.

Fit wise I prefer the Huawei approach with Freebuds 5 and the Freeclip.

Will need to compare app options and sound later.

 

[erockg]

My son bought them as well , I tried them pretty quickly , so cannot speak to the sound.

Fit wise I prefer the Huawei approach with Freebuds 5 and the Freeclip.

Will need to compare app options and sound later.

Cool. Do tell when you compare/contrast. I figured out my fit issue, had to just lower back down towards my lobe and that seems to fix the issue. Been using them to watch a movie and they're great so far.

 

[clerkpalmer]

@clerkpalmer Good question. I don't plan to bike today, but after walking my kid to school and back, it was nice to have that open feeling.

Force pair seems to work fine. I don't miss multi pairing.

Yes, everyone at school dropoff kept looking at my ears.

** One thing of note -- they're starting to hurt hugging my ears so I'm going to try different positions. Hey now.

Large publications giving them poor reviews. The Verge 6/10. Ouch. I’ll probably just return them unopened. What happened to the Senn sport buds? Did they not launch?

 

[erockg]

Large publications giving them poor reviews. The Verge 6/10. Ouch. I’ll probably just return them unopened. What happened to the Senn sport buds? Did they not launch?

No Sennies yet. Month out or more I think. I don't agree with a lot of those reviews. Yes, no wireless charging, but everything else works spot on and they do sound decent. I mean, they're not Prestige or Devialet, but for the use case, I had them in for 8 hours today. Took calls, music, a few shows. No issues. Force pair works well so I had no issues going from device to device. They are very secure too. That said, my ears are large and I was adjusting them to evade some discomfort. I don't think that's the norm. Once I settled, I forgot they were there. You should definitely give them a spin before just sending them back. Worth a shot for sure.

 

[clerkpalmer]

No Sennies yet. Month out or more I think. I don't agree with a lot of those reviews. Yes, no wireless charging, but everything else works spot on and they do sound decent. I mean, they're not Prestige or Devialet, but for the use case, I had them in for 8 hours today. Took calls, music, a few shows. No issues. Force pair works well so I had no issues going from device to device. They are very secure too. That said, my ears are large and I was adjusting them to evade some discomfort. I don't think that's the norm. Once I settled, I forgot they were there. You should definitely give them a spin before just sending them back. Worth a shot for sure.

Thanks for that feedback brother. Maybe I will. I don’t care about reviews per se but when a big advertiser like Bose gets dinged it does make you wonder.

 

[erockg]

Thanks for that feedback brother. Maybe I will. I don’t care about reviews per se but when a big advertiser like Bose gets dinged it does make you wonder.

I went in thinking they'd suck. Bose always gets dinged. Are they overpriced? Bose always is initially. You'll probably return them, but def take a listen.

I've got the Huawei Freeclips on the way too. Thanks @darveniza. Ugh.

 

[PixelSquish]

Large publications giving them poor reviews. The Verge 6/10. Ouch. I’ll probably just return them unopened. What happened to the Senn sport buds? Did they not launch?

The mtw4 were available for pre-order starting yesterday. I would assume the sport ones as well but I'm not sure.

I heard from one place the mtw4 will ship early March. But not sure if that is 100% correct