Bose’s New $99 Wired USB-C Earbuds With ANC Just Might Make Me Ditch My Wireless Earbuds

These days, most of the action in the earbuds market is focused on Bluetooth true-wireless earbuds. However, a certain cohort of consumers, many on the younger end of the age spectrum, are eschewing wireless buds for wired ones that cost a lot less, offer plug-and-play connectivity via USB-C and as such, don’t need to be charged. Say what you will about the wired buds cultural renaissance — yes, it feels a little retro trendy — but more companies are tapping into the vibe, including Bose, with its Noise Cancelling Wired Earbuds (yes, that’s their name).

While the $99 buds are more expensive than your typical USB-C earbuds, including Apple’s $19 EarPods (USB-C), these are more premium USB-C buds that, as their name implies, feature active noise canceling. From my listening tests, they may just be the best USB-C wired earbuds out there at the moment, which is why I awarded them a CNET Editors’ Choice award. Available for preorder now in three color options — black, white smoke and limited-edition dewdrop mint — they ship on Oct. 15.

Premium design for USB-C earbuds

One of the issues with USB-C wired earbuds is that some of them have thin cords and aren’t all that durable. For example, I liked Sony’s IER-EX15C USB-C buds, which cost $28 on Amazon, but after using them sporadically for a couple of months, the sound in one of the earbuds gave out — likely due to the cord getting yanked loose from the bud after I caught the cable on something.

In contrast, the IPX4 splashproof Bose Noise Canceling Wired Earbuds have a thick, sturdy 4.2-foot cord that’s not only tangle-resistant but seems to help reduce cord noise when rubbing against your clothing. It’s still a cord that can twist up a bit, especially after you roll it up into the buds’ compact carrying case, but it is less prone to tangling than thinner cords.

I also thought the inline remote was solidly constructed with rubberized buttons for volume control and playback (you double-tap the universal control button to advance a track forward and tap and hold it down to toggle through noise canceling, ANC off and transparency modes).

The other problem with wired USB-C earbuds is that, because the cord adds weight to the buds, they don’t always stay in your ears as securely as wireless models do. Bose solved this with stability wings that help lock the buds in your ears (you don’t have to use them, though). The buds, which weigh 23 grams each, come with three sizes of eartips and two sizes of stability wings. I got a tight seal and secure fit with the largest eartips and stability wings.

I found the buds comfortable to wear, but you’ll have to play around with the various sizes of eartips and stability wings to make sure there aren’t any pressure points that could cause discomfort during longer listening sessions.

Note that the buds need power to operate, so they have to be plugged into a phone, tablet or laptop with a powered USB-C port (there is no way to plug them into the 3.5mm port on an in-flight entertainment system, as no powered USB-C-to-3.5mm adapter seems to exist). They also worked well with a Nintendo Switch 2 in my tests.

Noise-canceling performance

The buds’ noise-canceling performance is effective but not at the level you get with Bose’s QuietComfort Earbuds Ultra (2nd Gen). Bose says the buds use its QuietControl technology, with four microphones, two on each earbud (the QC Ultra Earbuds have four on each bud), continuously monitoring, reacting to and minimizing surrounding sound. As noted, there are three listening modes: Quiet Mode (ANC on), Aware Mode (lets the surrounding sound in) and ANC Off Mode, which “provides straightforward wired listening without active noise cancellation.”

While it may not be Bose’s top noise canceling — it feels a little more like the noise canceling in Bose’s step-down QuietComfort Earbuds ($150) — it still did a good job tamping down noise in the streets of New York, though some voices and sounds in higher frequencies were more audible. Overall, I’d rate the noise canceling at a B-plus. The same goes for the transparency mode.

All that said, it is quite rare for USB-C earbuds to feature active noise canceling (that’s any good, anyway). For example, buds like Belkin’s $30 SoundForm ANC Wired Earbuds say they have it, but it’s pretty underwhelming.

Sound quality

Aside from their design, sound quality is the one area where the Bose Noise Cancelling Wired Earbuds truly shine. Sound quality is excellent and measures up well to that of what you get with Bose’s more expensive true-wireless earbuds, even the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen). The sound is clean, open and relatively well-balanced, with Bose’s signature powerful bass.

I would describe the sound as rich, detailed and full-bodied, with almost no distortion at higher volumes. It’s clearly a step up from what you get from the aforementioned Sony IER-EX15C USB-C buds, as well as Panasonic’s $25 ErgoFit RP-TCM325 USB-C buds, which don’t deliver as much bass as these Bose buds. (I awarded the Panasonic ErgoFit USB-C a CNET Editors’ Choice award because they sound quite good for only $25.)

The buds feature Bose’s proprietary SoundDesign digital signal processing technology, which supports lossless audio. “Using the USB Audio Class 2 protocol, the earbuds can accept source input at any sample and bit rate, with playback output fixed at 24bit/48kHz,” Bose says. “The direct wired connection also enables low-latency performance, keeping sound in sync while watching videos, gaming or creating content.”

I mainly tested the buds using Spotify Lossless on an iPhone 16 Pro and Google Pixel 9, but I also listened to some FLAC files on my computer. And, as I said, I used them for some gaming on my Nintendo Switch 2.

Voice-calling performance

David Carnoy/CNET

In my tests on the noisy streets of New York, callers said they heard more background noise than when I was calling them with Bose’s latest true-wireless earbuds, but my voice actually sounded a little clearer. So you give up some background noise reduction while gaining a bit of voice clarity. I’d rate them a B-plus for voice calling in noisier environments, but that grade improves if you’re not dealing with a lot of background noise.

Note that the buds do have a sidetone feature, so you can hear your voice in the buds when you’re on a call, which keeps you from shouting. I always appreciate some sidetone with noise-isolating earbuds or over-ear headphones.

Bose Noise Cancelling Wired Earbuds final thoughts

Truth be told, I have a soft spot for Bose wired earbuds, dating back to its SoundSport models. I still use its QuietComfort 20 wired noise-canceling earbuds on plane trips because they take up little room in my bag compared to over-ear headphones and weigh a lot less. That said, my favorite Bose wired earbuds were the SoundTrue Ultra, which sounded great for the money and were discontinued in 2018. Not too long ago, I asked Bose why it couldn’t make a USB-C version of that model, and the answer I got was, “Stay tuned.”

Well, the Noise Cancelling Earbuds aren’t exactly the USB-C version of the SoundTrue Ultra buds, but they are their spiritual successor — and they have noise canceling to boot. They’re excellent USB-C earbuds that are a clear cut above the growing number of affordable USB-C buds steadily trickling into the market.

Sure, they’re pricier than most USB-C wired buds, which tend to cost $30 or less. And yes, sometimes I was a little annoyed by wires dangling down from my ears and catching on obstacles (or a person, as I exited a subway car at rush hour in New York). But if you’re going to go wired with a USB-C-equipped device that no longer has a headphone jack and want a more premium listening experience, the Bose Noise Cancelling Earbuds are easy to recommend. Hopefully, we’ll see them discounted to more like $80 in flash sales going forward. But even at $99, they’re reasonably priced, particularly if you consider that the QuietComfort 20 wired noise-canceling buds listed for $300 when they were released in 2013.