The Bose SoundTrue Ultra were launched in India sometime back at a price of Rs.11,138. You must have seen our unboxing of the same. After using it over the last few weeks, here is my verdict of the product in this review.
Box Contents
The Box includes the headphones along with 3 different sizes of ear tips – small, medium and large. There is also a neat little carry case included. Made for iPhone, iPod, iPad branding can be spotted on the outside though the headphones work with any device equipped with a 3.5mm audio jack.
Design
The SoundTrue Ultra is possibly the smallest pair of headphones from Bose and features a light-weight and compact design. Bose claims that the headphones use a new T-joint design to prevent rustling when it rubs against your clothes. The cords are not entirely tangle free but don’t seem to tangle too easily either and as such, your mileage will vary.
I’m a person who has very sensitive ears and so I’m not a fan of in-ear headphones. I tend to prefer on-ear or around the ear headphones for the very same reason. But off late there have been many interesting headphones which also offer a comfortable fit and the SoundTrue Ultra is surely of the most comfortable in-ear headphones I have tried in recent times.
The StayHear Ultra tips seem to do a good job at providing a comfortable yet snug fit. Another problem I have had is the headphones coming off fairly easily with little head movement especially when outdoors. I did not face any such issue with the SoundTrue Ultra even with extended periods of use thanks to the light-weight construction of the same. There is also an inline remote which lets you attend/dismiss calls and also control the volume levels. The microphone is also present on this remote. Long pressing on the center button launches Siri or Voice Control on the iPhone which is a nice touch. The headphones are also sweat and weather resistant which means that you could wear them out on a rainy day or during a run at the gym.
Functionality
I tried the headphones with my iPhone 6S Plus, Macbook and the Samsung Galaxy Note 5. It worked great on the iPhone and the Mac with respect to audio quality and functionality. I was a tad disappointed when I tried it on the Note5 and even the volume controls would not work. Bose does make a version of the exact same headphones for Samsung and Android devices but in the current day and age most users have multiple devices on multiple platforms and would expect to use a single pair of headphones across all their devices, this might be a deal breaker for them.
It looks as if Bose is targeting only the Apple aficionados in mind, a person who uses an iPhone, works on a Mac and catches up with movies on the iPad. In terms of the audio quality, I found it to be well-balanced with not too much bass. Also they don’t seem to get too loud which is both a good a bad thing. As is true with the Bose sound signature, here too the audio seems to lack a bit on the lows and highs. You might even call it boring but that’s the price you pay when you get headphones that are aiming for a neutral sound signature, not that these nail the neutral sound either.
Noise Isolation
For passive noise cancellation earphones, the SoundTrue Ultra does seem to do a good job at eliminating external noise when you are listening to music or on a call. I managed to take part in a pretty long Skype conference call over 3G on my iPhone recently and had no complaints about the audio quality on both ends. Bear in mind that this does not feature Active Noise-Cancellation which is found in the company’s more expensive QC15,QC 20 headphones.
Conclusion
If you are an iOS user looking for a compact, lightweight, comfortable set of in-ear headphones which sounds good, the Bose SoundTrue Ultra is a good pick to replace the in-box earpods if you don’t mind the price tag. They certainly aren’t the best In-Ear Monitors that you can get in the price range but they are well built, work well with iOS devices and look great to boot. Like Apple, Bose too is a lifestyle product and aims at a very specific audience and as such lives up to the expectations from the Bose lineup.
Pros
- Comfortable fit in the ear
- Noise isolation
- Inline remote for calls and volume control.
Cons
- Majority of functions are limited to iOS
- Audio quality could be better
- Pricey