Bose Ultra Open Earbuds (Smoke White)

Bose Ultra Open Earbuds (Smoke White)

The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds take the opposite approach to conventional earbuds: instead of sealing inside the ear canal, each bud clips onto the outer edge of the ear like a small cuff, leaving the ear canal completely open. This Smoke White version pairs that open design with Bose’s OpenAudio technology, which directs sound into the ear from outside while limiting how much of it leaks out for people nearby to hear. The result is private listening that coexists with full awareness of traffic, colleagues, announcements and conversation.

Comfort is the other half of the design. A flexible joint and light grip hold each roughly 6.4 g earbud securely without the pressure points or plugged-in sensation of in-ear tips, which makes the Ultra Open Earbuds easy to wear for hours and practical alongside glasses or earrings. Bose Immersive Audio adds spatial processing with head tracking, widening the soundstage beyond the ears so music feels less like it is playing inside your head.

Key features

• Open-ear cuff design: nothing enters or seals the ear canal
• Bose OpenAudio technology for private listening with situational awareness
• Bose Immersive Audio with head tracking for a wider soundstage
• Up to 7.5 hours per charge; up to 27 hours total with the charging case
• Quick charge: 10 minutes returns about 2 hours of listening
• Bluetooth 5.3 with aptX Adaptive (Snapdragon Sound), AAC and SBC
• IPX4 sweat and weather resistance
• Physical button controls and beamforming microphones for calls

Battery Life in Practice

A single charge delivers up to 7.5 hours of listening, or up to 4.5 hours with Immersive Audio switched on, and the case adds up to 19.5 further hours for a total of up to 27 hours. The quick-charge figure matters for open earbuds that people wear all day: ten minutes in the case restores around two hours of use. The case charges over USB-C.

Calls, Controls and App

A physical button on each earbud handles playback, volume and calls, avoiding the mis-taps of touch gestures, and either bud can be used on its own. A beamforming microphone system focuses on your voice for calls in busy environments. Multipoint Bluetooth keeps a phone and a laptop connected, Google Fast Pair simplifies Android setup, and the Bose Music app provides EQ adjustment, Immersive Audio modes and fit guidance.

Who Open Earbuds Suit

Sealed earbuds and noise cancelling isolate the listener, which is not always the goal: runners and cyclists need traffic awareness, office workers need to hear colleagues, and many listeners simply dislike in-ear pressure. The Ultra Open Earbuds trade isolation for comfort and awareness while keeping sound quality high. This colour variant is Smoke White (listed by Bose as White Smoke). Full specifications are listed in the Additional Information section.