• Bose releases Thom Browne redesign of recent flagship headphones
• Adds a cashmere band, tag and cup stripes
• Very much designer label, costing twice as much as the original pair

If you still wish you could rock the emo aesthetic as readily as an adult as you did when you were young, I've got a new pair of headphones which will have you screaming "I'm not oooookaaaay" in no time.

Fashion house Thom Browne has teamed up with Bose, to release a special-edition run of the latter's QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen). The new model is due to release on September 28, although you can pre-order them already.

Now, these cans aren't cheap; there is a designer fee to be paid. They cost $950 / £760 (about AU$1,500, although Bose's Australian website makes no mention of them). And that — depending on where you live — is more than double the price of the standard Bose QC Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen)'s $449 / £449 / AU$699 price, in any other finish.

So what do you get for the designer surcharge? Well, it is purely the design flourishes that set them apart from the standard flagship pair. Not only do you get those distinctive white stripes on the left cup, but the ear cushions and headband are made from cashmere. You also get a new Browne-designed protective case, and the color option is called Smoked Pearl. Let's also not forget the bragging rights of throwing down that much money on some headphones.

Similar cans, other than the design?

Other than the design flairs (which are "delightful, I must have them", according to my audio editor), the Thom Browne cans are pretty similar to the aforementioned Ultra set. These are not to be confused with the newer standard Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen), to which I awarded a very respectable four stars to in my recent review.

So, you're getting wonderful five-star Bose-tuned sound, fantastic spatial audio and solid noise cancellation. In fact, the comfort of the QC range is something I flagged in my review as being outstanding, and I'm sure some added cashmere will only make them more snug.

I tested the delightfully Shrek-like finish of the non-Pro cans which you see above, although those obviously don't have the same fashionable bent (unless you live in a swamp) but they come in a range of other colors including pink, mauve and mint.

Ironically, one of my issues with the Bose QCs was that they felt a little pricey compared to the competition, and the more-than-double-cost versions definitely aren't going to solve that.

That is to say, these are a buy for 'money no object' music lovers who think nothing of splashing out on fancy designer headphones. Saying that, if you have a malleable budget, the regular Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) might still be the top buy if you don't care about the designer extras.

Not for my audio editor though. She is already saving up…

• FiiO's new CD player can be added to your hi-fi system/compatible active speakers
• The RIAA says CD revenue continued to grow during the first half of 2026
• …And as these desktop spinners go, the DP11 is a looker — and quite affordable

Aren't CD players having a moment, though? They can be ultra-luxe, super-cool, and with aptX Bluetooth for your earbuds, heavy and furnished with both analog and digital inputs, fully transparent like some sort of musical trophy, or even inspired by Death Stranding 2: On the Beach and available in neon orange.

It feels as if there's a vaguely retro player for everyone — audiophiles included. TechRadar even published a roundup of 9 of the coolest new CD player releases just last month, in an effort to keep on top of them all.

And now, a new option from FiiO is joining the party! One of our favorite 'affordable audiophile' companies (most notably in DACs, but FiiO's been branching out lately) has just revealed the DP11 CD player. And this is no CD Walkman — it is designed as a hi-fi or desktop companion, allowing you to add CD playback to your hi-fi system or compatible active speaker system.

The DP11's USB socket also allows for easy ripping of CDs (no laptop required), directly to a USB stick for lossless rips of your favorite albums.

'There's something nice and tangible about a CD' — Twiggy

If you don't know who Twiggy is, look her up (and be thankful of your youth).

Of course, FiiO is quick to explain that the extensive output options on the DP11 mean it's an ideal partner for streaming headphone amplifiers such as its own FiiO K17 or dedicated speaker amplifiers such as its fabulous new analog tube amp, called the FiiO EA13. Oh, and for a truly compact desktop headphone system, you could always add the FiiO K13 R2R DAC.

Why do any of this? Because CD sales revenue was up 58% in the first half of 2026 (and 45% in volume) in the US, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Also, the success of portable CD players — I can't believe I didn't mention FiiO's own DM15 R2R portable shiny spinner! — proves that music lovers aren't against buying new, pristine CDs as well as digging out their old (possibly scratched and skipping?) collections. And listening to a full album in CD quality is one of life's great pleasures.

The DP11 boasts a 3.7-inch screen and what FiiO assures us is a "quiet tray loading mechanism" to complete the retro look, and you even get a dedicated remote control as well as MQA-CD bitstream passthrough (aka a setting that forces the CD player to output the raw, unaltered digital audio data from an MQA-encoded CD directly to an external digital-to-analog converter, or DAC).

The FiiO DP11 will launch in October priced at a rather palatable $185 / €184.99 (so around £140 or AU$265), and if you want it to look like the main image, you might want to buy it alongside the FiiO Modular Hi-Fi Device Storage Rack.

You may have heard the rumors: camera-equipped earbuds are the next frontier for audio technology brands (including, we think, Apple), and Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 platform could be the catalyst that brings them to fruition.

As Qualcomm’s “first premium audio platform purpose-built for personal AI,” the Sound Elite Gen 2 aims to transform headphones and earbuds into “intelligent companions that can understand, assist, and adapt throughout the day” — and the American silicon giant considers camera-equipped earbuds to be among those “companions.”

Qualcomm flew TechRadar out to Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii to hear more (no pun intended) about its vision for the AI-assisted future of audio, and the company was bullish about the positive effect AI will have on both sound quality and virtual assistance.

“This isn’t about putting a chatbot in your ear; it’s about creating devices that understand what’s happening around you,” Sarah McMurray, Staff Manager for Product Marketing at Qualcomm, explained in a briefing attended by TechRadar, noting that the Sound Elite Gen 2 will use AI to make earbuds more responsive to environmental changes.

“At the core of the platform is an advanced AI-adaptive ANC system designed for consistent, real-world performance, not just ideal conditions,” added Grace Bramwell, Qualcomm PR. “The system continuously responds to changes in fit, movement, and environmental noise, maintaining reliable noise cancellation without the need for manual adjustment.

“Powered by flexible, programmable processing and up to 2x greater AI capability than the previous generation, Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 can intelligently steer ANC filters in real time, optimizing noise reduction across different acoustic conditions and device types. This enables stronger performance in challenging scenarios, including low-frequency noise, dynamic environments, and open-ear designs, while giving OEMs greater flexibility across a wide range of form factors.”

In other words, the Sound Elite Gen 2 could make your next earbuds or headphones better at automatically switching between ANC and transparency modes, and deliver improved audio quality in both states (“stronger performance with low-frequency noise,” for instance, might mean upcoming earbuds can more effectively drown out the mechanical hum of your fridge or the drone of a passing truck).

It’s worth noting that Qualcomm itself is not a consumer product manufacturer. It licenses its audio technologies to OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) such as Bose and Bowers & Wilkins, so it will be up to those brands to take up and implement the Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 platform in a way that fulfills the potential Qualcomm is describing here.

Welcome to the age of in-ear assistance

Of course, Qualcomm’s plans for the future of audio are bigger than improved ANC. AI-powered audible assistance is the hottest topic in town right now, and apparently, consumers are as keen on the thought of AI-powered assistance as Silicon Valley investors:

“Our research tells us that up to 70% of users want advanced AI capabilities in their wearable devices,” says Ziad Asghar, Qualcomm’s Senior Vice President and General Manager of XR, Wearables, and Personal AI. “As AI becomes a core capability, users will increasingly expect more natural ways to interact with it.

“Those interactions won't always happen through a screen. They will happen through natural conversations, where users can simply speak to an AI assistant and receive help in real time. With Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2, we're heralding intelligent audio wearables that enable experiences such as real-time translation, contextual assistance, personalized hearing, and multimodal interactions that combine audio, vision, and AI."

No current wearables effectively combine those three elements (except perhaps smart glasses, but have you ever tried listening to your favorite album on a pair of Meta Ray-Bans? Don’t. Ever). That’s why OEMs are developing camera-equipped earbuds — they’re truly hands-free and, crucially, more socially acceptable (visually speaking) than Austin Powers-style specs.

But if, as a society, we haven’t yet cracked the social code on smart glasses (and as our deep-dive on the so-called great privacy revolt reveals, we most definitely haven’t), are camera-equipped earbuds something we’re ready for? Qualcomm is cautiously optimistic.

“The privacy concern is not new,” Asghar explained to TechRadar in a roundtable at Snapdragon Summit. “We at Qualcomm and Snapdragon have been managing it for a long time in multiple different areas. And our concept is very clear: we want to be able to give the consumer the ability to choose how much information they want to share.

“For instance, we can obfuscate faces. We have the capability on our chipsets to detect a face very easily — not recognize a face, but detect a face. To do multi-modality, I don’t need to send a face for AI processing; I need to be able to send the context [of my environment]. For that, I can detect the face and cover it up. That technology is something we have integrated into our products and that we’re sharing with our partners.

“Another thing we’ve been driving is on-device AI. As you do more processing on the device, you basically take away the concern of that image leaving the device [...] We are targeting this problem at every different level. Of course, we enable our customers and partners [to use these tools], and with the pressure and concern that’s coming through, we will of course work with them.

“I also want to say something,” Asghar added. “Today, you carry a device with multiple cameras on it: it’s called a phone. I was talking to a group of students in San Diego, and this [privacy] issue is not top of their mind. Different age groups are thinking about it in different ways. Younger people are so used to blogging and vlogging. I think some of the concern, in my opinion, is just because this is a new form factor. But we want to provide all the tools [to manufacturers] such that consumers feel comfortable.”

Again, it will be up to brands such as Bose and Bowers & Wilkins to implement the Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 platform in an effective and ethical way, but it's clear that Qualcomm is aware of the increasingly negative public sentiment around camera-equipped wearables.

If, however, these OEMs can convince consumers that on-device processing really is as private as Qualcomm claims, perhaps the age of Minority Report-style glasses and earbuds will arrive sooner than we thought.

The Sonos Ace Ultra are here, and they’re beautiful. I’ve spent two weeks testing them, and to tell the truth, they really exceeded my expectations.

See, I liked the original Sonos Ace, but the Ultra bring so many meaningful upgrades to the fore, be that their expanded microphone system, fancy new drivers, or new smart features. And as you’ll see in my Sonos Ace Ultra review, I think these updates establish Sonos as a major player in the world of wireless headphones.

The standard Sonos Ace fell just short of greatness when they released due to their somewhat middling musicality, and with rivals like Sony and Bose releasing excellent iterations in the WH-1000X and QuietComfort Ultra series’ respectively, it felt like the multi-room giant couldn’t quite go toe-to-toe with the best of them.

But the Ultra have changed that, and I’m here to share my five favorite improvements that make Sonos’ new headphones an excellent option for anyone looking to buy a top-tier pair of wireless headphones — or make the step-up from the original Ace. And make sure to stick around for number five, which is the most game-changing upgrade of them all.

1. A more customizable listening experience

First of all, you have a lot more control over the listening experience with the Sonos Ace Ultra compared to what the original Ace allowed.

This is largely down to a far more fleshed-out equalizer, which lets users take a far more granular approach tuning-wise. That’s because the Sonos Ace Ultra feature an eight-band equalizer, letting you make adjustments to specific parts of the frequency range. Want to give those lower-mids a bit of a boost? Want to temper the upper-treble a bit? No problem — you can do that here.

Meanwhile, the Sonos Ace had very basic two-band EQ options that only let you increase the bass or treble. Sure, there’s the option to use a three-band equalizer on the Sonos Ace Ultra if you want a simpler way of making changes, but the more extensive controls on the audio specialist’s new headphones are welcome for someone like me, who wants to tailor sound to his specific tastes.

While we’re on this topic, it’s also worth flagging that the Sonos Ace Ultra have adaptive EQ. This automatically adjusts EQ to account for factors such as fit, glasses, hair, and other elements that could cause leakage. This works well and was something that the original Ace skipped.

2. Enhanced ANC

The Sonos Ace Ultra increase the number of microphones onboard to ten from the eight seen on the standard Sonos Ace. This results in a number of improvements, like enhanced calling, for instance. But the biggest difference is heard when it comes to active noise cancellation.

This expanded microphone system helps the Sonos Ace Ultra to deliver excellent ANC that competes with some of the best noise cancelling headphones on the market. When working in the office, sounds of typing were totally eliminated. When on walks, construction work and traffic passing by was subdued to incredible effect. And even when taking public transport, the rumble of engines and conversations surrounding me were silenced without hesitation.

It helps that the Ace Ultra also have a relatively secure (yet still comfortable) fit, providing a seal that keeps the world around you at bay. I’ve tried far more expensive cans that can’t hold a candle to the Sonos Ace Ultra in this regard, so if you want great ANC, look no further.

ANC is adjustable, so you can decide whether you want full-blast silencing or a light bit of blockage if you find that disorienting. Of course, you also get a transparency mode if you want to be more aware of your surroundings or to have a quick conversation.

3. More interplay with your Sonos system

The Sonos Ace Ultra offer even more interconnectivity with other Sonos products than the original headphones, in part thanks to the Ultra’s new Headphone Engine 2.

With the Ace Ultra, you unlock a new feature called Headphone Linking. This lets you seamlessly transfer audio from compatible speakers — like the Sonos Play — over Wi-Fi, directly to your headphones (or vice versa). Just a single press of a button, and you can easily transfer music or movie audio across; it's seamless and works like a dream.

Like the original Ace, you also get TV Audio Swap. This lets you connect the Ace Ultra to a compatible soundbar, like the Sonos Arc Ultra, and hear movie audio on your headphones instantly. Because the Ace Ultra support Dolby Atmos and head tracking, you get an incredibly immersive, rich listening experience here — and it's ideal if you want to enjoy private listening without disturbing anyone else in your household.

4. Better battery — and its fully replaceable

First of all, I should say that the battery life on the standard Sonos Ace is by no means bad. You get 30 hours of playback with ANC on, which is basically the standard for headphones in the premium price-bracket — in fact, some rivals like the AirPods Max 2 and the first-gen Bose QuietComfort Ultra fall short of this.

But the Sonos Ace Ultra provide a slight bump, with 35 hours of battery life with ANC switched on — still nothing game-changing, but certainly a welcome improvement. You also only need to charge them for three minutes to get three hours of playback, which makes them incredibly convenient when you’re on the go and need some additional battery life in a pinch.

Perhaps more interestingly, the Sonos Ace Ultra feature a user-replaceable battery. Yes, you’ll need to get some specialist kit for this, but it means that the Ultra can live on, even if the battery degrades after years of listening. That only makes your investment more worthwhile in the long run.

5. New drivers provide a huge performance upgrade

And now for the largest upgrade of them all: the one that truly puts the Sonos Ace Ultra head and shoulders above the first Sonos Ace. Of course, I’m talking about the significant sound quality step-up, which comes, in part, thanks to new 40mm custom drivers.

When it comes to music, the original Sonos Ace are OK. They provide relatively energetic audio, but they lack balance, often sound quite busy and disorganized, and lack the width and detail of some premium rivals. But the Sonos Ace Ultra take things up a notch. They deliver expansive, dynamic, and intricate audio, especially when using aptX codecs or wired listening.

The Sonos Ace Ultra also provide improved instrument separation, letting them handle more complex mixes with ease. Low-end sounds are more full-bodied and agile, never sounding lethargic or lacking rhythmically. Mids aren’t as overzealous as they were on the original Ace, taking a more natural, detail-oriented approach. And treble is expressive and articulate, giving higher-pitched percussion some seriously satisfying bite.

Like the standard Ace, the Ace Ultra sound impeccable for movies, delivering a three-dimensional listening experience with convincing height effects and engrossing expansiveness, and they’re probably the best wireless headphones you can buy for movies. But the Ultra’s improved musicality helps them attain greatness — even more impressive when you consider that they’ve launched at the same price as the original Ace did back in 2024.

Beats has been making over-ear headphones since 2008, when the original Beats Studio launched, and the Studio line has remained central to the brand ever since. The Studio Pro aren't going anywhere, but the new Beats 360 are something different entirely.

Beats calls them "the next chapter" of its headphones story — and after spending the past few weeks with the 360, that confidence doesn't feel misplaced. These aren't just the Studio Pro with a new coat of paint; instead, they represent an entirely new direction for the brand.

"We wanted to create a new ID, a new look, and a new over-ear headphone for a different purpose," Oliver Schusser, Apple's VP of Music, Sports, and Beats, told me.

That idea is baked into practically every part of the 360. Beats set out to build much more streamlined headphones that are designed to move with you throughout the day, and feel at home everywhere from the gym to the office to an airplane.

And the first thing you notice is just how light they are.

Weighing in at 295.4 grams, they're super-cozy, and after about 20 to 30 minutes of breaking them in, you might forget they're on your head. Compared to the AirPods Max at about 386.2 grams or Sony's WH-1000XM6 at 254 grams, these fall somewhere in the middle, but they actually feel far more streamlined than the number suggests.

The profile itself is remarkably thin, too. The drivers sit slightly farther from the ear than you'd expect on headphones this size — they're custom-built for the 360 — but the overall design feels compact, and balanced on your head.

The controls are split between the two sides, too. The left earcup houses the power button and lets you cycle through listening modes, while the right handles volume and playback. There's also a USB-C port on the left for charging.

It's a simple setup, and after a few weeks, it becomes second nature.

That lightness wasn't an accident — it was the whole brief. Schusser told me the 360 came out of watching how people actually live with their headphones.

"We wanted to create a new ID, a new look, and a new over-ear headphone for a different purpose. And that purpose is for people who live a very active lifestyle who are on the go," Schusser said. "We wanted to build the perfect headphone for an active lifestyle. And of course, we wanted it to have all the great ingredients of Beats. We wanted it to look cool, sound amazing, but also be really light, be really comfortable, be water and sweat resistant."

And that's where the rest of the design starts to make sense.

The earcups and headband are fully customizable — swappable across the four launch colors (Black, Cloud, Pink, and Sky) and two distinct cushion materials: Performance Knit, built for workouts and noticeably more breathable, and UltraPlush, the more classic Beats feel with a tighter seal, using the same engineered leather found on the Studio Pro and Solo 4.

The Performance Knit cushion makes a real difference when you're moving around, while UltraPlush gives you that more traditional over-ear headphone feel. You can also pull either cushion off entirely to wipe them down or toss them in the washer.

Then there's the IPX4 sweat and water resistance, a first for Beats over-ear headphones, and not super common in the wider market. It's a small detail that reinforces the whole idea behind the 360: these are headphones you can take to the gym, rather than ones you have to leave at home or risk damaging.

None of that customization happened by accident. Schusser said the swap mechanism was one of the more satisfying engineering wins on the whole project.

"Our engineers have come up with this really cool, simple way to sort of swap out the cushions, and it takes literally seconds, and it just makes the headphones so versatile and so flexible, and you can customize and personalize, and it's amazing," he told me.

He's right about the versatility, as swapping earcups takes seconds, and the difference between the two cushion materials is noticeable. It's a genuinely useful bit of modularity, not just something that looks good on a spec sheet, when you consider wearing these to a workout class, getting sweaty, and the swapping earcups as you head into the office.

A new sound for a new Beats

On the sound side, Beats built a bespoke acoustic platform for the 360, with custom drivers using three-layer diaphragms and dual neodymium ring magnets in each earcup — a purpose-built audio setup rather than a carryover from the Studio.

Beats says that architecture, paired with its most advanced ANC to date, delivers up to 1.75x more total noise cancellation than the Studio Pro, alongside Adaptive EQ, Personalized Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking, and Dolby Atmos support.

Previous Beats headphones have delivered a hefty low end, but that signature has evolved, and comes into real focus with the 360. There's less bass-heavy weight than on the Studio, but the payoff is that at practically any listening volume distortion is nearly nonexistent, and separation stays excellent across genres.

Take Further On Up the Road by Bruce Springsteen — I listened to this while on a plane with Active Noise Cancellation engaged, at about 70% volume, and couldn't hear any engine noise. The track opens with a strong, crisp snare and bass drum before Springsteen's vocals come in over the guitar, with background vocals filling in behind. It's a great showcase for what the onboard audio can do.

For a modern pop test, Olivia Rodrigo's Expectations pairs low end and high end almost from the first bar, as synth and drums kick in before her vocal takes center stage. Spatially, the head-tracked playback is genuinely impressive here, both indoors and while walking around outside.

Transparency mode is strong, too. It's a little behind the AirPods Max in terms of how much outside sound it lets through, but what comes through the 360 sounds very natural. Voices don't have that overly processed or artificial quality you can sometimes get from transparency modes, and for 349.99 / £299.99 / AU$499.99 headphones, they punch above their weight.

Talking of weight, the 360 aren't the lightest headphones out there, but the ergonomics carry it — an even distribution between the earcups keeps the headband thin, and makes these feel far cozier than the spec sheet suggests.

The Beats chip is a bigger deal than it sounds

Connectivity comes from a custom-designed Beats chip, which is built off Apple's own silicon work, and which is now in its fourth generation. As I've reported previously, that's a significant unlock for the Beats team, letting it appeal equally to Apple and Android users rather than picking a side.

Just like AirPods and past Beats products, the 360 pair quickly and sync across your Apple devices via iCloud, so you can go from listening on an iPhone or iPad to jumping into a meeting on a MacBook Pro almost instantly. On Android, you get Fast Pair support through Google's standard, and the Beats app for Android mirrors most of the same controls.

Each earcup functions as its own self-contained unit, housing its own audio, connectivity, and battery components. It's another example of Beats rethinking the architecture around this new purpose.

There are nine onboard microphones in total: eight dedicated to active noise cancellation and three for voice pickup, with two shared between the systems. They work alongside an onboard AI model to handle voice detection, voice-assistant requests, and the handoff between ANC, Transparency mode, and Adaptive Audio.

Battery life is rated at up to 32 hours with Adaptive EQ when ANC and Transparency mode are off, and still up to 32 hours with ANC and Personalized Spatial Audio switched on. That's a claim I've been testing throughout my time with the 360, including travel, and so far the battery life has held up well.

Beats has always leaned into limited-edition drops and collaborations, and the 360's whole design seems built for exactly that kind of expansion — and Schusser didn't hide the intent. "We're going to do a lot of drops," he said.

As mentioned, these headphones cost $349.99 in the US, £299.95 in the UK, and $499.95 in Australia, and rather than positioning the 360 as a replacement, Beats is keeping the Studio Pro around too, now at a reduced $299.99 / £249.95 / AU$479.95.

Beyond the four core colorways, Beats also sells standalone cushion kits in six Performance Knit colors — adding Navy and Volt — plus two UltraPlush options. These are priced at $49.99 / £49.95 / AU$49.95, but are available at an introductory price of $9.99 / £9.95 / AU$14.95 through October 31.

Asked where the color strategy could go next, Schusser pointed straight at sports: "This is actually a perfect product for [...] team colors."

It all makes the customization options more interesting than simply picking a color when you buy them. Right now, I have the Sky — light blue — 360 with a darker blue Performance Knit cushion and a black UltraPlush, and I swap the headband cushion to match whichever earcup I'm wearing that day. The 360 can change with you, whether that's a different material for a workout, a new color for a season, or eventually one of the team-color drops Schusser hinted at.

I've really enjoyed my first few weeks with the Beats 360 — traveling back from Apple's September event, testing them at home, then putting them through their paces on flights — and I'm impressed with the overall premium nature and this new direction for Beats.

The Beats 360 pair full sweat and water resistance with a thin, lightweight build and customizable earcups that let you land on a look you're happy with — and one that can evolve, rather than feeling dated.

The sound is a modern take on the Beats signature — plenty of energy, but with clear separation and basically no distortion across the genres I've thrown at it — and paired with strong ANC, a natural-feeling Transparency mode, and a battery that's held up through testing, there's a lot packed into this new design.

There are a few misses. There's no on-ear detection, so you have to turn these on and off manually, and there's no support for wired playback.

Still, those omissions don't really change what Beats is trying to do here. The 360 aren't supposed to be another Studio Pro. This is Beats taking the over-ear headphone somewhere new — lighter, more customizable, more resistant to sweat and water, and built around an active, on-the-go lifestyle.

And after a few weeks with them, I can see the new ID Beats was talking about.

Sonos Ace Ultra: two-minute review

Sonos is making a real statement of intent with its new wireless headphones, the Sonos Ace Ultra.

The multi-room master has made a whole host of improvements to this upgraded wireless over-ear model, which has arrived two years after the original Ace came to market. The Sonos Ace Ultra have enhanced custom 40mm drivers, a new headphone engine, better battery life, better noise-cancelling, and more detailed EQ to name a few things. So can they finally compete with flagship rivals from the likes of Sony and Bose to become some of the best noise-cancelling headphones we've tested? Here’s what I think after weeks of testing.

Let’s start by addressing the most important area of all: sound quality. We felt that the original Ace fell short of the best headphones around due to one main issue: their middling musicality. But the Ace Ultra have remedied that, and then some.

When listening to the Sonos Ace Ultra beside the original model, the differences were stark. Where the standard Sonos Ace sounded confined, overstretched, and unrefined, the Ace Ultra offered openness, intricate detailing, and a broader, more organized soundstage. What’s more, they provide better balance across the frequency range, with deep yet controlled bass, rich but less overzealous mids, and tight, articulate treble.

While I still consider some similarly priced competitors, like the Sony WH-1000XM6 and Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 to supply slightly more premium, detailed sound (for music, that is), the Ace Ultra are really not far behind. Sonos listened to the critics, and proved that it's up to the task of going toe-to-toe with the titans of the headphone world.

We already loved the original Ace for movies, though, finding that they offered immersive Dolby Atmos audio with effective head-tracking to boot. And that’s much the same on the Ace Ultra. They whip up wonderful width, strong command over height effects, and never neglect the fundamentals like clear dialogue and cinematic, pounding bass.

But what’s new on the Ace Ultra? Although music got a seismic upgrade, other alterations feel a bit more incremental — but that’s by no means a bad thing. Two more microphones have been added to the Ultra, bringing the total to ten, and ANC is great here. Wherever I was, my soundings were subdued to great effect, almost creating a bubble of silence. ANC is adaptive this time around and adjusts nicely, and the transparency mode works a treat. Call quality is strong too, as you may expect.

Battery life has also seen a boost, and you’ll now get up to 35 hours with ANC on. Is this anything groundbreaking? No. But it’s slightly above the 30-hour standard for headphones in this price bracket, and I never felt that I had to charge these cans very regularly. The battery is also replaceable, and a rapid charging mode means you can get three hours of playback if you spend three minutes juicing them up.

EQ options have also been expanded beyond the basic two-band equalizer found on the standard Ace headphones. There’s an eight-band option now as well as adaptive EQ, meaning you can genuinely tailor sound to your specific tastes.

We also need to talk about the Wi-Fi capabilities of the Sonos Ace Ultra. No, we’re still not at the point where we can directly stream tunes over a local internet connection, but there are some nifty features at play. First of all, TV Audio Swap is back, enabling you to link the headphones to a compatible Sonos soundbar, and transfer sound seamlessly. This is highly responsive and effective, and while I didn’t find myself using this feature a ton, you can avoid the latency issues you’d get from connecting headphones to your TV over Bluetooth.

The Ace Ultra also add Headphone Linking, though, which means you can also transfer sound from compatible speakers, like the Sonos Play, for instance. This is equally reliable as TV Audio Swap, and is a great option if you’re listening to music at home but want to keep listening without distracting others.

It’s clear to see that the Sonos Ace Ultra don’t look very different from the previous model, but that’s no bad thing. They’re sleek, well-built, and offer a neat combination of comfort and over-ear security. They’re not fully foldable, and the included case could be better quality-wise, but these are fairly minor pain points in the grand scheme of things.

Considering that the Ace Ultra cost the same as the original Ace at the point of launch — and actually less in the UK — they feel like a much more worthwhile investment. They’re by no means cheap, but their enhancements are meaningful and substantial, making these a great pair of headphones whether you have a pre-existing Sonos system or not. As a result, these are a great pair of headphones for music and movie lovers alike that feel worth the outlay — and are easy to recommend if you want a great all-round pair of premium wireless headphones.

Sonos Ace Ultra review: price & release date

• Priced at $449 / £399 / AU$699
• First released September 2026

The Sonos Ace Ultra were released in September 2026, about two years after the original Sonos Ace headphones. The new model is priced at $449 / £399 / AU$699, which is the same as the standard Ace cost at launch in the US and Australia, though they’re actually cheaper in the UK than the original Ace were at the point of release.

Given their price, the Ace Ultra have some extremely hot competition. For example, the Sony WH-1000XM6 are similarly priced, and offer an incredible mix of balanced, dynamic, and impactful sound alongside some of the best noise-cancelling on the market and a giant suite of features. Other competitors include the noise-crushing Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones Gen 2, the spacious sounding Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3, and the ultra-detailed Sennheiser HDB 630.

Sonos Ace Ultra review: specs

Sonos Ace Ultra review: features

• Excellent ANC with adaptive mode and effective transparency option
• Higher-res audio available as well as Dolby Atmos for spatial sound
• TV Audio Swap and Headphone Linking works very well

The Sonos Ace Ultra boast an excellent suite of features and are a highly personalizable, smart set of headphones.

Let’s kick off with ANC, which has had quite the revamp. Now, you can toggle on an adaptive mode, which adjusts for things like fit, whether you’re wearing glasses, and if you make sudden head movements. But that’s not all.

Sonos has also boosted the number of mics for the Ultra, with ten to the original Ace’s eight. The mics can monitor your surroundings and cut out external noise in real time, and they do this to great effect. Yes, the Ace Ultra supply great ANC, and no matter my environment, I was treated to satisfying, distraction-free listening.

When out on walks, the sounds of cars passing by were totally nullified. When typing away in the office, the clacking of keyboards was fully subdued, and when travelling on public transport, engine sounds and surrounding chatter were put right to the sword. The Aware Mode is also very effective, and makes it incredibly easy to tune into your surroundings, with the new Voice Boost mode able to improve the clarity of voices around you if you toggle it on.

The upgraded microphone system also helps the Ace Ultra to handle phone calls with greater care than ever before. When taking calls when out and about, my speech was perfectly comprehensible, and never sounded obscured by background noise, even when walking in a busy part of my city.

Something else that’s received a boost is battery life. Sonos says that the Ace Ultra are capable of staying alive for 35 hours on a single charge, and my testing found this to be pretty accurate. This is a slight improvement on the original Ace, which could deliver 30 hours of use, which is essentially the standard for headphones in this price category. There’s also a rapid charging option, which gives the Ace Ultra three hours of playback from a three minute charge and a power saving mode if you want to extend the headphones’ life in a pinch.

One of the more welcome additions to the Ace Ultra is their expanded EQ options. Now, you can make use of an eight-band equalizer to customize the sound of the headphones to your specific taste. This is a big improvement on the basic two-band equalizer on the original Ace (for bass and treble levels), though there’s a more basic three-band option on the Ace Ultra if you prefer a less detail-oriented approach.

Let’s stick with sound, because there are a number of great features here that help you get the best out of both music and movies. First of all, you get all the hi-res goodness from the original Ace, with aptX codec support, as well as lossless audio via USB-C — and there’s a USB-C to 3.5mm cable bundled if you want to use them with a laptop, DJ controller, or other source device.

Dolby Atmos also returns on the Ace Ultra, enabling you to enjoy spatial audio on the go. Once again, this works an absolute treat — especially for movies, where head-tracking also helps to further immerse you in on-screen action. I tried using the TV Audio Swap feature, which enabled me to connect the headphones to the Sonos Beam Ultra, and Atmos movies sounded wonderful — more on that in the ‘sound quality’ section.

While the situations in which I’d use TV Audio Swap are admittedly niche, it's a very reliable feature. It harnesses Wi-Fi connectivity, so you don’t have to deal with the latency issues that connecting headphones to your TV over Bluetooth would bring. And you can easily switch between the soundbar, headphones, and other compatible Sonos speakers with a simple press of a button, which is highly convenient.

The Ace Ultra’s new Headphone Engine 2 also enables Headphone Linking, which allows them to directly connect to other components in your Sonos system — including compatible speakers such as the Sonos play — and move audio to and from your speakers and headphones. Like TV Audio Swap, this feels seamless and speedy to activate, and is great if you’re blasting music at home, but don’t want to disturb others if they want some peace and quiet.

On top of all of this, you get the usual good stuff: multi-point pairing, Bluetooth 6.0 connectivity, wear detection, and a relatively intuitive companion app. And when you add all of this together, I think it's fair to say that the Ace Ultra offer an incredibly fleshed-out, and well-refined feature set.

• Features score: 5/5

Sonos Ace Ultra review: sound quality

• Big improvement over original Ace with better soundstaging, detailing, and control
• Deep, immersive bass, clean mids, and tight, expressive treble
• Fantastic Dolby Atmos performance

While we considered the original Sonos Ace to be a good pair of headphones, their somewhat middling musicality ended up holding them back from greatness. But luckily, Sonos has listened to the criticism, implemented next-gen 40mm custom drivers, and remedied a lot of the issues we had with the previous model. The result? A genuinely great-sounding pair of headphones.

I tried comparing the Sonos Ace Ultra against the original model directly, and when I say that the difference is striking, I truly mean it. In essence, the Ace Ultra provide a significantly broader soundstage with far better organization and balance, as well as deeper, more controlled bass, and more articulate, detailed treble. I also found them to offer superior handling of dynamics and enhanced instrument separation, meaning that, for me, Sonos is closer to rivals like Bose and Sony than ever before.

Sonos has been keen to talk up the Ace Ultra’s improved bass, so I started out by listening to a house track, Get It On by Jansons. The Ace Ultra delivered palpable, pumping bass, that was rhythmic and rapid, never sounding lethargic or boomy. This never concealed other sounds across the frequency range, either, with synths in the mid-range sounding well defined and tonally accurate, and high-pitched drums coming through with precision and vigor, helping the track to maintain its high energy.

Treble was especially tighter on the Ace Ultra compared to the original model, and the wider soundstage gave each individual element more room to breathe, and this became a theme across all of my listening tests.

For instance, with the funk track Joía Rara by Brylho, the upgrade the Ultra provided was considerable. On the original Sonos Ace, the soundstage felt confined, with guitars lacking definition in the mix, and as the track built, the horns, bass, vocals, and guitars sounded slightly convoluted, resulting in a messier presentation than I’d expected. But on the Ace Ultra, things were totally different. Guitars in the intro occupied a unique pocket, bass was well-balanced, and finer percussive details were perfectly audible. Vocals were also separated to greater effect, and while they weren’t the most textured or forward, they were more than clear enough.

Are the Sonos Ace Ultra the best-sounding headphones in their price bracket? Well, they’re not far behind the competition, though I do still think a couple of models edge just ahead. For example, I tested them side by side with the Sony WH-1000XM6, and I found that Sony’s cans supplied a slightly more dynamic low-end output and detailing in the mid-range. It was very close between these two, though. Of course, if you want the most expansive soundstage, headphones like the AirPods Max 2 will edge out the Ace Ultra, but they’re slightly more expensive.

Before we move onto design, we have to talk about the Ace Ultra’s handling of spatial audio. They support Dolby Atmos as well as head tracking, really helping you to immerse yourself in your favorite movies and TV shows, and the expansiveness that the headphones supply is seriously impressive.

When using TV Audio Swap with some 4K UHD Blu-ray discs, the Ace Ultra were able to conjure up an excellent sense of width, almost like some of the best Dolby Atmos soundbars can. I started by watching Elio, and the Ace Ultra did an incredible job — voices were clear, and as characters moved across the screen, they were tracked with precision, and if I tilted my head, sound shifted dynamically as if I was speaking with characters directly. As Elio returned to earth, deep, pounding bass hit with immense power too, but didn’t sound muddy or overbearing.

With Godzilla Minus One, the sense of a plane flying overhead in the opening scene was captured far more effectively than expected. It was genuinely convincing, as if the sound was truly coming from above. Dialogue was clear again, and Godzilla’s almighty screech was both tonally accurate and controlled, rather than tinny. More generally, the movie’s action scenes had tremendous width, creating a genuinely immersive experience.

• Sound quality score: 4.5/5

Sonos Ace Ultra review: design

• Beautiful design, and very well made
• Comfortable yet secure fit
• Not fully foldable, but case included for added security

The Ace Ultra look an awful lot like the original Ace, but as someone who loved the way those headphones looked, that’s a big plus. The ear cups are relatively flat and understated, the rounded look is sleek and sexy, and the metallic details only add to the sense of premium. The button controls have shifted about slightly, but they’re incredibly easy to reach, and are all very responsive.

I tried the Soft White version which is stylish and modern, but the Ace Ultra are also available in Black, Agave, and Sand. All of these colorways are minimalistic and suit the luxurious vibe of the headphones to perfection.

In terms of fit, the Ace Ultra strike a really strong balance between comfort and security — they’re the goldilocks of headphones, if you will. There’s enough clamping power to prevent excess sound seeping in and keep them on your head during a workout or similar, but I never found this to be overbearing. Even when I was wearing a hat, the Ace Ultra felt really snug, with the plush ear cups and padded headband helping me to enjoy my music for many hours on end.

One subtle thing I like is how the inside of the right ear cup is green, making it easy to know which side is which when throwing the cans on. The right cup also features a slider, which can be used to easily adjust volume or trigger the Audio Swap feature. I usually prefer touch controls, but the tactile and reliable nature of these buttons might just have converted me.

Something that may frustrated a few users is that the Ace Ultra are not foldable. Yes, the ear cups rotate flat for when you want to stow the headphones in the case, but rivals like the Sony WH-1000XM6 offer a more compact, travel-friendly design. In addition, the case itself doesn’t quite offer the quality I was expecting, with a fuzzy exterior that’s a bit prone to picking up fibers. I also found that the zip jammed a bit easily. I much prefer the magnetic case of the XM6, which is more seamless to use and has a more quality look and feel.

• Design score: 4.5/5

Sonos Ace Ultra review: value

• More fully featured and better sounding than the original Ace…
• …but for the same price (at the point of launch)
• A worthwhile choice for those with or without a pre-existing Sonos system

The Sonos Ace Ultra cured the single ailment that plagued the original model above else: their middling musicality. When I tested both headphones side by side, the difference was night and day. The original Ace were held back by a limited soundstage, underwhelming instrument separation, and a lack of balance across the frequency range. But the Ace Ultra sound so much more open, organized, and detailed, and truly compete with flagship rivals from Sony and Bose.

On top of that, you’re getting excellent Dolby Atmos performance, Headphone Linking and TV Audio Swap for linking up to other Sonos products, a beautiful design, and strong noise-cancelling capabilities. Considering that the Sonos Ace Ultra cost the same as the original model did at the point of launch — and less than the standard Ace initially cost in the UK — that’s pretty impressive.

At $449 / £399 / AU$699, they’re still quite the investment, of course. And I do think that some rivals, including the Sony WH-1000XM6 and Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 just edge above them in terms of sound quality. But those models can’t compete when it comes to movies — a big selling point of the Ace headphones. And the interactivity that these have with other Sonos products makes them a slam-dunk for owners of products like the Sonos Beam Ultra and Sonos Play.

Even if you don’t have a Sonos system, these headphones still justify their price with great all-round performance, a delicious design, higher-res audio codecs and wired lossless sound, as well as solid battery life. All in all, then, the Ace Ultra feel like a much more worthwhile investment than the original Ace, and manage to earn their price.

• Value score: 4.5/5

Should I buy the Sonos Ace Ultra?

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

Sonos Ace Ultra review: also consider

How I tested the Sonos Ace Ultra

• Spent about two weeks testing
• Compared to competitors and original Sonos Ace
• Predominantly streamed music over Tidal; also watched Dolby Atmos movies

I spent about two weeks testing the Sonos Ace Ultra headphones, during which time I exhausted their various features, like TV audio swap, watched a handful of movies with Dolby Atmos soundtracks, and listened to hours worth of music.

When listening to music, I predominantly streamed tunes over Tidal on my Xiaomi 17 phone, which supports aptX codecs. To start with, I sifted through the TechRadar testing playlist, but I also listened to a wide variety of tracks from my personal library. On top of this, I compared the Sonos Ace Ultra to some of their major competitors, like the Sony WH-1000XM6, as well as the original Sonos Ace.

More generally, I’ve spent years testing gadgets here at TechRadar, where I serve as a Senior Reviews Writer. I’ve tested a wide range of audio gear, including other premium headphones like the Sony 1000X The Collexion, party speakers like the Marshall Bromley 750, Dolby Atmos soundbars like the JBL Bar 1300MK2, and more.

• Read TechRadar’s reviews guarantee
• First reviewed: September 2026

• HKUST (Guangzhou) and HK PolyU researchers' InjectEave beams a radio carrier at devices so their own circuits leak analog audio
• The leaked audio has already been decrypted by the device itself, making encryption offer no protection against such an approach
• The 30m headline needed a pricey amplifier pushing output to 10 W, while standard ranges of 1 to 6m were measured by detecting a test tone

Researchers at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University have shown that everyday headphones, a desk phone, and a handful of smart-home gadgets can broadcast what they are doing simply by using a radio signal.

The technique, called InjectEave, was presented at USENIX Security 2026 in Baltimore, and multiple outlets have since covered the researcher's claim that the attack "can recover headphone audio from up to 30 meters away, including through walls".

The claim may be accurate, but it has limitations, including the need for specialized equipment that is often very noticeable in most settings.

An impressive technical show with plenty of limitations in tow

Conventional electromagnetic eavesdropping waits for a device to leak. That works poorly for audio, because speech sits below 20 kHz while a device's wiring radiates efficiently only at megahertz or gigahertz frequencies.

InjectEave chooses to close the gap by transmitting a carrier signal at the target. According to the paper, nonlinear components such as amplifiers, analog-to-digital converters, switching MOSFETs, and power converters mix the secret signal onto that carrier, and the device's own traces and cables radiate the result back to a receiver.

Because the leak happens in the analog path, after audio has been decoded, the project page states that "InjectEave is immune to digital defenses such as encryption, masking, and randomization." Encryption in any form on a wireless headset is irrelevant, since the attack directly targets the signal driving the speaker, not the radio link.

The team demonstrating this used a USRP B210 software-defined radio, two antennas, a Siglent spectrum analyzer, and a laptop to set up their proof of concept, which could, as they noted, "eavesdrop on the majority of these devices from over 2m away and through walls, with a maximum distance of 30m for recovering intelligible headphone audio".

This isn't the first time the technique has been used, even as the researchers have built on it considerably; the idea originates from "The Thing," a Soviet bug given as a gift to the US ambassador in Moscow in 1945, which was passively powered remotely as a listening device.

InjectEve, however, does not involve planting anything; instead, it leverages existing work on interference-induced leakage and impedance-based backscatter, and distinguishes itself by recovering coarse digital data rather than continuous analog waveforms, allowing users to 'listen in' without added steps.

The same approach applies to wired headphones, which are also prone to leaking microphone audio; researchers concluded that their sound cards were the primary source of the leaks, which were being sent back over very short distances.

The threat is somewhat tempered by the fact that it can capture what users hear but, with wireless headphones, cannot hear what the user is saying. The attacker also has to transmit continuously and use a high-powered (10W) transmitter to reach the full 30-meter range, even though capturing and rendering speech is harder than the tones the test used to prove the approach worked.

The attacker also needs to know the target model and profile a matching unit first, although they managed to get a profile to transfer cleanly across three identical UGreen headsets, suggesting this might be easier than one would assume.

The researchers say they reported the findings to the affected manufacturers but, "as we have not yet received a response," withheld the table's frequencies and stripped injection control logic from their released code. One shouldn't be too hopeful, however, as no software update can fix an analog leak, and it is relatively limited in practical abuse cases.

Spotify Wrapped is roughly two to three months away (I know, I almost threw up in my mouth just at the thought of it), but not only does it show how fast the year flies by, but it also keeps you guessing which artists and songs will come out on top.

While pretty much all the best music streaming services have their own iterations of Wrapped — there’s Apple Music Replay and YouTube Music Recap — Spotify Wrapped is by far the one with the firmest cultural grip

It’s the surprise element that keeps us on our toes at the dawn of every year, but what if I told you there was a way for you to get a peek at your top songs early right within the Spotify app? Well, one user tried it, and the results are interesting.

A '3D chess move'

At the end of 2025 Spotify launched one of its most powerful playlist-making tools, Prompted Playlists, a feature that allows you to enter prompts to generate a hyper-specific playlist. You can also amend the settings so that the playlist updates daily, or on certain days of the week, sort of like Discover Weekly.

One of Prompted Playlists’ smarts is that it can compile a playlist of your most-streamed songs of all time, and you can even ask it to create playlists that reflect your Wrapped summaries from the past. Clever right? Well, one user has used the tool to get ahead of the upcoming Wrapped 2026 launch.

Redditor u/thosememes took to the platform to share images of a Prompted Playlist they created (see below), where they asked the tool to compile a list of their most-streamed songs between January 1 and September 17. One of the replies called it a '3D chess move' while others denied its performance, so I tested it out for myself — and I can confirm that it works.

My prompt was simple: "Create a playlist of my most-streamed songs between January 1 and September 21 this year, and present them in a Wrapped-style summary". It didn’t take long for it to birth a fresh list of tracks, and it even provided in-playlist notes telling me exactly how many times I’ve streamed my top songs this year so far.

It was almost too good to be true, but after refreshing the playlist and amending the prompt, the order of the songs in the playlist stayed the same, with each update showing that it does have some credibility. Though I respect the tool for its intelligence, I can’t say I’ll be using it much from now on.

Does no one enjoy surprises any more?

Now, this isn’t the only way for you to extract your music streaming data. Sites such as last.fm and stats.fm are leading third-party platforms for reviewing your most-streamed songs, artists, and albums, but having data features within the Spotify app is oh so convenient.

As well as Prompted Playlists, Spotify’s ‘Listening stats’ tab gives you a comprehensive overview of your most listened-to songs and artists over the last four weeks. It’s a fun way to see how your taste changes and listening behaviors shift, but it doesn’t give away who will be featured in your Wrapped results.

This is where my biggest concern with using Prompted Playlists like this lies: the surprise element is completely removed, which is the very backbone of these types of end-of-year recaps. If you remove the thrill of the unexpected, do you really have Spotify Wrapped? And yes, Wrapped is so much more than the artists and songs you stream, but at the end of the day, this is what the average user is most excited for.

Not only this, but there’s the risk of tarnishing how you stream music. What I mean by this is that having Prompted Playlists give you this information essentially ignites that urge to ‘fine-tune’ your Wrapped, which sits in your subconscious as you listen to music and brings out that inner saboteur that tells you, "your Wrapped must be perfect or else!"

It invites a listening regime that’s far more focused on aesthetics and creating false appearances rather than one that’s purely centered around enjoyment and discovery. The best Wrapped summaries are the ones that are varied and unhinged, because that’s when you know music fans are truly listening with the intent of being themselves.

Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen): Two-minute review

Bose often seems to pay more attention to its Ultra-suffix devices, which absolutely make up some of the best noise-cancelling headphones we've tested. And that is perhaps why the second-generation Bose QuietComfort Headphones — that is to say, those launched in the post-QC 35 II era — took three years to come to market, following the launch of the older QC Headphones in 2023.

These are basically the QuietComfort Ultra Headphones Gen 2 for people who don’t want to pay an arm and a leg for their sound, and given how I only ever see the non-Ultra cans when I’m out and about in the UK (a fact my editor also confirms), I’d wager that this new release is the model people have been waiting for.

Meet the QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen), so named because they’re quiet, thanks to Bose’s sought-after Active Noise Cancellation, and comfortable (thanks to the use of soft protein leather for pads and bands).

Having used them for several weeks, I can say that the latter is definitely true: these are incredibly easy to use for hours on end, without your ears aching or the top of your head feeling sore. You can basically use them until the battery runs down, although that’s partly because the 24-hour battery life is rather poor in 2026.

I’m not convinced on the ANC sell though. Bose has a reputation for industry-leading noise cancellation, and the Headphones Gen 2 are supposed to match the Ultra Headphones Gen 2 in this department. However, after testing the cans on multiple flights, train rides and around several cities, I’m not fully sold on the claim. They’re great at removing background sound, but not flawless; other brands have caught up, and those similarly-priced competitors surpass them in a few ways.

That’s not to say ANC is an actual problem with the QC Headphones Gen 2, but there are several departments which will raise eyebrows. The cans feel quite cheap, rattling in the hand and offering some odd gaps in the body which shouldn’t be there. They’re also quite light in the feature department, more so than you’d expect for the price.

So why have I given the Bose a four-star review? Well, despite a seemingly-unchanged driver set-up from the older models, and an EQ which barely offers you any control over your music, these cans sound fantastic. They offer detailed and precise treble and energetic and punchy bass. Because of this, listening to tune after tune on them never gets old. The spatial audio is great too, adding an immersive slant to the already-great sound.

Despite quirks, I really enjoyed using the Bose QuietComfort Headphones Gen 2; you will too if you can find them for a price that makes sense. I’m not sure they justify the premium price tag right now, but if you find them discounted, they’re a must-buy.

Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen) review: Price and release date

• Launched in August 2026
• Sells for $359 / £299 / AU$549.99
• Comes with carry case and two cables

The Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen) were announced on August 6, 2026. That’s three years after the first-gen model came out, and a year after the Ultra Gen 2.

Despite not being the ‘Ultra’ member of the family, the ‘standard’ QuietComforts aren’t cheap. You can pick up the cans for $359 / £299 / AU$549.99, which is cheaper in the UK but more expensive in the US than the last-gen models (and the same cost in Australia). It is, of course, cheaper than the Ultra Gen 2 model, which launched for $449 / £449 / AU$699 and haven’t seen a massive price cut since.

So they’re premium headphones, if not ultra-premium ones. They undercut the likes of the Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S3 and Sony WH-1000XM6 (though the newer WH-1000XM4C are cheaper in most regions).

You can pick the cans up in five color options: black, white, mauve, mint and green you see depicted. In the box you get a protective carry case, USB-C to USB-C wire and a USB-C to 3.5mm cable.

Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen) review: Specs

Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen) review: Features

• ANC great, but not best
• Poor 24h battery life
• App doesn't offer that much

At 24 hours, the Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen) don’t have a very long battery life. I’ve tested other options this year which last for literally 100 extra hours; don’t buy these if you need something for a long-haul flight. That listening time is with ANC turned on; you’ll get a few hours more if you turn it off, but less if you use some of the other listening features.

You charge the cans via their USB-C port, which takes 3 hours according to Bose. A new feature for the Gen 2 model is that you can also enjoy wired audio from this port, which is a real get for people who like high-quality audio. It almost makes up for the lack of a 3.5mm jack!

I suppose we should discuss that ANC. As mentioned in the introduction, it was good but not great, and certainly not the best I’ve ever used in over-ear headphones. The difference was small but noticeable: on a flight, I could hear the hum of the engines more than in some other cans I’ve tested, and surrounding sounds would creep into my music more often than I’d like.

They’re not bad by any means, and they’re still some of the better ANC headphones I’ve tested. But they’re not the best, and that’s a surprise given the name and the price point.

The headphones offer a range of listening modes beyond ‘standard’ ANC (which it calls Quiet mode), but I was surprised by how much most of these also affected audio quality. I’d recommend only sticking to Quiet or Aware, which lets in some surrounding sound.

You can toggle between these modes in Bose’s app, which has a few other tools. You can set up multi-point connection, change what that shortcut button does, check the battery life, set up immersive audio and play with the equalizer.

If your ears perked up at the mention of EQ, don’t get too excited. The custom mode only offers 3-band control, and there are four presets which change these three bands for bass or treble reduction or boost. It’s a surprisingly lightweight amount of customization for premium headphones, and people who like to tweak their audio sound will be greatly disappointed.

To be honest, that’s my general takeaway from the Bose app: it offers only a fraction of the tools, features and customization that you’d get from cans costing a third of the price.

One stand-out is Immersive Audio though. In the past, I've found similar offerings from rival brands a tad gimmicky, but Bose’s works very well. You can choose between Still or Motion (depending if you’re still or in motion), and it’ll deliver an encompassing sound that spreads the sound of your music or movie around you. It’s not so overt as to be distracting, and makes music a little more immersive — though I much preferred Still mode, which had a more audible spread which changed as I moved my head.

• Features score: 3/5

Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen) review: Design

• Comfortable to wear for long periods
• Smartly-placed and designed buttons
• A few cheap-feeling elements

The second-gen Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen) look pretty similar to the original pair, but with some refinements in the looks department. Hinges and the retractable arm are better hidden, and the headband’s padding looks better integrated. The cans make the older model look like a prototype.

Oddly, though, the headphones feel pretty cheap. The cups rattle, there’s a noticeable seam between the headband and pad, and parts of the headphones flop around unsupported when you hold the gadget by its headband. There are a few other similar traits which make the buds feel loose, most noticeably that there’s a worrying amount of flex in the band. After several weeks of testing, I’ve yet to have these traits manifest in any actual problem, but I’m constantly surprised by how the build quality flags behind half-priced rivals.

I do appreciate that they're based on a design many users have loved, for many years — and this is likely the key reason they've largely been kept as-is (or was). But still, in the intervening years competing design teams have worked hard on other, newer headphones, and the Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen) feel a little flimsy and clunky in direct comparison today.

At least the QuietComfort are supremely comfortable to wear. The padding which rests across the top of your head, and the soft cups, both go a long way in ensuring you can listen for long periods of time without getting any aches or strains. It gives the impression of them being light, even though at 241g, they weigh about the same as many other pairs.

When you’re wearing the cans, the right cup has the volume and pause/play buttons; their prominence is different so you can easily tell what button your finger is on. The right edge has the shortcut button, and power slider; I love this latter, as it’s easy to flick to instantly turn the cans on, without needing to press and hold like you do on most rivals. Bose has really nailed the buttons here, which I admit is a small detail, but that is where the devil is according to the idiom.

There’s a decent amount of malleability here: you can rotate the cups a fair way left and right, and the band is quite extendable (though it’s fairly stiff, so you’ll have to give it a hearty tug). The cups don’t move much up and down, but they still fit my head well.

You can fold down the QCs to make them more portable, or put them in the travel case. My aforementioned issues with the ‘loose’ feel of the cans returns here; you can’t stack them on a flat surface without them falling over.

• Design score: 4/5

Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen) review: Sound quality

• V-shaped audio with energetic bass, treble
• Spatial audio sounds great
• Unspecified drivers inside

If you’ve read the design and features sections of this review, you’ll know I’ve had compliments and criticisms in each department. Not so for audio quality.

Bose hasn’t detailed the driver in the QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen), but the previous-gen model had a 40mm unit, and the brand hasn’t boasted any audio improvements beyond generations. It doesn’t need to; the previous models sounded fantastic and the new ones do too.

Out of the box, you’re getting V-shaped sound from the QuietComfort Headphones. Treble is crisp, sharp and detailed, letting you hear tremolo and tones that many other cans miss. Bass is hefty and punchy, but with a precision and control which avoids lower frequencies drowning out the rest of your song.

As is generally the case with headphones offering V-profile audio, the mids lack just a little bit. I’d often notice guitars playing harmonies, piano accompaniments or high alto/low tenor backing vocals that’d be missing the ‘oomph’ I’d like them to have. But you’re not buying the Bose for a neutral sound: this is for fun and energetic music.

The sound set-up of the QuietComforts is best shown in songs like Fitz and the Tantrum’s Man on the Moon, which has hard-hitting vocals and bass but loses its rhythm guitar and strings a little, or The Hoosiers' Automatic Glow, which sees its harmonic synth line dropped to the back of the mix, in favor of the energetic sung word, and rising hook.

To return to the Bose app, you can use the EQ to try and add some emphasis on mids, but I found this only a limited solution which didn’t have much of an effect on the music.

• Sound quality: 5/5

Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen) review: Value

• Should be top-value earbuds
• Unfortunately, longevity isn't guaranteed

If your headphone equation is simply “I’ll spend more money for better audio”, the Bose QuietComfort Headphones Gen 2 will be a good option. They sound great and they’re comfortable, so you can enjoy music for a long time (at a fairly high cost).

But to me, a few aspects of these headphones make the premium price seem a little too high. The loose-feeling build quality, lack of app features and poor battery life all point to the cost being higher than it should be. If you see the Bose discounted by about $100 / £100 / AU$200, then these will be good-value cans. Alternatively, the previous-gen models should be enjoying a decent price cut due to being a bit older.

As it stands, the Gen 2 are still good buys, but I’d personally save money and buy cheaper headphones. Which in particular? Well, thankfully there's a competition section below…

• Value: 3.5/5

Should I buy the Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen)?

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen) review: Also consider

Looking for alternative over-ears? Here are a few we've tested and would recommend.

How I tested the Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen)

• Tested for roughly four weeks
• Paired with Android phone for Bluetooth, Android tablet for audio
• Used on walks around neighborhood, at work, on flights and on trains

To write this full review, I used the Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen) for just over four weeks, which gave me time to fully put them through their paces.

For the majority of the testing time, the buds were paired with my Fairphone 6 Plus smartphone, though I plugged them into a Xiaomi tablet using the cable for some wired audio. Over the course of the review I tested them on multiple flights, countless train and bus journeys, while working at home and on various walks around my city.

I listened on Spotify, to my own digital library, for movies on Now TV and videos on YouTube, and various games.

I've been testing gadgets for TechRadar since early 2019, and in that time have used countless pairs of over-ears.

• First reviewed in September 2026

• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

• Wharfedale launches four new subwoofers: 8, 10, 12 and 15 inches
• New long-throw drivers and up to 360W output
• From £799 (about $1,068 / AU$1,499)

Legendary speaker maker Wharfedale has created four new boom boxes in the form of the new Nova subwoofers. Ranging in size from an apartment-friendly 8-inches to an enormous 15 inches, all four models feature newly developed drivers, passive radiators and refined cabinet architecture.

These aren't thuggish bass monsters; they're designed for the more discerning listener who wants to hear as well as feel the low end. Wharfedale says that "rather than chasing chest-thumping, window-rattling exaggeration, the Nova Series is built around balance, texture and precision."

There are four subwoofers in the range: the Nova 8, the Nova 10, the Nova 12 and the Nova 15. The Nova 8 is designed for smaller setups and stereo installations, with the Nova 10 upping the power for medium-sized rooms. The Nova 12 is for more immersive home theater setups, and the flagship Nova 15 is made for larger spaces and the most demanding setups.

Wharfedale Nova 8, 10, 12 and 15: key features and pricing

All four models feature Wharfedale's newly engineered long-throw driver, which is made from rigid but lightweight speaker cones that have been treated with a proprietary coating to make them stiffer and better at self-damping without also increasing their mass.

Those cones are teamed with a heavy duty die-cast chassis, an oversized high-roll surround, and a high-excursion motor system to deliver high output while maintaining stability. A large diameter voice coil and aluminum shorting ring minimize distortion and improve transient response, according to Wharfedale.

The second key feature here is the Auxiliary Bass Radiator, which is downward firing with a dual suspension design. It's made to work alongside the new driver by extending low-frequency output without the need for a conventional reflex port.

Wharfedale says that enables it to avoid issues such as unwanted resonance, turbulence, chuffing and compression, and each Nova is optimized according to its cabinet volume, driver size, amplifier configuration and intended operating range. The goal, Wharfedale says, is the speed of a sealed enclosure with the scale of a larger reflex design.

Depending on which model you choose, you get between 200W and 360W of built-in Class D amplification with up to 80V peak output and "substantial" dynamic headroom.

The amplifier, driver, cabinet loading and DSP have been designed as an integrated system rather than separately in order to maximize power and precision. And there is an adjustable crossover, phase alignment and level calibration to fine-tune the sound to suit your space.

One of the interesting features here is the way the DSP adjusts the dynamic EQ. When you're listening at lower volumes it focuses on perceived weight and range, but at higher levels it manages the driver's excursion to keep the audio clean without overdriving, enabling the Nova to punch above its size.

All four models will be available in late September 2026 and the prices are:

• Nova 8: £799 (about $1,068 / AU$1,499)
• Nova 10: £899 (about $1,202 / AU$1,686)
• Nova 12: £1,099 (about $1,469 / AU$2,061)
• Nova 15: £1,299 (about $1,737 / AU$2,437)

• New Spotify billboards hint at an upcoming collaboration with GTA 6
• Some believe the streamer is teasing new playlists inspired by new GTA 6 radio stations
• There's also the theory that Spotify integration is coming to the game, allowing you to stream your playlists in-game

There’s something cooking in the Spotify kitchen, and the music-streaming service is teasing some sort of involvement with GTA 6 and Rockstar Games — but it’s keeping its card very close to its chest.

Earlier this week, Spotify billboards started appearing across major US cities including New York, LA, and Miami featuring GTA 6 artwork and the Spotify logo (see below). The billboards follow Rockstar’s recent announcement of Grand Theft Auto 6: The Album, a limited-edition vinyl that has already sold out.

What this could mean still remains unclear, and Spotify has yet to tell us what it and Rockstar have in store — but there’s a handful of theories floating around.

Firstly, some users on Reddit believe the billboards are just an extension of Rockstar’s marketing push for the GTA 6 soundtrack.

Before the tracklist was unveiled, artists including Travis Scott, Pinkpantheress, Future, Morgan Wallen, and more teased their musical contributions by sharing GTA 6 artwork to social media, so some think Spotify’s cryptic billboards are simply a sign that the original songs will soon be able to stream on the platform.

The billboards have also fueled speculation that curated Spotify playlists based on GTA 6 radio stations are part of the soundtrack rollout, which seems like a natural way for Spotify to contribute to the launch of the game. But others are convinced the streamer’s involvement is much more than this.

For years, players have requested direct Spotify integration with GTA, which would allow users to link their accounts and stream their own playlists in-game instead of the radio stations. On paper it sounds like a desirable option, however there’s a lot of skepticism surrounding this.

GTA has gained notoriety for its curated radio stations. If anything, they’ve emerged as somewhat of a pop culture phenomenon outside the world of gaming — as one Redditor puts it, ‘the radio stations make the game’.

Not only this, but given the time, creativity, and money that Rockstar puts into developing GTA’s radio stations (because getting artists on board costs), I can see how music streaming integration could be placed on the back burner for now.

That said, I wouldn’t totally rule out the possibility of Spotify integration coming to future GTA gameplays. For now, however, the billboards remain ambiguous, so it’s pretty much a waiting game.

It’s been just over two years since Dyson introduced its second pair of headphones, the OnTrac, to the world. While they were a significant improvement — both in terms of sound and general design — over the Zone, I ultimately found in my Dyson OnTrac review that they still couldn’t quite challenge the class leaders — namely Sony and Bose.

A strong factor in that realisation was their exorbitant AU$799 price tag. Not only was that too much for the Dyson headphones (regardless of brand name), it also allowed other manufacturers to charge AU$700 or more for their premium cans — here’s looking at you, Sony, Bose and Sennheiser.

Now, two years later, the Dyson OnTrac has plummeted to a much more acceptable AU$299 during Dyson’s Spring Sale event. At this price, I think they’re worth a look. The noise cancellation is very good, and a 55-hour battery life gives them greater stamina than the closest competitors. I also can’t really fault the ability to customise them, since it’s a feature that’s still pretty unique. That being said, they’re incredibly heavy, so I found I could only wear them for short stints.

• Check out the latest Dyson AU discount codes for more chances to save.

However, for your AU$300, or thereabouts, you’re not short of great alternatives. So, if you’ve got a burning desire to invest in a new set of mid-priced headphones, take a look at my top recommendations below.

Do note that Amazon recently announced dates for its Prime Big Deal Days sales event. If experience is anything to go by, there’s a good chance my three recommended pairs of headphones below could receive bigger discounts when Prime Big Deal Days kicks off, but they’re worth every cent even right now.

It's time for TechRadar's annual tech awards, and this year we're doing it differently. For the first time, we have a complete set of categories where the winners are chosen 100% by you, the TechRadar readers.

The TechRadar Readers' Choice Awards 2026 comprises nearly 100 categories, but we know that not everyone is interested in voting in every one, so on this page you can vote in just our TV, Streaming and Audio categories.

These include soundbars, projectors, Bluetooth speakers, headphones and earbuds, as well as televisions and streaming services. You can vote in the survey just below — or follow the links to see other specific categories, or to vote on the full list instead.

The shortlists were chosen by TechRadar's editors based on the best products we've tested or the most popular products of the year. You'll need to vote before 00:01am PST / 03:01am EST / 08:01am BST on Wednesday October 7th 2026 for it to be counted.

• All categories
• Phones & Cameras
• Computing & Gaming
• Fitness & Home Tech

Once the deadline has passed at 00:01am PST / 03:01am EST / 08:01am BST on Wednesday October 7th 2026, we'll tally your votes to find the winners in each category.

We'll announce the winners in our big TechRadar Awards 2026 Week, starting Monday October 19th. We'll reveal the winners of the Reader's Choice Awards, as well as the winners of our TechRadar Product of the Year Awards, which are chosen solely by our expert judges.

How many products will do the double? We'll be curious to see — but right now, all you can do is vote for what you think should win, so vote away!