The best Bose headphones I've tested are just $10 away from their lowest price ever
SAVE $80: As of July 17, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones are just $349 at Amazon for Prime Day, saving you 19% on their usual $429 price tag.
As Mashable's shopping reporter on the headphones beat, I've tested out my fair share of headphones, from the high end to the budget friendly.
While testing, I tried to avoid calling one pair of headphones the definitive best, especially as a person's headphones experience can rely so heavily on personal preference. However, if what you're looking for is headphones designed for all-day wear, I'd say without contest that the most comfortable ones I've ever tested are the Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones. And for the second day of Prime Day, they're on sale for $349 at Amazon, knocking $80 off their usual price.
Obviously, not everyone is working with the same head shape — again, preferences are important. But as someone who's tried Sony's flagship line, JBL headphones, Bowers & Wilkins headphones, and two additional headphones from the QuietComfort line (the QC 35 II and QC 45 headphones), the QuietComfort Ultra headphones feel the lightest, squeeze the least, and have the softest ear cushions. I've worn them for entire workdays and on flights while wearing glasses without any issue.
Mashable Shopping Reporter Sam Mangino also tested the headphones, and said in her review, "These are absolutely the most comfortable over-the-ear headphones I've tried."
Comfortable as they are, they're not without their faults. The Bluetooth pairing can be inconsistent, especially with multiple devices paired, which feels like a glaring issue at their price point. They don't support passive playback without being turned on (kind of defeating the point of having a wired connection), and could offer better spatial audio (though this is Bose's first attempt at offering it on their headphones).
All that said, their noise-cancelling is top-notch — these headphones were a godsend to me when I worked from home right across the street from a large construction project. Their battery life holds up, even with ANC turned on, and their ear cups fold in for travel (which can't be said for the Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones).
At $349, the trade-offs could well be worth it for you, especially if you've been on the hunt for the most comfortable over-ear headphones possible.
Bethany Allard is a Los Angeles-based shopping reporter at Mashable covering beauty tech, dating, sex and relationships, and headphones. That basically means she puts her hair through a lot, scrolls through a lot of dating apps, and rotates through a lot of different headphones. In addition to testing out and rounding up the best products, she also covers deals for Mashable, paying an especially obsessive amount of attention to Apple deals and prices. That knowledge comes in handy when she's covering shopping holidays like Prime Day and Black Friday, which she's now done for three years at Mashable.
