~/entries/field log/bose-ultra-open-acoustics
Why the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds Sound Wrong in the Best Way
Open-ear audio is a physics compromise. Bose made the compromise on purpose, and it works.
FIELD LOG // Clipping a speaker just outside your ear canal and leaving the canal open should sound thin and leaky. By the laws of small drivers and open air, it kind of has to.
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds, out in 2024 at $299, lean into that instead of fighting it. The cuff sits on the ear, the world stays fully audible, and an Immersive Audio mode does some spatial trickery to make the sound feel like it is coming from in front of you rather than leaking past your tragus.
I keep filing this under the same heading as display glasses: tech that adds a layer without sealing you off. You give up bass and isolation; you keep the room, the doorbell, the person talking to you. For a thing you wear among other people, that trade is the whole point, and Bose understood the assignment.
SPEC NOTE Bose Ultra Open Earbuds shipped in 2024 at $299 with an open, cuff-style fit and a spatial Immersive Audio mode.cd ..