There appears to be a new trend in the earphones market, and the Bose Ultra Open have joined in.
The Bose Ultra Open, just like the HUAWEI FreeClip, will just clip on the outer part of your ears. Its U-shape design is bridged by a soft rubber material. The barrel on the inner ear delivers the audio, while the one on the outside (back of the ears) has buttons for controls.
With this design, the goal is so you can still be fully aware of your surroundings — more aware than the Transparency Mode on in-ear cans.
For those who are worried about sound leaks, Bose developed a special technology called OpenAudio, which aims the audio directly to your ear canal using a powerful transducer and a controlled acoustic structure. This ensures minimal leakage if you’re next to someone.
There’s also the Bose Immersive Audio for spatial audio which has two modes: Still if you’re, well, sitting/standing still, and Motion if you’re moving.
Qualcomm Snapdragon Sound is also here that includes Qualcomm aptX Adaptive codec for low-latency, lossless audio. Connectivity is handled by Bluetooth 5.3. There’s also Google Fast Pair support, and Bose SimpleSync for pairing with select speakers and soundbars from the company.
The buds are also IPX4 water and sweat-resistant, making them great for outdoor runs, hiking, biking, etc. It lasts for up to 7.5 hours of continuous playback, 4.5 hours with Immersive Audio, and up to 26.5 hours with the charging case. A quick 10-minute charge provides 2 hours of juice.
Those who are in the United States can get the Bose Ultra Open for a price of USD299 (~Php16,700). Release details in the Philippines are yet to be known.