My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones

If you’re looking for the best headphones at the best price, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra tops the list for active noise cancellation (ANC), while also excelling in other important categories. Currently, the Bose QuietComfort Ultras (black, dark plum, or lunar blue in color) are $279 (originally $429), a record price according to price trackers. Other colors are also discounted, but not as heavily. For example, you can get “white smoke” for $299.

Few other brands can match Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra line when it comes to ANC. Besides the headphone model, they also make some of the best ANC headphones, both using the same technology. PCMag’s “Outstanding” Review explains in detail how the headphones do the best job of reducing low-frequency rumble, as well as bass and mids.

Despite this plaudits, they are not perfect: some high-frequency sounds still succeed thanks to ANC technology (this is the case for all ANC headphones, however). But these headphones performed better at ANC than their other two main competitors at the time of their respective releases, Apple AirPods Max and the Sony WH-1000XM5. Of course, the new Sony WH-1000XM6 has new ANC technology that outperforms the QuietComfort Ultra, but you’d pay extra for those.

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones launched in fall 2023, and many reviewers praise their overall quality, but draw complaints for their price, at almost half a grand. At their current discounted price, there’s no better value if you value top-tier ANC. Another nice feature of the headphones is their transparency mode, intended to allow you to better hear your surroundings (cars, bikes or people around you) when you wear them.

You can expect around 24 hours of juice on a full charge, or around 18 hours if using ANC. The accompanying app has a well-designed and customizable equalizer.