What do you get when you take the best-in-class noise-cancelling Bose QuietComfort Earbuds and eliminate noise cancellation? To be fair, the Bose Sport Earbuds aren’t simply a noise cancellation-free version of the QC Earbuds—they have different drivers and a slightly smaller build. And at $179.95, they cost $100 less than the noise-cancelling model. But the similarities are hard to dismiss, including the same modest IPX4 rating, similar battery life in the charging case, and limited on-ear controls. From an audio standpoint, the bass and highs are both sculpted and dialed up, which should appeal to those motivated by deep bass while exercising. And there’s no denying you get a secure fit—the in-canal seal stays in place thanks to the StayHear Max eartips. Ultimately, however, you can get similar or better sport-focused features from competing true wireless models.

Design

The Sport earpieces are smaller than the QuietComfort earpieces—side by side the difference in size is notable, but that doesn’t mean the Sport Earbuds themselves aren’t a bit bulky. The earphones are available in black, blue, or gray/yellow models, and they ship with a charging case that’s also on the bigger side. The in-ear fit is quite secure, as the earpieces use combination eartips and earfins that twist into place and stay put. Three silicone pairs in small, medium, and large sizes are included, and the fit feels lightweight.

Like the more expensive QC Earbuds, the Sport Earbuds have a modest IPX4 rating for water resistance—they can handle light splashes, light rain, and being wiped down with a damp cloth, but don’t submerge them or expose them to faucet pressure. The IPX4 rating is forgivable on the QC Earbuds and the $250 Apple Airpods Pro, as they aren’t sports-focused models, and they offer quality ANC (active noise cancellation). But IPX4 for in-ears specifically for exercise is a surprisingly underwhelming rating.

IPX7 is typically the highest rating you’ll see for consumer products. There are plenty of IPX7 true wireless models out there, like the $170 JBL UA True Wireless Flash X  and the $180 Jaybird Vista, two exercise-focused favorites. And lest you think that it’s a cost-cutting design measure to not go the waterproof route, consider that the $35 Tribit FlyBuds 3 also have an IPX7 rating.

The on-ear controls are also a weak spot of the design. The panels register touch just fine, but the layout of controls is counterintuitive. Tapping the right panel twice controls playback or answers/ends call, but why not a single tap like on most competing models? A double tap on the left ear skips forward a track, or it can be switched in the settings menu to give you a battery readout. But why is one double tap for playback and another for track navigation? Why is there no track backward? And what about volume controls? Tapping and holding on the right earpiece’s panel summons your device’s voice assistant, or if you have an incoming call, the same tap and hold will decline it. There is no tap-and-hold function for the left ear. Got that? I know, it’s needlessly confusing.

The charging case has a button that flips the lid open, an LED readout on the front face for battery info, and a USB-C port on its rear panel for the included charging cable. Interestingly, the Bluetooth pairing button is also located inside the case, rather than on the earphones. 

This brings us to another design issue—usually bulky charging case mean more battery life. Bose estimates the Sport Earbuds’s battery life to be roughly 5 hours, with only an additional 10 hours in the charging case, but your results will vary with your volume levels. The 5-hour estimate is more or less par for the course, but a mere 10 extra hours in the case is disappointing when the aforementioned JBL UA True Wireless Flash offer an extra 40 hours in the case.

The Bose Music app for Android and iOS is a one-size-fits-all app for several Bose audio products, and it works seamlessly with the Sport Earbuds. The app immediately recognizes the earphones and automatically completes the pairing and activation process for you. Once this is finished, the app walks you through how to achieve the best fit, and offers information on using the touch-sensitive controls. In the settings menu, you can adjust useful basics like disabling autoplay so that music doesn’t immediately start playing when you put the earpieces in. You can create shortcuts, too, though this is a cleverly reworded way of saying you have one command that can be assigned to either “hear battery level” or “skip track forward.” The app lacks any exercise-focused features, and has no adjustable EQ—both missed opportunities to offer more user control and functionality.

Performance

The Sport Earbuds are compatible with Bluetooth 5.1, and support AAC and SBC Bluetooth codecs. The drivers deliver rich, powerful bass response matched with bright highs. On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” the earphones deliver a solid low-frequency push that doesn’t distort at top volumes and still feels full at moderate levels.

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Bill Callahan’s “Drover,” a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a better sense of the general sound signature. The drums on this track get some added bass depth—they sound heavier and larger than they might through more accurate earphones, but they avoid veering too far into unnaturally thunderous territory. Callahan’s baritone vocals also receive some low-mid boosting, adding to their richness, but there’s some added treble edge there to balance things. The acoustic strums and higher-register percussive hits are given some added brightness, for a sculpted mix with boosted lows and highs. The mids aren’t as scooped out as we’ve heard on some models, but this still isn’t a sound signature that’ll appeal to those seeking sonic accuracy.

On Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “No Church in the Wild,” the kick drum loop receives enough high-mid presence for its attack to retain its punchiness in the mix, while the loop’s sustain sounds heftier than usual thanks to the low-frequency boosting. The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat are delivered with near subwoofer-like bass presence, yet manage to not overwhelm the mix. The vinyl crackle and hiss that’s often relegated to background status takes a step forward here, and the vocals on this track are delivered with solid clarity and a smidge of added sibilance. The mix is, once again, nicely balanced despite some serious boosting and sculpting.

Orchestral tracks, like the opening scene from John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary, receive some added low-frequency presence, but manage to sound relatively natural. The lower-register instrumentation is a little beefed up, but the higher-register brass, strings, and vocals retain their bright presence in the mix.

The mic offers decent intelligibility. Using the Voice Memos app on an iPhone 8, we could understand every word we recorded, but the signal was slightly weak, and included typical Bluetooth distortion fuzzing up the transmission to a minor degree. On a clear mobile signal, callers should be able to understand you.

Conclusions

If this were only about audio performance and a secure fit, the rating here would be higher, as the Bose Sport Earbuds stay in place and deliver a bass-forward sound signature that’s ideal for exercise. But that’s only half the story. Average battery life, a fair IP rating, less-than-intuitive controls, and no EQ or exercise-related features in the app don’t add up to $180, even if the audio quality is solid. For a similar price, you can get better exercise-focused true wireless in-ears like the aforementioned JBL UA True Wireless Flash X  and the Jaybird Vista, which have longer battery life and more durable builds. And if you’re looking to spend less, Anker’s Soundcore Spirit X2 earphones deliver solid performance for just $80.

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