Are Bose QuietComfort 2 Good for Working Out?

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Maybe you’re thinking about getting the Bose QuietComfort 2 earbuds and you’re wondering to yourself are they an earbud I can workout in without having any issues? 

If you’re someone who trains it’s highly likely that music is important to you. A very popular earbud right now is the Apple Airpods, not just because they’re Apple and people generally go crazy for anything Apple.

The AirPods Pro actually have good sound quality they stay in my ears when I workout and also, their noise cancelling is very good, probably among the best you can get right now.

It’s useful because sometimes I just don’t want to hear the noises around me at the gym, that guy in the corner screaming after every rep, or the people beside me having a loud conversation I don’t really want to hear.  But the AppIe Id say are definitely the market leader right now. 

A lot of people have asked me what my thoughts are on the Bose QuietComfort earbuds. I missed the first pair, so I can’t really compare what they were like to these which are the sequel, but this test will still be useful to you. 

They do offer a sound quality and clarity that in my opinion is very similar to the AirPods, you could actually make an argument for them sounding better, but to me, the difference is not easy to spot.

I’m going to run through some of the questions you are likely to need answering if you’re going to be using these for working out.

What Makes The QuietComfort 2 Earbuds Special?

Let’s talk a little about what makes these earbuds special, or more importantly, what makes them worthy of being priced near what is considered today to be the top dog in the earbud game, the Apple Airpods? 

Bose products are known for their sound quality and the sound quality on these earbuds is exceptional. I won’t go too much into the specifics of sound with these, you’re probably not watching this video to know about that.

Their sound quality is very good. They’re very clear, the bass is a little heavier than on the AirPods but still, a very good rich sound that you will notice from the very first moment you put them on. I had absolutely no problem with the sound quality these give out. 

Are the Bose QuietComfort 2 Actually Sweatproof?

They are advertised as being sweatproof, or to be more specific, they are IPX4, which means they are protected against sweat without them cutting out.

They didn’t cut out at any point for me and the quality didn’t falter at any moment during the time which is awesome.

I wore them on rainy days and they did get a little wet, but nothing happened to them at all. 

I do especially tend to get very sweaty in the head area when I workout too, I don’t know if any of you have noticed it in any of my other videos. I don’t even have to be doing cardio to get sweaty, but I had no problem whatsoever with these earbuds which is great. Top marks there.  

Are the Bose QuietComfort 2 Comfortable to Wear?

I wore them for long periods of time and was absolutely fine, they come with a selection of earbud tips in large and small size so you can get a better fit if the standard size doesn’t work for you, they also have these extra little rubber earbud loops I think they’re called that help the earbuds sit in the creases of your earlobe a little better.

I did spend a while testing each size before I started working out in them, even though the standard size felt just fine, I wanted to be sure that I got the best fit before I began testing their use in the gym.

The workouts I did wearing these lasted about an hour and a half and then I’d continue wearing them throughout the day. For example, if I’m working and I’m having a Zoom meeting, I prefer to wear earbuds because the sound clarity is just better than my laptop.

So each day I wore them for about 3-4 hours.

I’d say they were very comfortable to wear for this period of time. At some points, I did forget they were in.

We Need To Talk About The Touch Control Function

One thing that might be a problem for some people is the control function on them…

They have a touch function so you press to pause and play whatever music you are listening to, you press and hold in order to switch between noise cancelling “quiet mode” or the normal “aware” mode, you can also slide your finger upwards or downwards to adjust volume. Those are the main controls I was using from day to day.

The reason this might be a problem for comfort is that touching them in this area so frequently during use can and did change the position of the earbuds. Even though you just need to lightly touch them to do whatever you need to do, sometimes the touches I made slightly moved the position of the bud. There is an adjustment period where you’ll have to get used to it.

Also, the touch function can be activated with anything that touches them, so if you’re wearing gloves on a cold day for example you can still control your earbuds. This is a positive and a negative because a few times I brushed the earbuds with my shoulder and paused my music. 

I personally prefer to use my phone to control my songs so this wasn’t a problem for me, but it’s just worth noting.

How Good is the Noise Canceling Feature?

I have to say, the noise cancelling on these is very impressive, it works very well. 

I think the noise cancelling on the Bose QuietComfort 2 works better than the noise cancelling on my Apple AirPods. 

There were loud conversations happening close to me and gym music playing very loudly on speakers pretty close to my head while I was wearing them several times and the noise cancelling did a very impressive job of making me not even realize these things were going on.

Sometimes I would turn off the noise cancelling and be surprised at how loud and busy real life is, sounds crazy I know, but I genuinely think the noise cancelling on these has to be the best feature. Hands down

As I said, in comparison to the earbuds I use the AirPods, the noise cancelling works better.

The only drawback is I noticed that you get a subtle hum when you are not using the noise cancelling or what they call ‘aware mode’. It’s not too bad of a humm, I have noticed that subtle hum in Sony earbuds that I’ve tried in the past too, but on the Sony’s the hum was much louder. It’s more like a soft white noise you can only really hear in a quiet room. 

Do The Bose Handle Sweat Well?

I worked out in these and sweated in them, on the sweat side, they didn’t lose power, connection, or sound quality when they had moisture on them, which is great. However, sweat does affect their ability to stay put a little bit. 

They didn’t always completely fall out, but they felt like they were about to, so I would just push them back in it wasn’t a big deal. 

When I was running with them they were fine I guess because your head doesn’t really tilt during running in the same way, so the movement from running was fine.

Do The Bose QuietComfort 2 Stay in your Ears When You Workout?

Most of the time yes, they did a great job at staying in my ears, running was fine, and general things where my head was upright like pull-ups even when my head got sweaty they were fine.

But when I got into the more rigorous moves or awkward angles where my head wouldn’t be upright, they sometimes felt loose and in some cases fell out

I like to do the hang upside-down test just to see if they stay put. I don’t expect every earbud to score high on this little test I like to do but it helps to give you an idea.

I got on the rings with them in and I hung upside down 10 times with the earbuds for at least 10 seconds at a time, they fell out 3 times out of ten.  Make of that what you will.

If you’re someone who does moves that require a lot of head tilting maybe you do yoga or pilates or you lay down for bench a lot, these earbuds might not stay in your ears very well, but if your workouts are light I think you’ll be just fine.

Can You Wear The Bose QuietComfort 2 in the Sauna?

I was told that yes, they are IPX4 which means they are water resistant, but they are not waterproof, you cannot use them in a shower or for swimming nor can you use them in a sauna because the sauna is effectively fine water particles that can get into the electronics the same as shower water could. That is the official word from Bose.

Added to that the extreme heat of the sauna and the battery inside these earbuds, I wouldn’t want to risk the heat causing the battery to explode with these earbuds in my ears.

Just something I think needs clearing up. 

My Overall Verdict

I think they are overall a great earbud, as I said earlier, the sound quality is excellent and the noise cancelling is probably the best I’ve experienced. But whether they make a good earbud for working out greatly depends on what type of workouts you do. For me, they don’t suit me or the type of workouts I do.

I do a lot of things when I workout that requires my head to be in different angles like calisthenic workouts so I found them tricky to use in some aspects, also the continuous accidentally pausing music or adjusting the volume when I was simply trying to adjust their position in my ears because of the touch function of them became annoying.

I have definitely had better experiences with other earbuds in the gym space. If you’re only running or doing light moves in them, I think you’ll be fine.

These are definitely more of an everyday earbud for someone maybe doing light workouts that don’t require much rigorous movement rather than anything else.

If you’re doing those kinds of workouts I would recommend a different earbud, maybe even an over-ear headphone that would be a lot less likely to fall out of your ear and would probably have better noise cancelling too.

Hopefully, this review has helped you make a decision.

With that being said, don’t forget to like and subscribe and as usual, I’ll see you on the next one!

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