Bose Unveils $199 Sports Earbuds With Cuff-Shaped Wraparound Design

Bose Corp. is expanding its line of wraparound, cuff-shaped earbuds with two new models: the $199 Sport Open and $299 Ultra Open.

Both are marked by their C-shaped “cuff” style, which hugs the earlobe almost like an earring. The Sport Open Earbuds have a lightweight, dust-resistant build, seven-hour battery life and textured physical buttons that should be easier to use during workouts. The new Ultra Open model, priced at $299, promises less lag, comes with a redesigned case that can wirelessly charge, and offers longer, nine-hour battery life. Both products, introduced Thursday, will be available to preorder on Sept. 19, with shipments beginning Oct. 1.

The new Ultra Open otherwise includes many of the same features offered by the original model introduced in 2024, including splash and sweat resistance, voice isolation for calls and automatic volume adjustments.

This wraparound form factor represents an increasingly popular and more fashionable style that promises robust audio quality without sealing off the ear canal, making it easier for users to stay aware of their surroundings. The trade-off, however, is that many open earbuds lack noise cancellation. To address that, Bose said its hardware design helps minimize sound leakage and that its digital signal processing can help balance clarity and deep bass sounds.

Similar to rivals such as Sony Group Corp., Lenovo Group Ltd.’s Motorola and Huawei Technologies Co., Bose is marketing its open earbuds as stylish accessories, in part by offering trendy, limited-edition colors alongside more standard black and white options. That includes eucalyptus green for the sports model, and cherry chocolate, olive green and sky pink for the upgraded Ultra.

The charging case for the upgraded Ultra Open earbuds offers an additional 19.5 hours of playback. The case for the athletic model adds as much as 22 hours. A 10-minute charging session can provide two hours of playback on the Ultra and one hour for the Sport version.

Both new models offer the option to set up customizable shortcuts for Spotify’s streaming service or quick access to a phone’s native voice assistant. Bose said it’s planning a firmware update for the new devices after their Oct. 1 release that will add more connectivity options, including for Google Find Hub, Alexa+ and shortcut support for Apple Music.