One of the most popular headphone lines on the market is the Bose QuietComfort (QC) family. These over-ear headphones are known for their comfortable fit, impressive sound quality, and strong noise cancellation. They’re also easy to control thanks to the physical buttons on the left and right earcups. Traditionally, basic playback controls – like play/pause and track skip – have been mapped to these keys, but that’s only scratching the surface of what the buttons on Bose’s headphones can do.
Both generations of Bose QC Ultra have two buttons (power and multifunction) and a raised haptic slider. Playback controls are handled by single, double, and triple presses of the multifunction button, but you can also press and hold the button to cycle through the ANC presets. You can also assign a shortcut command to the multifunction key in the Bose Music app. Older Bose QC headphones (2023) do not include a volume slider; instead, there are volume up and down buttons on the right earcup, as well as a button for playback controls.
Older QC models also have an action button on the left earcup. Pressing it once cycles through ANC modes, and pressing and holding calls up your host device’s voice assistant. The Bose QC35 II (2018) and Bose QC35 (2016) also have a three-button layout, but neither generation lets you cycle through the ANC modes on the headphones; you can only do this through the Bose Music app.
The Bose app is not required software, but it is the only way to personalize your cans
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The Bose Music app is not required, and you can easily connect your Bose QC cans to a phone, laptop, or streaming device using the buttons on the earbuds to complete the initial pairing. That said, the app is completely free and even if you rarely use it, it’s the only way to push firmware updates to your Bose headphones. If you don’t like unused apps consuming storage space, you can also install it temporarily to check for new firmware and remove it after updating your headphones.
We mentioned the ability to program a shortcut command through Bose Music, and available actions include cycling between ANC modes, Immersive Audio controls, Voice Assistant, or switching to a previously paired device (all of the Bose QC models we’ve discussed in this article support Bluetooth Multipoint). You’ll need the Bose Music app to access these customizations, accessible either from the Shortcut tab on the main screen or by going to Settings > Product controls > Shortcut.
Bose headphones continue to evolve and we wouldn’t be surprised if the latest Bose QC Ultra may receive updates that improve or expand various features and settings. And trust us: you’d be surprised what manufacturers can achieve in one or two firmware patches.
