Bose Splits Its Open-Ear Range in Two: $299 Ultra Open 2nd Gen Adds aptX Adaptive, $199 Sport Open Adds Dust Resistance

Two open-ear models, two price points, one ship date

Bose used 17 September 2026 to refresh both ends of a product line it had left alone since the arrival of the original Ultra Open Earbuds. The announcement covers two separate open-ear models: the Ultra Open Earbuds 2nd Gen at $299 and the Sport Open Earbuds at $199. Preorders open on 19 September 2026 and both are due to ship on 1 October 2026. Pricing outside the US was not announced.

The split is the story here. Rather than a single flagship cuff, Bose now has a codec-and-spatial-audio model above a simpler, tougher sports model, with a $100 gap between them and a clearly drawn feature divide.

Ultra Open Earbuds 2nd Gen: aptX Adaptive and a new driver

The second-generation Ultra Open keeps the cuff format that made the original distinctive — the earbud clips to the edge of the ear and leaves the ear canal unsealed — with what Bose describes as a refined build: a simplified flexible joint and a beveled metallic cap in place of the first generation's styling.

Inside is what Bose calls a newly engineered driver, which the company says delivers deeper bass and higher volume than before. That is a manufacturer claim, not a measurement; nobody has independently tested these buds yet.

The clearest spec upgrade is on the wireless side. Alongside SBC and AAC, the 2nd Gen adds aptX Adaptive with Snapdragon Sound, which was absent from the original. Connection runs over Bluetooth 5.4 with two-device multipoint.

Stated battery life is up to 9 hours per charge, falling to 5 hours with Immersive Audio switched on. The charging case holds a further 19.5 hours for a claimed 28.5 hours total, and a 10-minute top-up is quoted as giving up to 2 hours of playback. Wireless charging is now standard on the case rather than a separate or optional item. Water resistance is IPX4.

Feature-wise, the 2nd Gen carries Auto Volume, SpeechClarity microphone processing, and Immersive Audio plus Cinema Mode, both built on Bose's TrueSpatial processing. Colours are Black, White Smoke, Cherry Chocolate, Olive Green and Sky Pink.

Sport Open Earbuds: a C-arm cuff and an IP54 rating

At $199, the Sport Open Earbuds are the bigger physical redesign of the pair. The contoured ear hook used on the original Bose Sport Open Earbuds is gone, replaced by a soft silicone C-arm cuff. Controls are textured physical buttons rather than touch panels.

Bose describes the audio system as Bose OpenAudio, using custom dynamic drivers to direct sound towards the ear without sealing the canal. These are air-conduction earbuds, not bone conduction.

Quoted battery life is up to 7 hours per charge with a further 22 hours in the case, which also supports wireless charging. Ten minutes of charging is stated to give up to 1 hour of playback. Bluetooth is 5.4 with two-device multipoint, and codec support stops at SBC and AAC — there is no aptX Adaptive here.

The durability change is the headline: the Sport Open Earbuds move from the original's IPX4 to IP54. The extra digit is dust resistance, which the previous model carried no rating for at all; the water side of the rating is unchanged. Features are limited to Auto Volume and SpeechClarity. There is no Immersive Audio and no Cinema Mode. Colours are Black, White Smoke and a limited-edition Eucalyptus Green.

The unusual part: Personal Surround is gone

The single most notable line in the spec sheet is a subtraction. The Ultra Open Earbuds 2nd Gen drops Personal Surround compatibility with Bose Smart Soundbars — a feature the first-generation Ultra Open Earbuds supported.

That matters because it inverts the usual pattern. A second-generation product normally adds; here, anyone moving from the original Ultra Open Earbuds to the 2nd Gen gains aptX Adaptive, a new driver and standard wireless charging but loses the ability to pair the buds with a Bose smart soundbar for private listening. Bose has not, in the material covered by these announcements, explained the removal. Existing owners with a compatible soundbar should factor that in rather than assume the newer model is a superset of the old one.

What "open ear" actually means for these two

Both models are open-ear designs, which has consistent consequences worth stating plainly. Because the ear canal is left unsealed, neither earbud provides passive isolation from outside noise, and neither offers active noise cancellation. On the Ultra Open 2nd Gen that is not a feature Bose left out to protect a higher-end model — ANC is not meaningfully possible in a form factor that deliberately leaves your ears open.

The flip side, and the reason the category exists, is situational awareness: traffic, gym announcements, colleagues and doorbells all remain audible. It also means low-frequency output is working without the pressure seal that in-ear tips provide, which is the context for Bose's claim of a newly engineered driver on the Ultra.

Where the two models diverge

• Price: $299 for the Ultra Open Earbuds 2nd Gen, $199 for the Sport Open Earbuds (US).
• Codecs: the Ultra adds aptX Adaptive with Snapdragon Sound on top of SBC and AAC; the Sport is SBC and AAC only.
• Spatial audio: Immersive Audio and Cinema Mode on the Ultra; neither on the Sport.
• Ingress protection: IPX4 on the Ultra, IP54 on the Sport.
• Battery: 9 hours plus 19.5 in the case for the Ultra; 7 hours plus 22 in the case for the Sport. Both cases charge wirelessly.
• Fit: metal-capped cuff with a flexible joint on the Ultra; soft silicone C-arm cuff on the Sport.
• Shared: Bluetooth 5.4, two-device multipoint, Auto Volume and SpeechClarity on both. No ANC on either.

Every performance statement attached to either model at this stage originates with Bose. Independent listening and measurement will have to wait until units reach reviewers after the 1 October ship date.

This article was written by an AI system from Into The HiFi AI Desk, generated from the following sources, with no human editing pass before publication: eCoustics — Bose Doubles Down on Open-Ear Audio With Ultra Open 2nd Gen and Sport Open Earbuds, TechRadar — Bose just unveiled the successors to some of our favorite open earbuds, What Hi-Fi? — Bose's latest duo of open-ear wireless buds are designed to feel as good as they sound, Gear Patrol — Bose Just Made Its Beloved Workout Earbuds Even Better.