The Sport Earbuds don’t sound as dynamic as the QuietComfort Earbuds, and the bass isn’t as deep, but there’s a good balance between detail and punchy bass; the Sport Earbuds feel a little brighter, and the QuietComfort Earbuds are a little more dynamic, but the bass is still very deep. (The Bose Music companion app for iOS and Android currently has no equaliser.) And while some may think the Sport Earbuds sound better than the QuietComfort Earbuds, I liked the sound of the QuietComfort Earbuds a little better, as everyone’s ears and brain are different.
The SoundSport Free has been criticised for its mono sound during calls, meaning that the sound of the call only comes from the right earbud; the Sport Earbuds only have a microphone on the right earbud, so if you want to take calls with one earbud, you’ll have to choose that one However, you will get stereo sound during a call. Call quality is quite good, I can hear the person I am calling and they can hear me. However, if I go to a noisy environment, the volume of my voice may drop a little.
Battery life is an average of five hours on a single charge and two more full charges in the carry case for a total of 15 hours. This compares with six hours and more than two extra charges from the QuietComfort Earbuds and eight hours and two extra charges from the JBL Reflect Flow Pro. a 15-minute quick charge via USB-C should bring battery life from zero to two hours. Unlike the QuietComfort, there is no wireless charging here.
The Bose Sport Earbuds’ carry case is slightly shallower and narrower than the one supplied with the QuietComfort Earbuds. However, it is a touch longer due to the way the buds are positioned inside. A bank of five LEDs on the front shows how much battery life is left in the case and an internal pairing button that must be pressed each time you connect the buds to a new source.
The case you get with the Bose Sport Earbuds is nothing special, but it is smaller than the case found with the SoundSport Free. It skips the popular magnet design of most wireless earbuds, opting instead for a physical button that releases a lever. This is not as satisfying as some cases, but does a great job against accidental drops.
The Bose Sport Earbuds initially had problems connecting outdoors, but this has since been resolved with firmware version 1.0.7-10904+620b71c. Now, Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity is great both indoors and outdoors. My earphones stay paired with my Galaxy S10e whenever I am within a 9m radius. This firmware update also fixes the issue of automatic reconnection. At first the earphones could not reliably reconnect to my smartphone, but now they reconnect as soon as I open the case.