Bose's second-generation QuietComfort Headphones cost $199 at Amazon, down from $359, and price trackers say that is their lowest price yet.
The $160 cut covers the Dewdrop Mint, Eucalyptus Green, and Hazelnut Taupe colors. The headphones weigh about 8.1 ounces, and the earcups fold and swivel into the included hard-shell case. The earpads are removable, so you can replace them as they wear down instead of retiring the whole pair. One review found the noise cancellation strong on low-frequency rumble and background chatter, though some higher-pitched voices still come through. The sound leans warm and bass-forward.
This generation adds Bluetooth 5.4, multipoint pairing (a connection to two devices at once), Google Fast Pair, and lossless audio over USB-C. The compromises are specific. Battery life tops out at 24 hours with active noise cancellation (ANC) on, though 15 minutes on the charger adds about 2.5 hours. The three-band equalizer is basic. Wireless audio is limited to the standard AAC and SBC codecs, the default Bluetooth audio formats, with no aptX Adaptive.
That last omission is the line between this model and Bose's QuietComfort Ultra Headphones, which do support aptX Adaptive. The Ultra (2nd Gen) is listed at $359.89, down from $449, a discount of only $89.11. At these prices the cheaper pair costs about $161 less than the Ultra, and the one difference the listing names is a codec.
A codec only helps when the phone or laptop supports it too, so the real question for buyers is how many of their devices do. If the answer is few, the $199 pair gives up less than the price gap implies.