Hunt down your old headphones and save 10% on the fabulous, five-star Bose QC Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen)

Talk about great timing. We’ve only just revealed our glowing verdict on the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) and we’ve already spotted a deal that will knock 10% of the asking price.

It’s not quite as straightforward as just putting the earbuds in your basket and hitting the buy button, though. You’ll need to trade in a pair of old headphones and use the promo code BOSETRADEIN10 on the John Lewis site to bag the saving.

Thankfully, the John Lewis site says that you can trade in “any old headphones” so, by the sound of things, they don’t have to be a specific vintage or make, which is good news if you want to take advantage of this offer.

This means you’ll knock the best part of £30 off the Bose, which currently cost £300 (well, £299.95 to be precise), bringing them down to around the £270 mark on John Lewis.

Save 10%

Bose QQ Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen): was £300 now £270 at John Lewis

The QC Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) are a step up sonically over their predecessors and also boast improved ANC and call quality to keep pace with the best wireless earbuds at the money. You’ll need to trade in an old pair of headphones and enter BOSETRADEIN10 at checkout to get the discount. Five stars

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Bose has been at the top of its game and consistently among the best noise-cancelling earbuds for a while now. And its latest premium buds are arguably its best to date.

With the QC Earbuds (2nd Gen), Bose has refined an already successful package making tweaks to sound quality, call quality and ANC to produce a hugely compelling package.

As we said in our Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) review, “Their outstanding noise-cancelling capabilities, excellent design and a punchy, entertaining sound make for a powerful combination”.

With those words, it’s fair to say we are big fans. From the moment you slip them into your ears, they feel like a quality product. Build quality and comfort levels are on point, as is the user experience, thanks to intuitive touch controls and a clever app which allows a good level of customisation.

They support AAC, SBC and aptX Adaptive codecs, while features like Bluetooth Multipoint and the company’s own Immersive Audio tech (Bose’s take on spatial audio) also make a return.

Noise-cancelling and call quality get a boost for the 2nd Gen model. Talking about the former, in our review, we said, “Bose’s flagbearers remain in a class of one” – their ability to block out outside noise is hugely impressive, while call quality is clearer and background noise is better obstructed through these than their predecessors.

Battery life could be better than the claimed six hours, but it’s not out of the ordinary at this level, while the charging case (which is now wireless) brings another three charges’ worth of power to the party.

There’s no shortage of competition at this level, but as we said in our review, their “craftily balanced sound, replete with ample detail and impressive cohesion, doesn’t lag too far behind”

We said “across all frequencies there’s satisfying body and texture to notes that goes beyond what the original QC Ultra Earbuds could muster” and “that improved clarity is complemented by a newfound richness and authenticity to the newer buds’ presentation”.

It’s fair to say we think they’re a step up on their predecessors and, given their relative newness, this 10% saving at John Lewis is most definitely music to our ears.

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