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Better than usual, and for a specific reason. Bose holds its pricing tightly, so authorized sellers rarely undercut each other on current stock, and the discounts that do appear come from two places: an outgoing generation getting cleared, and Bose Certified Refurbished. Both apply. The QuietComfort Headphones are mid-changeover, with a second generation already taking preorders, which is exactly when the model everyone actually reviews gets marked down. Columbus Day Weekend is a good moment to catch that.
The trap with Bose is assuming the more expensive model is the better buy. The gap between QuietComfort and QuietComfort Ultra is narrower than the price gap suggests, and the noise cancelling that made the brand is in both. Below you’ll find live deals by product type, a straight comparison of the two headphone lines, and the one place Bose discounts properly all year round.
Early Columbus Day Bose Deals
Bose is the one brand on this page that discounts on its own site, and it does it through the refurbished shelf rather than the new box. These are the live markdowns, checked against the product page.
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (Certified Refurbished)
- Refurbished by Bose
- Up to 24 hours
- 1-year warranty
The first generation QuietComfort Ultra, restored by Bose and sold with the same one year warranty as a new pair. This is the headphone the QC versus Ultra comparison below is about, with the Immersive Audio mode that puts the sound in front of you rather than inside your head. The listing rates it at up to 24 hours, or 18 with Immersive Audio on, and Bose dates the $230 saving through September 30.
This is the deal on the page. Bose holds new-stock pricing hard, so the refurbished channel is where the real money comes off, and $199 for a QuietComfort Ultra with a Bose warranty undercuts most mid-range pairs bought new. The second generation refurbished is $329, and the differences don’t justify the gap for most people.
$199$42954% off
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (Certified Refurbished)
- Refurbished by Bose
- 6 hours, 3 case charges
- Immersive Audio
The first generation Ultra earbuds through the same refurbished channel, at half the original price with the one year warranty. Six hours per charge, four with Immersive Audio on, and the case holds three more full charges. The $150 saving is dated through September 30 on the listing.
Bose says each refurbished unit is restored with genuine Bose parts where needed and tested before resale, which covers the parts of a used earbud you’d actually worry about. If you want new stock instead, the sale page has the same earbuds in one color at $229 against $299, so the refurbished pair saves a further $80 for the same warranty.
$149$29950% off
- Open-ear cuff
- Up to 7 hours
- IPX4
The one new-stock headphone Bose has cut: the cuff-style open earbud that clips to the edge of the ear and leaves the canal clear. The listing rates it at up to 7 hours, four with Immersive Audio, with 19.5 more in the case, and IPX4 against sweat and rain. Bose dates the $100 saving through October 11.
The same $199 price shows up at Abt, so this is a brand-wide cut rather than a Bose-only one. It’s the most comfortable open-ear design in the category because nothing sits in or hooks over the ear, and the trade is the same as every open pair: no isolation and lighter bass by design.
$199$29933% off
Prices come from Bose at the time this page was last refreshed. Bose dates its refurbished savings through September 30 and the Ultra Open cut through October 11, so check the current number on the product page before you buy.
Bose Deals On Sale
Every one of these is discounted, cheapest first.
QuietComfort or QuietComfort Ultra
The two lines look almost identical in photos. Here’s what the extra money actually buys.
| Feature | QuietComfort | QuietComfort Ultra |
|---|---|---|
| Immersive Audio | Not included | Included, with Motion and Still modes that place the sound outside your head |
| Battery life | 24 hours | 24 hours, dropping to 18 with Immersive Audio switched on |
| Controls | Physical buttons | A capacitive touch strip for volume, which people either love or keep brushing by accident |
| Bluetooth | 5.1 | 5.3 |
| Build | Standard headband and earcups | Thicker cushioning along the headband and deeper earcups |
| Noise cancelling | The thing Bose is known for | The same thing, plus ActiveSense, which kicks in on sudden loud noises |
The short version: if you want spatial audio, buy the Ultra. If you want the quiet, the standard QuietComfort gives you the same core noise cancelling for meaningfully less, and it’s the one to look for when a generation changes over.
What Actually Counts as a Good Bose Deal
Bose discounts are narrow and predictable, which makes them easy to read once you know where they come from:
- Certified refurbished is the real discount. Bose runs its own refurbished store with a one year warranty on everything in it, and the cuts there are far deeper than anything the new stock sees. If the saving matters more to you than the box, start there.
- Generation changeovers are the other one. When a new model takes preorders, the outgoing one gets cleared, and for headphones that means you buy the version every reviewer has already tested rather than the one nobody has.
- Compare against the brand’s own price, not the list price. Authorized sellers rarely undercut each other much on current Bose stock, so a listing showing a huge cut off a padded original is usually telling you about the original rather than the deal.
- Watch the generation in the title. Bose reuses names across years. QuietComfort Ultra second generation and QuietComfort Ultra are different products at different prices, and the older one being cheaper isn’t automatically a bargain.
- Check what’s in the box. Cases, cables and airline adapters vary between bundles and between retailers, and a cheaper listing sometimes ships without the case that makes the headphones portable in the first place.
Where to Shop Bose
Bose is worth shopping around on precisely because the discounts are narrow. These four are all authorized, all stocked, and the first one is where the deepest cuts actually live.
How to Pick the Right Bose
You fly or commute often. Over-ear QuietComfort, and don’t overthink which generation. The seal and the cancellation are what you’re buying, and both lines do that better than almost anything else.
You want to hear traffic while you run. Ultra Open Earbuds. They sit outside the ear canal with no seal at all, which is the whole point, and no amount of transparency mode on a sealed earbud feels the same.
You mostly want spatial audio. That’s the Ultra line and only the Ultra line. It’s the one genuine feature difference, so if it doesn’t appeal, you’re paying extra for touch controls.
You want a speaker for the yard or the shower. SoundLink Flex. The Micro is smaller and quieter, the Max is heavier and louder, and the Flex is the one most people end up keeping.
You just want to understand the dialogue on your TV. The plain Bose TV Speaker. Atmos is lovely and it isn’t the problem you’re trying to solve, and the price difference is large.
Bose Sale FAQ
The Bottom Line
Bose is a brand where the discount comes from timing rather than hunting. New stock barely moves in price, so the two things worth watching are a generation changeover and the certified refurbished store, and both are live with the QuietComfort line mid-transition. On the headphones themselves, the standard QuietComfort is the better buy for most people, because Immersive Audio is the only real thing the Ultra adds and the noise cancelling that made the brand is identical in both. Columbus Day weekend is a fair moment to buy, and if the box matters less to you than the price, refurbished will beat every deal on this page.
