Bose SoundSport Free Wireless Earbuds

Product Description

No wires mean no limits. And Bose sound sport free headphones are completely wireless, so you can enjoy total freedom of movement with nothing not even a single cord in your way. The acoustic package is designed to deliver sound so clear and powerful it will motivate you to go faster, lift heavier and train longer. Bluetooth technology transmits music from your phone to the headphones, so music plays reliably and consistently whether your phone is in your nearby gym bag, pocket or strapped to your arm. Worried your earbuds will fall out during your workout? don't be. Stay hear, sport tips are built to stay comfortably in place, even when you're training hard. And if you can't find an earbud, all hope is not lost. You can track down lost earbuds using the Bose connect app's “find my buds” feature. It shows when and where the earbuds were last connected to your phone. Still having trouble finding your earbuds? don't worry, an audio signal from the headphones can Alert you to their location. Don't sweat your sweat (or the weather) either, because water repellent materials Inside the earbuds help keep moisture out. Off a single charge, the earbuds play for up to five hours, and the fully charged case gives you an additional 10 hours of music, ready to play when you are. When not in use, the charging case is designed with built in magnets to keep the earbuds securely in place. Play or pause tracks and access your phone's Siri or your Google assistant right from the earbud. You can even take phone calls, through the right earbud only.

Features

• TRULY wireless Sport headphones for total freedom of movement, packed full of technology that makes music sound clear and powerful
• Earbuds are sweat and weather resistant (with an Ipx4 rating) and come with 3 different pairs of Stay hear and Sport tips (in sizes S/M/L) that provide a comfortable and secure fit
• Up to 5 hours of play time with each charge and an additional 10 hours with the included charging case and also features a charging time of 2 hours
• Track lost earbuds with the Bose connect App's "find My buds" feature
• Firmware update to improve Audio video synchronization for customers using iPhones, iPads and other Bluetooth devices that support AVDTP version 1.3 or later, available via connect app. Connectivity Technology: Wireless Bluetooth
• SoundSport Free headphones have an integrated dual microphone array located on the right earbud to allow you to use them during calls when connected to a smartphone that supports Bluetooth. Call audio will only be heard in the right ear bud

Top Reviews

Apple) and these are excellent. Perfect for those that are athletically active with ...
by Patrick Adam (4 out of 5 stars)
March 24, 2018

I've read the reviews and felt compelled to write one myself since I'm a recent owner of the Bose SoundSport Free headset. Many of the reviews have been one side or the other - not conducting a 'full' test or providing a comparison (specifically when pointing out faults), with little insight as to what the 'user' is looking for from an experience standpoint. With that said, here's my high-level review...

I'm running Firmware version 1.4.5

Audio:

Superb. I own several headsets (Sony, Beats, Sennheiser, Bose, Apple) and these are excellent. Perfect for those that are athletically active with sound that's delivered crisp and clear, pleasing bass fans such as myself. Comfort level is outstanding and controls are relatively easy to use (some effort pushing the buttons and there is a slight delay on the actual volume control adjustment time, though not a big deal). These are not noise cancelling, but if you're someone for example who jogs where cars are, etc., these block out enough sound, but let in enough noise to keep you cognizant of your surroundings. 5 stars here for the use their intended for (they are named "SoundSport").

Video Audio:

Yes, there is a delay - but here is where it resides. If you're using your Phone or Tablet to watch video on a site like YouTube, you most likely will notice the delay in voice to mouth (on either an LTE or WiFi network connection). It's aggravating. However, when I run the same video on a laptop or desktop - there's no delay (same WiFi network). If you have a video that is downloaded, you will not notice a delay at all, no matter the device. With that said, if you're an avid YouTube watcher who uses a phone or tablet for those videos - I'd recommend against purchasing these. 4 stars here - and less if you're someone who streams video to one of the device types I mentioned.

Case/Quality/Battery/Comfort/Conectivity:

Typical Bose quality - very good to excellent. In ear the buds are extremely comfortable and the battery meets the Bose listed duration time. The case is great (though it will never beat the Apple AirPod case - but again nothing will), charges quickly, and easy to pack away and not worry about charging for the day. Connecting to devices is simple, and the Bose app will update the firmware of the buds over bluetooth - convenient for even the non-technical person. I haven't personally experienced any drops, which have been reported by others, but I wouldn't doubt those issues usually due to interference - something that simply can't be avoided (though some may be worse than others). 4.5 stars here because it's not the Apple AirPod case.

Overall:

I'm giving these a 4 star rating because they're not perfect for all intended use. While it covers most of what I personally intend to use these for, it's disappointing to witness issues right out of the box regarding video audio delay on portable devices. This issue can be remediated via a software update, but I'd recommend that Bose properly test out 'all' device streaming before releasing future updates. If you're someone who plans to just use these specifically for the audio experience of music, then I'd highly recommend them. You won't experience the drag of wires, uncomfortable ear hooks, or the concern that they may fall out. To summarize, great for those athletically active or music-holics looking for a smaller footprint to carry around, and bad for those looking for a great 'streaming' video experience on 'portable devices.'
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Severely Flawed!
by Daniel Searles (1 out of 5 stars)
April 3, 2018

I'm going to keep this very simple. I spent $200.00 on Bose SoundSport Free earbuds. At the outset the sound was amazing, but the left keeps dropping?? I updated as soon as I got them because past reviews suggested doing so. No help. Completely ruins the sound experience. How can you release a product that has this type of flaw? I have $17.00 earbuds that never do this. How in God's name can this type of quality glitch hit the market???? So disappointed!!!!
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Not worth considering the Brand name
by Abhirup (1 out of 5 stars)
May 31, 2018

Even though the sound is good but the hardware itself has lot of issues. Being Bose I expected more. It can connect to only one device at a time and during calls only the right one works. When playing videos on laptop then also the right one plays. Also its really tough To pair with laptop(windows10). It literally took me 2 days to get it working for my laptop.

Returning them and got Jabra Elite 65t. They meet all my criteria for a true wireless earbuds.
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Comparison with other Bluetooth and wired buds and cans
by GreenDream (2 out of 5 stars)
November 10, 2017

I have had the soundsport free for about 2 weeks. I wanted to comment from my perspective on the issues being raised and what is important to me. I also own Jaybird X3's for working out; Apple AirPods; Bose Quietcomfort 20 wired noise cancelling for plane flights and office; and QC-25 wired over the ear noise cancelling for plane flights (used before I purchased the QC 20's).

Left ear sound cutout--this happens when there is electronic interference; walls/floors with certain materials in between you and the bluetooth source; too much distance between you and the bluetooth source; or sometimes outside when there is not sufficient reflecting surfaces to bounce the bluetooth signal back to the earbuds. I tested the SSF against the AirPods and X3's in identical and varied conditions. The SSF perform the same as the AirPods. The X3's are worse. ALL bluetooth earbuds will cutout under certain conditions. The SSF's are no worse than the others. I am OK with this cutout issue given my use cases and am used to it from the other

Video Syncing--This is only an issue for me viewing Youtube on an iPhone 7+ or iPhone X. Other video sources do not have a syncing issue.

AirPods are better with the syncing. This is not an issue for me.

Noise Cancelling--As far as I am aware there are NO noise cancelling bluetooth earbuds. To do proper noise cancelling you need a signal processing module that in the QC20's is in the external controller and in the QC 25's is in the ear cans. There are bluetooth noise cancelling cans but I haven't found any that both have good noise cancelling and excellent music quality. For example, the Bose bluetooth QC35 music quality is inferior to the wired QC25's and the Sennheiser Momentum's have good music quality but inferior noise cancelling.

Size, Fit, Comfort and Look --- much better and secure fit for me than the AirPods which fall out from my ears and are worthless for working out. My QC20's are slightly more comfortable for extended use. X3's and AirPods are also more comfortable for extended use but only slightly. As to the size and look this is not that important to me. I think they look cool and better than AirPods but this is a very subjective point.

Phone call quality and phone only through right earbud--I find the call quality, both microphone and listening to be better than the AirPods and I use the SSF's for an hour or so of calls per day. As to not having calls out of both buds, I normally just use 1 AirPod at a time when on calls as I find this to be better for mental processing. Same with the SSF's but you are limited to right as opposed to right or left. I like to switch between ears so this is a slight negative.

Music Quality--Far superior to any other bluetooth earbuds, rival my wired QC20 wired buds and are better than my QC25 cans. I listen exclusively via Spotify with songs that have been downloaded to my phone at the extreme highest bitrates. This why I use earphones and I just cannot tolerate poor music quality for an extended period of time. The SSF's are great for this reason and why they get 4 stars. Nothing else compares in a wireless bud form.
11/14 Updated to 2 stars:--the bluetooth connectivity issue (i.e. frequent cutting out in left earbud) has become more bothersome. Called Bose product support. they said that their engineers are working on a fix for this and the video sync issue (which I can live with). However, they were unable to extend my 30 day free return period until the fix is delivered. Therefore am returning buds to Amazon today. I would recommend that new purchasers wait until this fix is out since we don't know if the fix will be able to be applied to the first generation hardware which is now being sold, or if a hardware modification is required.
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they are great. Very disappointed
by Daniel Wittenberg (1 out of 5 stars)
April 7, 2018

I bought these on April 2nd, 2018 and returned them the next day. I wore them in my office all day with no issues. When I ant for a run, the left ear bud cut out about every ten seconds. It would reconnect, disconnect over and over. I went to the gym and they worked perfectly. Left the gym to run home and again the left ear bud cut out over and over.

I guess if you plan to only wear them inside, they are great. Very disappointed.
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Major issues present despite the good sound quality
by John T.H. Ghim (3 out of 5 stars)
October 27, 2017

1. Sound quality: Absolutely love it. I tried several wireless earphones from different companies like Beats by Dr. Dre, Jaybird, and the previous Bose Soundsport earphone. I hated the sound quality coming out of those earphones as it rather lacks deep base and out of balance. This headset is not. I was amazed by how advanced the current wireless earphone technologies is at. To be honest, this is still not on par with wired earphones regarding sound quality, but it is not up to the level that you cannot accept.
2. Connectivity: This is the most significant issue now. It occasionally drops the connectivity between the left and right earbuds without apparent reason. This is extremely annoying as you imagine. It does not matter how good the sound quality is if you cannot reliably listen to music. I am continually monitoring this issue, and if they cannot fix it within the next 30 days, I have no choice but return this earphone.

Updated (11/6/17):
3. Battery charging: It has been a couple of weeks since I first used this earphone. Besides the major issue of dropping the connectivity between the left and right earbuds, I noticed another issue regarding charging. I found that occasionally even though you leave both not-fully-charged-earbuds in the case that supposedly charges your Bose earbuds, it actually does not. Even after sufficient time (several hours), your earbud remains not fully charged. For example, today after I came to work, I found that my earbuds' battery remaining was 80%. I put it in the charging case (fully charged; 5 lights on) hoping that by the time I need them again for going home, it would be fully charged. It turned out they were not. When I put on the right earbud, the voice prompt told me that the battery is still 80%. Again, I left those earbuds for plenty of time (7+ hours). And I am telling you today was not the only incidence of charging failure I had during the past two weeks. Until today, I was not sure what is exactly going on, but today I am certain that this earphone has a major charging issue as of now. Please let me know any of you have also experienced this problem.
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Awesome Sounding Wireless Earbuds (when they work), but unstable Audio Connection with MP3 player or
by Matticus Caesar (1 out of 5 stars)
June 5, 2018

I bought the SoundSport Free (SSF) earbuds to use at the gym with a SanDisk SDMX28 Clip Sport Plus bluetooth MP3 player. I will say this - the packaging these come in is beautiful - it's a very handsome, sturdy, folding-flap box with molded compartments. The medium ear molds fit me nicely (they also come with small and large) and the earbuds themselves are pretty lightweight. The SSFs themselves sound amazing. The bass is good without being overbearing, and I am, thankfully, not experiencing the left-right connection issues that many others seem to be talking about in other reviews.

Although my workouts generally last only around an hour, I love the portable recharging case - "just in case".

What I AM struggling with is maintaining a consistent audio connection to the Clip Sport Plus. The bluetooth wireless pairs between the aforementioned devices just fine, but half the time I cannot get any audio to play. I can see the song running on the player, but there is no sound heard in the SSFs. It works SOMETIMES, but it's not 100% reliable, and that's just annoying. I'm going to have to try some connection experiments with other devices, but for now I cannot tell is this is a transmit problem from the Clip Sport or a receive problem with the SSFs. I will update this review after some experimentation over the next couple of days.
6/7 Update:

I discovered the SSFs came with version 1.2.0 of the software on them, so I ran the updater and upgraded to version 1.4.5 to make sure this was not a software issue, but that did not help. I ran some connectivity tests with my Microsoft Surface 4 Pro. I can get the SSFs to connect to the Bluetooth wireless without any hassle at all, but again, there is simply no audio being played in the SSF earbuds.

I also have a set of on-ear Bose Soundlink headphones. Those work fine with both my Surface Pro and the SanDisk MP3 Player, so now I know the issue is not with the MP3 player at all.

If I go through a maddening, time-consuming ritual of putting the buds back in the case, clearing the source device bluetooth list, then reconnecting, it MAY work, but I can't get it to work consistently, and even then the next time I put them back in the case, they stop working again. I'm not going to go through all of that every time I want to use them with maybe a 50% chance of success. They need to simply connect and work with any device I have paired them to like my other bluetooth speakers and headphones. Anything less is of no value to me, especially for the price point of these things.

I'm dropping my rating on these to two stars... if I can't get them to work properly in the next couple of days, they will be going back for a refund.
6/9 update:

Called Bose Support, explained all the troubleshooting steps I have taken. They are sending a shipping label and I am to return the defective unit then will receive another one about a week after they receive mine.

Seems like it would just be easier/faster to ship these back to Amazon and get a replacement, but whatever. We'll see if things change. I will report back once that whole switcheroo is complete.
6/21 update:

Almost 2 weeks have elapsed, but the new set finally arrived. I took them out and the first thing I did was update the firmware (they shipped with 1.3.2 on them, so I updated them to 1.4.5). Initial test with my Clip Sport Plus appears to work: Bluetooth connected right away and the audio from the songs sounds great. Next test is to put them back in the case then try to connect and listen again. I do this and they SSFs connect right away. I hit play and the music plays for about 5 seconds, then I hear what sounds like a disconnect tone and it all goes quiet. I can still hear the device's female voice say things like "Clip Sport Plus Connected", and I can also hear the tone when I raise or lower the volume, but there is no longer any sound when playing songs.

So I test with my Microsoft Surface 4 Pro. Again, it makes a seamless connection to the bluetooth wireless, and I pull up some music and I can hear it fine. I test the re-connection by putting the SSFs back in the case for a couple of minutes, then I pull them out to reconnect to the Surface. Once again, the audio fails. The bluetooth connection is fine and I can hear the voice in the SSFs say so, but I get no music audio in the SSFs. If they can't fix this remotely, I'm sending them back for a refund. As far as I can tell, these devices are garbage. I cannot even begin to describe my disappointment and frustration with the SSFs and Bose at this point. I am dropping my rating to 1 star, and I will try support one more time.

If there's some special procedure to use these effectively and I'm not doing it correctly, I'd love to be enlightened. I have no problems with any other bluetooth headsets or speakers (all Bose!) with these audio sources, so it cannot possibly be my source devices.
6/26 Update: Today I requested my refund and put the SSFs back in the box. As I was packing everything back up, I noticed on the rear of the product box that it explicitly says "made for iPod/iPhone/iPad" and Android. Of course, neither of the devices I was using these with was either of those two things. There is NOWHERE in this ad page that calls that out, and there is no picture of the box either (I attached a picture of the rear of the box) - I'll be suggesting the page be updated to reflect such. I figured Bluetooth was Bluetooth, but the SSFs may not be engineered as such. I don't know if that means there is no guarantee they will work or if there would just be reduced functionality without an iX device or an Android, but after 2 pairs it is clear they don't work stably with what I have.

I really, truly wanted to keep this product. They briefly sounded amazing and they were comfortable, but at the $200 price point the no-source-audio-after-reconnecting issue is simply neither normal Bose quality nor acceptable. I may give them another try someday if they explicitly state FULL SUPPORT for generic MP3 devices or Win 10, but sadly until then these are a disappointing no-go.
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Great sound but has lots of technical issues!
by fizzle (1 out of 5 stars)
February 14, 2018

Left ear bud looses connection from the right ear frequently while listening to music. Left ear suddenly disconnects completely from the right ear while listening to music and once this happens, it's a struggle getting it to connect back. I updated the firmware hoping it will fix these issues but it didn't. I was wishing so hard that the firmware will fix the frequent disconnection of the left ear issue because i really wanted to keep these earbuds. I have had so many Bose products over the years and have been worth the high price tags including the Bose headset that I have had for 4yrs that I got for $350 at the time and they are still very good. The sound of the SoundSport sounds awesome and the base clearly beats the AirPods but no one should have to deal with these kind of technical problems with the high price tag on this product. I have read quite a few discussions where people complained and were told that it could be their phone that wasn't was causing the technical problems that they were experiencing. I use an iphone7 plus with the latest update installed. Therefore I am certain this is not a problem with my phone. As much I love Bose products, unfortunately I will have to return these.

Update on the Bose SoundSort.... I love Bose so much that I decided to give them a second chance by purchasing them directly from Bose physical store 3 days later after I returned the ones I purchased from Amazon. All the technical problems I encountered with the ones I purchased from Amazon don't exist on these new pair directly from the Bose store. They work perfectly. I am convinced that the pair I got from Amazon were either defective or were the one of the ones from the initial release with bugs. My fellow Bose lovers.... don't give up on these SoundSport just yet. The sound is amazing when you get a pair with no defects.
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The sound was the best I have ever heard and the convenience of the ...
by Thomas Gomes (1 out of 5 stars)
June 4, 2018

I was so sorry to return these ear buds. The sound was the best I have ever heard and the convenience of the battery case was terrific. The problem was that the left ear bud kept cutting out entirely. Keep in mind, my iPhone is within a few feet of the earbuds and I'm just laying in a lounge chair beside the pool. I even upgraded the firmware that was supposed to help resolve the issue; however it actually seemed to make it worse. I was listening to a song today and it cut out 4 times within a short period. You have to put the buds back in the case or press the bluetooth button multiple times to reset the left bud. It's obviously a known issue, because Bose addresses it in the issue in the manual. Also, they address it with the firmware upgrade. I'll wait to repurchase the next generation free buds, hopefully they'll use Bluetooth 5.0 to resolve the issue. I feel that they shouldn't even be selling these to unsuspecting customers.
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Without question, fantastic!
by J. Sorensen (3 out of 5 stars)
December 1, 2018

Updated 3/27/2019: I'm dropping 2 stars off my original review because I too am now experiencing consistent drops between the 2 earbuds. When I first got these I didn't have any issues but now as I walk with them every morning for about a hour I get probably 20 to 30 drops or cutouts from the left earbud. It's very annoying and I cannot imagine any of you will like it either. I'm also currently updated with the most recent software. Bose has a problem with these unfortunately.

Original review: One thing is certain, opinions are divisive with any and all true wireless earbuds. Best advice is to try them for yourself and use reviews like this as subjective info to guide you towards certain buds but not the reason for purchasing or not purchasing. I'm typing this as I listen to the blue version and they're just incredible. These paired easily with my Note 9 and I've experienced zero cut-outs or drops over the week I've owned them. I did perform the initial software update when they first were turned on. I personally think the overall soundstage and bass response is exceptional. I bought these and the B&O E8's and for my main purposes of working out and using them for outdoor activities they're perfect. The E8's had slightly better bass but at the expense of mid range details and I like the overall sound better with the Bose. It's very important to understand these are not a sealed fit, meaning as I listed to my music at a moderate level I can still hear the TV playing Christmas Vacation :) so anyone expecting a tight, sealed fit blocking out noise these will not live up to that expectation. They do have the wing tip inserts which I LOVE, they are so comfortable and secure in the ear. I want these to let sound in so I can hear my surroundings while at the gym and especially walking/running the streets. The E8's have more of that sealed, noise isolated fit however no wing tips to secure them in place (they fell out a couple of times) so not what I want for a exercise earbud. I also encourage you to try the included ear tips, I was using the medium size for the first 3 days and felt a little too much pressure over longer periods of time, I switched to the smalls and the comfort improved greatly. I cannot recommend these enough for sports and activities, they're just that good. They aren't a pair I'd wear with dress clothes or more formal attire, they definitely have a sporty look and stick out further from your ears than the E8's. 2 big thumbs up from me and hope this helps!

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