How We Research
We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-09-29 · 6 min read · Independent comparison
• Bose Open Earbuds — biggest strength: a clip-on, open-ear fit that never plugs your canal, so you keep hearing traffic, coworkers and announcements while private sound plays through Bose's OpenAudio tuning and optional Immersive Audio.
• Bose Open Earbuds — biggest trade-off: no noise cancellation at all, and the quoted playtime is modest (up to 7 hours, dropping to about 4 with Immersive Audio on) — the 48-hour figure is standby, not listening.
• LG xboom Buds — biggest strength: 3-mic active noise cancellation plus 10 mm graphene-coated drivers, with up to 30 hours of playback through the case and a 5-minute fast charge that buys an hour of listening.
• LG xboom Buds — biggest trade-off: sealed in-ear design means you give up environmental awareness, and they're tuned for city commutes rather than all-day ambient listening.
• Who each pick is for: Bose for runners, cyclists and office workers who must stay switched-on to their surroundings; LG for commuters and travelers who want the noise of a train, bus or busy street cancelled out.
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds are built around one idea: your ears stay open. Instead of sealing a tip into your canal, each earbud hooks gently around the back of your ear with a flexible joint and a light grip. The result is a fit you can wear for hours while still hearing the world — a cyclist hears the car behind them, a parent hears the baby monitor, an office worker hears a colleague walk up.
The sound side is where Bose adds its own character. OpenAudio delivers private sound despite the open design, and Immersive Audio spatializes the mix so music feels placed around you rather than pushed at you. There's a real cost to that: turning Immersive Audio on cuts playtime roughly in half, from up to 7 hours down to about 4. Bluetooth 5.3 with multipoint is a genuine plus — you can hop between a laptop and a phone without re-pairing, and simple on-bud button presses switch stereo and immersive modes or take a call. IPX4 water resistance and an acoustic mesh that keeps out moisture and debris mean sweat and light rain aren't a problem. Everything is managed through the Bose app.
Buy them if you prioritize awareness, a secure non-invasive fit, and spatial audio, and you treat listening time in hours, not days. Skip them if you fly often, work in loud open offices, or want the buds to erase background noise — there's no noise cancellation here, and the open design lets the world in by definition. If you're the type who wants one pair for the commute and the run, this is the wrong compromise.
The LG xboom Buds take the opposite approach. These are traditional in-ear buds, sealed with silicone eargels (an extra set is included), holding their place with stabilizing fins. That seal is what makes the 3-mic active noise cancellation work — the buds can actually subtract the rumble of a subway, the drone of a bus engine, or the chatter of a crowded street. If your listening happens in transit, that's the feature that matters most.
The audio hardware is a dynamic 10 mm graphene-coated driver, chosen to minimize distortion, with tuning credited to will.i.am under LG's xboom line. Battery is the headline number: up to 30 hours of playback with the case, or up to 24 hours with Adaptive ANC engaged. And when you realize you forgot to charge, a 5-minute top-up gives you an hour back — the kind of detail that matters on a rushed morning. IPX4 water resistance covers rain and sweat. Controls are touch-based and app-supported, with Google Assistant and Siri access, plus Auracast support for streaming one source to multiple receivers. Bluetooth 5.4 is the newer spec here.
Buy them if you commute, travel, or just want quiet focus with long battery life and a fast-charge safety net. Skip them if you need to hear your surroundings for safety, dislike the plugged-ear feeling of silicone tips, or want spatial audio — this is a straightforward, noise-cancelling stereo pair, not an immersive one.
• Best for environmental awareness → Bose Open Earbuds. The clip-on open-ear design is the entire point; nothing blocks your canal.
• Best for noise cancellation → LG xboom Buds. 3-mic ANC versus none. This is the single biggest functional gap between them.
• Best for total playback with the case → LG xboom Buds. Up to 30 hours (24 with ANC on) against Bose's up to 7 hours per charge plus case top-ups.
• Best for long single sessions → LG xboom Buds. Roughly 24 hours of ANC listening dwarfs a 4–7 hour open-ear session.
• Best for spatial/immersive listening → Bose Open Earbuds. Immersive Audio is a Bose-specific mode; the LG pair is tuned for punchy, clean stereo.
• Best for fast top-ups → LG xboom Buds. A 5-minute charge yielding an hour of playback is designed for people who forget to plug in.
• Best for secure fit while running → Bose Open Earbuds. The ear-hook grip is made to stay put during movement without sealing you off.
• Best for device juggling → Bose Open Earbuds. Bluetooth 5.3 multipoint handles phone-and-laptop switching smoothly; the LG pair is on the newer 5.4 spec but multipoint isn't listed for it.
• Best for sharing audio to multiple listeners → LG xboom Buds. Auracast support is a real differentiator if you want one stream on several receivers.
My Verdict
For running, I'd lean Bose. The ear-hook clip-on fit is designed to stay put during movement while keeping you aware of traffic, and IPX4 handles sweat. The LG buds also fit securely with stabilizing fins, but their sealed ANC design blocks the sounds a runner often needs to hear.
Yes — 3-mic active noise cancellation, with an Adaptive ANC mode. Bose Open Earbuds have no noise control at all; their design is the opposite, deliberately letting outside sound in. If quiet is your priority, the LG pair is the only one of the two that delivers it.
LG, clearly. The xboom Buds quote up to 30 hours with the case (24 with ANC on) and a 5-minute fast charge for an hour of playback. Bose quotes up to 7 hours per charge — about 4 with Immersive Audio — plus case top-ups and up to 48 hours of standby, which isn't listening time.
Value depends on what you need, so check the current price on Amazon for both before deciding. If you want ANC and long battery, the LG xboom Buds pack more of the features most buyers use daily. If open-ear awareness and spatial audio are non-negotiable for you, the Bose pair is the one worth paying for.
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