Over-Ear
Audeze Maxwell 2 ANC
88Outstanding
$430
Full review dataAudeze Maxwell 2 ANC vs Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen): which should you buy?
On aggregated review scores the Audeze Maxwell 2 ANC comes out ahead with a HearWiki score of 88. The full breakdown - sub-scores, specs and what reviewers actually said - is below.
Our pick: Audeze Maxwell 2 ANC - Outstanding overall at around $429.
Over-Ear
Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen)
86Outstanding
$360
Full review dataScore breakdown
Each axis is a 0–10 blend of what reviewers scored, not a lab measurement.
Audeze Maxwell 2 ANC leads on 4 of 7 measures.
- Audeze Maxwell 2 ANC
- Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen)
HearWiki score
88
86
Sound
9.3
8.2
Noise cancelling
8.5
9.4
Battery
8.0
6.5
Calls
9.0
6.7
Value
6.5
7.5
Price (USD)
$430
$360
Generation & platform
The scores rank quality. This is the other question: is the newer one actually newer technology, or the same platform in a new shell?
Mixed generations
Both shipped in 2026. Neither is straightforwardly newer: the Audeze Maxwell 2 ANC brings LE Audio (LC3), while the Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen) answers with Bluetooth 5.4 against 5.3.
- Maxwell 2 ANC2026
- QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen)2026
What differsMaxwell 2 ANCQuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen)
- Bluetooth
- 5.3
- 5.4
- LE Audio (LC3)
- Yes
- No
Platform
Level on: Top codec, Multipoint pairing, USB-C, Transparency mode.
Specifications
Maxwell 2 ANCQuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen)
- Type
- Over-Ear
- Over-Ear
- Price (USD)
- $430
- $360
- HearWiki score
- 88
- 86
- Released
- 2026
- 2026
- Availability
- Sold new
- Sold new
- Driver
- 90 mm planar magnetic
- 40 mm dynamic
- Driver type
- planar
- dynamic
- Driver size
- 90 mm
- 40 mm
- Drivers per side
- 1
- 1
- Frequency response
- 10 Hz - 50 kHz
- 20 Hz - 20 kHz
- Impedance
- -
- 32 Ω
- Sensitivity
- 115 dB/mW
- 110 dB/mW
- Bluetooth
- 5.3
- 5.4
- Codecs
- SBC, AAC, LC3, LC3plus, LDAC
- AAC, LDAC
- Multipoint pairing
- Yes
- Yes
- Battery life
- 40 h
- 24 h
- Battery life (ANC on)
- 35 h
- -
- Full charge time
- 120 min
- 180 min
- Quick charge
- -
- 15 min → 2.5 h
- Wireless charging
- -
- No
- Active noise cancelling
- Yes
- Yes
- ANC type
- adaptive
- -
- Transparency mode
- Yes
- Yes
- Companion app
- Yes
- -
- Custom EQ
- Yes
- -
- Wear detection
- No
- -
- Controls
- both
- -
- Weight
- 560 g
- 236 g
- Water resistance
- -
- none
- USB-C
- Yes
- Yes
- Microphones
- 2
- 6
- Call noise reduction
- Yes
- -
- Call NR technology
- AI ENC
- -
What reviewers said
Audeze Maxwell 2 ANC
No summary yet - we haven't aggregated enough reviews.
Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen)
These over-ear wireless headphones prioritize all-day comfort and top-tier noise cancellation, wrapping them in a lightweight 236-gram frame. They deliver a clear, balanced sound with support for high-quality LDAC and AAC codecs, plus handy features like multipoint Bluetooth and transparency mode. While the asking price is steep and some extras like Immersive Audio feel gimmicky, the core experience of quiet, comfortable listening is hard to beat.
- Pro:Extremely comfortable for long wear
- Pro:Excellent active noise cancellation
- Pro:Improved sound quality with LDAC support
- Con:Expensive for the feature set
- Con:EQ controls in the app are limited
- Con:Immersive Audio feature is underwhelming
Summaries are AI-condensed and paraphrased from published reviews and specs - not original hands-on testing. More on our method.
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