Bose has announced its first wired earbuds in 11 years, the $99 Noise Cancelling Wired Earbuds. The USB-C model includes active noise canceling, an inline remote, and IPX4 water resistance. Preorders opened today, with shipping expected October 15, though The Verge notes Bose's own store lists October 13.
The product taps into a market shift. WIRED reports wired headphone sales rose 10% in late 2025 and 20% in early 2026, driven by younger consumers. Bose's president of consumer audio, Raza Haider, said the company developed the earbuds in about eight or nine months to move quickly on the trend.
Sources agree on the core specs: two microphones per earbud for noise cancellation, a third on the remote for calls, and USB Audio Class 2 support for high-resolution, low-latency audio. The earbuds draw power from the connected device, so there is no battery to charge. A separate ZDNET story covers a Bose firmware update for its QuietComfort Ultra headphones, adding Bluetooth LE Audio and Auracast; that update is unrelated to the wired earbuds but shows Bose working on both ends of the audio connectivity spectrum.