Tier 2 · Rank #6

Bose — speakers, headphones, and a small but real microphone business

Bose is mostly known for noise-cancelling headphones, the SoundLink line of speakers, and the Wave radio that sat on a million kitchen counters. But Bose does make microphones — mostly built into headsets and conferencing gear, where the brand’s noise-cancelling expertise is the selling point.

Founded1964

HQFramingham, Massachusetts

OwnershipPrivate (employee/foundation)

Mic-only revenueSmall slice; mostly headset & conferencing

What they make

Aviation headsets, gaming headsets, conference room mics

Bose doesn’t make a stand-alone vocal or instrument microphone you’d ever stick on a stand. Their mic work is built into products: the boom mic on a Bose A30 aviation headset, the array mics inside a Bose Videobar VB1 conference camera, the noise-cancelling mics in their consumer headphones.

For the home studio, podcaster, or musician, Bose isn’t the brand to look at — see Audio-Technica, Rode, or our Shure section instead. For aviation or pro conferencing, they’re a serious option.

Where Bose mics show up

Bose microphones worth knowing

A30 Aviation Headset — boom mic for cockpits, with electret condenser capsule and active noise reduction.
Videobar VB1 — six-microphone beamforming array for conference rooms, automatically aims at whoever’s speaking.
QuietComfort & QC Ultra — consumer headphones with built-in beam-forming mic arrays for calls.
Bose Work line — turnkey conferencing systems for corporate huddle rooms.

Should you buy one?

The short answer

Get a Bose if You fly small planes, run a corporate conference room, or need a headset where the noise-cancelling matters more than the audio quality of the mic itself.

Skip Bose if You’re recording voice or music. There’s no Bose product in that lane — and that’s fine. Bose plays where Bose plays.