Bose QuietComfort® 45 Bluetooth wireless noise cancelling headphones with microphone for phone calls - Triple Black

If you're considering buying the Bose QC45, you're probably also considering the Sony 1000XM4 headphones too. They're both priced about the same currently and are both getting great reviews. Yet I was torn between the two so I decided to buy both and keep the one I liked the most. At least that was the plan. The Sony XM4s have been a runaway success only recently replaced by the XM5 which are £100 more, so I left these out as they were just a bit more then I wanted to spen. Here's what I liked and disliked about them both. Build quality and comfort The Bose QC45 feel light in the hand and well made. However I did not like the exposed screws. The Sony XM4s are better sealed at the joints and feel better well built in the hand. The Sony is a fraction heavier but there's nothing in it between the two. The ear pads are better on the Sony. They just feel more cushioned than the Bose. The Bose feel cheaper. I also noticed that the headband on the Sony is slightly more comfortable. I found the Bose headband would dig in to the top of my head slightly. You notice you're wearing them after a while. The Sony cups feel they have more space in them for your ears. I felt my ears were touching the inside of the cups on the Bose. Noise cancelling/transparacy mode I like the way you can switch the Bose between transparent and noise cancelling. It's just a single press of the button on the left cup. Simple. Both modes work brilliatly. I've used the transparency mode while walking so I can still hear some traffic, and the NC mode in my local noisy coffee shop. Both modes work very well. The call quality is excellent. The other person on the call could hear me very well during a walk outside on a rather windy day. No issues with calls. Controls The Bose has physical buttons for the volume controls and to pause play. The Sony has touch sensitive controls which are getting some bad reviews online. This is totally wrong in my opinion. The touch controls work very well on the Sony. I found with the Bose that when I wanted to adjust the volume, I had to place several fingures on the right cup before pressing down on the volume with my index finger. I found that otherwise the cup would slightly move from my ear which became anoying having to reposition it again for comfort. The Sony is just a one finger swipe and very easy to do without disturbing the cup position. The Bose buttons don't feel that high quality. They don't have that satisfiying click or feel. You get a nice satisfying confirmation sound when toggling the on/off button, again a phyical switch that does feel it will break at some point. You get a voice confirmation that you are connected and the battery power remaining. The Bose has a very old computer generated voice which is terrible. The Sony voice is much more modern and clear making the Sony feel more up to date. The Sony has a press and hold button to power on/off. This also gives you a confimation that your Bluetooth has connected. Sound So the important stuff. I've played several tracks over and over on both headphones switching between the two and repeating the track. There are some differencs and it is all subjective. I found the Bose was clearer in the midrange and higher tones. I also felt there was a little more clarity in the words of the song then in the Sony. But the Sony came across more powerful lower down with base. You just feel the Sony has more capacity and power. The music sounds stronger. The Bose is very good but just lacks the real strong base of a track. App I tried both with no EQ straight out of the box. When I adjusted the EQ on both, I got even stronger sound from both. The Sony still feels more punchy. The Bose is very good for podcasts, super clear and great noise cancelling. The EQ on the Bose is very simple with very little adjustments. The Sony is more comprehensive. The Sony has a much better App with more ajustments. It can even learn your regular locations and adjust the sound and NC accordingly. The Bose does none of this. The Sony has a great feature that pauses the music if you simply start to talk to someone. It also switches to transparent mode so you can hear them. Great when ordering a coffee! The Bose doesn't do this. The Sony pauses the music if you lift the headphones off your head, resumes play when you place them back on. The Bose doesn't do this. You can cover the right cup with your hand on the Sony to temparaliy switch to transparancy mode to listen to someone speak. The Bose doesn't do this. Conclusion Overall, both headpones are brilliant in their own way and in isolation. I just feel I keep leaning over to the Sony for some reason. They just feel better quality, sound stronger and have better controls and features. They just feel more expensive. I feel you're paying for the Bose branding and would truly price the Bose QC45 between £150-£200 max. The Sony on the other hand feel a bargain at £240 currently. Both have a nice small case yet the Sony case seems more thought out with better internals. The Sony case has a canvas feel, the Bose a hard shell feel. Both very protable in your bag. One final thought which has been overlooked by online reviewers. The Bose branding on the side of the cups stands out. This made me feel concious of wearing them while walking in the street letting others know I have a pair of expensive headphones on. The Sony are much more discreet and can be mistaken at a distance for their cheaper £50 headphones. I just felt more relaxed wearing the Sony out in public. Yet it felt the opposite while sitting in a coffee shop wearing the Bose. I felt good wearing a quality product and brand everyone knows. It's a small thing but I noticed how it made me feel. I'm reluctant to return the Bose QC45s but between the two, I feel the Sony XM4s are just better.

OK, I've read a lot of reviews on here and let's put a few things straight. Me as background, 53 year old guy, using headphones for over 40 years, currently own xm4 and xm5 headphones and xm3 earbuds. CONNECTIVITY. Linked instantly to my Samsung a22 5g phone and sonru bluetooth 5.2 transmitter (for watching TV) no lip sync problems at all, walked all around my flat with no drop outs at all. 10/10 ANC. This is superb, it's certainly as good as my wh xm4's if not slightly better because you have almost zero white noise. I am very surprised by this. "aware mode" is also very good. 9/10 SOUND. Out of the box these are treble heavy, not good at all. But once you connect to the "bose music" app you can adjust the eq (please see pictures), once you reduce the treble to - 6 and add +2 to the bass these sound fantastic. I would put them on a par with the xm4 easily. Very detailed, warm bass and the mids are all there. I'm using Spotify highest quality setting and aac codec. (I run my Sony headphones on aac codec as this sounds great with no drop outs), so don't worry about ldac and aptx etc, there are NO lip sync issues at all. 9/10 BOSE MUSIC APP. This is simple and basic compared to sony, but it is just exactly what you need, no silly gimmicky functions, just straight forward. Once you adjust your eq you can save these settings so when you reconnect your headphones they are ready to go. I have tried this personally and it works. So I give the app 9/10 purely because it's simple and does what you need it to do. PHONE CALLS. Sorry! I use headphones for music. BUTTONS. These are responsive and work very well, I'm used to sensor pads (swipe gestures) on my Sony"s but these can be awkward sometimes so I actually enjoy having buttons again. 9/10. CONCLUSION. I paid £209 new for these and I don't regret this at all. £319 rrp! I would feel uncomfortable with that price. Oooh! Nearly forgot..... COMFORT. Very comfortable as good as my wh xm4's and with the added bonus that these don't creak at all, no hinge clicking etc. Worn for 3 hours as we speak and I hardly know I'm wearing them, no hot ears, 9/10. Hope this helps you people make an informed decision. I'm selling my xm5 now as these and my xm4's are my goto headphones now..... UPDATE. After about 10 hours plus of listening to my Spotify playlists, I can say that the qc 45 are actually better than my Sony xm4's and xm5's! I'm hearing instruments and backing vocals that I never knew songs had! I'm seriously impressed Been for a walk outside and traffic noise is literally just gone! Even my xm5s let the tyre noise through, but listening at 50%volume it's just the music. So 10/10..

I've been after a pair of noise cancelling headphones or earphones for a long time. I was deciding between earphones or headphones and it's been excruciating. I hate in-ear buds and I don't want to wear bulky headphones in public. The product that fits my needs would be the Bose QC earbuds II I suppose, however I was put off by the 6 hour battery life, the price and the prospect of losing them... Last year I bought the Huawei freebuds 4 impulsively as they had good reviews, don't go inside your ear and offer noise cancellation. I should've realised that you need a good seal for ANC and you can't get that with semi in-ear buds. They do sound good though and they've been good to have around. I realised that ANC was the main thing I want to drown out busy places as I suffer from panic attacks and anxiety. I need to shut off the world sometimes and when I'm somewhere noisy this isn't possible and it causes panic. So I was determined to get the best earphones or headphones available so I can feel comfortable going out. Sony & Bose... The main competitors: Sony XM4/5 & Bose NC700/QC45. My overall conclusion after watching/reading 20+ hours of reviews and comparisons is this: Sony - The Bass will be too intrusive, I have to take gloves off in winter to operate, look chunky, more features, bad out of box sound, can play high Res music, similar, perhaps very slightly better ANC, Case for XM5 is large. Bose NC700 - Balanced sound, lots of ANC control, touch controls with same caveat as Sony, slightly heavy, metal band gets damaged when sliding earcups, slightly worse ANC than others, feel loose, app issues. Bose QC45 - Same as SE but with hard case, balanced sound but treble is too pronounced (I like treble though), physical buttons so can use with gloves, case is small, latency might not be great for TV. I decided on the QC45 as it was on offer for £219. The QC earbuds II are still £279 and I can't justify paying that for earbuds that last 6 hours. I also thought the over ear style of headphones would be conducive to better noise cancelling due to the passive isolation. I received the 45's yesterday and I've barely taken them off since. I'm truly impressed. The latency is unnoticeable so I can watch TV without any lip sync issues which is an absolute game changer for me. The noise cancellation is great, although I'm sure when I tried some QC35 II's on a couple of years ago they were better but I'm still pleased with these. The sound is treble heavy and lacks base but it's adjustable in the EQ. They connect so easily to different devices, it's truly effortless, I can't find an apple logo anywhere though 😉. More than anything though I can actually see myself having these on in public and having them surgically attached to my neck 24/7 for whenever I might need them. I'm so pleased they exist and for my needs they are perfect, the only thing I would like to have is ANC adjustment like the NC700 and high bit rate bluetooth. Finally the earcups are the best on the market, allowing room for your ears so they're not being pressed against. Hope this helps anyone having trouble deciding who doesn't want to spend weeks or months comparing the competition.

I've gone through (checks amazon account) 9 pairs of wireless noise cancelling headphones since 2016 - all of them Sony. From the Wh-H900 to the Wh-CH700 and others. Many of them were good, many of them were not. The CH700 were really only fill-ins when I didn't want to spend hundreds on a pair. Their ANC is not effective, and they break very easily. In fact, when I was buying those Sony headphones, I always went in pretty much knowing that they would break within the year, and they all did - even the more expensive ones, though I never ventured into the XM territory. I haven't owned Bose before, though I always wanted to. This pair arrived today, and the noise cancelling is absolute BLISS. Ten times better than any other Sony headphone I've tried. I have very sensitive hearing and there are always lots of televisions in my home environment. I haven't slept without earplugs in more than twenty years. The noise cancelling on these headphones is just phenomenal. I've experienced no audio drops or other issues that many early adopters mentioned in their complaints. I experimented with turning it on and off as I walked across my creaky hardwood floors, and I was shocked at the difference. With ANC turned on, I can barely hear my footsteps. One con I could mention is that the control buttons seems a little outdated, or anachronistic. Sony may have a better interface, but for comfort and ANC, Bose have them beat. I don't care though; they work well, and that's what matters to me. Sound quality is excellent. I'm sure the Sony XM models match them for noise cancelling, but I wasn't willing to put more money down on a pair of headphones that (historically,) would likely break within 6 to 12 months. It seems (and this is merely my firmly held belief based on experience) that Sony headphones lean heavily into the built in obsolescence that plagues moderns electronics. It's only my first day with Bose, but I think this may be different. The NC is good and of such tremendous relief to me that I will absolutely cradle these. Very highly recommended.

I have been a massive fan of QC35 (MK1 ), having skipped MK2 and 700s - I decided to blind buy this model. Qc35s was a mega hit,it was extremely hard to beat. The QC35 series 2 was barely an upgrade and 700s were somewhat of a marmite of Bose due to comfort issues. Comfort - clue is in the name. QC45 is the modern 2021 evolution of QC35 - it is still the most comfiest pair of cans on the market, cloud feel, ultra refined - never mind airpods max or Sonys XM4s as I have tried these in the past - just outstanding and I have a 59cm large noggin. Audio - the treble, clarity and highs all take the spotlight - crystal clear, but not overly bright - just right. Acoustic instruments are show stoppers here along with vocals - balanced and natural. No fancy codecs support here (aptxhd etc). The soundstage is expanded much more so than Qc35s, excellent wide reaching stereo with decent positioning and imaging. The base is punchier and refined but not for bass heads (not a Bose signature anyway) than my qc35s The Bose music app is very simple and intuitive. The microphone call quality is noise cancelled and clear especially when used in public noisy places or trains/planes, perhaps close to the 700s but not quite there. Overall this is a solid upgrade over the 35s with a quick charge to boot via USB-C Thumbs up from me Update - ANC is a few notches stronger than QC35, especially when it comes to things like children screaming, sirens etc - this is definitely a big plus. The Aware mode is simple but not as intuitive as XM4 as a button press is required (no touch controls here, which for me is an advantage when using gloves etc) Excellent range with BT5.1 - even longer than QC35 - 0 dropouts, no latency/lag with movies and Youtube. Battery life around 24 hours with ANC on - perfect !

Well made and nice looking headphones, let down by a few points. They are comfortable to wear, adjust as required and have a padded head band. I was expecting more from the noise cancelling as I can still hear annoying commuters who are intent on ruining my peaceful journey. You even have an "aware" function to make those other commuters even more annoying. The sound quality is pretty good but I have compared them to the Sony equivalent and they fall short of those. The app is good, connectivity is good and there is a wired option for when your battery dies. Charging is pretty quick and the battery life if more than enough...I probably charge mine once a week. The pads started to peel as they are not leather, leaving black flecks on my face. I had to replace these after a year which I didn't expect to have to do.

I was curious to see how long I'd owned these so looked at my order history, it's been over 2 years and I've used them most days. I've replaced the pads twice because wear and tear is hard to avoid but the official replacements aren't expensive so I'm fine with that. The ANC is great and so is the sound quality. Dual bluetooth connection was a bit buggy so I've had that disabled. I've previously own the Sony XM3/4 and 5, all of which had to be returned in under a year because of faults, Sony were no help and the retailers stepped in. It may seem like a small thing but Bose selling replacement pads sealed the deal for me, they impact the noise cancelling and it's one thing I hated about Sony headphones because they don't offer them. So to summarise - Bose good, Sony bad.

Excellent t product from Bose, great for long haul flights with noise cancellation

✅ Points positifs : Réduction de bruit très efficace, idéal pour les transports ou environnements bruyants. Son clair et équilibré, bonne fidélité audio pour tous types de musique. Confortable pour de longues sessions grâce aux coussinets doux et légers. Connexion Bluetooth stable et rapide. Autonomie longue durée, pratique pour une utilisation quotidienne. ❌ Points négatifs : Prix élevé, mais justifié par la qualité et les fonctionnalités. Casque un peu encombrant à transporter si l'on a pas l'étui rigide. 👉 Résumé : Un casque Bluetooth haut de gamme offrant un confort optimal et une réduction de bruit très performante, parfait pour voyager ou travailler dans un environnement bruyant.

First of all and above anything else: all other NC headphones are performing less in dampening the background. In posession now for some 3 months. Very content about the sound quality, simplicity of use, duration of the USB rechargeable battery

Lätt att komma igång och riktigt bra ljud! ANC fungerar väldigt bra och i ett rätt bullrigt kontorslandskap så är det skönt att sätta på lurarna och tystnaden infinner sig.

Kulaklıkları takıp daha açmadan bile tv’deki maç sesini üçte birine düşürdü. İnanamadım. Ertesi gün işyerinde denedim, açık ofiste 1 yıldır beni sinir eden tüm gereksiz konuşma seslerinden kurtuldum. Gürültü Engelleyici özelliğini dahi açmadan kimseyi duymuyorum müzik dinlerken. Tamamen sessiz modunda kullanırken şarkı aralarında bile dış sesleri engelliyor. Harika bir teknoloji, bulandan Allah razı olsun. Keşke daha önce alsaydım. Resmen hayat konforum arttı. Model olarak yorumları okuyup izleyerek f/p değerlendirmesi yaptıktan sonra bu modeli seçmiştim, çok memnunum. Daha önce Huawei Free Buds 3 kulak içi kulaklıkları işyerinde kullanmıştım. Onda da Gürültü Engelleme özelliği var ancak bu kadar etkili kesinlikle değildi.

Se ha escrito mucho sobre los Bose QC45 vs los Sony XM5 o XM4... en mi caso al final, habiendo leído mucho y después de haberlos probado todos, me decidí los por Bose y no me arrepiento en absoluto. Me encanta Sony, he usado y uso muchos de sus productos... pero en mi caso valoré un conjunto de aspectos. Lo primero es la cancelación que es maravillosa... pero seguro que la de Sony tampoco te defraudará. El sonido de los XM5 quizá sea algo más dinámico, pero para mi lo importante era: Eficacia de la cancelación, comodidad, peso, calidad de sonido, botones físicos, que se plegaran y que fueran funcionales usándolos en videollamadas. Están cumpliendo plenamente en todo, escucho sobre todo jazz, clásica contemporánea y algo de pop y rock... y va bien en todos los géneros sin destacar tampoco en alguno en especial... Si necesitas la cancelación, adelante, bien Sony o Bose te irá bien. Si no la necesitas, compra unos buenos auriculares de Beyerdynamic, Audio-Technica, Sony, etc. etc. mejor incluso si son con cable y disfruta tu música. Compra unos auriculares ANC solo si la necesitas, no por la moda o el hype. La cancelación por la propia tecnología parece que apaga un poco la frescura del sonido, pero las percepciones personales son muy subjetivas. En mi caso los necesitaba para cancelar ruido ambiente tanto en casa como en avión y tren y estoy totalmente encantado, además te permite escuchar a volúmenes más bajos y por tanto menos fatiga auditiva. Otro aspecto importante como digo es que se pudieran plegar y el estuche no fuera aparatoso. Todo ello me hizo decidirme finalmente por los Bose. Los XM5 son muy grandes, no pliegan y la funda parece una broma aunque suenan estupendos y son comodísimos. Los XM4 pliegan, suenan bien y los podrás encontrar rebajados respecto a los XM5. Los Bose no me han defraudado para nada, la aplicación es correcta y vinieron con la última versión de fw disponible, tan última que no está descargable en su web todavía pero es oficial, obviamente. Creo que para viajar son mejores que los XM5. Si no los vas a mover fuera de casa y el tamaño de los auriculares o el panel táctil no es un problema para ti, los XM5 quizá (más percepciones personales) tengan un sonido algo menos “apretado” que los Bose pero en cancelación ambos rinden estupendamente. Por poner una pega, el ANC no puede desconectarse, solo puede ponerse un modo “aware” que repite via micrófonos algo del sonido externo por si alguien te habla etc. Estoy usándolos también para videoconferencias y para mejorar la concentración si hay ruido en la oficina o en casa y son una pasada. Totalmente recomendados.