Bose QuietComfort 45/QC45 Wireless Headphones Review

The Bose QuietComfort 45 look very similar to their predecessor, the Bose QuietComfort 35 II/QC35 II Wireless 2018. They have a sleek and minimalist look with a modest print of the manufacturer's logo on each ear cup. They come in two colors: 'Black' and 'Smoke White'.

The Bose QuietComfort 45 are amazingly comfortable. They feel lightweight and don't clamp onto your head very tightly. The padding on the ear cups and headband also feels better and cushier than that of the Sony WH-1000XM5 Wireless. If you like to listen to music for hours, you shouldn't experience too much fatigue.

The Bose QC45 have great controls. They have three physical buttons that are located on the right ear cup, which are clicky and easy to use. There's also an 'Action' button on the left ear cup, which acts as a multi-purpose control. There are volume chimes for when you've reached the minimum and maximum volume, as well as voice prompts when cycling through ANC settings. There are also voice prompts for when you're pairing the headphones. Unfortunately, there's no feedback if you're skipping tracks.

On the left ear cup:

Action button:

• Single press: Cycles between 'Quiet' mode, which is the ANC on, and 'Aware' mode. 'Aware' mode is very similar to a talk-through mode as it allows the headphones to actively use their microphones to pick up sounds around you and play them alongside your regular audio content. However, unlike the Bose QuietComfort 35 II/QC35 II Wireless 2018, you won't be able to adjust the level of noise cancelling if you prefer a lower setting and you can't turn this feature off.
• Press and hold: Access voice assistant.

On the right ear cup:

• '+' and '-': Raises and lowers the volume.

Center button:

• One press: Plays and pauses audio. Also answers and ends calls.
• Double press: Skips a track forward.
• Triple press: Skips a track backward.
• Press and hold: Declines a call.

These headphones have a fairly portable design. Although they're a bit bulky and take up some space in your bag, they can fold into a more compact format. You can also lay the ear cups flat so that they take up less space.

The Bose QC45's case is great. It's made of leatherette, and it feels sturdy and solid. There's a zipper to help secure the headphones when you're on the go, and inside the case is a small pouch to store the included cables when you're not using them.

The Bose QuietComfort 45's build quality is good. Their adjustable headband is reinforced metal, which makes them feel sturdy. They also have good padding, which feels soft on the skin. However, they're otherwise mostly made of lightweight plastic, which feels a little cheap for their price. The hinges and yokes feel like a weak point of the build since they're made of the same plastic as the body.

The Bose QuietComfort 45 have decent stability. They should stay on your head while you're using them at your desk or on the couch. However, they can fall off your head with more intense head movements, like during a run outside. On the upside, they have a wireless design, so you don't need to worry about something snagging them and pulling them off your head.

• Bose QuietComfort 45 headphones
• 1/8" to 1/16" (3.5 mm to 2.5 mm) TRS audio cable
• Carrying case
• USB-A to USB-C charging cable
• Manuals

The Bose QuietComfort 45 have a very neutral sound profile that's well-suited for a variety of audio content. There's a touch of extra bass that adds thump, rumble, and boom to mixes, but it doesn't overwhelm vocals and lead instruments. Luckily, if you prefer a different sound, their companion app offers a graphic EQ and presets to help you adjust their sound to your liking.

Note: Our unit's left and right drivers are somewhat out of sync in the mid to treble range, which makes the upper harmonics of voices overly bright in the right ear. However, this issue may also only affect our unit, though if you experience this too, please let us know in the discussions, and we'll update our review.

The Bose QuietComfort 45 have good frequency response consistency. Once you achieve a proper fit, seal, and positioning on your head, you should get consistent bass and treble delivery each time you use them.

The bass accuracy is great. It's slightly overemphasized across the range, but the response is still very flat. As a result, mixes have a bit of extra thump, rumble, and boom, but it shouldn't completely overwhelm vocals or lead instruments.

The Bose QC45 have outstanding mid accuracy. It's fairly flat and neutral across the range, resulting in detailed, accurate, and present vocals and lead instruments. However, the left and right driver are out of sync in the high-mid, so the right driver sounds harsher than the left.

The treble accuracy is decent. While the response is mostly overemphasized across the range, our unit's left and right drivers are somewhat out of sync. As a result, the harshness of vocals and lead instruments is more present in the right driver than the left driver. However, the difference is less noticeable in the mid-treble, so sibilants sound bright but not necessarily piercing.

The Bose QuietComfort 45's peaks and dips performance is amazing. For the most part, peaks and dips are fairly minor. However, our unit's left and right driver become very out of sync in the mid-mid, so a dip in the right driver nudges vocals and lead instruments at the back of the mix while dulling their detail. A peak in the right driver's low-treble makes the upper harmonics of these sounds harsh, while a dip in both driver's mid-treble dulls sibilants like S and T sounds.

Update 11/19/2021: We originally reported that the left driver sounds louder in the high-mid and treble range. However, this was incorrect, and it's the right driver that sounds louder. We have updated our text to reflect these changes.

The Bose QC45's imaging performance is just okay. There's a small peak above the group delay's audibility threshold, indicating a slightly loose bass. However, the treble is transparent. At the same time, the headphones are very mismatched in phase response, and the right driver sounds louder in the high-mid. You can also hear the phase mismatch in the treble range, even with real-life content. There's some mismatch present in frequency response too, which indicates holes in the stereo image. Overall, the imaging performance affects the accurate placement of objects like footsteps in the stereo image. That said, our results are only valid for our unit, and your experience may vary.

These headphones have a poor passive soundstage. While it sounds large, the soundstage still seems like it's coming from inside your head rather than from speakers placed in the room around you. Since they also have a closed-back design, they sound less open than open-back headphones.

The Bose QuietComfort 45 have a good weighted harmonic distortion performance. All frequencies fall within acceptable limits, resulting in clear and pure audio reproduction.

These are the settings used to test these headphones, and our results are only valid when they're used in this configuration.

Update 11/19/2021: Users have reported high cabin pressure when using their unit's ANC. Cabin pressure refers to the pressure-like feeling inside your ears when the ANC is on and is similar to when a plane ascends and descends, creating a difference in pressure between your inner and outer ear. Some users may also describe this feeling as similar to being underwater. This sensation is caused by your brain perceiving the lack of low-frequency sound as a pressure difference between the inner and outer ear, which can become uncomfortable. The cabin pressure of these headphones is slightly more than normal when their ANC is on, but it shouldn't be an issue for most users unless you're already sensitive to ANC. In comparison, other ANC over-ears, like the Apple AirPods Max Wireless, seem to have higher and more noticeable cabin pressure, but again, it shouldn't be too much of an issue for most users.

The Bose QC45's noise isolation performance is excellent. They do a similarly great job of blocking out the low rumble of bus and plane engines as their predecessor. However, both the Bose QuietComfort 35 II/QC35 II Wireless 2018 and Bose 700 Headphones Wireless have an edge when it comes to blocking out more noise in the mid and treble ranges. That said, the Q45 can still reduce a significant amount of noise, like ambient chatter and the hum of AC units.

Note: The ANC can't be turned off so we tested their passive isolation capabilities with the headphones turned off. We also tested ANC using 'Quiet' mode.

The Bose QuietComfort 45 have a passable leakage performance. Their leakage is mostly concentrated in the mid to treble range, which sounds a bit more full than in-ears and earbuds. If you like to listen to audio at high volumes in a moderately noisy environment like an office, people around you can hear parts of it.

The integrated microphone has a very good recording quality. Speech sounds clear and natural, although lacking in body.

The Bose QuietComfort 45 have mediocre noise handling. The mic struggles to separate your voice from moderate ambient noise, so if you're taking a call from somewhere like a busy street, your voice could be drowned out. If you're looking for Bose headphones with a better noise handling performance, it's worth considering the Bose QuietComfort 35 II Gaming Headset instead.

The Bose QuietComfort 45 have an excellent battery performance. The manufacturer advertises them to last 24 hours continuously with their ANC on and their continuous audio playback set to 50% volume. However, we measured a bit less than that, though battery life can vary depending on usage, so your real-life experience may vary. You may also notice a difference in battery life, depending on if you're connected to one or two devices at a time. The manufacturer advertises them to deliver up to three hours of playtime after a 15-minute charge. If you tend to run through battery life quickly, they have an auto-off timer that you can adjust in their companion app if you're looking to conserve battery life.

Update 02/22/2022: Firmware update 2.0.4-3475+32e4b0e has added a three-band graphic EQ and presets to the companion app. We have updated our review, and the scoring of this box has changed.

The Bose QC45 have a good app. It has a graphic EQ and presets so that you can customize their sound to your liking. Unlike previous generations, this app also allows you to connect the headphones to other Bose products using 'SimpleSync'. You can pair a maximum of two compatible Bose speakers, soundbars, or headphones together, so you can listen to your TV's audio via your Bose soundbar without disturbing others around you. For instructions on how to connect your devices together, check out Bose's FAQ here.

The Bose Music app offers additional controls. You can switch between ANC modes, adjust the volume, see the battery life, and set the auto-off timer. You can also adjust 'Self-Voice', which allows you to customize the amount of your own voice you hear while on a call, turn the voice prompts on and off, and switch languages. You can view, add, and change the Bluetooth sources too.

Update 02/22/2022: Some users have reported experiencing issues like as audio dropping when connected to their smartphone and PC at the same time. We retested multi-device pairing in two ways: connected to a Windows 10 PC and a Samsung S10e phone and connected to the same Windows PC and an iPhone SE. Both phones are updated to the latest firmware. We played a song on the phone and a Youtube video on the PC, alternating when one source played audio, and the other was paused. However, we didn't experience any issues with either phone, and we couldn't replicate this issue. There hasn't been a change in our review.

The Bose QC45 have excellent Bluetooth connectivity. They support multi-device pairing with up to two devices at a time, and unlike the Bose QuietComfort 35 II/QC35 II Wireless 2018, they utilize Bluetooth 5.1. However, you can't quickly pair them, as they don't support NFC pairing. While their latency on PCs is a bit high, they have much lower latency on iOS and Android devices, which is nice if you like to stream video. However, some apps and devices compensate for latency differently, so your real-world experience may differ.

The Bose QC45 come with a 1/8" to 1/16" (3.5 mm to 2.5 mm) TRS cable that you can use to passively listen to audio. However, you can't use their mic with this connection. These headphones also come with a USB-A to USB-C charging cable.

The Bose QuietComfort 45 Headphones can connect to Bluetooth-enabled PCs with full audio and mic compatibility. You can also connect them to your PC using their included 1/8" to 1/16" (3.5 mm to 2.5 mm) TRS cable, but you can only receive audio.

You can only use the Bose QuietComfort 45 on PlayStation consoles via an analog connection. However, you can only receive audio.

The Bose QuietComfort 45 can only receive audio when connected via analog to an Xbox One or Xbox Series X|S console.