So these are the Bose QC45’s… now I’ll be honest I thought we were never going to get these headphones cause after the Bose NC 700’s came out I thought Bose was going to go in a new direction with their headphones. But I guess the QC35’s proved to be such a cult classic that bose ended up caving in. Now overall the QC45’s are good and they definitely deliver… but these headphones are rather peculiar, and I feel that bose is holding the QC45’s back a little bit. 

Now regarding pricing, the Bose QC45’s have a retail price of $330. Which is a little less than the Bose QC35’s when they first came out because they used to retail for $350. And for comparison sake the NC 700’s retail for $400. Now for this video we’re going to be mainly focusing on the QC45’s and comparing them to the QC35’s… But if you want to see the versus video between these two headphones you can click or tap here or check out the description down below. But nonetheless if you want to pick these headphones up they’ll be linked down below. 

Now first lets address this case, the QC45’s have the same case as the QC35’s. Its a decently small hard shell case that you're going to be able to stuff into your back pack and not have to worry about your headphones because this hard case will keep them protected. However, one detail that I do want to point out here is that since the QC45’s are collapsable… their case is a little smaller than the NC 700’s case cause these headphones can only be laid down flat. Now I know this isn’t a huge deal… but this is one of the reasons why some people still preferred the QC35’s design over the NC 700’s design. But nonetheless the QC45’s still come included with a great case for traveling. No complaints here. 

But now lets talk about the headphones themselves… design wise the QC45’s are very similar to the QC35’s… which is part of the reason why there’s so much hype around these headphones. But there are some changes here. The most obvious of which is that the QC45’s now charge via a USB C port… as they should. Because I feel the QC35 series 2 should have had USB C charging… but they decided to stick with Micro USB instead which did hold them back. But a less obvious change on the QC45’s are the ear pads… the ear pads on the QC45’s are actually a little more spacious than the ear pads on the QC35’s. Which is actually insane given that the QC35’s already had super spacious ear pads to begin with. Now I’ll dive a little deeper into fit in a minute… because right now I do want to point out another less obvious changes on the QC45’s. And that has to do with their materials. Now the synthetic leatherette on the QC45’s feels great… but it is a step down from the leatherette found on the QC35’s. The leatherette on the QC35’s just feels softer, more supple, and with a slight grain to it. Where as the leatherette on the QC45’s feels more synthetic. Now it doesn’t feel plastic like on some other headphones… but it doesn’t feel as luxurious as the leatherette on the QC35’s. And I’ve even mentioned this in the past… but I feel the leatherette on the QC35’s also feels better than the leatherette found on the NC 700’s. Now continuing on this material change… I also gotta point out that the QC45’s no longer have alcantara underneath their headband like the QC35’s do. Now this isn’t a huge deal… but I’ve always felt the hit of alcantara was a signature of the QC35’s. And finally I do want to point out that the bose logo on the QC45’s is no longer milled into the ear cups like the Bose logo on the QC35’s. Its just printed on. Now overall the Bose QC45’s have great build quality. They're fully collapsable which is something a lot of people missed on the NC 700’s and they have zero cracking and squeaking whenever you flex their headband. But when compared to the QC35’s… they just don’t feel as premium, the QC45’s feel slightly watered down. Now I don’t think that your average user is going to notice or care… but I do.

But now lets talk about fit, the QC45 fit just like the QC35’s. Which is great because fit is another reason why the QC35’s were such a cult classic. Now when it come to clamping force, the QC45’s have very little clamping force making them bighead approved (shirts down below). And when it comes to their ear pads… like I mentioned earlier the ear pads on the QC45’s are actually a little more spacious than the ear pads on the QC35’s. Making these headphones a great option for someone if you’ve got very large ears or ears that stick out a lot. And since the padding on these ear pads is relatively thin… they also do a really good job of staying cool even after long use sessions because there isn’t so much surface area coming in contact with your skin to collect heat. And finally there’s their weight. Both the QC35’s and QC45’s weigh in at 235 grams… making them a pair of light weight ANC headphones. Because for comparison sake the Sony 1000XM4’s weigh in at 254 grams and the Bose NC 700’s weigh in at 264 grams… which is average. But then there are the behemoths which are the AirPods Max which weigh in at a staggering 385 grams. So these headphones are very noticeable when they're on your head at all times. Where as with the QC45’s not so much. These are a pair of headphones that you can easily wear for hours on end, you forget that you have them one when you’re working or gaming at your desk and they aren’t noticeable when you’re walking around with them on. Overall the QC45’s continue to be one of the most comfortable headphones out there that are both big head approved and will have no problem accommodating most ear types.

But now lets talk about tech specs. Regarding battery life, the QC45’s have gotten a slight upgrade here from the QC35’s. The QC45’s now have an advertised battery life of 24 hours with their active noise cancellation turned on. Where as the QC35’s have an advertised battery life of 20 hours. Now a battery life of 24 hours on the QC45’s is fine… but I wish these would have tried to go for 30 hours. 

But like I mentioned earlier, thankfully these headphones now charge via a USB C port. And if you were to charge these headphones up for 15 minutes from a dead battery life theyre going to get you 3 hours of playback time. Which is not bad. 

Now when it comes to connectivity, these headphones are using Bluetooth 5.1. but more importantly they can be simultaneously connected to 2 devices at the same. Which is great for power users because you can easily hot swap from one device to another regardless of eco system. And when it comes to performance these headphones have zero latency across the board hen watching movies or videos on your phone whether you’re using an iPhone or an android device. But when it comes to audio codecs these the QC45’s still only have support for SBC and AAC. Which is fine if you’re just streaming music. 

But if you want to you can always use a wired connection with these headphones because they still have an audio jack and they come included with an audio cable. However just keep in mind, these headphones have a 2.5 millimeter audio jack. And unfortunately you can’t use the USB C port on these headphones as a wired connection… and I’m just putting it out there… you can’t use these headphones while they're charging. 

But now lets talk about actually listening to music with these headphones… as per Bose’s engineers the QC45’s sound identical to the QC35’s. Which means the QC45’s aren’t going to be for everyone. Specifically the QC45’s shoot for a more neutral, vocals focused EQ. Now even though the bass on these headphones resonates a good amount… they don’t physically rattle your head like the bass that you would find on the Sony 1000XM4’s, a pair of beats or AirPods Max. So for some people the QC45’s will sound flat. However, the QC45’s do sound more open than the Sony 1000XM4’s because they have better instrument separation. However, these headphones don’t sound as open as the Sennheiser PXC 500 two’s or AirPods Max. But overall like I said the QC45’s are better suited for someone who likes a more neutral or vocals focused EQ because these headphones do put a slight emphasis on the mid’s and their bass is mostly just on the audible side. 

And unfortunately you can’t directly adjust the EQ on these to your liking like you can with the Bose NC 700’s. And personally I think this is one of the first signs of bose deliberately holding these headphones back to compel you to upgrade to the NC 700’s. Because there’s no reason why Bose couldn’t just add an EQ setting to the QC45’s like they did with the NC 700’s. 

But next up there are the media controls on these headphones. Now just like the QC35’s the QC45’s have the same physical buttons. And this alone could be a deciding factor for some people because some people just don’t want to have to deal with touch pads on their headphones. Cause even though the touch pad on the NC 700’s is fine… physical buttons are just more accurate. 

However, these headphones don’t have wear sensors like some newer headphones do. So they aren’t going to automatically play or pause your music when you take them off or put them back on. Now personally I don’t care for wear sensors on my headphones and I usually just turn them off. But I do want to point it out for the people that just need all the features. 

And finally regarding your media controls… the QC45’s no longer have Google assistant or Alexa integration like the QC35’s series 2 or NC 700’s have. So you can no longer have this button set up as a dedicated voice assistant button. Now I don’t think that this is a huge deal… but I do find it odd that Bose removed this feature from these headphones just given how hard they were trying to push this feature a few years ago. 

But instead this button is solely dedicated now to switching between your active noise cancelation and ambient mode. But a pet peeve that I have about these headphones is that you can’t use them with their ANC or Ambient Mode turned off. You gotta have on or the other turned on. And sometimes you wanna be able to use your headphones with their ANC or ambient mode turned off because it saves on battery life, your music sometimes sounds better, or sometimes you just want to take a break and not have to deal with the cabin pressure on these headphones. So bose, in the next firmware update just give me a simple off mode. But also don’t brick my headphones with your next firmware update.

But now lets talk about the active noise cancelation on these headphones… for starters the ANC on the QC45 still has an above average amount of cabin pressure when compared to your staples like the Bose NC 700 and Sony 1000XM4’s. Now the QC45’s have less cabin pressure than the QC35’s which is good… but you’re still going to feel like you gotta pop your ears with the QC45’s. However the QC45’s do block out an impressive amount of noise. But so that you can see for yourself we’re going to jump into an ANC test.

Now I decided to compare the QC45’s to the AirPods Max here because the AirPods Max block out the most amount of noise right now. They block out more noise than the Bose NC 700’s and Sony 1000XM4’s because they brutally go after constant low frequency sounds. However the AirPods Max have way more cabin pressure than both the Sony’s and Bose so for that reason they aren’t my preferred headphones when it comes to Active Noise Cancelation.  Now with that being said, the QC45’s do in fact block out a little more noise than the QC35’s… and they also block out more noise than both the NC700’s and 1000XM4’s as well. But they have more cabin pressure as well. Now they don’t have as much cabin pressure as the QC35’s which is good… but you’re really going to notice a difference in comfort if you go from using the QC45’s to either the NC 700’s or 1000XM4’s. And personally for me comfort is one of the most important things to consider when choosing headphones. And if the ANC on my headphones is going to constantly make me feel like I gotta pop my ears… then im not going to want to use them. So I feel the ANC on the QC45’s is a real catch 22. Yeah a block out a ton of noise… but they also have an above average amount of cabin pressure by today’s standards. Now everyone will might not be as sensitive to cabin pressure… but I am. 

But next there’s the ambient mode on these headphones. And this is another feature that was really missed on the QC35’s. However, I don’t really like the ambient mode on the QC45’s. For starters you can’t adjust the ambient mode on these headphones like you can with the NC 700’s. And again this is something that I feel bose just decided to leave out to compel you to upgrade to the NC 700. But more importantly the ambient mode on the QC45’s mostly just lets in noise pollution… and its very hard to hear what people are actually saying when they are directly talking to you. And I find this very strange because this isn’t an issue with the NC 700’s. And finally there’s their microphone array… this microphone array does like to pick up a noticeable amount of wind noise when walking out doors. Where as the NC 700’s does a much better job of rejecting wind noise. And finally, the QC45’s don’t have a conversation mode like the NC 700’s where if you press and hold this button the headphones will automatically lower the volume of you music and pump in all of the ambient sound around you so that you can talk to someone without having to take your headphones off like this.

So yeah… even though I’m very glad the QC45’s finally have an ambient mode which is another feature that I feel the QC35 series 2 should have had. I feel the ambient mode on the QC45’s needs work because it really does pale in comparison with the NC 700’s. 

But finally here’s the microphone test… now overall the QC45’s have a decent sounding microphone for phone calls. However I do have to admit, the QC35’s have a slightly better sounding microphone. 

While in a quite room the QC35’s do a much better job of focusing on just my voice. 

But the real difference is when it comes to blocking out noise pollution. Now right now you can defeneitly hear a noticeable amount of road noise in the back ground… but my voice is front and center. 

Where as with the QC45’s… even though you can hear my voice pretty well. It doesn’t sound as clear as with the QC35’s. With the QC45’s my voice sound shallow and hallow. 

And the same thing can be said about chatter. Yeah you can hear my voice… but its not super clear and I can’t help but feel that there’s a little bit of static in the background when im talking. 

Where as with the QC35’s my voice is much more prominent. So even though the QC45’s have a good microphone on them… I am going to have to say that their predecessor has the better microphone. 

So with all that being said the Bose QC45’s are a decent pair of ANC headphones have that have some very welcomed upgrades and they're going to be loved for the same reasons that the Bose QC35’s are loved. When it comes to comfort these headphones are one of the best options to go with. They have very little clamping force and their ear pads are even more spacious than before. They have the same great neutral sound signature that some people love and they still have those physical media buttons that some people just refuse to give up. Now even though I welcome the ambient mode on these headphones… its not the best. For some reason its very hard to actually hear what people are saying. And I don’t like that you can’t adjust your ambient mode. Now even though these headphones block out an impressive amount of noise… they still have a considerable amount of cabin pressure. Which could affect some people like me. And finally there’s the microphone on these headphones. It's good, but it is a down grade from their predecessor.