One of the main reasons why people buy premium ANC headphones is to block out noise especially when they’re on an airplane. And even though they aren’t perfect, both the Bose QC ultra and Bose QC’s are grate options to travel with cause they block out a lot of noise, they’re very comfortable, and they have a decently small case.
So today we’re going to compare the ANC performance on both the Bose QC Ultra and Bose QC… but we’re also going to compare them to their predecessors, the Bose QC45’s which have been my daily drivers for the past 2 years and the Bose NC 700’s, so that we can see if its worth upgrading for you.
But I do want to point out that this ANC Test was recorded while at cruising altitude in an airplane. Yes, I was walking around the airport with 10 different headphones in my carryon. And its important to point out that this ANC test was taken while at causing altitude cause the atmospheric pressure change affects the performance of the Active noise cancelation on these headphones when compared to being on the ground. So this ANC test is different from the ANC tests found in the their original review videos. But with all of that being said, we’re going to jump into the ANC Test.
ANC Test
So first off, all of these headphones block out an adequate amount of noise for a pair of premium ANC headphones. However the Bose NC 700’s which are the oldest headphones here block out the least amount of noise. Bose QC45’s block out noticeably more noise than the Bose NC 700’s… but then there are the newer Bose QC’s which block out just a little more noise than the Bose QC45’s. Now in this test you can very faintly hear a difference… but personally I think this performance difference is so small, it wouldn’t be worth it to upgrade from the Bose QC45’s to the Bose QC.
But then there are the Bose QC Ultra, and these block out the most amount of noise here… And I feel that the performance difference between the Bose QC Ultra and Bose QC is enough to justify an upgrade. And when it comes to the cabin pressure on these headphones… I noticed that while you’re playing music or watching a movie… you dont feel all that much pressure on your ear drums… however, if you’re not playing anything, then you will feel some pressure, but its not unbearable like with older ANC headphones out there.
So overall, when it comes to the active noise cancelation on these headphones… the Bose QC Ultra block out the most amount of noise here, and I do feel that the ANC on the Bose QC Ultra is enough to justify upgrading from the Bose QC, or Bose QC45. And if you have the Bose NC 700’s… if you decide to upgrade to either of Bose new ANC headphones, you’re really going to notice a difference not only in active noise cancelation performance… but also the smaller cases which just make traveling with your headphones much easier.