Bose QuietComfort® 45 Bluetooth wireless noise cancelling headphones with microphone for phone calls - White Smoke

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 comfortThe 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 modeI 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.ControlsThe 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.SoundSo 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.AppI 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.ConclusionOverall, 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.

These are hands down the best headphones I have ever owned. They have an on/off switch which I didn’t realise when I purchased them but it’s so much better than having to hold a button down to turn them on and off, you switch the button on and they’re super fast to connect, they also connect immediately to two of your devices instead of one, so as soon as I switch them on they connect to my iphone and ipad, if I switch devices I don’t have to fiddle around switching with bluetooth settings it immediately works on the second device, this is so handy! Another plus is they’re super comfy to wear, usually I can’t keep headphones on for longer than 30-60 minutes as they become hot and uncomfortable and I need to take them off but these I can wear for hours. I also like that you can see how much battery percentage you have left in the Bose app and it also tells you by voice how much percentage you have when you switch them on. The sound quality from these headphones is excellent which you expect from Bose but they really are a pleasure to use, they are expensive and I wasn’t sure they would be worth the money (they’re the most expensive headphones I’ve purchased) but I feel they are and don’t regret my purchase, you can tell they’re a high end product from the comfort and sound quality, I’m so happy I brought them.The only negative I have to mention is the soft case, as they are so expensive I feel that they should come with a hard case to protect them. I purchased a hard case separately from Bose for £20 plus postage which is an added expense, other than this I’m very happy with my purchase.

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. 10/10ANC.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. 9/10SOUND.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. 9/10BOSE 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 impressedBeen 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..

Great buy. Daughter loves.

I bought these for Husband to replace his ratty old ones. I bought them when they were on sale, and stashed them away to gift to him at Christmas, but then that man had the NERVE to ask me to find him a new pair of headphones, as his old ones were falling apart. So what's a wife to do? Buy a cheap new pair and save these beauts for Christmas, or go in the closet, pull out the box and throw it at him and tell him he ruined Christmas. Obviously, I chose option 2.He loves these so much. He watches a lot of tv and videos, and almost always wears them, so he's not disturbing me (because he's actually the sweetest). He loves the fit, the comfort, the sound quality, and definitely loves the noise-cancelling. Easily one of the best gifts I've ever gotten him, even if it did ruin Christmas.

Son muy cómodos y muy buen sonido lo que es siempre garantía Bosé de lo mejor

Great product and best value for $$

Muy buena cancelación de ruido, la calidad de sonido es excelente y funciona aún mejor si descargas las app de Bose, los materiales se sienten de mucha calidad y cubre muy bien toda la oreja,además son muy cómodos y no generan molestia si los usas mucho tiempo.