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

Returning to the office after quarantine felt like being dropped into a zoo where the animals had discovered Microsoft Teams. Enter the Bose QuietComfort 45s—my sleek, noise-canceling saviors.These headphones didn’t just cancel noise—they canceled Karen from accounting’s daily recap of her cat’s digestive issues. They turned open-plan chaos into a peaceful productivity bubble. I could finally hear myself think... and more importantly, hear my manager on Teams without the background symphony of keyboard smashing and passive-aggressive sighs.The mic? Crystal clear. The comfort? Like two marshmallows hugging your ears. The noise cancellation? So good I once forgot I was still in the office and almost wore them into a meeting room like a DJ.If you're looking to survive post-pandemic office life with your sanity intact and your Teams calls on point, these are your new best friends. Bonus: they also double as a polite way to say “please don’t talk to me.”

Very pleased with this purchase. I've had them a while now and they're still going touch wood. Good reproduction and very good noise cancelling.

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.

This is my first purchase of bluetooth headphones. I don’t travel so any requirement for portability is, right now, irrelevant to me, I just wanted a set of over ear noise cancelling headphones to play music and help focus my mind from distractions drowning out nuisance noise such as building works.Like other reviewers I got swept up with a plethora of reviews via a certain video sharing platform and based on those reviews I had it in my mind that I would go for the main competitor to Bose, however I had a nagging feeling all was not right and when I saw these QC 45s reduced to £209.00 I decided to take the plunge, yes money talks.Whilst I can not say with any degree of authority that these are better or worse than the rival option all I can say is I am very please with this pair of QC 45s. As a test I trialled them outside, noise cancellation active and playing various soft rock at 60% volume on a busy A road during the school run with a with a 3200rpm polishing machine running and I could barely hear the machine, in fact I think I could hear the vibration through my body rather than the machine, I couldn’t hear the sound of the car door close or passing buses intrude into the music. Higher frequency noise such as loud voices (screaming children) managed to just sneak through. I tested again sitting in front of the TV, BBC News with the TV volume at number 32 which produces an average of 56bd and a max of 78bd depending on who is speaking, headphone volume at 50% playing Freddie Hubbard’s Blue Spirits and I can not hear lower pitch voices intruding into the music however the high pitch voices again just sneak through but if I was busy rather than focusing on the tv then I doubt I would have noticed. I think that is pretty impressive.The Bose connect app is basic but works, both phone and tablet connected with ease. Range of the Bluetooth seems ok with me leaving the active device in the front room and walking upstairs to the back of the house where the music just started to blip out for a fraction of a second. Whilst the sound quality is flat out of the box the EQ setting via the Bose Music app does the trick and I have no issue with adjusting the EQ to my preference, what is the point of having an app that allows you to adjust the bass, middle and treble to your preference and then moan about the sound quality of the out of the box preset. Manufactures wouldn’t give you the option if they didn’t want you to adjust the EQ.I can not provide details on battery life as I have not used them extensively enough, but I am sure it will do me fine.I like the physical buttons on the headshells, they are basic and do what I want.Inactive time out can be set by the app so you don’t drain the battery should you forget to use the physical power off button.The sliding power button also acts as a notification button, once on just slide the button to on again (sprung sliding button) and it I’ll tell you what device you are connected to and % battery remaining.If you are reading this review then you are likely in the market for a set of noise cancelling headphones, I am not going to recommend you buy these, you have to go with what you believe will suit your needs best, that said I have no regrets with my purchase.