Bose QuietComfort 45 review
Bose’s QC45s are destined to be a big seller for all of the same reasons as their predecessors. They’re extremely comfortable, incredibly easy to use and if they’re not the very best noise-cancellers on the market then there isn’t a lot in it. Throw in great battery life and you can’t really go wrong. Critics argue that Bose’s signature sound lacks a bit of power and dynamism in comparison to some of its rivals, but we think most people will be really happy with the QC45’s sound, no matter what musical genre they throw at them. What is an issue, however, is the lack of features. No in-app EQ, no auto-pausing for speech or wear detection, and no customisation options for ANC or passthrough. They won’t even turn themselves off if you forget to do it. Sony’s XM4s, which are QC45s closest rival, can do all of that and they only cost an additional 30 sheets (and that’s if you can’t pick them up cheaper in deal). Some of this could surely be added in a future firmware update, but we do think that Bose might have gone a bit too far with its back-to-basics approach. This a far more competitive market than the one the QC35s arrived in. Still, if a big feature set doesn’t matter much to you then the QC45s are a very solid pair of headphones that do everything they can do very well, and will probably last you until the Q55s.
ANC still fantastic ; Very durable design; Good all-round sound; Great battery life;
Similarly priced alternatives offer more features for the money; Can’t turn noise-cancelling off without activating Aware Mode;