Is it worth buying a Bose QuietComfort 45 in 2023?
As the need to wear earphones has become more recent, AirPods have been worn for a long time, making me feel uncomfortable, so I thought of buying a new headphone as a 2023 New Year’s gift to buy for myself.
Noise-canceling headphones are one of the greatest inventions of the New Times. For many headset enthusiasts, BOSE is one of the brands that can’t be bypassed. Bose QuietComfort series, as the pioneering work of consumer-grade noise-canceling headphones, with its comfortable wearing experience and excellent noise reduction effect, has become the benchmark of similar products. Between the series-designed Bose 700 and the noise-canceling QuietComfort series, I chose the Bose QuietComfort 45; after a period of use, I’d like to share whether it’s worth buying.
First of all, in terms of appearance and color.
There are four colors, and I chose “White Smoke.”
BOSE QC45, but from the appearance, it is a continuation of the classic, commercial, and style use. Compared with the previous version QC35 II, the overall detailing of the headset is more delicate, such as the right side of the unit cover eliminating the splicing process of different materials, both sides of the keys becoming more rounded and reduced protrusion, etc.… Due to the lightweight plastic shell and weight reduction optimization, Bose QC45 weight is only 240g (measured weight of 236.8g), much lighter than other headset noise cancellation headphones.
The headset headband frame remains unchanged, using impact-resistant glass fiber nylon and a rotating folding design. Since the Bose QC45 has four built-in microphones for radio and auxiliary noise cancellation, the pickup hole area outside each ear cup has increased to two, and the noise cancellation configuration is more powerful. The other two small changes are Bose Logo from the metal nameplate into a silk-screened texture of the pearl gray Logo and the right ear button indicator reduced to one. Through these details can also be seen that the headset is indeed a “polished” product.
Bose QC45 cotton head cushion has finally become the same protein leather material as the ear cups, and the thickness is greater to relieve further the pressure of the headphones on the top of the head. The earcups still use the familiar combination of protein leather and soft, flexible memory foam; very close to the touch of the skin, the entire ear when wearing headphones is completely set into the sponge cover. Especially for users who wear glasses, there is no additional pressure on the legs and no foreign body feeling when worn for a long time. The internal angle of the headset ensures a better fit with the ear, and the inner circle of the ear cups has round holes designed to provide a good sound insulation effect for the headset; at the same time, it is not easy to cover the stuffy ear situation. Although the touchpad in the wireless headset has become more mature and famous, Bose QC45 continues the design of the entire physical buttons, headset button layout, and operation logic, and the previous generation of products remains consistent. Outside the right earcup are the switch/pairing toggle, the bottom rear position and volume adjustment, multi-function buttons, and the praiseworthy USB-C charging port. The left ear is equipped with a noise-canceling/transparent mode switch button and an ancestral 2.5mm headphone jack, meaning that the headset is also unable to use the wired call function. Accessories, the headset comes with a storage bag, which is convenient for users to carry on the go. The compartment of the storage bag has a 30cm long Type-C charging cable and a 2.5mm to 3.5mm audio cable, which can be used as a wired headset when the power is low.
Noise cancellation is still powerful; transparent mode has a surprise in the first connection to the Bose QC45; first, download and install the “Bose Music” APP, so you can quickly search and connect the headphones. The process is quite simple and fast. In the APP, you can see the current power of the headphones (power display step for 40%), work mode, and control music playback, but unfortunately, QC45 does not support the EQ balancer function. Even the previous version that supports noise reduction level adjustment has been deleted. For the average user, as long as the APP tutorials to familiarize themselves with its various shortcut key operations, you can do without an APP connection to use.
In the actual scene experience, you can make most of the surrounding noise instantly disappear, l for example, the car engine or air conditioning compressor issued by the low-frequency noise can be almost completely suppressed. The sound of rail friction in the light rail car and the mechanical keyboard tapping indoors close to the editor will become very small. In addition, the Bose QC45 has a new pass-through mode, in which the microphone picks up the surrounding ambient sound and plays it naturally through the headphones, so you can enjoy music while retaining the surrounding ambient sound, suitable for scenarios that require outdoor walking commuting. With four noise-canceling microphones, these headphones can better balance the ambient sound and music. The actual test process also found that if you use the pass-through mode, you can strengthen the human voice in the middle and long distances to a certain extent, which is particularly obvious in a quiet environment. Bose QC45QC45 can also connect two devices simultaneously, supporting seamless switching. This experience is also outstanding. Bluetooth 5.1 specifications, iOS, and Android platforms have good performance. Sound quality, Bose QC45 is equipped with TriPort acoustic structure. The sound is still the classic “Bose flavor,” precisely the tuning style in favor of low and medium frequencies; low-frequency volume is sufficient but relatively loose, high-frequency soft, not harsh, and the resolution has been improved. This time, the battery life upgraded to an impressive 24 hours, mainly due to Bluetooth 5.1 low power consumption. The actual volume of 40% continuous listening to music for 3 hours only dropped 10% of the power; extended battery life should be able to reach about 30 hours. And headphones support fast charging, charging for 15 minutes, and playing about 3 hours of music.
In summary, at the same price as headphones, Bose QC45 will be a very worthy choice.
