The $329 Bose QuietComfort 45 is an excellent upgrade with enhanced ANC, sound, and battery life.

The Bose QuietComfort 45 headphones bring strong ANC, 24 hours of battery life and great audio quality in a familiar design.

For $329, the QC45 headphones are the most practical headphones for casual listeners who are looking for portable headphones with high-quality sound that are more affordable than other popular brands.

Though the competition is stiffer than ever, the Bose QuietComfort 45 headphones continue to lead the industry with the best active noise cancellation you can buy.

The new QuietComfort 45 headphones has some nice improvements over their predecessor, including superb noise canceling and better headset performance.

Bose is clearly catering to QuietComfort fans with the QC45. The new model maintains everything that makes this line of headphones so popular with noteworthy upgrades to noise cancellation. It’s also apparent that Bose is content to put its latest tech to work in entirely separate models like the 700, keeping the QC family going as long as there’s still demand for it. And if I had to guess, the clamoring will remain for quite some time. If Bose can manage to get the price closer to $300, future QuietComfort headphones become an even more intriguing proposition.

The QuietComfort 45s are Bose at its best. They’re not some grand departure, and they adhere so closely to what’s come before that it’s easy to perceive them as less ambitious than the Noise Cancelling Headphones 700. But with their enhancements to noise cancellation, a useful new aware mode, and other tweaks, Bose has added ample appeal to what was already a solid foundation. And you’re not simply going to find a more comfortable pair of noise-canceling headphones. I just hope the company unlocks their fullest potential with some firmware updates in the coming months

he Bose QuietComfort 45 are for those who want an over-the-ear set of noise-canceling headphones that can easily be worn all day, though the Sony WH-1000XM4 should be consider for those who need longer battery life.

I use Bose purely to shut out the world when I travel or when I’m concentrating at work. The QC 45 accomplishes that. But if you have the QC 35 II, like I do, there’s probably little reason to upgrade for now, even if the ANC is a bit better. I tend to use my Bose headphones for years — if you don’t have a pair, get these and you won’t need another until maybe 2030 (no joke).

You’re looking to update from older models If you’re looking for headphones for the office, travel or home and don’t have the patience for other people, the noise cancellation is tremendous.

Great comfort, super sound, spectacular active noise-cancelling. These are ideal travel headphones. The only thing not to love is the competition - which has grown stronger over the years, including from Bose itself.

Intuitive and powerful, but also missing some key features at the moment

The QC45 have solid noise cancellation, but they're bettered in sound quality by the class leaders

The Bose Quietcomfort 45 have all the parts to be a great pair of ANC headphones, but they doesn't quite have the finish. Sound quality isn't all that great, even if the ANC is among the best in class.

The Bose QuietComfort 45 offer some of the very best noise cancelling and comfort money can buy. If you need a set of headphones to wear for hours on end, such as on long-haul flights or endless commutes, there aren’t many better options.

The Bose QuietComfort 45 deliver on their promise of quiet and comfort but are light on smart features

The Bose QuietComfort 45 take a proven formula and make some much-needed improvements like longer battery life, USB-C charging, and easier/faster control over ANC modes, but some folks might miss the features that Bose decided to drop.

Keeping things simple and comfortable, the Bose QuietComfort 45 are excellent noise-cancelling headphones that will keep you fully immersed in your favourite songs. There aren’t loads of extra features to speak of and the sound is crowd-pleasing, it would be very hard not to recommend them.

While the QuietComfort 45 are good in many ways, particularly comfort and noise cancelling performance, they are missing a lot of features we’d expect from a pair of flagship headphones.

Lacking a few features we’ve come to think of as standard, but Bose are still right up there when it comes to no-nonsense noise-cancelling

Bose ups its noise-cancelling headphone game with the Bose QuietComfort 45, but it knows when to leave well enough alone.

Bose have sold millions of the QC35 II because it never failed to deliver superior ANC performance, excellent battery life, comfort, and above average sound quality. The changes to the QuietComfort 45 were rather minimal and that has resulted in a pair of wireless ANC headphones that deliver a solid performance and excellent isolation.

The Bose QuietComfort 45 has all the parts to be a great ANC headset, but it doesn't quite have the finish. Sound quality isn't all that great, even if the ANC is among the best in class.

They have a very neutral sound profile with a touch of extra thump, rumble, and boom in the bass that doesn't overwhelm vocals or lead instruments. Luckily, if you want to adjust their sound, their companion app offers a graphic EQ and presets. However, the passive soundstage seems closed-off and as if coming from inside your head. Our unit's left and right drivers are also somewhat out of sync in the mid to treble range, and you can hear a mismatch using regular content. That said, this issue may be limited to our model.

The Bose QC45s are ideal for those that want more of the same. If you've got an older pair of QuietComfort headphones that you love but are getting a bit worn and battered, the QC45s will be a nice, familiar replacement.