The Bose QuietComfort 45 steal a feature from Sony’s famous WH-1000XM4 headphones
Aware mode? Where have we seen this before…
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If you’re among the many workers heading back to the office this month, listen up: Bose has announced a new pair of noise-cancelling headphones called the Bose QuietComfort 45 that will drop on September 23 for $329 / £329 / AU$499.95.
The QuietComfort 45 will be a direct sequel to theBose QuietComfort 35 IIthat came out a few years ago and are among thebest noise-cancelling headphoneson the market.
That said, new to this year’s model are an improved battery life of up to 24 hours, as well as a beam-forming array microphone that will isolate your voice during phone calls. Last but not least, there’s a new Aware mode that will allow you to pipe in outside audio – a feature thatSonyhas offered since its originalMDR-1000Xheadphones that came out four years ago.
Bose says that the headphones will use Bluetooth 5.1 to connect wirelessly to your mobile devices, and that you’ll be able to use Bose SimpleSync to pair the QC45 with compatible Bose Soundbars for seamless transition when coming home from work.
Analysis: A direct rival for the Sony WH-1000XM4
While there are dozens of good noise-cancelling headphones available right now, the two best models are the Sony WH-1000XM4 and slightly older Bose QuietComfort 35 II - which makes sense why Bose wants to release a newer model.
In terms of price, bothheadphonesare similar - the Bose QuietComfort 45 is $329 / £329 / AU$500, while theSony WH-1000XM4launched at $349 / £349 / AU$549 in August of 2020.
The price point and noise cancellation performance already put these two headphones head-to-head, but add an incredibly similar feature-set and now it might be really hard for consumers to know which one to buy.
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Unfortunately, until we test them for ourselves in September we won’t have any definitive answer for you, but based on the last four previous models we’d wager that theSony headphoneswill sound better while theBose headphoneswill offer slightly better noise cancellation performance.
Because both sets of headphones integrate with other products in the same family, your decision might just come down to whichsoundbaror sound system you have and if you plan on taking advantage of Sony’s spatial audio technology,360 Reality Audio. That said, whichever model you end up choosing, be prepared for averyquiet experience.
Nick Pino is Managing Editor, TV and AV for TechRadar’s sister site, Tom’s Guide. Previously, he was the Senior Editor of Home Entertainment at TechRadar, covering TVs, headphones, speakers, video games, VR and streaming devices. He’s also written for GamesRadar+, Official Xbox Magazine, PC Gamer and other outlets over the last decade, and he has a degree in computer science he’s not using if anyone wants it.
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