The 7 Biggest Complaints About the Bose QuietComfort 45 Headphones

Sound Clarity

The drivers that power the QC45 are similar in design to those found in the previous model, the QC35. With any design, however, subtle changes can account for quite a bit in the overall scheme of things. One of the most common complaints leveled at the QuietComfort 45 is the lack of overall clarity. That isn t to say frequency response is poor by any means. Rather, things lack details that other headsets might more readily capture. This becomes especially noticeable with more nuanced and subtle musical genres.

If you re a big fan of classical, jazz, or folk, you ll know how important it is to have your audio listening solution deliver the sound clearly and without much fuss. The QC45s sound great, but it just lacks that little bit of extra detail coming through the drivers to make them stand out among their competitors. A lack of bass response means those who enjoy more dance-oriented genres might be left in the cold.

Call Quality

Call quality is generally good with the QuietComfort 45, but it has a real problem with dropping calls. Also of note is the general lack of quality in regard to the microphone. During testing many users reported that the people they were calling complained of the overall quality of the microphone when in use. Given the price point, it is a bit disappointing to find the call performance is less than ideal. These are within the same general price range as things like theSony WH-1000XM4s, which don t suffer the same issues.

Dropouts are fairly common, despite the overall battery charge. You can have a strong Bluetooth connection with your phone nearby and still might drop calls. As such, you shouldn t rely on these as your primary device for talking to friends and family on the phone.

Finicky Active Noise Cancellation

The Bose QuietComfort 45 does have active noise cancellation, which works well enough in practice. It does come with certain caveats, however. For example, you cannot switch the active noise cancellation completely off for just listening without distractions. This is a bit of a shame as the method of ANC is similar to what Sony has been doing with their wireless headphones for years. Many were excited to have such a feature come natively to the Bose ecosystem. Its execution is a bit lacking, however, with users only able to get the ANC off when switching to Aware mode. This doesn t fully shut it off, however.

Hopefully, future models of the QuietComfort line are able to address this issue. As it stands currently, this could just be a teething issue on a newly introduced technology to the product line.

Bluetooth Codecs

There are numerous Bluetooth audio codecs, each with its own limitations and needs. The industry standard has been steering towards aptX for some time, which delivers great audio through the Bluetooth protocol. That would be fine and dandy if it was actually present on the QuietComfort 45. Instead, the QC45 only has support for SBC and AAC, both older codecs with lesser audio quality.

If you aren t an audiophile, this might be fine. However, given the overall price and this feature is present on other headsets from Bose s competitors, it is a curious exclusion.

No Listening While Charging

All wireless headsets have batteries, there is no getting around that. When it comes time to charge, some will be able to be used while plugged into a charger. The QuietComfort 45 is not capable of this, however. It is another baffling design decision, especially given how common it is across other wireless headsets. You can certainly use theQC45as a pair of traditional headphones thanks to the inclusion of a 2.5mm output jack. That said, you won t be able to use them while charging in this configuration.

Instead, if you re wanting to use them as a pair of wired headphones, you ll need to make sure the battery is charged. This is a counterintuitive design choice, as if there is a charge on the device you likely aren t worried about using it with a cable.

EQ Cannot be Adjusted During Playback

The QC45 does have an equalizer built-in to the app. However, it doesn t function as you might expect. Instead, Bose has opted to implement an AI-powered active equalizer. These work fine in concept, but sometimes you might find yourself wanting to make your own adjustments. There are numerous reasons why a set-and-forget EQ is still a great addition.

However, users aren t given the choice to use it with their pair of QuietComfort 45s. Instead, you re stuck with Bose s active EQ.

No On-Ear Detection Mode

Most wireless headsets have a feature where if you remove them it pauses playback. Then once placed back on your ears, playback resumes. The QuietComfort 45 does not have this feature. If you take the QC45s off to do something, you ll need to pause whatever you re playing. This has been a feature ofwireless headphonesfor a number of years. Even in this particular price range, there are numerous wireless headsets that do have this feature.

All said, it seems like a strange omission of a feature. Especially given that Sony and Apple have both had the same feature for years now.

Closing Thoughts on the Bose QuietComfort 45

The Bose QuietComfort 45 wireless headset sounds great, but it is hindered by a multitude of curious design decisions. If you re in the market for a new pair of wireless headphones, it might be worth looking at other competitors before deciding to purchase this particular model.

As with any purchase, it isn t just the complaints that motivate a purchase. Instead, you might find something like the ear cups or overall weight to your liking. Before you buy, do keep these complaints in mind, however.