Bose QuietComfort® 45 Bluetooth wireless noise cancelling headphones with microphone for phone calls - Triple Black

OK, I've read a lot of reviews on here and let's put a few things straight.Me as background, 53 year old guy, using headphones for over 40 years, currently own xm4 and xm5 headphones and xm3 earbuds.CONNECTIVITY.Linked instantly to my Samsung a22 5g phone and sonru bluetooth 5.2 transmitter (for watching TV) no lip sync problems at all, walked all around my flat with no drop outs at all. 10/10ANC.This is superb, it's certainly as good as my wh xm4's if not slightly better because you have almost zero white noise. I am very surprised by this. "aware mode" is also very good. 9/10SOUND.Out of the box these are treble heavy, not good at all. But once you connect to the "bose music" app you can adjust the eq (please see pictures), once you reduce the treble to - 6 and add +2 to the bass these sound fantastic. I would put them on a par with the xm4 easily. Very detailed, warm bass and the mids are all there. I'm using Spotify highest quality setting and aac codec. (I run my Sony headphones on aac codec as this sounds great with no drop outs), so don't worry about ldac and aptx etc, there are NO lip sync issues at all. 9/10BOSE MUSIC APP.This is simple and basic compared to sony, but it is just exactly what you need, no silly gimmicky functions, just straight forward. Once you adjust your eq you can save these settings so when you reconnect your headphones they are ready to go. I have tried this personally and it works. So I give the app 9/10 purely because it's simple and does what you need it to do.PHONE CALLS.Sorry! I use headphones for music.BUTTONS.These are responsive and work very well, I'm used to sensor pads (swipe gestures) on my Sony"s but these can be awkward sometimes so I actually enjoy having buttons again. 9/10.CONCLUSION.I paid £209 new for these and I don't regret this at all. £319 rrp! I would feel uncomfortable with that price.Oooh! Nearly forgot.....COMFORT.Very comfortable as good as my wh xm4's and with the added bonus that these don't creak at all, no hinge clicking etc. Worn for 3 hours as we speak and I hardly know I'm wearing them, no hot ears, 9/10.Hope this helps you people make an informed decision.I'm selling my xm5 now as these and my xm4's are my goto headphones now.....UPDATE.After about 10 hours plus of listening to my Spotify playlists, I can say that the qc 45 are actually better than my Sony xm4's and xm5's! I'm hearing instruments and backing vocals that I never knew songs had! I'm seriously impressedBeen for a walk outside and traffic noise is literally just gone! Even my xm5s let the tyre noise through, but listening at 50%volume it's just the music.So 10/10..

For clarity - this review is for the SE version.I can confirm the exact model of the headphones themselves is QC45 - this is how they show up in the app when you connect them to a phone. They come with 2.5mm to 3.5mm lead and usb-c charging lead as well as a compact soft sided case.In terms of what they are like, I think they are excellent headphones. The best I have ever used. The specific reasons I bought this model over others I considered is:- physical buttons to turn on and off and adjust volume- collapsible design that makes them compact to travel- excellent noise cancelling.In terms of how I find them, my main summary would be:- Very comfortable to wear- Noise cancelling is great for my purposes (which are concentrating on reading/work in noisy environments) - it does not block everything but if listening to music it takes something quite loud to disturb you.- Sound is good to the extent that it is making me go back through lots of old music to listen again. There is a lot of detail in the sound and a sense of separation of instruments and vocal that I find captivating. Out of the box the EQ was tuned a little 'wrong' for my taste with a little too much mid and treble but this was easily rectified in the EQ section of the app and now it is great. I did consider the Sony XM5's as the whole internet seems o say they are best headphones of this type but I have not had great experiences with Sony's previously in terms of their sound - I find they have a bass heavy slightly muddy 'Sony' sound. I tried out some in John Lewis and wasn't convinced. I like the sound of these Bose headphones more but I realise this is a wholly subjective personal perspective.- Very compact in the case which is ideal for me as I carry them around on a daily basis.I am very pleased overall.

Amazing headphones. Complete noise cancellation and great sound quality. Lasted me 2 years of frequent use.Only issue I ever experienced was they was slightly painful with extended periods of use.