So the Bose QC45’s are a decent pair of premium ANC headphones. However, their stand out characteristic is just their comfort. And for some people comfort is their main deciding factor… and I don’t blame them. However, the Sennheiser PXC 500 2’s are also a pair of very comfortable premium ANC headphones. Now I feel the PXC 550 2’s are due for an upgrade… but I think they can still hang.
Now regarding pricing, the Sennheiser’s have a retail price of $350. But since I do think these headphones are about to get an upgrade… you can find these things on sale for $170 which is insane. Where as the QC45’s have a retail price of $330. So if you don’t mind putting up with some minor short comings… the Sennheiser’s are a steal. Nonetheless if you want to pick either of these two headphones up they’ll be linked down below.
Now first lets talk about these cases. The Sennheiser’s come included with a very premium feeling fabric case. But unfortunately this isn’t a hard-shell case. So I do worry about these headphones getting crushed if you stuff them into your back pack. Where as Bose actually come included with a hard-shell case. So they are going to keep your headphones better protected. Overall, both of these cases are nice… but you are going to have to be more carful with the Sennheiser’s if you’re a constant commuter or flyer.
But now lets talk about the headphones themselves. Build quality wise… yes the QC45’s feel much more premium in your hands than the PXC 550 2’s. The QC45’s have the sturdier feeling plastics and the QC45’s have the better feeling leatherette. Now don’t get me wrong, the Sennheiser’s don’t feel flimsy and they have done a great job of putting up with constant wear and tear because these headphones have been used a lot both in the studio and on multiple trips… but they just don’t feel is sturdy as the QC45’s.
However, Sennheiser’s use of lighter materials on the PXC 550 2’s has really helped them cut on weight. Which does show when it comes to comfort. The PXC 550’s weigh in at 227 grams which is very light for premium ANC headphones. Now the QC45’s are also very light weight weighing in at 235 grams. Because for comparison sake, the Sony 1000XM4’s weigh in at 254 grams and the Bose NC 700’s weigh in at 265 grams. Now both the 1000XM4’s and NC 700’s are relatively light, you forget that you have them on if you’re watching a movie and they aren’t too noticeable on your head when you’re walking around with them on. However both the Sennheiser’s and QC45’s are even less noticeable. Which is great for comfort.
Now when it comes to clamping force, both of these headphones are big head approved… shirts down below. And both of these headphones have less clamping force than your Sony 1000XM4’s or Bose NC 700’s. Making them great options if you really want a loser fit. However, if you have a really large head then the PXC 550 2’s will might be a little too small for you because their headband doesn’t extend as far as the QC45’s. For me I gotta use the PXC 550 2’s with their headband extended all the way out. So if you’re a Goliath you’ll might want to go with the Bose. But then moving on to their ear pads, both of these headphones have very spacious ear pads. They're both more spacious than both the Sony 1000XM4’s and Bose NC 700’s ear pads. So if you have really larger ears or ears that stick out a lot, both of these headphones are good options as well. And since both of these ear pads have relatively low surface area coming in contact with your skin they do a better job of staying cooler for longer than your main staples like the 1000XM4’s and NC 700’s. So overall when it comes to comfort it really is a tie. Both of these headphones are more comfortable than your average pair of headphones because they are both lighter, they both have a looser fit to them, and their ear pads are more spacious than average. The only thing to look out for is that the Sennheiser’s will might be a little too small for a very small section of people.
But now lets talk about tech specs. Regarding battery life, the PXC 550 2’s have an advertised battery life of 20 hours with their active noise cancelation turned on. Now a battery life of 20 hours is fine… but it is a little low when compared to the rest of the competition. But then there are the QC45’s which have an advertised battery life of 24 hours with their active noise cancelation turned on which is a little better… but still a little low when compared to the rest of the competition.
Now when it comes to charging these headphones… this is a major deal. The Bose QC45’s charge via a USB C port as they should. Where as the Sennheiser’s charge via a micro USB port. Which in 2021 is a noticeable inconvenience. And I’ve also noticed that it takes forever to charge these headphones. So low battery life and Micro USB charging on the Sennheiser’s is a major set back if you ask me.
Now regarding connectivity, both of these headphones can be simultaneously connected to 2 devices at the same time so you can easily hot swap from one device to another regardless of operating system which is great for power users. And when it comes to performance, both of these headphones have zero latency across the board when watching movies or videos on your phone whether you're using an iPhone or an android device.
But when it comes to audio codecs the QC45’s only have support for SBC and AAC. Now SBC and AAC is going to be perfectly fine if you’re just streaming your music and if you're an iPhone user… but a lot of other headphones these days have support for higher quality audio codecs. The Sennheiser’s have support for SBC, AAC, APTX and APTX Low Latency. However just keep in mind, if you want to take advantage of these higher quality audio codecs you do have to be an android user.
But if you want to you can always use a wired connection with both of these headphones because they both have audio jacks and they still come included with audio cables. However just keep in mind that both of these headphones are using 2.5 millimeter audio jacks and you can’t use the USB ports on either of these headphones as a wired connection.
But now lets talk about actually listening to music with these headphones. I’m going to have to stress here that the QC45’s are made for a very specific type of person. The QC45’s are better suited for someone who likes a neutral or vocals focused EQ. The QC45’s put an emphasis on the mids… but more importantly their Bass will not physically rattle your head. So for that reason some people will say the QC45’s sound flat. Now the QC45’s don’t actually sound flat… their bass is just mostly on the audible side. So you’re not going to get too much physicality out of them. Now overall I think the QC45’s sound fine and they sound better than lets say the Sony 1000XM4’s because they have better instrument separation… but just keep in mind these headphones don’t have an adjustable EQ like most other headphones out there or like the NC 700’s. So personally I really hope that Bose’s adds an adjust EQ to these headphones in a future firmware update.
But then there are the PXC 550 2’s which have a some what adjust able EQ. Now you can play around with the Bass, Spatial setting, and reverb. And you’ve got a few preset EQ settings to choose from. Its better than nothing… but I wish these headphones had the same EQ interface thats found on the Sennheiser’s earbuds or the Momentum 3’s. You have just have more control over it. But nonetheless from a performance standpoint the PXC 550’s do have noticeably better instrument separation and a wider sound stage than the QC45’s. Making them sound more open. Now even though the PXC 550 2’s are also geared towards someone who prefers a more neutral sound signature… you can always get some physicality out of their bass if you play around with the bass setting on these headphones. Now these headphones won’t rattle your head as much as the Sony 1000XM4’s… but their bass will give you a little more physicality than the bass on the QC45’s.
Now when it comes to actually controlling your media… this could actually be a deciding factor for some people. The PXC 550 2’s are using a touch pad. And this touch pad is really good. Its very accurate and its easy enough to use. However, if you don’t want to have to deal with a touch pad on your headphones you can always go with the physical buttons found on the QC45’s.
However, I do want to point out that the Sennheiser’s will automatically play or pause your music if you take them off or put them back on. Where as the Bose won’t. Now personally I don’t really care for wear sensors on my headphones and I usually just turn that feature off. But I just want to point this out for the person that just needs to have all of the features.
But now let's talk about the Active Noise Cancelation on these headphones. Plainly said… the Bose QC45’s do in fact block out more noise than the Sennheiser’s. However the Bose QC45’s have noticeably more cabin pressure than the Sennheiser’s. Now they don’t have as much cabin pressure as the AirPods Max and they have less cabin pressure than their predecessors, the QC35’s. But with the QC45’s you will feel like you gotta pop your ears from time to time. Where as with the Sennheiser’s you bearly feel any cabin pressure. But so that you can see for yourself we’re going to jump into an ANC test.
Now first off, I decided to include the AirPods Max in this ANC test because they currently block out the most amount of noise here because they brutally go after constant low frequency sounds. However the AirPods Max do have a lot of cabin pressure, more cabin pressure than the Bose QC45’s. So for that reason these aren’t my preferred headphones when it comes to Active Noise Cancelation. But like you may have just seen, the QC45’s block out noticeably more noise than the Sennheiser’s because they do a better job of going after those constant low frequency sounds. So if active noise cancelation is a high priority for you then you’ll might want to go with the bose. However you just have to be mindful of this cabin pressure. Now everyone will might not be as sensitive to cabin pressure, but I am. Now you won’t feel too much cabin pressure if you’re listening to music… but you will notice it if you’re watching a movie or just have nothing playing in the background. So personally I still prefer the ANC on the PXC 550 2’s but its more comfortable for me… and they still block out a decent amount of noise.
However one pet-peeve that I do have about the QC45’s is that you can’t use them with the Active noise cancelation turned off. You either gotta use them with their Active noise cancelation or ambient mode turned on. And sometimes you do want to be able to use your headphones with their active noise cancelation turned off because number one it does extend battery life, sometimes your music does sound better, or sometimes you just want to take a break from the cabin pressure on your headphones. Which is especially true with the QC45’s.
But now lets talk about the ambient modes on these headphones. Unfortunately the PXC 550 2’s don’t actually have one. They have a conversation mode where if you double tap their touch pad they’ll lower the volume of you music and pump into all of the ambient sound around you so that you can quickly talk to someone like this.
But unfortunately with the PXC 550 2’s you can’t actually have your music playing while they’re pumping in the ambient sound like you can with the Momentum 3’s or like with a lot of other headphones out there. Now the QC45’s do have a proper ambient mode on them… but it does need work. For starts you can’t adjust how much ambient noise these headphones let in like you can with most other headphones or like you can with the NC 700’s… but also this ambient mode just mostly lets in noise pollution. I have found that its very hard to actually understand what someone is saying even when they are talking directly at you. But at least with the bose, its better than nothing.
But finally here’s the microphone test. Now both of these headphones have decent enough sounding microphones.
However, I can’t help but feel that the PXC 550 2’s do a better job of focusing and amplifying my voice.
And I also feel the Sennheiser’s do a better job of dealing with noise pollution. Now you can hear some road noise in the back ground. But you can still hear my voice pretty well.
Whereas with the QC45’s even though they are trying to block out that road noise. My voice does sound shallow and hollow and there’s some static in the background.
And the same thing can be said about blocking out chatter. They block out some noise pollution… but my voice sounds shallow and hollow.
Whereas with the Sennheiser’s my voice is much more prominent. Making it easier to understand me. So I do feel the Sennheiser PXC 550 2’s have the better microphone here.
But with all that being said, both of these headphones are decent. And they both excel when it comes to overall comfort. However I will not deny that these headphones do have their short comings. With the PXC 550 2’s their short battery life and Micro USB Charging is a noticeable inconvenience, and they don’t have a proper ambient mode which is a pretty standard feature now. However, these headphones truly sound great. And if you can get them on sale for $180 they truly are a steal. But don’t be surprised if we get an updated version of these right around the corner. And then there are the QC45’s which are good… but I can’t help but feel that bose is holding these headphones back to compel you to upgrade to the NC 700’s. But the QC45’s do block out more noise than the Sennheiser’s, they have an ambient mode, and have a slightly longer battery life with USB C charging.