So the Bose QC headphones are Bose’s mid tier ANC headphones which as the name suggests, they are very comfortable to wear, and they have slightly improved active noise cancelation of their predecessor. But today we’re going to see how they compare to both the Sony 1000XM5 and the Sony 1000XM4’s. Can Bose keep up with Sony… not so much.
Regarding pricing, both the Bose QC Headphones and the Sony 1000XM4’s have a retail price of $350, where as the Sony 1000XM5’s have a retail price of $400. Now since both of Sony’s headphones are over a year old now, they both like to routinely go on sale. And I do expect the Bose QC’s to go on sale eventually. Now depending on your needs, you’ll be better off with one of these over the other. Nonetheless, if you want to pick any of these headphones up they’ll be linked down below, or your can always try out the YouTube shopping button.
Now first lets talk about the included carrying cases cause I think that this is a big deal if you plan on traveling with your headphones. Now all of these cases are hardshell cases, which is great cause they’re all going to keep your headphones well protected, even if you cram them into a cramped backpack. However, both the Bose QC’s and Sony 1000XM4’s have decently small cases that aren’t to thick and they don’t have a large foot print. But then there’s the 1000XM5’s case which just has a significantly larger case cause these headphones have a lay flat design to them. So I feel that traveling with the XM5’s is a hassle when compared to either the XM4 or Bose QC Ultra.
But with the cases out of the way, lets talk about the headphones themselves. Regarding fit, both of Sony’s headphones have a neutral fit to them, as in they aren’t too tight and they aren’t to loose, where as the Bose QC headphones have a looser fit to them. Now all of these headphones are big head approved and they should have you covered if you also like to wear hats, but the Bose are just more comfortable cause they have a looser fit. But staying on the topic of the headband, both the Bose QC’s and Sony 1000XM4’s have decently padded headbands and hot spots are not an issue for either of these two headbands… where as since the headband on the Sony 1000XM5 is a lot thinner and since it has less padding, I have noticed that this headband likes to create a hotspot on the top of your head after like 40 minutes. But where the Bose QC’s really stand out here fit wise is going to be when it comes to their weight and their earpads. Now the Bose QC’s weigh in at 235 grams, making them a pair of light weight premium ANC headphones… where as the Sony 1000XM5’s weigh in at 250 grams and the Sony 1000XM4’s weigh in at 255 grams, now both of Sony’s headphones a decently light weight as well… cause your average premium ANC headphones weigh in at around 280 grams… but with the Bose QC’s since these are so light weight they are much easier to forget that you have on when you’re sitting still and you notice them shifting around a lot less when you’re walking around with them on. But then there are the earpads on these headphones. Now the 1000XM5’s have the shallowest earpads here, so even if you have average sized ears, they will press down on your cartilage which can get uncomfortable after like 30 or 40 minutes. Where the ear pads on the XM4’s are deeper, so these are going to have no problem fitting most ear types. But then there are the ear cups on the Bose QC’s which are even more spacious, so even if you have very large ears or ears that stick out a lot, these will have you covered. So overall, im not the biggest fan of how the Sony 1000XM5’s fit cause of their shallow ear pads and minimally padded headband. Peronsally i prefer how the Sony 1000XM4’s fit over the XM5’s. But then there are the Bose QC’s which are the most comfortable headphones here cause of their spacious ear cups, loose clamping force and lighter weight.
But with fit out of the way lets talk about tech specs. Regarding battery life, the Bose QC Ultra are trialling behind here a little bit. With the ANC turned on, the Bose QC Ultra have an advertised battery life of 24 hours… which is okay. And technically it is an improvement over the Bose QC45’s.
Where as with both of Sony’s headphones if you were to use them with their ANC turned on, they are going to have an advertised battery life of 30 hours… or if you use them with their ANC turned off, then they can go for as long as 40 hours… and this is actually another issue with the Bose QC, cause you can’t use them with their ANC turned off so you cant extend their battery life past 24 hours.
And when it comes to charging these headphones, they all charge via a USB C port as they should, and when it comes to the fast charging numbers on these headphones, with the XM4’s if you were to charge them up for 10 minutes from a dead battery they are going to get you 5 hours of playback time, and with the XM5’s if you charge them up for 3 minutes, they are going to get you 3 hours. Where as with the Bose QC, if you charge them up for 15 minutes, they are only going to get you 3 hours of playback time.
So overall, the battery life on the Bose QC is okay, but Bose is still struggling when it comes to battery life cause both of Sony’s headphones have longer lasting batteries, they have better fast charging numbers, and Sony gives you the option to use your headphones with their ANC turned off so you can extend their battery life that way.
Now when it comes to connectivity, with all of these headphones they can be connected to any two bluetooth devices. Which is good cause if you’re a power user with devices from different eco systems, you can easily hot swap from one device to another.
And when it comes to overall performance, these headphones have zero latency across the board when watch movies or videos on your phone whether you’re an iPhone or an android user, but when it comes to audio codecs, the Bose QC Ultra still only have support for SBC and AAC. Where as with Sony headphones, they have support for SBC AAC and LDAC which is Sony’s own high res audio codec, just keep in mind that if you want to use LDAC you do have to be an android user, and if you do decide to use LDAC, that is going to take an additional toll on the battery life.
But if you want to, you can always use a wired connection with any of these headphones cause they all still have an audio jack. The only thing is, Bose’s headphones are using a 2.5 millimeter audio jack where as with the Sony’s have your standard 3.5 millimeter audio jack… and with all of these headphones, you can use them passively, as in they dont have to be powered on when you want to use them with a wired connection like with the Bose QC ultra. But also, you can not use the USB C port on any of these headphones as a wired connection, the USB C port on all of these headphones are strictly used for chargning.
But with all of that out of the way, lets talk about sound. Now both of Sony’s headphones are people pleasers. As in if you like a neutral sound signature or if you like a bass heavy sound signature both of these headphones should have you covered… and with both of these headphones you can adjust their EQ to your liking cause they both have an adjustable EQ. However, the XM5’s do have slightly better instrument separation to them than the XM4’s, so they sound a little more open and they have a little more detail… but the XM4’s have a little more bass to them. Personally I think more people are going to prefer the XM4’s over the XM5’s cause they have a little more physicality or kick in their bass, so you can actually feel their bass. Cause with the Bose QC, these are a pair of headphones that are better suited from someone that like a more neutral or vocals focused EQ cause the bass on these headphones is mostly on the audible side. As in you can hear the bass, but you dont really feel the bass. Now the QC’s also have an adjustable EQ and you can go in and raise their bass, but even if you crank their bass all the way up, you’re still not going to feel it rattling your head like how you would with the Sony XM4’s. So overall, the Bose QC’s are going to be better suited for someone that like a more neutral or vocals focused EQ. Where as with both of Sony’s headphones, even though they’ll might not sound as open as the Bose QC’s, I think these are going to do a much better job of pleasing most people. Cause if you like a neutral or vocals focused EQ, then both of Sony’s headphones can do that… or if you want to feel your bass, then both of Sony’s headphones can do that as well. But the XM4’s do have more physicality in their bass than the XM5.
Now when it comes to their media controls, both of Sony’s headphones have the same touchpads. And both of these touch pads are very easy to use and they’re very accurate. But I know some people dont like touch pads on their headphones… so that’s where the Bose QC’s will come in cause they have physical buttons. So controlling your media with the Bose QC’s is easier and more accurate, but the touch pads on both of Sony’s headphones are not problematic.
However, something that both of Sony’s headphones have over the Bose QC are wear sensors, so they’ll automatically pause your music when you take them off and they’ll start playing your music again. Now personally I dont really care for wear sensors on my headphones so I just turn them off, but they are there if you want them.
But now lets talk about the active noise cancelation on these headphones. Now for the last year and a little bit, the Sony 1000XM5’s were the kings when it came to blocking out noise. They blocked out the most amount of noise at sea level and they also blocked out the most amount of noise at cruising altitude. Now the Bose QC’s block out an impressive amount of noise, but not as much as the Sony 1000XM5’s, but they are close. But so that you can see for yourself, we’re going to jump into an ANC Test.
ANC Test
So like you may have just seen, overall, the Sony 1000XM5’s blocked out the most amount of noise here both when it came to constant low frequency sounds like road noise and random higher frequency sounds like chatter. However, the Bose QC’s blocked out noticeably more noise than the Sony 1000XM4’s. Now the active noice cancelation on the Bose QC is impressive, but the main differentiating factor between the ANC on the Bose’s and Sony’s headphones is that Bose’s headphones have a little more cabin pressure than Sony’s headphones. Now the cabin pressure on the Bose QC’s isn’t bad and its not unbearable like the cabin pressure found on both the AirPods Max and Bose QC35… but with the Bose, you do feel a little pressure on your ear drum when theres a lot of noise pollution to block out. Where as the both of Sony’s headphones have less cabin pressure, even the Sony 1000XM5’s and they manage to block out more noise than the Bose QC’s. So overall, the Sony 1000XM5’s still have better preforming ANC over the Bose QC’s, they block out more noise with less cabin pressure. But when it comes to comparing the ANC on the Bose QC versus the Sony 1000XM4’s… if you want better comfort you can go with the XM4’s but they wont block out as much noise, or if you want to block out more noise then you can go with the Bose QC but you’ll might feel a little more pressure on your ear drums.
But then theres the ambient mode on these headphones. Now all of these headphones have an ambient mode. And all of these ambient modes sound very natural and they have zero hissing in the background. And through a recent firmware update, you can now somewhat adjust how much noise the Bose let. Its not as straight forward as it should be, but technically you can do it now just like how you can adjust the ambient mode on both of Sony’s headphones. However, the ambient mode on the Bose is the worst implemented here. First off the microphone array on the Bose QC’s is very fast to pick up wind noise when walking outdoors, which can be annoying. Where as wind noise isn’t a problem for Sony’s headphones. But also, the ambient mode on the Bose QC lets in everything, like this. Major headphone warning.
So like you just saw, the Bose QC’s just let in that siren, which is a problem. Where as with the Sony 1000XM4’s, these have an active ambient mode and they will protect you from sudden loud noises like this.
So like you saw, with the 1000XM4’s, they turned off their ambient mode when they detected that siren, and they were very fast to react, and when that siren stopped they turned their ambient mode back on. The XM4’s get it right here, where as with the XM5’s, not so much.
So like you just saw the XM5’s where fast to react, but then they turned off their ambient mode and they turned it back on and off and on and off. I dont know why the XM5’s can’t get it right like the XM4’s… and even after over a year, Sony still hasn’t fixed this through a firmware update. But overall, both of Sony’s headphones have better performing ambient modes on them cause you can more easily adjust how much noise they let in, and their microphone arrays do a much better job of blocking out wind noise when walking out doors. But I do feel the XM4’s have the best ambient mode here cause they will protect your hearing from sudden loud sounds.
But also, both of Sony’s headphones have speak to chat which works like this.
Speak to chat demo
But personally, I’m not a really big fan of speak to chat because it is very easy to accidentally activate. If you’re talking to yourself very quietly that can activate it, if you’re singing along to your music, that can activate it, if you start laughing that can active it, and on rare occasions loud enough outside noises can activate it. So that’s why I don’t use it.
Personally I prefer to use quick attention on both of Sony’s headphones cause its more intentional. And basically, when you fully cover the touch pads on these headphones… they’ll lower the volume of your music and pump in all of the ambient sound around you so that you can talk to someone without having to remove you’re headphones like this.
And then when you let go, your headphone will go back to normal again. Now personally I really like this kind of features on my headphones cause its very useful if you’re flying and its useful for quick conversions. And this is something that is straight up missing on the Bose QC Ultra.
And personally I am very annoyed that the Bose QC Ultra dont have this feature cause the Bose NC 700 has this feature and its called conversation mode, and conversation mode is actually better than quick attention on Sony’s headphones. So I really hope that bose adds a conversation mode to the Bose QC Ultra through a firmware update.
But overall, I do feel that the Sony 1000XM4’s have the best ambient mode experience here. You can adjust it to your liking, its going to protect your hearing from sudden loud sounds, but its not going to block out the sounds that you do want to listen for, and you have quick attention which is super useful specially if you plan on flying with your headphones.
Mic XM4 Quiet Room
But finally heres the microphone test, and the Sony 1000XM4’s have the worst preforming microphone here. Now while in a quiet room, this microphone sounds decent.
Mic QC Ultra Quiet
But with the Bose QC, this microphone does a better job of picking up your voice while in a quite room.
Mic XM5 quite
But then theres the Sony 1000XM5’s which I feel has even better clarity than the Bose QC while in a quite room.
Mic XM5 Road noise
But what really makes the Sony 1000XM5 stand out here is how well this microphone is able to deal with noise pollution, cause right now this microphone is doing a really good job of reducing this road noise, cause for comparison sake, if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone, you’re going to clearly hear all of this road noise, but if we were to switch back overt to the Sony 1000XM5’s, it is severely reduced.
Mic Bose Road Noise
Now the Bose QC are also trying to reduce this road noise, but they are letting in a lot more noise pollution and the clarity isn’t as good.
Mic XM4 road noise
But then theres the Sony 1000XM4’s, and this microphone is letting in a lot of road noise and these have much worse clarity.
Mic XM4 Chatter
And its the same thing when it come to blocking out chatter.
Mic Bose QC Chatter
Where as with the Bose QC, this microphone is blocking out some chatter and theres a an okay amount of clarity in my voice.
Mic Sony XM5 Chatter
But then there are the Sony 1000XM5’s and these are blocking out a lot more chatter and my voice sounds very clear. And again for comparison sake, if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone, you’re going to clearly hear all of this chatter. But if we were to switch back over to the Sony 1000XM5’s it is severely reduced. So overall, all of these headphones have decent sounding microphones to take phone calls with while in a quite room. But the Sony 1000XM5’s do have the best preforming microphone here cause they do the best job here of dealing with noise pollution.
But with all of that being said, the Bose QC’s are a pair of very comfortable headphones to wear, they block out a decent amount of noise and they have a decently small case which makes them great for traveling. Now personally, I would prefer to fly with the Bose QC’s over both of Sony’s headphones cause they’re more comfortable, they block out more noise than the Sony 1000XM4’s and they have a smaller case than the Sony 1000XM5’s. But if you can, I highly recommend that you get the Bose QC45’s instead of the Bose QC’s while you can. However, if you want to block out the most amount of noise here then you do want to go with the Sony 1000XM5’s cause they block out more noise with less cabin pressure. But if you want the best overall experience, I think the Sony 1000XM4’s are the best option here. They’re more comfortable than the Sony 1000XM5’s, and they have a smaller case which is good traveling. The XM4’s also have a longer lasting battery life than the Bose QC’s, they have a better performing ambient mode which is going to protect your hearing from sudden loud sounds, you have quick attention which is great for traveling, and sound quality wise, these should be able to please more people with different tastes.