A comfort-and-ANC-first wireless over-ear. Nine in ten sources call it among the most comfortable headphones in its class, and most rate the noise cancelling excellent, though a vocal minority of owners report transient noises cutting through, hiss, amplified clatter and loud sound leakage. The sound is where opinion splits. Most reviewers hear a warm, full, bass-forward voicing they enjoy, while others hear it as strange, V-shaped and uneven. On bass alone there are three camps: punchy and satisfying, overcooked out of the box, and surprisingly polite. Two of three measurement rigs show a big sub-bass lift; the third reads it flat. A reviewer's two units showed a channel imbalance that other units did not. Build divides too: reviewers call it solid, but owners report static and crackle bugs, peeling pads and snapped hinges. Value is an exact tie between 'overpriced at $349' and 'a steal on sale', which it usually is.
About this product
The plain 2023 'Bose QuietComfort Headphones' (sometimes called the QC 2023), launched at $349. It is the direct successor to the QuietComfort 45, with the same shell and a retuned sound, and the step below the QuietComfort Ultra. The Costco and Sam's Club 'QuietComfort SC' is the same headphone with a soft case; the 'QuietComfort SE' is a rebadged QC45. Bose replaced it in August 2026 with the QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen), $359, which adds spatial audio and USB audio. As of September 2026 the original still sells new, at $359 on Bose's store and around $249 on Amazon, with frequent sales lower.
Bose's QuietComfort Headphones arrived quietly in September 2023, a month before the flagship QuietComfort Ultra. They replaced the QC45 at $349 in the same plastic-and-protein-leather shell the line has worn since the QC35, with physical buttons, a 2.5 mm aux input and a three-band EQ, but no spatial audio or USB audio.
Bose's pitch was the one it has made for fifteen years: noise cancelling and all-day comfort, now with a retuned sound. Three years later that pitch mostly holds, and the model became a steady sale-price favourite. The retune is what reviewers still argue about, alongside a long tail of owner complaints. A 2nd Gen replaced it in August 2026.
