According to some newly released Federal Communications Commission (FCC) documents spotted by WinFuture, we could soon see the launch of Bose’s successor to its highly popular QuietComfort 35 II noise-canceling headphones. The documents refer to the Bose QuietComfort 45 headphones, but they don’t offer us much in the way of additional information.
WinFuture included photos of the headphones that were purportedly included with the FCC documents, but these have since been removed from the FCC’s website. They show what appears to be an almost unchanged design from the current QC 35 II, with the exception of a USB-C charging port (the QC 35 II uses the older Micro USB type of connection). Digital Trends cannot confirm that these photos represent the new QuietComfort 45 cans, as they are not among the documents the FCC has uploaded to its site.
But if it’s true that Bose has largely adhered to the QC 35/QC 35 II design, that suggests that most, if not all, of the changes we can expect will be to internal components and software. It also likely means that the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 will remain the company’s flagship active noise canceling (ANC) headphones.
When we compared the Headphones 700 to the QC 35 II, we noted that in areas like design, comfort, and controls, the Headphones 700 enjoyed an advantage. Given that these areas are unlikely to be significantly revised with the new QC 45, we need to look at things like battery life, charging speed, sound quality, and call quality.
With a 20-hour battery life, the QC 35 II could easily make it through a day of travel without needing to recharge, and if you opt to use the included headphone cable, you could increase that to 40 hours by eliminating the battery draw from using Bluetooth. But given that Sony’s WH-1000XM4 can achieve 30 hours with ANC on and 38 hours with it off, this is one area where the QC 45 could improve upon its predecessor.
Earlier in 2021, Bose launched a gaming edition of the QC 35 II, which comes equipped with an optional boom mic for multiplayer online games. Unfortunately, their high price and lackluster gaming features didn’t impress our reviewer. Let’s hope the QC 45 doesn’t make the same mistake.
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