Beats Studio3 Wireless vs Bose QuietComfort 45

The Bose QuietComfort 45 was now a little long in the tooth, and has been superseded by the confusingly-named Bose QuietComfort Headphones. But the cans still have excellent ANC, great design, and impressive battery life if you can find these out in the wild. In addition to Sony headphones, one of the main competitors to the older Bose ANC headphones was the Beats Studio3 Wireless (also replaced by the Beats Studio Pro) — so how did it stack up?

Editor’s note: This article was updated on October 16, 2025, to note that both headphones are outdated.

Beats Studio3 Wireless vs Bose QuietComfort 45: Which headset had the better design?

True to its name, the Bose QuietComfort 45 was comfortable to wear for many hours. Bose opted for a classic black design, featuring a plastic build, large synthetic leather ear pads, and a padded headband. Given its over-ear footprint, the headset was fairly light at 260 grams.

The Beats Studio3 Wireless had an impressive finish with its soft, matte plastic that’s smooth to the touch. While the ear pads were comfortable, your ears could get hot after a few hours. The headband lacked padding, and the plastic might stick to your hair. At 260 grams, it’s a bit heavier than the Bose headset. On the bright side, you could choose from a range of colors in addition to black.

The BoseQuiet QuietComfort 45 was incredibly flexible, with rotating hinges for each ear cup and a folding mechanism that lets you pack it down into a super compact shape. The Beats Studio3 Wireless also folded down, but not quite as nicely. Notably, the Beats ear cups didn’t rotate, so it may feel awkward to wear these headphones around your neck. We also didn’t put much trust in its durability, as the Studio3 Wireless headband was much more rigid than its Bose counterpart.

Both headphones carried the power button on the right ear cup. The Beats logo on the left ear cup was a button that controlled playback, and to adjust the volume, the buttons above and below the Beats logo could be pressed. Bose added a multi-function button to the rim of the right ear cup that controlled playback, volume, and calls. The Action button on the left side toggled ANC mode, activated the voice assistant, and muted calls.

Did the Beats Studio3 Wireless or the Bose QuietComfort 45 have better features?

Both Beats and Bose offered apps for their headphones. When you used the Beats Studio3 Wireless on an iPhone, you could use the iOS Settings app. Android owners, however, needed to download the Beats app to rename the Beats and check its charge level. The Beats app can toggle ANC on or off, but it doesn’t feature an EQ. Bose, on the other hand, updated its Music app to add an EQ, meaning you could adjust your headphones’ sound profile to your preferences.

Speaking of ANC, let’s discuss your options here. The Bose QuietComfort 45 doesn’t let you turn ANC off unless you power off and use the headphones in wired mode. You can, however, switch from Quiet to Aware Mode, which lets some outside sounds pass through. The Beats Studio3 Wireless offered two ways to turn off the ANC: double-click the power button, enter Bluetooth settings (iOS), or use the Beats app (Android).

Did the Bose QC 45 have better battery life than the Beats Studio3 Wireless?

Beats promised a battery life of 22 hours with ANC turned on and 40 hours if you turn noise canceling off. In our tests, the Beats Studio3 Wireless lasted for 10 hours, 12 minutes at 100% volume, and 23 hours, 31 minutes at 50% volume — each with ANC enabled.

In our standardized battery life test, the Bose QuietComfort 45 lasted for 24 hours, 49 minutes at 75dB(SPL), which was more than the 24 hours that Bose advertises. Since you can’t turn the ANC off, however, you won’t be able to push the battery life much further, though you could crack 25 hours at lower volumes.

What sets the two headphones apart was the charging port. The QuietComfort 45 sported a USB-C port, while the Studio3 Wireless was equipped with a micro-USB port. A 15-minute fast charge will provided about three hours of playtime on either pair of headphones.

Which connection modes did the Beats Studio3 Wireless and Bose QC 45 support?

Both headphones supported SBC and AAC. The latter doesn’t quite achieve CD quality, but it’s the standard code for iOS. Android has become better at handling AAC, but its performance was still less stable than aptX. Audiophiles might still prefer high-bitrate Bluetooth codecs, though most people won’t notice the difference.

The Bose QuietComfort 45 connected to devices Bluetooth 5.1. The Beats Studio3 Wireless was a few years older and hence doesn’t run on the latest Bluetooth generation. It does, however, offer Class 1 Bluetooth via the Apple W1 chip. This tech makes the Beats headset an excellent choice for Apple users, permitting seamless pairing with all your iCloud devices. You’ll get Bluetooth multipoint with just Bose’s headphones.

With either of these headphones, you won’t have to give up wired audio. The Bose QuietComfort 45 comes with a 2.5-to-3.5mm cable, and the Beats Studio3 Wireless comes with a standard 3.5mm RemoteTalk cable.

Was the Bose QuietComfort 45 noise canceling that much better than the Beats Studio3 Wireless ANC?

The Beats Studio3 Wireless ANC was good, especially for 2017 when it came out, but it just can’t keep up with more contemporary headphones. Low frequency noise sounded one-quarter as loud as it would without the Beats headphones, but the affected frequency range (125-200Hz) was much narrower compared to the QC 45.

Bose’s noise canceling tends to be state-of-the-art, and the QuietComfort 45 was no exception. Compared to previous models, the passive isolation was better, so when you achieve a good ear cup fit, you could expect great results in the 2-11kHz range. The ANC effectively attenuated noise in the bass and midrange (30-800Hz), so you could take the QC 45 on a plane and enjoy near silence.

If you were going to get either pair of headphones exclusively for ANC performance, the Bose QuietComfort 45 was unquestionably better than Beats.

Did the Bose QC 45 or Beats Studio3 Wireless sound better?

In this category, Beats and Bose each have a reputation opposite the other. While Beats traditionally favors bass, Bose headphones have a reputation for boosting treble notes. This held up in our testing as the QC 45 emphasized treble notes anywhere from 6-13dB louder than our consumer curve (pink) suggests. A sound like this can be good for well-mixed vocal-heavy tracks but can make poorly mixed tracks sound very bad. High-pitched instruments, like cymbals, drown out vocals, while bass elements sound a bit too quiet.

As you might expect, the Studio3 Wireless sounded fairly bass-heavy. Relative to the Bose QC 45, the Studio3 Wireless had less deviation across the entire frequency range, and the treble notes were more pleasant. Still, the Bose QuietComfort 45 hews far closer to our consumer curve when it comes to bass and midrange notes; it’s just the treble response that tanks Bose’s sound quality score.

Did the Bose QuietComfort 45 and the Beats Studio3 Wireless have a microphone?

Both headphones had built-in microphones, and the Bose QuietComfort 45 was a bit better than the Beats Studio3 Wireless in ideal conditions. The gap widened between the two headsets when you compare their microphones in windy conditions (Bose wind microphone demo; Beats wind microphone demo).

Beats Studio3 Wireless ideal microphone demo (Ideal conditions):

Bose QuietComfort ideal microphone demo (Ideal conditions):

Beats Studio3 Wireless ideal microphone demo (Windy conditions):

Bose QuietComfort ideal microphone demo (Windy conditions):

Should you buy the Beats Studio3 Wireless or the Bose QuietComfort 45?

Obviously, as both of these models are long-since discontinued, you likely can’t buy these headphones new. This article serves as a means for those who still have one (or both) of these models to compare to other headphones. If you see these at a swap meet, flea market, or thrift store: use the information above to make your decision.

If you value ANC, the superior noise canceling and comfort of the Bose QuietComfort 45 is the easy choice. If you’re a bass head, however, you’ll generally favor Beats headphones.

The QuietComfort 45 had slightly better battery life with the ANC turned on. But since you couldn’t turn the ANC off, you also couldn’t make the juice last much longer. With the Studio3 Wireless, you could choose between ANC or extra-long battery life.

The Studio3 Wireless W1 chip might win Apple users over, but the micro-USB charging port is a colossally outdated connector. Android users and audiophiles should look for entirely different headphones, as there’s nothing you want here.

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