Odi Productions
In this article, I’m going to share my HONEST comparison review with the Beats Studio 3 Wireless vs Bose QuietComfort 45 (QC45) and tell you which is better, after personally owning both products. I have thoroughly tested each of these headphones for hundreds of hours, and aim to offer a critical opinion from the perspective of an audiophile and professional music producer.
I’ll be comparing these two head to head on categories like price, comfort, features, battery life, noise cancelling performance, and sound quality.
Then at the end, I’ll share which is the best overall value for the money, and my overall recommendation on which you should buy. I’ve also conducted a separate in-depth Beats Studio 3 Wireless Review and Bose QuietComfort 45 Review for those who are interested in reading more detailed thoughts about each headphone after. (Links open in a new tab.)
Key Takeaways
- The newer Bose QC45 has better comfort, noise cancelling performance, build quality, and much better sound quality than Beats Studio 3 Wireless (after EQ).
- The Beats Studio 3 Wireless is a bit dated now in its features and sound quality, but is cheaper than the QC45.
- Because the older QC45 is now discontinued, brand new pairs are harder to find, so pricing is not much of an advantage unless shopping Renewed.
Beats Studio 3 Wireless vs Bose QuietComfort 45 (QC45) Price Compared
Overall, the Beats Studio 3 Wireless is about $200 cheaper than the Bose QC45 at current market prices for brand new. They can be much closer in price depending on current sales, and whether you’re buying new, renewed, or used.
Beats Studio 3 Wireless Prices
Bose QuietComfort 45 (QC45) Prices
- Retail: $329.00
- New: $329
- Renewed: $163 (save up to $90!)
- Used: $190 (save up to $70!)
Order Here for the LOWEST PRICE AVAILABLE (Do NOT pay retail):
Want to save up to an additional $20?
Want to save up to an additional $150?
Disclosure: These affiliate links may provide a discount and in return, give us a commission in order to keep this website 100% independent to ensure honest unfiltered reviews 🙂
Comfort
On my scale, the QC45 is 26.4 grams lighter than the Beats Studio 3 Wireless:
- Beats Studio 3 weight: 261.8 grams
- Bose QC45 weight: 235.4 grams
Off the bat, the Bose QuietComfort 45 is easily the more comfortable headphone between the two.
Aside from being over 26 grams lighter, the QC45 simply has a much more relaxed clamping force and better cushioning.
The Beats Studio 3’s biggest weakness is having a very strong clamping force from the factory, and it’s immediately apparent. This is the same issue with the newer Studio Pro that replaces the Studio3 Wireless.
Beats Studio 3 Wireless Comfort: 3.5 out of 5
Bose QC45 Comfort: 4.5 out of 5
Winner: Tie
Features / Build Quality / Battery Life / Noise Cancelling
Features
Both headphones share the same modern features like microphones for taking calls and Active Noise Cancelling.
The Beats Studio 3 is a bit dated at this point, and lacks some features like Transparency mode.
Both headphones fold and collapse nicely to save space, but the Bose QC45 has a nicer hardshell case compared to the Beats’ soft shell case.
User Experience, Buttons, and Controls
Both headphones feature physical buttons and controls, which I highly prefer over the “touch controls” on some of these other premium wireless headphones.
From a user experience perspective, it doesn’t get much better than having a physical On/Off switch, and the tactile buttons to control your music or turn the volume up/down.
Build Quality
From a feel perspective, the older Bose QC45 has slightly superior build quality to the Beats Studio3 Wireless.
The Beats feels a little cheaper and flimsier, but they do feature some metal in the headband and can last with some care.
In defense of the Studio 3, my pair has lasted for years, but did need a $9 earpad cushion replacement from Amazon. After that 10 minute replacement, it’s almost good as new.
Looks
Both headphones are pretty stylish when it comes to looks, and I think they’re aimed at being more fashionable with having more colorful options available.
For example, this Bose QC 2023 in Cypress Green is gorgeous in real life, understated yet a bold splash of color that instills some personality.
Beats Studio 3 vs Bose QuietComfort 45 (QC45) Battery Life Compared
The Bose QC45 has 2 hours more battery life on a single charge compared to the Beats Studio 3:
- Beats Studio 3 Wireless Battery Life: Up to 22 hours
- Bose QuietComfort 45 (QC45) Battery Life: Up to 24 hours
In my testing, I found both of these manufacturer’s battery ratings to be accurate.
Both of these headphones are on the lower end or average range for battery life these days, especially compared to the class-leading Sennheiser Momentum 4’s 60-hour rating.
Beats Studio 3 Wireless vs Bose QuietComfort 45 (QC45) Noise Cancelling: Which is better?
The older Bose QC45 has much superior active noise cancelling performance compared to the older Beats Studio 3 Wireless.
Active noise cancelling was still a relatively newer feature when the Beats Studio 3 was released back in 2017, so it makes sense that it is a few steps behind today’s best.
In fact, the QC45 surprised me with its ANC, even compared to the newer QuietComfort 2023 and Bose QC Ultra. It seemed fairly competitive and even uses the same Bose app with the same settings.
Inside of the Bose app for the QC45, you can choose between 11 levels of noise cancelling mixed with “ambient” transparency modes.
You can make presets for your favorite settings, and easily switch between them depending on the setting.
The Beats Studio 3 is much simpler with just 2 modes: Noise Cancelling and OFF.
Beats Studio 3 Wireless Features / Build Quality / Battery Life / Noise Cancelling: 3.5 out of 5
Bose QuietComfort 45 (QC45) Features / Build Quality / Battery Life / Noise Cancelling: 5 out of 5
Winner: Bose QuietComfort 45 (QC45)
Beats Studio 3 Wireless vs Bose QuietComfort 45 (QC45) Sound Quality Comparison
On the stock sound…
Comparing these two headphones stock, I slightly prefer the QC45 over the Studio 3 Wireless.
The Studio 3 Wireless has a fairly detailed sound, but seems to be completely missing the low-end bass and slam compared to the QC45.
That said, the QC45 has a lot of sibilance in its treble, it’s almost piercing on certain modern tracks with a lot of treble energy.
That said, I found that creating custom equalizer settings inside of the official Bose app for the QC45 can elevate its sound quality.
So I’ll be testing the QC45 with the EQ settings shared below, in order to bring out their best sound quality potential possible. The Beats Studio 3 doesn’t feature a native customizable EQ, so it will be tested stock.
Best Equalizer Settings for Bose QuietComfort 45 (QC45)
- Bass: -1
- Mid: +2
- Treble: -6
Result: As you can see from the extreme Treble rolloff, my main focus was reducing the sibilance. It’s not entirely gone, but it’s much improved versus stock. Unfortunately this comes at the expense of less detail and airiness, but the overall sound is now much more balanced and way smoother to listen to.
Comparing Sound Quality AFTER EQ…
Overall, the Bose QC45 has a fuller sound than the Beats Studio 3 Wireless due to a pretty large bass response.
Listening back to back, the Beats Studio 3 has a “thin” sound due to lacking in the sub-bass, both in bass quantity and slam.
In addition to lacking bass, the Beats Studio 3 also has some audible distortion when turning up the volume. Apple addressed this in the newer Studio Pro’s marketing materials which “reduces distortion by up to 80%”, telling you that the Studio 3 definitely had some distortion issues.
Aside from those issues, I actually find the Studio 3 to be fairly detailed and enjoyable to listen to. They are surprisingly more neutral and balanced than most people would probably expect, but these simply won’t satisfy the bassheads.
The QC45 has the opposite issue to the Beats, in that, it has plenty of bass, but a harsh sibilance in the treble.
EQ helps to smoothen out this sharpness, but it never fully goes away, limiting the ceiling on the QC45’s sound quality.
Overall, the Bose QC45’s sound profile is a very fun, bass and treble-forward, consumer-friendly sound signature.
One standout for the QC45 is a marvelous bass response, with plenty of slam and bass quantity.
Bass notes linger and extend, with a visceral physicality to the impact.
Both of these headphones are still in the same tier below the higher-end Bose QC Ultra and others.
They’re decently fun to listen to, but fall short on the more audiophile technicalities like separation and layering.
I slightly prefer the QC45 overall due to its great bass response, but that harsh treble is a noticeable flaw for my ears. The Beats is less offensive, but a little less exciting as well.
Beats Studio 3 Wireless Sound Quality: 7.0 out of 10
QuietComfort 45 (QC45) Sound Quality: 8.0 out of 10 (after EQ)
Winner: Bose QC45
Value
At the time of this writing, the QC45 is currently in a bit of an awkward phase in its product lifecycle, as it seems to be discontinued now in favor of the QuietComfort 2023.
Due to this, prices are a bit strange with the newer Beats Studio 3 Wireless sometimes being $200+ cheaper than the older QC45 on Amazon.
Regardless, many Renewed (Like New) pairs can be found for the QC45 at around $163, while the older Beats Studio Pro can be found Brand New for as low as $127, or Renewed for under $126.
Despite being much cheaper these days, the Beats Studio 3 also isn’t as much of the overall package that the QC45 is, so I would still choose a Renewed pair of the QC45 around $163 for the best value in this comparison.
Beats Studio 3 Wireless Value: 3.5 out of 5
QuietComfort 45 (QC45) Value Value: 4.0 out of 5
Winner: QC45
Beats Studio 3 Wireless Overall Rating
- 40 hours battery life
- Great comfort, stylish colors
- Decent noise cancellation
- Switches between Apple devices easily
- Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos
- Boring sound signature
- Noise cancellation makes weird noises at times
- No Transparency mode or Spatial Audio
QuietComfort 45 (QC45) Overall Rating
- Fun sound quality (after EQ)
- Great noise cancelling performance
- Insanely comfortable and lightweight
- Good value due to being older model
- Piercing treble without EQ
- QuietComfort 2023 is simply better overall
Overall Winner: Bose QuietComfort 45 (QC45)
The Bose QuietComfort 45 wins this head-to-head comparison over the now-dated Beats Studio 3 Wireless, and by a large margin.
The QC45 is more comfortable, with better noise cancelling performance, build quality, and much better sound quality (with EQ).
I’d say the QC45 holds its own even by today’s standards, due to being a strong overall package as a whole.
The Beats Studio 3 Wireless is now showing its age, and has been decently improved with the newer Beats Studio Pro. Despite being cheaper with today’s market prices, there are better options even at $130 and below, like the JBL 770NC or Sony WH-CH720N. The Beats Studio Pro can also be found for $170 on sale.
If you’re willing to look at Renewed, I think the QC45 presents a fantastic value for the money, if you’re okay with not having the best available sound quality today.
Some very Strong Alternatives in this class of noise cancelling headphones are:
- Beats Studio Pro
- Bose QuietComfort (2023)
- Sony WH-1000XM4
- Bose QuietComfort Ultra
- Apple AirPods Max
- Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2e
- Sony WH-1000XM5
Some Relevant Comparisons in this class of noise cancelling headphones are:
- Beats Studio 3 vs Studio Pro
- Bose QuietComfort vs QuietComfort 45 (QC45)
- Bose QuietComfort 45 vs Ultra
- Beats Studio Pro vs Bose QuietComfort
- Bose QuietComfort vs QuietComfort Ultra
- Bose QuietComfort 45 vs Ultra
- Beats Studio Pro vs AirPods Max
- Sennheiser Momentum 4 vs Bose QuietComfort Ultra
I highly recommend you check those out next!
Lastly, if you’d like to save some money and keep supporting RecordingNOW.com’s 100% independent, unbiased reviews, do consider using some of our affiliate links below to shop and even just compare prices. We purchase all products we review with our own money to maintain the highest level of integrity, and your support goes into that plus a continuously improving site experience.
Beats Studio 3 Wireless Prices
Bose QuietComfort 45 (QC45) Prices
- Retail: $329.00
- New: $329
- Renewed: $163 (save up to $90!)
- Used: $190 (save up to $70!)
Order Here for the LOWEST PRICE AVAILABLE (Do NOT pay retail):
Want to save up to an additional $20?
Want to save up to an additional $150?
Disclosure: These affiliate links may provide a discount and in return, give us a commission in order to keep this website 100% independent to ensure honest unfiltered reviews 🙂
How We Tested and Our Methodology
RecordingNOW.com is a 100% independent publisher with over 10 years of experience testing and reviewing consumer electronics and headphones.
We currently purchase all of the products we test with our own money, and are not paid by any company or manufacturer to influence our opinions or decisions.
After purchasing the product, we conduct up to hundreds of hours of detailed hands-on testing in a controlled, acoustically-treated environment. Noise cancelling performance is tested in the real-world, primarily on airplane flights, coffee shops, and walking around large metropolitan city environments.
ODi Productions is our resident expert and author of this article, with 10 years of experience as a professional music producer, audio engineer, musician, tech journalist, and audiophile.
Read Next
Bose QuietComfort Review (2023 Model)
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Review
Bose QuietComfort vs QuietComfort Ultra
Bose QuietComfort Ultra vs Sony WH-1000XM5
Apple AirPods Max vs Sony WH-1000XM5
Bose QuietComfort 45 (QC45) Review
