Bowers & Wilkins PX Bluetooth Wireless Headphones, Noise Cancelling – Space Grey
What’s in the box
PX Headphones
1.2m Standard cable (TRS 3-pole stereo)
Protective Pouch
USB-A to USB-C cable
Literature pack (quick-start guide, Safety and Registration booklet)
For people who love music
PX raises the bar for wireless audio performance. Breathtaking sound and active noise cancellation combine with a world-class 22-hour battery life and intuitive controls that respond naturally to your behaviour, for an experience that is completely devoted to you.
- Adaptive noise cancelling
- Advanced Bluetooth 4.1 with aptX HDâ„¢ for high-resolution streaming
- Built in sensors handle functions like stopping audio playback when you remove the headphones
- World-class Bowers & Wilkins acoustics
- Rechargeable battery via USB-C (22 hours)
- Mobile companion app for personalising audio playback
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Feel moreMusic. Films. TV. PX transports you to the heart of any experience thanks to its crystal clear wireless audio reproduction, underpinned by our 50 years’ worth of acoustic and engineering knowledge. | Seamless experiencePlay. Pause. PX’s built-in sensors intuitively respond to you. Put them on your head and they’ll switch on; take them off and they’ll return to standby mode, as if they are a natural extension of you. | No more noiseDecide how much of the world you want to let in with PX’s 3 adjustable modes of noise cancellation. We spent thousands of hours getting it right, meaning your music remains lively in any location. |
Adaptive noise cancellation.
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Ease of useCustomise sound and functionality – including cloud storage of your preferred settings – directly from your device using the dedicated PX App. It also supports future updates. | Future-proofUSB-C connectivity combines with robust and lightweight materials in a striking contemporary design, meaning less wires and more sophistication. | Listen for longerPX delivers a stunning 22 hours of active playback from a single charge. And due to its efficient intuitive features, a remarkable six months in standby mode. Not that you’ll be able to put them down. |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noise cancelling | ✓ | |||
| Conectivity | Bluetooth aptXHD | Wired 3.5mm | Bluetooth aptX | Wired 3.5mm |
| Design | Over ear | Over ear | On ear | On ear |
| Rechargeable battery | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Unpowered audio | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Bowers & Wilkins App | ✓ | |||
| Charge via USB | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Ear pads | Leather with ballistic nylon outer | Leather | Leather | Leather |
| Drive units | 2 x 40mm | 2 x 40mm | 2 x 30mm | 2 x 30mm |
| Frequency range | 10 Hz to 20 kHz | 2 Hz to 30 kHz | 10 Hz – 20 kHz | 10 Hz – 20 kHz |
| Weight: | 335 g |
| Size: | Standard |
| Dimensions: | 17.5 x 7.49 x 19.99 cm; 335 Grams |
| Model: | FP39683 |
| Colour: | Space Grey |
| Batteries Included: | 1 Lithium Polymer batteries required. (included) |
| Colour: | Space Grey |
| Size: | Standard |
These headphones were way ahead of their time, they’re better than the new Sony, Bose, and apple max anc headphones in my opinion. Build quality is top notch, the removable magnetic earcups are ridiculous. I think they are built better than the new bowers & wilkins px7 and px7 2 headphones. Get them while you can, I doubt you’ll get headphones built with this kind of quality in the future. Last of a dying breed.
I never appreciated what I was missing in the music until I bought these headphones. Sound is clean and tight. You don’t need to play the music loud to enjoy the full sound, especially the bass … it’s all there. I work from home, at my desk and I play music all day. These headphones can be on for several hours. No headaches or neck tension, just pure music. i love these headphones. Forget the hundred dollar cheapy sets. I will never buy another line of headphones, on my next purchase I intend to jump up a couple of levels, can’t wait. Jim
I have had these headphones nearly 1 year, they are the revised version. Hard case and softer ear pads. To me these are better than the P7’s. Being a few years old now they still compete with the newer premium headphones from the likes of Sony, Bose, Sennheiser etc. I also own a pair of PX7,the quality and sound of these for me are far above the PX7. From the range of audio codes, aptx hd to features such as wear sensor and long battery life, it has everything you’d ever need. I have several high end headphones and in ears and I believe they will always be my go-to. There is just something about them that makes you look forward to using them. Because of the space inside the ear cups and the angled drivers, the sound stage is excellent, it is airy without sounding dull. Bass, mids and treble are perfect for me and most which is why I’m guessing there is no need for a EQ in the app. I listen to a very wide range of music and I can honestly say there isn’t one genre I am uphappy about.
Sicuramente non sono a buon mercato, sicuramente non sono leggere e poco ingombranti ma un paio di cuffie wi-fi che suonano come le PX sia tramite cavo che in Bluetooth non sono all’ordine del giorno. Dimenticavo: noise cancelling poderoso e un’autonomia di 5-6 ore di musica garantite.
Non fosse per il prezzo un attimo fuori portata sarebbero 5 stelle sicure.
Great sounding headphones really pleased with them and got the hardcase well recommended
After my P7 headphones started to get gummy, irritating my ears (the glue under the felt eventually bled out), I decided to get the PX as a replacement set of headphones.
Why didn’t I get the PX7? After hearing of multiple reports about the ear cups falling off due to breakage at the carbon hinges, I went for the heavier, more durable PX due to its more rugged, metal headband. The drawback is the PX7’s much improved ANC tuning over the PX and it’s obvious.
If you tend to keep ANC off except for “emergencies,” you’re good to go. They work fine on trains and aircraft but transparency hugely affects the audio performance. The “Office” setting provides a wider soundspace but “City” and “Airplane” both sap the low-end performance. These are best with ANC off and the earcups are designed well enough to keep most sound out without ANC.
All of the leather is soft and supple. Despite the weight, they don’t feel heavy on the head nor do they clamp down at obnoxious levels yet still stay in place while walking. However, don’t jog or run in them unless you want an impromptu physics lesson.
The sound quality. This is why I’m a faithful B&W owner. It’s always +2 bass above neutral. The sound is clean, clear and almost clinical, except for that signature minor bump in the baritone and bass range that’s easily modulated for a purely clinical sound. Bottom line, it’s like B&W tunes their headphones to make vinyl, tape and vacuum tube amps sound as true to life as possible. It’s not for everyone, as self-proclaimed audiophiles will complain about that +2 bass coloration, but to my ear I prefer the sound over most open-ear, electrostatic headphones.
The only issue is the poor ANC and transparency performance, limiting the ability to really open up the soundstage by using transparency mode. Despite that, they sound amazing for the price, especially since the PX7’s forced the price of the PX down. Just get a portable headphone amp and drive these suckers into nirvana with hi-res lossless ALAC or FLAC files.
Bonus points for including a headphone cable and hard case.
Da ich ziemlich weit fahren msste, um Kopfhrer testen zu knnen, hab ich mir erlaubt bei Amazon mehrere Modelle zu bestellen (Warehousedeals) und zu vergleichen.
Anforderung: Bluetooth mit Interesse an Noisereduction (ANC) und gute Klangqualitt
Zu meiner Person: ich hab wenig praktische Erfahrung mit Kopfhrern, hab aber einen technischen Background (Akustik) und schon sehr viele High End Standlautsprecher gehrt. Meine erste groe Liebe war der B&W 804D usw. usf. Da der Theorie nach audiophile Kopfhrer viel einfacher zu bauen sind als audiophile Standlautsprecher, war ich zunchst guter Hoffnung was den Klang betrifft, war aber dann aufs hchste verwundert wie unglaublich verschieden meine Testobjekte klingen. Daher mache ich mir die Mhe und schreibe eine Rezension.
Ich hre und testete fast alle Musikgenres. Ich versuche mich kurz zu halten mit Mut zur Lcke.
Meine Referenz: der kabelgebundene Hifiman Sundara um 350. Der ist meiner Meinung nach bereits audiophil”, er ist zwar recht hell abgemischt, hat aber bereits diesen samtigen weichen Ton, der nie anstrengend wird, wie er hochpreisigen Highend Lautsprechern zu eigen ist. (Ich seh keinen Sinn darin Bluetooth Kopfhrer, die kaum ber die 400 Grenze gehen mit einem 1000 Kopfhrer zu vergleichen). Gleich vorweg. Keiner kommt an den Hifiman Sundara ran. Allerdings bin ich begeistert von der Noisereduction und werde wohl den Highendklang opfern mssen.
1. Yamaha YH-E700H Sehr bequem wie ein Sofa aber meine Ohren werden richtig hei (Sommer). Bei Klimaanlage kein Problem. Der Klang ist gut aber der Bass fr gewisse Musikrichtungen einfach zu dick aufgetragen. Die App ist minimalistisch. Sollte da irgendwann ein Equalizer dazu kommen oder ein Bassboost off” Schieber, wird der Klang interessant fr mich. Allerdings ist die Noise Reduction noch unausgereift. Bei meinem Miele C3 Staubsauger versagt sie zB. vollkommen.
2. Sony WH 1000 xm3 (hab 4er bestellt aber in der Packung war ein 3er — Anc soll bei 4er noch etwas besser sein) Angeblich hat auch der zu viel Bass, aber im Vergleich zum Yamaha und PX7 harmlos). Dafr empfinde ich den Klang als korrekt aber unlebendig. Ein Sony eben! Sehr leicht und angenehm zu tragen, allerdings sehr nahe am Ohr. ANC ist toll. Bei geffneten Fenstern mit Verkehrs- und Spielplatzlrm kommt fast nichts durch. Das knnte der Hit frs Bro sein. ABER: Windgerusche, Fahrtwind bei geffneten Autofenstern usw. schafft er nicht. Ob der 4er das besser kann wei ich leider nicht. App ist sehr ppig. 3D Klang fhig, ganz viele technische Einstellmglichkeiten.usw.
3. B&W PX. Erster Eindruck: sehr schlecht. Sie schauen zwar super aus, sind aber schwer, haben recht hohen Anpressdruck, der Polster ist schlank und eher nicht so bequem, dafr aber sehr luftig und eher khl. Der Klang im Vergleich zum Hifiman irgendwie blechdosig, aber immerhin einigermaen neutral. Ich hab ihn erst nach lngerer Testzeit der anderen wieder hervorgeholt und ihm doch noch eine Chance gegeben. Jetzt nach viel Zeit und Geduld ist er mein Favorit. Er hat zwar diesen Dosenklang (keine Ahnung welche Frequenzen dafr verantwortlich sind) aber er ist sehr temperamentvoll, der hat das gewisse etwas. Manchmal etwas scharf in den Hhen, aber es kommt Freude auf. Das ist keine Klangstangenware alla Sony sondern ein klangliches Einzelstck. Der Klang ist nicht ganz mein Geschack, aber dieser Kopfhrer lebt”. Aptx hd hat er auch usw. Die App ist minimalistisch. ANC kann man am Kopfhrer an und abdrehen. In der App hingegen gibt es 3 Modi: Bro (super Klang leichte noisereduction), Stadt (hier werden sicherheitsrelevante Gerusche durchverstrkt) und Flug (max. Noisereduction und deutliche Abstriche bei der Klangqualitt). UND: Whrend er dem Sony bei Verkehrslrm, Kinderspielplatz usw. unterlegen ist, ist er der einzige (PX7 auch) der Windgerusche fast vollkommen beherrscht. Das hat B&W sehr gut gemacht.
4. B&W PX7: leichter und angenehmer zu tragen als der PX, Anc ist meiner Meinung nach kaum besser. Auch er beherrscht Windgerusche wie schon der PX. ANC kann man jetzt am Kopfhrer selbst zwischen high, low und auto umstellen. ABER: Manche Musikstcke stehen ihm, da klingt er super. Toller Bass, auch Stimme klingt gut. Andere Musikstcke klingen schrecklich. Die Stimme wie hinterm Vorhang, der Bass vollkommen berzogen usw. Wie kommt es zu den vielen guten Rezensionen? Vermutlich sind das Leute, die nicht so bunt durch alle Musikrichtungen hren wie ich und letztlich gewhnt sich das Hirn ja eh an alles. Zwischen ANC off und on ist viel weniger Qualittsverlust als beim PX. Meiner Meinung deshalb, weil der PX mit ANC Off einfach besser klingt, deshalb fllt das beim PX viel strker auf. App minimalistisch. Der bei meiner Kopfform angenehmste Kopfhrer, aber sehr whlerisch beim Musikstck, besonders der Gesang kann sehr leiden.
5. Sennheiser Momentum 3: Etwas gnstiger. Kein High End, aber meiner Meinung nach toller Klang. Alles klingt gut mit ihm: Pop, Klassik, Jazz, Rap, Techno usw. Nicht so dynamisch wie der PX, aber dafr sehr ermdungsfrei, er verschluckt nichts wie der PX7, hat wuchtigen Bass aber bertreibt nicht, wie der Yamaha. Sennheiser kann Kopfhrer bauen! Aber: das ANC ist wie beim Yamaha einfach schlechter als bei B&W und Sony. Achtung! Lange Haare verfangen sich im Klappbgel.
6. Bose: die sollen ja ein ganz tolles ANC haben, aber da sich die Fachpresse einig ist, dass sie musikalisch gesehen nicht so interessant sind, habe ich auf den Test verzichtet.
7. Ebenso habe ich auf beyerdynamic&Co verzichtet, die musikalisch vielleicht der Hit sind, aber beim ANC schwach sein sollen. Wenn mir ANC egal wre, wrde ich gleich einen Hifiman Deva nehmen.
Fazit: Wer sich im Bro abschotten will nehme Sony oder Bose. Wer bei 130km/h und bei ganz geffneten Autofenstern hren will, nehme B&W. Wer Musik hren will mit ein bisschen ANC nehme den Sennheiser. Wer Bands wie Bassgewitter (nur Bassgitarren, keine Vocals) liebt, nehme den PX7. Beim Yamaha wrde ich auf Rap&Co verweisen.
Letztlich gewhnt sich das Gehirn an alles. Ich benutze beim laufen gehen einen 40 inear China Mp3player weil er so unglaublich leicht und angenehm zum tragen ist.
Danke Amazon fr die Mglichkeit des Testens. Diese Rezension ist als Gegenleistung zu verstehen.
Very good quality build and nicely finished. It feels a quality product from the get go; rich sound and comfortable to wear.
Conclusion upfront, I really like to love this headphone because it is beautifully constructed and nicely designed. +++Build Quality —Sound, Comfort, Noise Cancelling
But the reality is, the sound is not great compared to other Bower Wilkins Headphones I’ve owned. The P5 wireless and P7 wireless, which I love, have a somewhat darker, smoother sound profile that really shines for jazz, instruments etc. but the px has a somewhat weird sound that is detailed, but not what I would describe as pleasant. The noise cancelling is not great and significantly degrades sound quality, so I would leave it off.
I would not say this is a great travel headphone, the case is very bulky. In terms of comfort, it is heavy and you really feel the weight after maybe 1-2 hours of wear. As many have mentioned, not a fan of the earcup design as it felt fatiguing after extended period of time because of the sharpness and hardness of the foam.
First of all, I have not noticed any issue whatsoever with pain on the top of the head (as per some reviews); I can only assume that those who experienced this issue did not extend the arms to a long enough length meaning there was a downward force on top of their head. My head it quite large and long so I think this must be a user issue; not a design issue.
I wore these for about 5 hours yesterday, with one sitting of about 3 hours and had no pain or discomfort.
Sound quality:
You notice how good it is when you switch from these to some standard Apple earphones, for example, that suddenly sound terrible in comparison. I would describe the sound as clean and well balanced; organic if I can use that word. It doesn’t seem to do anything to the music – it just makes it sound ‘right’. I have listened to a range of genres from Hip-Hop to rock to drum and bass and these just work well across the board. I would not change anything about the sound.
Noise cancellation:
I am sure there are some ANC headphones that can do a little better but these are still great; and we’re probably talking around 1-2% difference between these and the best possible ANC function. My wife walked into the room and I didn’t notice she was there…always a bonus (although this is her Amazon account so she’ll read this). As I type loudly on a noisy plastic keyboard I just get a faint muted sound that’s not really detectable. I can’t hear anything outside or any other distractions anywhere. I’ve heard that Sony do a better job but I just don’t like the look of them and I like things that look nice!
Bluetooth/app connectivity:
Seems to connect very well to my phone. The only slight issue is that the app often fails to recognise that the headphones are connected but to be honest, once the headphones are set up, you don’t really need the app.
One of the added bonuses I’ve found with these headphones is that they make me super productive. I find I can put these on for a couple of hours and just blitz through lists of things that I need to get done and they keep me focused as I can’t hear any distractions.
Very happy with my purchase – hence why I’m taking the time to write a review.
I chose to go with these over any of the Sony WH XM series principally due to the materials used in their construction. On the plus side these feel like they would survive WW3 and are a beautiful bit of engineering. On the downside they weigh a ton and unless you are sitting bolt upright they will slide off.
These have now been run in for a couple of months of light usage and the sound quality has really improved; particularly in bass response. They are more suited to a studio environment where a correct balance is more important than a booming mega bass response.
I wouldn’t feel comfortable commuting with them due to their size and weight and they aren’t the sort of headphones you would want to just throw into a sack when not in use. Its a bit of a palaver putting them away in their case when not in use and probably would benefit from a headphone stand.
I managed to snag these for 190 from Amazon which was an excellent bargain.
Build quality, design, sound, presentation ease of using, just one word…AWESOME!
Got these on warehouse deals from Amazon and were perfect condition. Sound is quite nice for Bluetooth and the battery stamina is very good. A nice plus is the charging while in use. I don’t think any other wireless set will will achieve this nice feature. No down time. Real leather also.
After casual use, less then 40 sessions and well under 300 hours of playback, they have become unusable. Had them plug in charging and the led didn’t come on and the ear cup was quite warm and smelled like something melted in there. It took a bit of work to get them replaced by B&W, but in the end they sent a refurbished set of the newer PX7’s. These arrived like new and had nice packaging for a refurbished item. Very well done B&W! The PX7 have more bass but less midrange. I do like the look and build over the metal and heavier PX’s they replace. Overall I’m very happy to get the PX7 as a warranty replacement and hope they last for awhile.
Ok, first things first. These aren’t the best noise canceling headphones, they’re really only moderately good in that respect. I haven’t been able to test them out on an aircraft because C19. But I’ve done some mild experiments with ambient noise and they work pretty well, just not as well as the Bose you might be considering.
That said, I think if you take the time to allow them to break in, the sound quality is far better than the Bose models that outperform them for noise cancelling. And it takes a while, 20-30 hours at least before the sound quality improved substantially. Initially they are quite flat which was somewhat concerning, especially at this price point. But having read other reviews and comments elsewhere they really do need that break in period. Once they did hit that point the sound quality was excellent. I haven’t had any distortion at all, even at quite high volumes. Source also matters a great deal. They can sound very good with Youtube videos but that’s as much dependent on the upload quality as anything else. With an actual sound system they are really, really good without too much emphasis on any point on the listening spectrum.
The ones I received came with a hard case as well, something that wasn’t expected. Charging cable and plug in cable were included, the latter presumably useful on aircraft which someday I hope to try again.
Ear comfort is good, not great, but I have a substantial melon so folks with a hat size of 7 1/2 or smaller shouldn’t have issues. I can wear them for several hours without significant discomfort.
The controls are a bit wonky and I’ve never been able to get the automatic pause to work properly. Playback always seems to start right back up even if they’re not on my ears. But I honestly don’t care as that’s as much a gimmicky feature to me as anything else. Volume up/down and pause buttons work well. Battery life appears to be as advertised, certainly well over 10 hours and probably close to 20.
Bought these in March, probably use 20 hours a week or so. No signs of wear on headband or earpads.
Ho acquistato le cuffie Bowers & Wilkins PX dietro consiglio di un amico che le possiede da qualche anno e si trovato completamente soddisfatto. Ho letto le recensioni ed ho, altres, effettuato il confronto con le PX7 evoluzione delle PX stesse. Mi sono deciso a comprare le prime in virt del prezzo pi basso e anche perch le differenze mi sembravano minime. Debbo dire che la scelta stata la pi azzeccata. Facili da configurare e da accoppiare, possono essere usate con tutte le fonti che emettono suono e che siano predisposte con un proprio tramettitore bluetooth o che abbiano la possibilt di collegare un trasmettitore autonomo (prese RCA, Jack 3,5, 6,35 ecc.). La qualit del suono eccellente e si indossano per ore senza il minimo fastidio. Belle anche esteticamente e provviste di una custodia davvero elegante.
Great B&W headphones – an upgrade from my previous wired B&W P5s which were a gift, although I was soon fully on board with B&W.
Expensive, I guess, but both the build quality and looks are superb.
Battery seems to almost last forever.
I’m no technical audio expert but the noise cancelling is good and more importantly, with the purest settings, the tunes sound awesome!
Der PX von der Hightech Marke B&W ist ein edler Over Ear Hrer mit aktuellem AptxHD Codec, mit dem sich erst HD Musik mit 320 kbps Streaming Qualitt, oder sogar verlustfreie HighRes, hren lsst. Solide verarbeitet aus hochwertigen Materialien. Der Akku hlt sehr lange und auch die Bluetooth Verbindung ist durchgehend stabil und verbindet sich immer zuverlssig selbstndig. Der Klang ist voller Wrme, przision und druckvoll. Bildet ein schnes Bhnenbild. Noise Cancelling biet er auch, wem das am vorrangigsten ist sollte sich aber eher die Nachfolgemodelle PX5 (kompakter On Ear) oder PX7 (aktuellstes Modell mit bester ANC) ansehen.
I have had a bunch of the most popular noise cancelling headphones and these are by far the best I have found. In search for upgrade i sold my first pair, just to buy another one two months later.
BW PXs are not the best for travel where I’d say bose qc35 or sony xm3 has an edge due to portability (I kept qc35 for that reason), but when it comes to noise cancelling, sound and build quality these run laps around the two of the above.
La cancelacin de sonido es tan efectiva que he tenido que dejar de usarlos: no poda or ni las notificaciones del mvil, a pesar de tenerlo a 50cm sobre la mesa. En lugares muy ruidosos ayuda mucho.
Requieren usar una app para el mvil para configurarlos. Me gustara que se pudieran usar solos, pero la app funciona bien.
Son bonitos, pero no son tan cmodos como me gustara. A pesar de eso, los puedo llevar puestos un par de horas cada vez antes de que empiecen a molestar.
Its an amazing pair of headphones. I`ve tried a lot but nothing comes close to this sound quality.
Comfort- I can`t complain, the cushioning is not like MX3 or Bose QC 35ii, but it doesn`t bother for long listening sessions. The ears fit inside of the cups and I don`t really had any sweating.
Noise cancelling- the weakest point maybe, but it does the job. Even when its turned off and you walk outside or you are at the office will block decent amount passively.
The battery life is good enough, nothing crazy but excels the given 22hrs of battery use.
I had some connectivity issues, which was due to very badly explanation how to connect them to multiple devices.
I had to download the old manual which actually says that you can press the power button inwards. In the new one is not specified /the button normally slides down, but it was never mention that you can actually press it inwards!/
– sehr gute neutrale Klangcharakteristik,
– mich strt ein in der Software des Kopfhrers fehlender Equalizer nicht
– stabile Bluetooth-Verbindung
– mit kompatibler Bluetooth-Quelle verlustfreie Signalbertragung ber APTX HD
– die App ist nur zur Einstellung diverser Kopfhrer-Optionen (wie der Konfiguration des ANC) erforderlich, gelegentlich auftretende Abbrche sind daher unproblematisch
– gute Geruschdmmung gegen Umgebungsgerusche fr drei typische Umgebungssituationen
– Die akustische Transparenz lt sich nach Bedarf anpassen
– gute Passform, auch bei langfristigem Tragen drckt der Kopfhrer nicht
– sehr hochwertige Anmutung, erstklassige Verarbeitung
– es mag in Einzeldisziplinen bessere Kopfhrer geben. Dieser ist jedoch insbesondere des niedrigen Preises ein sehr gutes Gesamtpaket
-> Ich wrde den Kopfhrer wieder kaufe
I’ve had b o and Bose headphones and these beat both on sound and quality,can’t fault them.
I ordered a pair of Bose QC35 (1st generation) and these at the same time. I already had a pair of wired QC25 ANC and was quite happy with them but wanted to go full wireless.
Out of the box the Bose sounded a tad better with more transparent bass compared to the B&Ws.
I found noise cancellation about on par, until I updated the firmware, where it deteriorated and now worse than my QC25s.
Then I followed the instructions for the B&Ws and broke them in for around 40 hours and now sound absolutely superb!
Other things I really like is how you can adjust the ANC, the nifty auto pause when you take them off or lift one ear, and USB C charging.
Rated battery life is 22 hours which is less than the Bose but I seem to be getting much better and I doubt I’ll ever be on a 22 hour flight where my phone battery doesn’t die first. No range anxiety for me.
Build quality is outstanding and I didn’t experience any of the issues of stiff leather pads, head tightness or ANC issues when the seal is less than optimal as other reviews have indicated.
I’m also on an iPhone and AAC encoded music from Apple’s music streaming is amazing. Another bonus is APTX support for all you Android and PC folks out there, something the Bose doesn’t have.
Just remember if you buy these you have to burn them in before you get the best sound quality.
son de bonne qualit , cependant espace sonore correct sans plus , le spectre manque prsence distincte des instruments.
Donc un peu du, en fonction du prix , la concurrence fait aussi bien pour moins cher !
casque manquant de confort, plutt lourd , difficile de passer plus d’une heure sans sentir venir une gne limite
douloureuse ;
Par contre trs bons matriaux et finition parfaite.
Ursprnglich hatte ich eine lngere Rezension formuliert, aber ich glaube, das liest sich hier sowieso niemand durch. Ich verffentliche hier deshalb nur eine Zusammenfassung:
Die Verarbeitungs- und Klangqualitt sind ber jeden Zweifel erhaben. Fr mich erfllt der PX “audiophile” Ansprche und bietet eine rumliche Darstellung und einen Detailgrad, den ich bisher nur von meinen Studiokopfhrern kannte. Dabei fllt der Klang aber nicht langweilig neutral aus: der Kopfhrer bietet im Bass ein gutes Fundament mit vielen Details, ohne hier berzubetonen und lsst dadurch den Frequenzen darber noch viel Platz zum herumtnzeln.
Das Noise Cancelling kann vielleicht nicht mit den Sony WH-1000XM3 oder Bose QC35II mithalten, tut aber seinen Dienst. Fr mich ist das ANC sowieso nur ein netter Nebeneffekt, um bei Umgebungsgeruschen (hauptschlich Bus, Bahn und Uni/Bro) noch ungestrt Musik hren zu knnen. Beim gezielten Musikhren zuhause bleibt das ANC sowieso aus. Eine super Funktion ist die Durchschaltung von Sprache bzw. Umgebungsgeruschen. Im Stadtmodus wird man dadurch nicht vllig von der Auenwelt abgekapselt und kann sich deshalb noch Sicher im Straenverkehr bewegen und im Bus verpasst man seine Haltestelle nicht.
Positive berraschung: frher wurde der Kopfhrer anscheinend nur mit einem Stoffbeutel geliefert, was in vielen Testberichten bemngelt wurde. In meiner Box war aber ein vollwertiges Hardcase mit “Bowers & Wilkins” Aufschrift, das Halterungen fr den Kopfhrer und die Kabel bietet. Anscheinend hat Bowers & Wilkins da seit Erscheinen des PX7 auch beim PX nachgebessert. Top!
Ich habe den Kopfhrer hier bei Amazon fr unschlagbare 209 Euro bekommen. Fr diesen Preis ist er konkurrenzlos und dank USB-C und der Untersttzung hochqualitativer Codecs (aptX HD und AAC) zukunftssicher. Zurzeit steigt der Preis wieder, da muss jeder selber wissen, was ihm wichtig ist. Ich bereue den Kauf kein bisschen und wrde die Entscheidung auch bei hherem Preis wieder so treffen.
Used on long haul flight, brilliant at blocking out the plane’s engine noise and 3 crying babies,!
Superb sound quality would definitely recommend
Absolutely fantastic sound quality, although the higher levels of noise cancelling do affect this. Try to use the lowest level or leave it off when listening in quiet environments. The build quality is leaps and bounds better than the competition and the carry case is good too.
Now on to the few niggles. The build quality comes at the expense of extra weight. Whilst this isn’t a problem initially, on long listens you do get a slight hotspot on the top of your head. Don’t get me wrong, they are still very comfortable. The other tiny issue is when you wear them around your neck. As the hinge point is at the rear, the ear cups face outwards rather than inwards which just looks a bit odd.
Overall, they are an excellent set of headphones that are a pleasure to listen to. I’m very happy with my purchase
I purchased these as office headphones after reading multiple reviews and they don’t disappoint. The sound quality from the get-go is fantastic and should only get better after about 40 hours of burning the headphones in.
The app works and connects easily and Bluetooth stays connected further than I thought. I can move around freely, with my phone left on my desk and the music never stops.
The only issue I encountered was that the wear sensor was too sensitive when walking and frequently stopped the music.
Turning it down one notch, in the app, solved that issue.
I own senheiser, bose, and akg headphones,they are not a patch on these bowers and wilkins,what an amazing set of phones, the sound quality is amazing, battery life is awesome, the best headphones i have purchased, i cannot fault these headphones in any way, there has been reviews that say they are heavy and uncomfortable on your head, i have not found this to be the case. These headphones are well worth the money.
Zum anderen ist sein wirkliches musikalisches Talent eine beeindruckende Transparenz. Der Raum ist grer als bei den meisten Funkhrern, aber vor allem deutlicher auszumachen, ohne dabei allerdings analytisch zu klingen. Sobald Stimmen ins Spiel kommen, spielt er diese Karte aus. Bei Blues, klassischem Rock, Soul, Pop, sorry- Schlager und ja, auch Oper muss man kabellos 3 zur vordersten Zahl des Kaufpreises addieren um Adquates zu finden. Bei mir, Lachen erlaubt, hat er Platz 1 fr Hrbcher. Mancher unserer professionellen Vorleser in diesem Land hat dermassen Talent, dass es sich lohnt, noch mehr Nuancen ber einen derart guten Hrer zu entdecken. Nicht das hier eine 2-stellige Anzahl Kopfhrer div. Hersteller zum Missfallen meines Hausdrachen herumstnde.
Tipp: Ich hab den Sensor ber die kostenlose App deaktiviert, ihn um 4 Jack Reacher Bnde (ja, Dickschdel) geklemmt und bei mehr als nahverkehrstauglicher Lautstrke 70 Stunden (2 mal laden) mit dem Album Thriller laufen lassen. danach klang er im Mittenbereich noch etwas aufgerumter als ein zum Vergleich herangezogenes frisches Laden-Exemplar. Gewhnung fllt weg, ich hatte ihn nicht auf. (Allerdings knnte man noch mit Serienstreuung argumentieren. dann freu ich mich halt, dass ich Glck gehabt habe. Danke an B&W und Amazon.)
Using it in my daily routine, going to and back from work, in the gym as well as when chilling listening to music at home. The sound is amazing.
Excellent product for this price great sound and noise cancellatio
I purchased these for my son as he’s just turned 16 and is starting to show interest in music and great sound (he couldn’t believe his ears when listening to my $1000+ grado amp/headphones for the first time).
Yes, these were a splurge for us, but music and high quality audio has brought me so much enjoyment over the years and I wanted to share that with my son.
That said, these headphones are excellent sounding and I am absolutely loving them! I think I my have to get a pair for myself!
Sound is very subjective, so please don’t listen to the (very few) poor reviews of these headphones. If you are in the market for something in this same price range, you will get value at this price range. They rival the sound of much more expensive equipment (at least in my stable).
Also, they do sound a touch different with noise cancelation on different settings. This is completely acceptable to me. I have no doubt it would be very simple for B&W to avoid that by over correcting the frequency depending on your setting. I am glad they did not do that. Over corrected/over processed sound is fatiguing and would very likely come with sound degradation issues. Keep in mind how much work the drivers are doing when canceling out ambient noise. Just allow a few moments for your ears to adjust and enjoy the sound and music!! To me, they sound great, neutral and very musical in each setting.
Also, be sure you are not listening to overly compressed music. High quality cans like these will make compressed music sound worse. You will hear more issues with higher end headphones. This is because they don’t mask the poor quality source.
That said, I find these very pleasing with all the music I’ve tried, including streaming Apple Music.
The only one issue I encountered is that they tended to pause a bit when I adjusted them on my head. That was fixed with the settings to make that auto pause feature less sensitive. I didn’t know you could adjust that at first so I was very relieved to find that was adjustable.
Cheers
P.S. My son absolutely loves these!!
Ho avuto modo di apprezzare la qualit B&W gi da una trentina d’anni fa. Ho comunque voluto fare prima dei confronti con altre cuffie, in particolar modo con le Sony 1000mx3. Le Sony le ho trovate un po’ pi confortevoli, sono davvero light. La cancellazione del rumore un pelino pi efficace rispetto alle B&W PX, ma almeno nel mio caso dopo un po’ avverto fastidio (cosa che non succede con le B&W). La qualit del suono delle B&W l’ho trovata sensibilmente superiore rispetto alle Sony 1000 mx3. Ultra soddisfatto di questo prodotto. Sarebbero state perfette se l’App scaricabile su smartphone consentiva anche la regolazione dell’equalizzatore.
So I have always been a huge fan of B&W, ever since I owned my first pair of P5’s. B&W’s attention to detail, superb sound quality and unmatched build quality is what truly sets them apart from the rest of the competitors. And they have absolutely crushed it with these headphones. The sound quality is amazing and extremely balanced, it has a sound signature that really gives you a studio-like hearing experience.
Now, after like 7 months since I bought these headphones, I was having some issues with the battery. Every time I charge it, the headphones would start blinking red and wouldn’t connect to any of my devices. I reached out to their customer support team and they have managed to solve the issue asap by sending me a pair of new headphones from the opposite side of the globe (I am currently in Dubai)!! Their customer support team is amazing and do whatever it takes to solve your problem, so a huge shoutout to the B&W CS team 🙂
Lastly, if you’re still wondering about purchasing these headphones or any B&W product, do not hesitate as they never disappoint and you know that you can rely on them if anything comes up. Have always been a B&W fan and this recent experience with their CS team made me a bigger fan of theirs.
Bought these from the Treasure Truck, so got a great deal compared to other wireless noise cancelling headphones in the same class. Bought these to hold my wife and I over on long flights to New Zealand. They fit great, look cooler than the somewhat basic plastic Bose competitors, and have good noise cancellation, even if it isn’t the best in the business. The thing that gives these a 4 star review for me is the Bluetooth audio quality. I may have too-high expectations, but I just expected better. I used these with my iPhone, which doesn’t support aptX HD. Maybe this would have made the wireless sound quality better, but I don’t have a device to test it on. Wired quality however is top notch. I just don’t plan on using these wired very much, hence the 4 stars.
These are esthetically very nice.
Compared to Bose:
-Much heavier
-No voice prompts for power, pairing, volume… etc, only beeps. Makes the learning curve much greater
-the pads do get more comfortable after a while, but the Bose are still more comfortable because they are larger around the ear and softer from the start
-Battery life seems the same
-issues with pairing to Kindle, no pairing issues with any device with Bose
-they do not fold up as small as Bose
I know Bose isn’t “cool” with audiophiles like Bowers & Wilkins, but I think the Bose 35 beat these in too many ways. We bought for under $250 from a treasure truck deal. Cannot imagine spending $399 on them. I know B&W make great products, I just wasn’t as impressed with these as much as I thought I would be.
IMPORTANT UPDATE
After many conversations with other people who had the PX who were all very much enjoying their pairs and never noticed the flaws I disliked about it, I went in a audio store and tried them again. Verdict, I most probably had received a defective unit (bought used) because the pair I tried was sounded very different and MUCH better than the one I described below. I therefore ordered a new pair of PX on Amazon (not the px7 due to lesser quality and darker sound profile). Here my updated review.
Now 5 stars.
Percussions are much more impactful with the new pairs. Much more bass in overall as well. Mids ans high are very present and hairy. Soundstage is still the best I ever listened on a closed back of headphones.
The ANC mode on the new pairs does still affect the sound quality on the city and airplane mode BUT really not as much as with the other pair. Now it is listenable! (I’d say you 25% of the sound quality with the airplane mode)
Very happy with the decision of rebuying them
——-
OLD REVIEWS.
So… I don’t even know where to start.
First build quality is exquisite. Made from the purest material , these headphones are a masterpiece of craftsmanship. Honestly I could look at them for hours, that’s how much they are beautiful. The space grey model is subtle but flamboyant at the same time. They are a piece of jewelry. No flaw in their design.
Connectivity was easy. Simple and fast. Auto reconnect automatically to my iPhone simply by wearing them. Really nice. The auto pause feature was working flawlessly for me. You lift a earcup and they pause. I have to say that I do prefer a “transparency” mode the competitions have, it just feel more useful. You don’t always can lift an earcup.
The case provided was brilliant. Hard shell, very sturdy. I feel like I could drop them from the second floor in this case and they would survive like nothing happened. A bit on the large size i must say. It will take at least 1/4 or more of your airplane carry on bag. Yeah it’s massive.
Battery is impressive. 22 hours or so. Manage a full week of commuting and office music session in only charge. Bluetooth and ANC activated.
Now this is where it goes down south…. unfortunately the audio quality of these headphones is simply not good enough to justify the price tag. I mean It’s far from being bad. It’s actually very good but way too inconsistent. B&W could have done a better job, they do the best speakers in the world and p5/p7 was a sonic delight. Some songs will be very powerful with impressive dynamics with deep sub bass, powerful low mid with crisps high. They are more on the flat side then the classic V sound profile we find nowadays, which I appreciate a lot. However, some songs just sounds terrible… it’s not even bearable. It’s even as if the PX hated some song. Some songs just sounded awfull, doll and lifeless. The PX certainly has some sort of processors that have a hard time processing audio quality that is not perfectly recorded. For instance, a well recorded song like Believer from Imagine Dragons sounded incredibly well with very powerful lows with an astonishing attack, tight highs and crystal clear highs (and not fatiguing). However, a song like Lost Cause from Black pistol fire just sound doll, very much lifeless with no dynamics at all. The headphones also has a weird sound stage digital effect that works 9 times on 10. That means that 10% of your music will sound very boxy, as if you hear the music from a metal can/tunnel. I thought it was due to the angled drivers i was hearing this unusual effect, but I tried the PXC 550 from Sennheiser that also has angled drivers and there no such effect on the sound stage. Time didn’t help either, after 40/50 hours of listening the effect remained the same. The other major issue, and a dealbreaker for me, is that percussions (I.e Real drums, tambourine and such) has absolutely no impact at all… EDM music will sound solid, but real drums sounded too lifeless for me. I had multiple headphones in my life as I was on a quest to find the BEST headphones for me, so I have a handful of headphones to compare them with (b&o h2,h4,H5,h8/b&wP3,P5,P7/Bose qc3,qc15/beats studio, sennh pxc 550) and the PX left me still hungry after listening real bands… I listen to everything, literally and metal/modern rock/punk rock music sounded lifeless with no impact.
ANC. Second major issue. The office setting
worked great I have to admit. Blocking enough noise to block subways and traffic noise. The quality of the music was not impacted at all. BUT as soon as you activate the CITY or AIRPLANE mode, the quality of your music was DROPPING to a mediocrity you wouldn’t believe…. sadly these mode were not even a possible option for me. The sound was just as bad as an old Phillips 4$ headphones (I am NOT exaggerating unfortunately).
That being said, sound preference is indeed a personal taste. Perhaps you like them and I am jealous of you, it would have LOVED to love them… they are honestly so well build and beautiful, they could have easily been my day to day headphones, if only they sounded good with all genres…
I will stick to my old P7w, which still sounds much better. I am returning the PX.
Overall good headphones, my biggest pet peeve with the headphones is you pay a very big premium but you DON’T GET GENUINE LEATHER. Why? There are almost no headphones which have genuine leather, and the synthetic leather breaks down after a few months. Great metal build quality otherwise. They just released a new model in September which still uses synthetic leather. Very disappointing.
When charging such a premium please make sure they have genuine full grain leather so they last.
Gestestet wurde mit einem Astell und Kern SR15 mit Bluetooth Verbindung. Die Kopplung klappt problemlos, aber es gibt immer wieder kurze Aussetzer was sehr unangenehm ist wenn man unterwegs ist. Ich konnte die Ursache noch nicht genau isolieren. Ich habe aber die Vermutung, wenn viele Bluetooth Gerte in der Nhe sind kommen die Kopfhrer durcheinander. Denn Zuhause funktioniert die Bluetooth Verbindung auch ber 10m einwandfrei.
Der Tragekomfort ist berraschend gut. Auch wenn sie eher stark auf die Ohren drcken, empfinde ich auch nach 4 Stunden keinen Schmerz. Und ich habe wirklich groe Ohren ( la Sebastian Kurz).
Die Klangqualitt ist hervorragend. Egal ob NC ein ist oder nicht. Der Klang ist glasklar und sehr detailliert. Klangcharakteristik ist ganz anders wie bei den Beyerdynamics, aber keineswegs schlecht oder unangenehm. Am ehesten knnte man die Klangcharakteristik mit den Sony wh-1000MX2 vergleichen.
Excellent sound quality as you would expect from Bowers and Wilkins, noise cancelling is good but not quite up to Bose standards. The app is eay to use and user friendly, battery life is OK, I personally think that the headphones are very comfortable.
Best Bluetooth headphone in the market. Look further no more. Buy it and you will not regret it.
I received the B&W PX headphones about 1 month ago and so far I’m extremely pleased. I did a lot of research against comparable models and price ranges and I was a bit nervous buying these based on several reviews on the lack of comfort. The other reviews on sound quality, build, looks, noise canceling were very positive, so I gave them a shot because of all the models I reviewed, I really liked the look of the PX.
Everything was as I expected and even better. The sound quality is great at all ranges for both music and video watching. The build is perfect. The noise canceling for the various settings was more than adequate. I’ve tested them on flights where my seat was at the front, center and back, and was very pleased with the clarity of the sound without the annoyance of engine noise. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t 100% eliminate engine noise, but was controlled at a strong enough level so that I could fully enjoy the music.
Comfort – despite what others have written, I had no discomfort whatsoever. True the headphones fit tighter than others I tested (like the Sony, Bose and Senn’s). The others mentioned had more padding and fit loser, however I never felt any discomfort with the PX’s, even after having them on for 10+ hours (and I wear reader glasses). If you have glasses with thicker arms, or if you have a larger head, I believe that will cause comfort problems, but for me, they were awesome.
The battery life is very good and true to their specs.
So after all the testing and reviews, I still bought these based on style 🙂 and I’m very happy I did because they perform so well in all areas.
…eigentlich.
Doch auch unterwegs kann der Hrer die Kopfhrer genieen. Allein:
– brauchten 1-2 Wochen, um sich einzuspielen.
– wirklich zur Geltung nur mit einem der Leistung angemessenen Zuspieler.
Kommen wir zum Zweiteren:
Der Tidal-Streaming-Dienst mit der hchsten Auflsungsstufe sollte es schon sein, dann kommt Freude auf.
Verpackung:
Auspacken ist ein Genuss: Weihnachten im August.
Verarbeitung:
Sehr solide. Klasse Haptik, die Materialien lassen Vorfreude auf den Musikgenuss aufkommen, da nichts knarzt, chzt oder wackelt.
Komfort:
Es gibt leichtere Kopfhrer, und wer ber 24 Stunden die Dinger auflassen will, braucht n IBU, denn es drckt irgendwann auf der Fontanelle, doch:
Der Klang(!):
Nach ca. 2 Wochen entschied ich mich fr den TIDAL-Dienst (auch fr Daheim), und pltzlich war der Schleier weg. Die KH sind etwas wrmer abgestimmt, doch hierbei knackig und drhnen nicht. Die Mitten sind prsent, ohne zu eimern, die Hhen schn klar, ohne zu klirren. Der Klang hat eine angenehme Rumlichkeit und lsst alle Instrumente bei allen Musikstilen genug Raum zur Entfaltung und Erkenntlichkeit.
Kaufempfehlung. Ob im Gehen, Stehen oder Sitzen.
Merc
These sound great, the noise cancellation is good, and they look great.
Controls are a bit fiddly but the biggest issue I had is how tight the band is. Very uncomfortable for me after an hour or so. Although I do have a big head.
almadan nce beklentinizin ne olduuna karar vermeniz gerekli bence. Farkl bir kulaklk bence. yle ki; dinlerken bass a boulmay devenlerdenseniz size hitap etmeyebilir. Sony ve ya boss ilginizi ekebilir. Bu rnn olay netlik ve derin bass. Her notay her enstrman tek tek duymak istiyorsanz kristal netlik ilk ncelikliiniz ise doru adrestesiniz. lk teslim aldmda bu kadar paray buna m verdim dedim iimden ama yllarca bass a boulup ince ayrntlar karmz dinlerken. Klasik mzik daha nce hi dinlememiim onu farkettim. Bir de bu rn alp sadece Apple mzik ya da spotift zerinden dinlerseniz yazk olur. Bahsettiim platformlarn ses kaliteleri p niteliinde. Synology nas sahibiyim ve plex zerinden ahsi arivimi zellikle flac olanlar dinlemek mthi bir keyif. Demek istediim sadece bunu almak yksek kalite mzik dinlemek iin yeterli deil ne yazk ki. arj sresi gayet yeterli. Kulaklk biraz bask yapyor ama kua dtan iine alarak oturmas ayr bir rahatlk ve izolasyon salyor. Sensrler neredeyse kusursuz alyor. Mzie ara vermek iin kulaktan kaldrmanz yeterli ve tekrar taknca kaldnz yerden devam. Cihaz ama kapamayla hi uramyorum taktnzda ertesi gn bile hazr almaya. ok byk rahatlk. Tu kullanm pratik. Zorlanmadm hi. Beklentinizin ne olduunu biliyorsanz ok doru bir tercih yaparsnz.
BUILD:
Of the headphones that I tested, these headphones felt the best built and had a premium quality that justifies its price. The build is primarily metal, with strong plastics that are covered in a ‘ballistic nylon’ material. This does mean that the headphones are heavier than other sets such as the Bose QC35, NCH-700 and Sony WH1000XM3 (all of which I have tested). The most comparable in build quality would be the Master and Dynamic sets (the MW50/65), which use leather and metal as their main materials. In essence, these are well built and are not prone to cracking or creaking as is the case with other (plasticky) competitors. This was particularly disturbing on the Sony WH1000XM3 which utilized a very low quality plastic that was prone to creak and squeak! Consequently, the PX will likely be more durable and can withstand more ‘abuse’ than competitors. Overall 5/5 for build and durability on the B&W PX.
Comfort
This is a particularly polarizing issue that I encountered when testing these at my local HiFi dealer (with similar sentiments shared in online reviews/forums). There are two factors at play with the B&W when it comes to comfort: weight and pressure. As a consequence of avoiding a plastic build, the headphones are necessarily heavier than its competitors. This has led to some issues with users who develop pain at the top of their heads from the weight of the set resting on their head. The second issue is the clamping pressure which is admittedly the high when compared to the aforementioned competitor products. This has led some to also develop pain around the ears, with some mentioning headaches. This pressure is not aided by the fact that the earcups themselves are less of a pillow design, and more of a rim/cup design which results in less surface area contacting the area around the ear. Therefore, when you add weight, higher clamping pressure and unconventional cup design it is possible to experience some pain. TO BE CLEAR HOWEVER, I have experienced none of this pain that has been mentioned by others. I have worn this set for a 4 hour listening session and did not experience any discomfort. Evidently, comfort is going to be a VERY subjective matter when it comes to this set and I advise you to try them on before buying if possible. As I said, I did not experience any pain or discomfort, but they do exhibit an overall different ‘feel’ when being worn, when compared to other headphone sets. Nevertheless, I found them to be comfortable and did not feel that the SONY WH1000XM3 (though much lighter) was any more comfortable. It is because of this negligible difference in comfort that I find the Sony build quality to be inexcusable. Therefore, 5/5 for comfort.
Comfort II (Fitment and Seal)
This is an appendix to comfort: these headphones are highly dependent on maintaining a seal around your ears to sound the best. Since everyone has different head shapes, it is possible that they may seal well with one person and not another. Even though I did not personally have this problem, I still found that over time, the cups would soften and mold to the shape of your head/ear which would maintain a good seal even if you shake your head (which was a minor problem when they were new).
Noise Cancelling
As noted in the title of this review and the TLDR, I chose these headphones for their sound quality and not for their noise cancelling. I was not in the market for a pair of noise cancelling headphones, but instead, for a pair of simple wireless headphones that sounded good. As many know, noise cancelling technology necessarily degrades sound quality and it was for this reason that I was not interested in noise cancelling to begin with. In any case, these headphones do feature noise cancelling of three varieties: office, city and airplane. These are three modes which increase in strength as listed. Overall, I find none of these settings to be particularly effective or convincing. They do not work that well and cannot truly compare to the Bose and Sony varieties. I found the noise cancelling of the Sennheiser M2 to be more effective, even in spite of its age. I also found that the noise cancelling (when on the higher/highest setting) seriously degrades sound quality and is something I would only use in really desperate scenarios. For reference, I find the Bose noise cancelling to be quite effective but also quite strong which gives the ‘cabin pressure’ feeling. In my opinion, the Sony has the best balance for noise cancelling (even so, Bose does better with some frequencies and worse with others). Quite frankly, I don’t think the PX was ever designed to be a NC headphone. 2/5.
UPDATE: After using this headset in vehicular settings, the noise cancelling is not as bad as I previously thought. There are significant differences between the three modes. While airplane mode does degrades the quality, it does well to drown any engine noise. However, the office setting is surprisingly good at silencing the droning sounds of cars and trains and does not degrade the quality as much. I also realize that in some scenarios, it’s better to have ANC with worse sound quality rather than no ANC with an engine droning in the background. Still in ordinary ambient settings (such as a coffee shop) the set still struggles to silence voices and ‘random/unpredictable’ sounds. I therefore raise the rating of noise cancelling from 2/5 to 3/5 stars.
Sound Quality
Here we arrive at the deciding factor for my 5-star review and the factor that mattered to ME the most. Sound quality is indeed very subjective and there are many variables that are at play when it comes to determining what headphone has ‘better’ sound. There are, however, some objective determinants when it comes to wireless headphones in particular; namely, bluetooth codecs. Without writing a wikipedia entry, the QC35 stream using the lowest quality and necessary codec for bluetooth streaming, which is SBC. This is generally a worse sounding codec that lacks clarity and detail (and the difference is noticeable). The Sennheiser M2 utilizes codecs up to aptX, which is a step above and is a good and prevalent codec that is used in many premium audio headsets. The B&W utilizes codecs up to aptX HD which is yet another step above regular aptX. The Sony utilizes codecs up to aptX, but offers LDAC which is a proprietary SONY codec that offers higher bit-rate streaming which can offer the best detail.
What does all this mean?
Well, in essence it means that the QC35 is not a relevant contender in comparison to the PX. It also means that the Sony technically has the ability to render more detail than the PX. it also means that the Sennheiser fits between the QC35 and the PX, but not up to the heights of the SONY.
All this aside, whether or not you can really hear the difference between LDAC, aptX and aptX HD is hotly contested and it depends on whether you know what to look for and listen to. When it comes to aptX HD and LDAC, I could not discern a difference, despite listening very critically. (The differences could be discerned when comparing LDAC/aptX HD to SBC and aptX – they rendered less detail). In conclusion, from a spec standpoint, the relevant comparison of sound quality is between the Sony WH1000XM3 and the PX.
To put it plainly, the Sony headphone has a consumer sound, while the B&W has a more neutral, balanced (professional) sound. Where the Sony emphasizes bass and treble (producing the common V-pattern), the B&W maintains a more restrained base and treble response. That is not to say that the PX lacks base and treble. What it means, is that the PX presents the music in the way it was recorded. Bass is given where bass is written/played/recorded (and the same for treble). On the other hand, the SONY tends to juice up the bass response to the point that it bleeds into the mids when gives a more muddy sound. This is a particularly big problem if you listen to Jazz, where the stringed basses totally overpower everything else when played through the Sony. It is true that the sony can be EQ’d via the app, but any alteration immediately sets the codec back from LDAC to SBC! This is terrible! Thus, the PX win for overall balance and presentation of sound.
When it comes to soundstage/imaging, the PX also win out over the competition. The sound on the PX is more open and the music will sound as though it’s coming from outside of you/around you rather than from in your head. Some people say this gives a tunnel effect or a tube effect, but this is likely because they are accustom to hearing headphones that have narrow images/soundstages which give the music a more upfront and inside-the-head effect. Anyway, when listening to acoustic music (classical, jazz) the PX truly shine. Instruments have good separation and space. It is clear where each instrument and sound is placed in 3D space. This is something that cannot be found in the Sony (though the Sony does this the best out of all other noise cancelling sets).
Aside from frequency response and imaging, I find the PX also have a crisper sound that (while sometimes rolled off) is spacious and gives the perception of higher fidelity sound than the Sony. They are much deeper and less upfront. You can hear distinct layering of sounds that does not occur with the sony.
As an aside, I will add that there is a burn-in that should be considered with the PX. When buying the PX new, they will need to be used for at least 30 hours of playback before they begin to ‘open up’. It sounds ridiculous for headphones, but the truth is that they lose their boxy/tube quality once they are used more and more. The bass becomes more prominent and the sound generally becomes deeper and richer. This is something that the Sony’s had out of the box, but something that the PX will have to develop over the course of listening. It is the case that my set sounds fairly different after listening for a week, than it did when I first bought them. For this reason, you should give it time if you don’t like the initial sound. If you have any B&W speakers or are familiar with the B&W House Sound, then you will like these headphones very much. It is a warm sound that is refined and acoustically accurate.
(While I mainly listen to Jazz and Classical I also listen to rock and other mainstream genres. I found that the PX are particularly good at reproducing natural sounds from instruments in the genres of classical, jazz and rock. Each of these genres sounded demonstrably better on the PX than they did on the Sony. When it comes to Pop and Hip-hop, they are similar to the sony, and the difference is not really discernible. However, the increased bass of the sony may be desirable to some.)
Overall, the PX win out for their exceptional sound quality for a wireless set of headphones. The detail reproduction, soundstage, frequency response coupled with the build makes the PX the best sounding wireless headphone on the market (to my ears at least). These strike the balance between audiophile/critical listening and causal listening headphones perfectly. Highly Recommended!
Initially set on the Sony 1000 having read all the positive reviews I went to test some out at the local curry’s. I was really underwhelmed with the sound albeit the noise cancelling and comfort were exceptional although neither of these were my priority.
I followed up with a bust to Sevenoaks who suggested these and from the second I put them on the audio blew me away. The clarity is night and day vs anything else I tried from Sony , Bose and beats.
Yes as others say they are a little tight on the head. But if like me it’s the pure audio performance you want then It’s a no brainier.
Everyone’s priorities are different though so I suggest strongly to go and test all in this price bracket before buying and pick the ones that tick your own boxes.
I personally am exceptionally happy with the performance watching movies on iTunes with atoms etc just exceptional and no perceived lag via Bluetooth . Better than my home theatre atmos set up!!!!!!
Very versatile phones, wireless blue tooth and wired. Build is good, and comfortable to wear. Instructions are basic but you can download from manufactor the full guide. Here everything is clearly laid out and straight forward to get the most from head phones.
Sound quality is a thums up no cause for complaint. The most cause for concern is has these cans got balance with bass and treble, the answer a yes. Again equipment used smartphone, hifi system do play their part in sound quality. In a lot of cases you can adjust sound settings to your preferred choice. OK the problem with today headphones is bass having a colouration, it’s blatantly wrong ie not a enjoyable listen. Here the bass is natural and also no boom again a common critism of today’s market place with audio products. I will end by saying if you want see if you can listen to these headphones in a dealer before committing to a purchase to confirm this review is accurate. That way if purchasing and these are expensive no mistakes are made.
Christopher Smith Falkirk
Suche Momentan neue Kopfhrer fr verschiedene Einsatzmglichkeiten wie Fahrrad fahren, Laufen, Fitness usw…
Ich habe die Primedays genutzt um die perfekten hrer fr mich zu finden, hauptschlich Warehouse deals.
Getestet habe ich:
– Bose Soundwear Companion
– Bang & Olufsen H9i
– Bang & Olufsen Earset Wireless
– Bowers PX
Tragecomfort:
– Bose Soundwear …. Top. Liegen ja auch nur auf der Schulter. Leider sind diese aber fr meine Zwecke ungeeignet, da die Musik mit anderen Menschen in der Umgebung zu sehr wahr genommen wird.
– BO H9i liegen sehr bequem auf den Ohren, dichten auch extrem gut ab. Kaum aufgesetzt ist die Umgebung nurnoch Visuell wahrnehmbar.
Leider haben diese Kopfhrer bei mir ein paar Nachteile, sie rutschen mir auf kleinster Stufe auf dem Kopf beim Gehen hin und her, was sie fr meine Zwecke ungeeignet macht. Zudem fangen meine Ohren nach schon 30 Sekunden an Feuchtigkeit zu generieren.
– BO Earset sitzen sehr gut fr mein Empfinden. Beim Laufen verrutschen die leider etwas, gehen ist aber gut mglich. Auf dem Fahrrad beim Hin und Her schauen (Verkehr) verrutschen diese ebenfalls, wodurch der Klang sich dann natrlich erheblich verndert.
Nach dem Aufsetzen sind diese KH nach 30 Sekunden schon komplett vergessen, wrden sie keine Musik von sich geben….stren berhaupt nicht mei meiner Kopf/Ohrenkonstruktion.
– BW PX sitzen sehr gut! Finde diese Bequemer als die BO H9i. Isolierung ist gut, aber nicht so gut wie bei den H9i. (Kopfformabhngig)
persnliches Rating:
Bose
Loved the headset, but leather earpiece on my set was damaged, also as noted by other reviewers the headset is pretty heavy and has a lot of pressure around the ears (physical pressure not air pressure) which in my case caused me headaches.
So in this case I had to return the headset. which is a shame as the sound and battery life were nothing short of amazing. the ANC was average – takes out a lot of noise, but more of a noise reducer than canceler.
Also the build in mic for calls, picks up a lot of nose, as to be expected with ear mounted mic’s
overall a great shame the unit I had was so tight. I may try this headset again in the future as my unit might have been more tight than normal.
a big plus was the unit now comes with a hard case not the soft case, a very well made and designed hard case at that.
overall a great product, bar the headaches.
So sound is amazing
Build quality is great
Noise cancelling – on the plane I could still hear faint noise, but it was very good.
Only downside is they are quite tight, and after 5-6hours they become a bit too uncomfortable.
I found the sound quality of the sony really didn’t warrant the price and was disappointed.
I found the Bose had better sound quality that the sony.
Both of the above I found comfortable although made my ears very warm. Both are quite plasticky.
I thought I would try the B&W PX for myself and I’m so glad I did. The sound quality is incredible and I found them far more superior to the other 2. The noise cancellation is not quite as good as the Bose and Sony but I was not bothered by this. Due to the ear pads being leather rather than pleather, I find my ears don’t get as warm. The build quality is considerably better than the other 2.
Was disappointed that they didn’t come with a hard case but you can now purchase a B&W PX case from B&W directly.
I can see why people have struggled with the B&W comfort as I do find a slight bit of pressure at the top of my head but not much. I would recommend trying a pair of these on yourself to establish whether or not they are comfortable for you.
If they are comfortable, you will not be disappointed with your purchase.
The only wireless headphones I felt were good enough to replace quality in ear phones. And I tried them all! The only one with clear and unmuddied sound. Great design too. The auto play and auto off features are terrific – just put them on to play and take them off to stop. These are a game changer.
Schade das der Kopfhrer so eng ist. Auch das die Ohrpolster von innen mit Kunststoff o. verstrkt ist hat wahrscheinlich dazu gefhrt, dass ich Ihn zurckschicken musste. Ich habe mich noch nie so schwer damit getan. Nach monatelangem Recherchieren und lesen von unzhligen Testberichten hatte ich mich auf den PX eingeschossen und war whrend der ersten 5 – 10 min absolut berzeugt. Doch der erste Test, Abends auf dem Sofa sitzen, Musik hhren und noch etwas arbeiten, fhrte leider dazu ihn zurck zu schicken. Denn ungefhr nach 5 -10 min habe ich Kopfschmerzen bekommen. Ich habe es mehrfach ausprobiert aber es war immer dasselbe Ergebnis. Also musste ich ihn schweren Herzens zurckschicken .
Falls jemand ein hnliches Problem hat, ich habe mir jetzt den B&O H9i gekauft. Der sitzt mega bequem und der Klang ist auch extrem gut. Preislich verhlt er sich hnlich wie der PX weshalb es fr mich die beste alternative ist. Er hat zwar kein aptX und hnliches, allerdings ist das mit einem iPhone eh egal und bei hauptschlich Spotify hrt man das wahrscheinlich eh nicht raus.
Have a QC35II and a B&W P7 wireless headphones. My favorite was hands down for both sound and luxurious design, the Bower & Wilkins P7. All the supple leather, “Chanel” like leather carrying bag and extraordinary sound… Then started having a minor problem with the P7 (no problems with functionality though) and called in Bower & Wilkins Customer Support. The courteous and attentive representative immediately offered to replace my P7 for another one. Later on, after submitting my order receipt from Amazon (already out of the 2 year warranty though), I received another message explaining they had few P7s on stock and they were offering to upgrade my P7 to a PX. This was great customer service!
But I loved my P7, so I kept it and bought a new PX to try it on. I was wary it would not come even close to the P7 in terms of sound. And all those so so reviews, made me even more doubtful. So I did receive my new PX with the hard cover, similar to my Bose QC35IIs, but larger. Well, to make the story short, the sound is amazing, different from the experience I have with the P7, but very good. It is like comparing apples and oranges, a Mercedes Benz SL63 AMG with a Porsche 911 TurboS, different experiences and to each its own.
It was love at first sight. I like to use my cans without noise reduction even on flights. The Bower & Wilkins headphones (P7 end PX) have no sound leaks, great sound isolation, henceforth I always found no need for noise reduction. The design of the PX is high tech but with lots of luxury details and supple leather. Technically, sound wise and design is comparable with advantages to a $500 or more wireless headphones from other brands. I have tried them all.
One downside is it not as portable as the QC35II or the P7 that can collapse. The hard cover is on the larger side and great to protect the headphones, however not great to carry around. Again, miss the luxury and size of the leather pouch from the P7. Purchased a Cosmo soft cover found here at Amazon to carry it on my messenger bag.
Battery lasts forever if not using noise reduction (30 hours). Even with noise reduction on is a hefty 20 hours. Used yesterday intermittently for the whole day and the battery remained at over 90%. That would simulate a long international flight.
The Bower and Wilkins PX is a great value at the price is being offered at Amazon (June 2019). Highly recommend these headphones.
Context..just bought these after sending back a pair of Sony WF-1000XM3, which have had, to my eyes, better reviews and are, of course, a more recent release.
Wasn’t optimistic with buying these as I wear glasses and have had problems with tight fitting headphones in the past, all issues brought up in quite a few reviews for the PX, but these are actually quite comfortable..snug fit, yes but still on my head after 5 hours and no issues (glasses on throughout).
Build quality is just reassuringly great and and the earpads are leather (ears still feel cool). Tiny bit of a creak when I move my head but not distracting.
Buttons..actual buttons and buttons that have a solid, quality feel. I love buttons. (swiping my headset has never felt the way to go..)
Sound quality is bright, punchy with good soundstage..reasonably close (for bluetooth) to my wired Fostex and Philips Fidelio.
Will update if anything goes horribly wrong but currently..relief..these definitely are a keeper.
Sonido sensacional, graves profundos, bajos firmes, medios y agudos bien definidos; son audifonos cerrados por lo que ejercen presin pero cmodos, sus conos tienen un movimiento de unos 160 lo que ayuda a que encuentres la posicin adecuada; yo los compre en una promocin por lo que el precio que pague me pareci el adecuado.
Con cable o sin cable consumen batera pero dura bastante, adems entran en modo de reposo despus de un tiempo en que sensan que ya no los estas ocupando y vuelven a su estado activo cuando te los pones.
Respecto a la cancelacin de ruido tiene 3 modos pero para cambiar de un modo a otro solo se puede hacer mediante la aplicacin para celular y se queda grabado el modo que elijas desde el celular y con un botn se activa o desactiva, de fbrica traa el mas fuerte (cuando viajas en avin), al igual con cable o mediante bluetooth se puede activar la cancelacin de ruido, que para mi gusto, y sin haber probado algn otro auricular con cancelacin, debo decir que si aislan bastante bien en especial en el modo ms fuerte, muy recomendable cuando vas en el metro, incluso en el modo de aislamiento ms dbil pero con la caracterstica de no escuchar conversacin externa la cancelacin del ruido externo es bastante aceptable; respecto al sonido cuando se usa la cancelacin he ledo en reseas que la calidad baja pero yo solo noto que el volumen baja cuestin de subirle un poco y recordar de bajarle antes de desactivar la cancelacin, yo los uso en la calle con un reproductor fiio con cable y tengo bastante margen en la amplificacin de volumn, no s si con celular y sincronizados con el bluetooth no se tenga esta ventaja y por eso los comentarios en reseas, no lo he probado y la verdad no me interesa tener mi msica ocupando la memoria del celular, que adems el que tengo tiene poca y la batera del celular por supuesto tambin se acabara ms pronto, lo que si tengo es sincronizado el celular con el bluetooth para recibir llamadas.
En la casa lo sincronizo con bluetooth con una mac y la integracin con estos equipos es muy buena no se nota latencia al ver pelculas o videos y los botones que tiene para reproducir, parar, etc, son funcionales al igual que al quitrtelos se para la reproduccin de lo que estes viendo o escuchando y al colocarlos se vuelve a activar la reproduccin, tienen buena distancia de enlace he andado cerca de unos 20 metros de distancia de la computadora sin que se pierda la seal; en PC con windows no los he probado.
Auriculares muy recomendados, para m su sonido es excelente.
More detail and comparison:
Controls. I thought the Sony gesture controls were the more convenient, and loved the cupped hand to lower the music and turn up the ambient sound. This did annoy me a little though, as it turned the source right down, but did not pause – so if you were listening to a great track, or a podcast, you’d miss that section. The B+W sensor to pause the music whenever you lift a cup felt more intuitive to me, not just for the wearer, but for whoever you’re talking to. To a ticket inspector or air host I thought it would look more obvious and respectful to remove the headphones, than to sit there and weirdly place a hand over your ear. Having them pause automatically works really well, but has it’s own irritations – if you want to wear the headphones with just noise cancelling, but nothing playing (office use/take the hum off a train), then you have to put them on, wait for the music to start, then pause the music. And if for some reason you remove the headphones (for an announcement/interaction) you then have to pause the music again when you replace them. A small thing, but surprisingly annoying. Perhaps the Sonys would be more predictable in daily use.
This is one of the main reasons I opted for these over the Sonys, and I question my decision every time I use them.
Point B+W.
Sound quality. These are better. End of.
The Sonys sound great, don’t get me wrong. If you’re investing in your first pair of [undeniably] expensive headphones, you will be blown away. It’s impossible to go back to <100 headphones after either pair. But side-by-side, the B+W are just more sophisticated, they have a better range and more detail. The only reason I'd recommend the Sonys is if you exclusively listen to bass-heavy dance music. Which no-one buying headphones in this price range should be.
Point B+W.
Noise cancelling. Sony. Next
These are good. But they play third fiddle, behind the Sonys and the Bose. If your only use for these is isolation on flights etc, get the Sonys. If you want casual listening or office use as well, reintroduce these for consideration.
Point Sony. Twice.
Design/construction. These feel better, and [I think] look nicer. I didn't want to be another generic black-plastic-wearing commuter. But I also didn't want to scream 'LOOK AT MY HEADPHONES'. I think the B+W are interesting and attractive, and there is no denying the premium feel and robust materials. The buttons feel good and the layout is logical.
The Sonys are subtler, if a little bulkier. The gesture controls are more discrete and the simplicity of the ambient on/off button is great. The matte black might appeal to you more. Whichever works for you, both sets are high quality and solid-feeling and you would not regret either choice.
Draw.
Fit. As undeniable as the construction superiority, is the weight penalty. After using these for a couple of months I tried the Sonys again - it was a revelation, they feel half the weight, and so comfortable. I don't get any problems with hot ears or sore head from the B+W, but their clamping force is noticeably higher, and can interfere with my glasses. No such issues with the Sonys, which are just that bit lighter and softer.
Point Sony.
Accessories. The case is cr*p. But they're too expensive to not use one. Not folding up properly into a decent hard [ish] case is a real down-vote for the B+W.
Point Sony.
Skip to the end. If you plan to these these for a mix of office/home listening, and isolation on flights etc, then go and try both on and get the ones you like more. Or get the one that's cheaper at the time. You'll be happy.
If you exclusively want them for travel and isolation, get the Sonys. Despite how great these are, I often wish I had.
Sinceramente su sonido inalambrico impresiona casi no hay diferencia con un cable tengo muchos dispositivos bluetooth pero ninguno con la claridad y espacio de estos, es un espacio y definicin entre instrumentos sin igual, con cable la cosa mejora aun mas pero creo que sera un 10% de margen.
El volumen es muy alto por lo general los uso al 25% del volumen mximo al 50% y ya empiezo con fatiga auditiva, realmente potentes, el bajo en los P5 era un poco mas profundo y controlado pero lo que ganan esto en todos los dems apartados es mas importante.
Muy contento con la compra son mas cmodos que los P5 pero si la comodidad es prioritaria al sonido mejor buscar los SONY MX1000M3 en mi caso la cancelacin y la comodidad pueden ceder ante la calidad superior de materiales y sonido. aparte estos tienen un muy buen sistema de conectarse a dos dispositivos al mismo tiempo y la pausa automtica es genial.