Bowers & Wilkins Px8 review: Incredible sound comes at a cost

When Bowers & Wilkins introduced its Px7 S2 headphones final 12 months, the corporate made it clear that it already had a extra premium providing practically prepared for prime time. Three months later, the Px8 arrived. Whereas the Px8 carries the same look to its predecessor, Bowers & Wilkins crafted this set of headphones out of extra luxurious supplies and managed to enhance what was already nice sound high quality. Nevertheless, the upgrades come at a steep worth: the $699 Px8 is $300 greater than the Px7 S2.

Design

At a look, the Px8 seems to be practically an identical to the Px7 S2 Bowers & Wilkins debuted final 12 months. Upon shut inspection although, the variations turn into obvious. The Px8 has a barely extra refined aesthetic, with comfortable leather-based changing the woven cloth on the skin of the headscarf and ear cups. The outermost panels of the earcups, the place the corporate’s wordmark resides, is now steel as a substitute of plastic. And the arms and headband slider are forged aluminum, additional complementing the extra premium design.

The Px8 weighs 13 grams greater than the Px7 S2, which might be (at the very least partially) because of the change in supplies. Reminiscence foam ear cushions preserve issues cozy, however you possibly can really feel the additional load if you happen to’re doing a side-by-side comparability. For that motive, I give a slight edge to the S2 if you happen to want one thing to put on for a number of hours at a time. After a Vegas to Atlanta flight this month, I used to be beginning to really feel the added weight – and likewise the rings across the ear cups.

On-board controls are nonetheless bodily buttons on the Px8, they usually’re in the very same areas because the Px7 S2. On the suitable, an influence/pairing slider sits above a trio of buttons for quantity, playback and calls. Over on the left facet, a single management toggles between energetic noise cancellation (ANC), transparency mode and each off. Whereas some firms have nixed buttons in favor of contact panels, these aren’t all the time dependable, however what Bowers & Wilkins affords right here definitely will get the job accomplished.

Software program

The Bowers & Wilkins Music app offers you entry to all the settings on the Px8, identical to it has for the corporate’s earlier headphones. On the principle display, there’s up-to-date battery standing with noise mode choice just under (ANC, Cross-through and off). You may also handle connections right here because the Px8 helps multipoint Bluetooth with two units. Lastly, the corporate has put media controls (if you happen to hyperlink appropriate providers), tone settings, a fast begin information and product help proper on that first panel.

When you dive deeper into the settings part, battery life share and noise mode (or Environmental Management as the corporate calls it) are prominently displayed as soon as extra. Treble and bass sliders are there as properly, permitting for very primary EQ tweaks. The corporate hasn’t offered any presets right here, so that you’re left with these two variables to regulate. The power to handle connections is repeated right here as properly, simply above the choice to reassign the Fast Motion button on the left earcup. By default, it cycles between sound modes. Nevertheless, if you happen to favor, you can also make it summon a voice assistant.

The final two notable gadgets need to do with energy administration. First, Bowers & WIlkins affords an automated standby function that prompts a low energy state after quarter-hour of inactivity. You possibly can swap it off if you happen to’d like. The second instrument is the flexibility to activate or disable the damage sensor for automated pausing. The corporate says this could pause music while you raise one earcup, however that isn’t all the time the case. Bowers & Wilkins offers you three sensitivity choices to assist fine-tune it (low, medium and excessive), however none of these treatment the truth that the Px8 – just like the Px7 S2 – is gradual to pause while you raise an ear cup or take them off your head. This might nonetheless use some work in order that on the very least audio resumes faster after a break.

Sound high quality

One key space the Px8 differs from the Px7 S2 is sound high quality. The place the latter packs in a pair of 40mm bio cellulose drivers, the previous is provided with two carbon models of the identical dimension. I’ll admit I don’t know sufficient about headphone building to inform you if one is technically higher than the opposite, however what I do know is that the Px8 sounds unbelievable. The Px7 S2 already had nice audio high quality, however Bowers & Wilkins in some way manages to take issues a step additional with this mannequin.

There’s a heat to the sound profile that invitations you to take a seat and pay attention some time, regardless of the style. An virtually excessive readability to the audio retains probably the most chaotic steel completely organized, permitting you to pick particular person devices. And within the case of Underoath’s Voyuerist, it’s simple to differentiate the backing synth even when it’s very delicate or laid beneath the complete band going flat out. The quantity of element the Px8 exudes from bluegrass and jazz tracks is staggering, making it seem to be you’re within the room with Béla Fleck as he recorded My Bluegrass Coronary heart. It’s not simply banjo, guitar, bass, mandolin and fiddle. You possibly can hear the nuance within the sound of every one as they envelope you.

And it’s greater than the readability and element. The Px8 is a well-tuned powerhouse for bass-heavy digital music and hip-hop too. When a observe calls for it, these headphones faucet right into a stash of low-end that rivals among the finest. And like all the things else, you possibly can hear the subtlety within the kick drum, drum machine and bass line. That’s true throughout the board, whether or not it’s bombastic beats of RTJ4 or the intricate synth work on Sylvan Esso’s No Guidelines Sandy.

When it comes to energetic noise cancellation, the Px8 does an admirable job. It’s not miles higher than the Px7 S2, however in practically each circumstance – together with on an airplane – these headphones are as much as the duty. Bose and Sony handle to dam out extra on the QuietComfort 45 and the WH-1000XM5 respectively, however Bowers & Wilkins didn’t telephone it in right here. There’s some strong ANC efficiency, it’s simply not the best possible.

Name high quality

Bowers & Wilkins says it moved two of the six on-board microphones nearer collectively and re-angled them to enhance voice high quality. The corporate defined that these tweaks must also cut back wind noise. Name audio for the particular person on the opposite finish was already good on the Px7 S2, however the lack of a natural-sounding transparency mode made me really feel a bit shouty throughout voice and video chats. On the Px8, that pass-through audio remains to be good, however not nice, and never as pure sounding because the AirPods Max.

The Px8 does an important job of reducing down on background noise, although, so the headphones will assist whoever is on the opposite finish focus in your voice. Nevertheless, general voice high quality isn’t nice as you’ll nonetheless sound such as you’re on speaker telephone reasonably than having an honest mic close to your face. Are they high quality for many video and voice calls? Positive. In case you’re doing these issues typically must you contemplate these as your main instrument? In all probability not.

Battery life

Bowers & Wilkins has a observe report of underneath promising and over delivering on the subject of battery life on its headphones. The corporate persistently outperforms the acknowledged determine by a mile and the identical is true on the Px8. Very similar to the Px7 S2, this mannequin nonetheless had 40 % left within the tank on the 30-hour mark – the corporate’s official score. And sure, that’s with energetic noise cancellation turned on over the course of some days, plus the occasional use of transparency mode for calls. After 30 hours on the Px7 S2, there was 33 % left, so the Px8 appears to be barely extra environment friendly than its extra reasonably priced sibling – or maybe has a barely greater battery.

The corporate has included a quick-charge function that provides you seven hours of listening time in quarter-hour. That’s good if you end up in a pinch, however with properly over 30 hours of ANC use out there, I’m solely charging as soon as every week after utilizing the Px8 just a few hours every day. The battery life right here stacks up properly towards one of the best you may get in noise-canceling headphones proper now.

The competitors

At $699, the Px8 is the costliest set of wi-fi noise-canceling headphones I’ve reviewed. Even Grasp & Dynamic’s priciest mannequin is $100 cheaper (the MW75). You need to actually dig what Bowers & Wilkins is placing all the way down to dive in right here. Merely put, there are nice options out there for much less – a few of which supply extra options. Heck, I’d argue the corporate’s personal Px7 S2 is a greater worth at $399.

The Px7 S2 might not have the high-end look of the Px8, but it surely does have glorious sound high quality, strong ANC efficiency and better-than-advertised battery life. The corporate’s heat, crisp and clear audio is on show on the extra reasonably priced mannequin and it’s extra comfy to put on for lengthy durations of time. Other than the increase in general sound high quality and that refined design, the Px7 S2 has each different function you get on the Px8 – for lots much less.

At this level, Sony’s WH-1000XM5 remains to be one of the best you should buy, largely for the combination of audio and noise-canceling efficiency, with an extended checklist of useful options on the facet. The 2 most notable are the M5’s capacity to robotically change sound modes based mostly in your location or exercise and the Communicate-to-Chat instrument that pauses the audio while you start to talk. Merely put, no different firm comes near packing in as a lot as Sony.

Wrap-up

When a pair of headphones prices $699, I begin to anticipate issues. Primarily that they must be rattling close to excellent for me to advocate them. The Px8 practically is on the subject of sound high quality, however there are different areas the place they fall in need of the corporate’s earlier mannequin and among the competitors. Automated pausing remains to be in want of refinement, even with the sensitivity settings. And general, the Px7 S2 is way more comfy to put on for lengthy durations of time. Bowers & Wilkins impresses with this most premium providing, however there are nonetheless some tough edges to clean out.