Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless On Ear Headphones with Active Noise Cancellation - Space Grey

Product Information

My one complaint here is that these headphones are a little boring. Bowers & Wilkins is going for a sound here that will please the average music listener, so I have to understand that they aren’t really trying to please me. But I think they’ll be a bit polite for listeners who want to really feel the music, and I’ll get more into what I mean by that here. Bass Overall, I get the feeling that the PX5 is a little bit stunted when it comes to resolution. That comes as no surprise to me – very few ANC BT headphones go for a “detail-oriented sound,” although the market does provide a couple. Even those that do typically fall very slightly short. Soundstage

The new Px7s sit for long periods just as comfortably as the previous model – the weight is almost unchanged from the previous model at 307g (down from 310g) but there has been a useful shaving of size, the headphones now some 3cm smaller in each dimension. Given that they feature no EQ adjustment, the PX5 stand or fall on their one, unalterable sound. So it’s just as well they’re an extremely enjoyable listen with an impeccably balanced sonic signature. We had the chance to briefly test the sound performance of the PX5 Wireless On-Ear Headphones, and we were impressed bu their detailed, natural-sounding profile.The PXs upscale all audio to 768kHz - B&W claims doing this helps improve noise-cancelling and DSP performance" Enjoy the finest sound quality, wherever you are, with the Active Noise Cancelling Bowers & Wilkins PX5 headphones. There’s also ‘environment control’, which gives access to the three main modes of operation – noise cancellation on, pass-through (see below), or NC off. On the previous PX7s, the noise cancellation could be set to three different levels; that option appears now to have been dropped. Overall, the PX5 Wireless On-Ear Headphones sound fantastic, with a detailed, natural-sounding profile – as they have slightly smaller drivers than the flagship PX7, they may not sound quite as powerful, but it’s a small trade off if you want that compact design.

The B&Ws follow the melancholic melody of Linkin Park’s Leave Out All The Rest with expert precision. The shift from fragile and emotional verse to explosive chorus is delivered with both finesse and purpose. Formation set-up and configuration – Power up your formation-enabled products, connect to your Wi-Fi network, choose your Space, and start listening. Add more formation-enabled products, enable extra capabilities such as Bluetooth® streaming, and evolve your products through regular software updates.Bowers & Wilkins Music also brings together all your music streaming services, podcasts and online radio stations in one elegant app. Of course, the good sound has more to do with the ample high response than anything else. There’s plenty of detail to go around, and coupled with the relatively wide soundstage, instruments all had their own space. This is possible partly thanks to a new slightly smaller drive unit in the new PX7 compared with old, down from an oversized 43.7mm diameter to a more conventional 40mm, here described as a bio-cellulose driver (standard plant cellulose, we think, rather than the far more expensive type grown rather alarmingly by bacteria in vast vats).

Ensure in the first instance that the headphones battery is fully charged. Instructions on how to charge your headphones can be found here. It was no surprise to find a Bowers & Wilkins product at home with natural acoustic arrangements; Bill Berry & His Ellington All-Stars ‘For Duke’ is a fabulous recording, and the panned saxophones flanking the piano and drums on the opening Take the A Train were delightfully breathy and alive. With a wide soundstage and natural sonic profile, they should prove good for audiophiles looking for pure fidelity, as well as commuters who just want to cancel out the sounds of their noisy journey. Try sliding the headphones power switch to the middle 'On' position. To do this, firstly slide the Power Switch to the bottom position to switch them completely Off. Then, move the Power Switch to the middle position to power them On. An audible cue should sound and the LED indicator should glow.

Conclusion - Ode to Joy

The aptX Adaptive can achieve low latency handy for watching video content (this will depend on your phone’s implementation), but more importantly aptX Adaptive can scale its bit-rate dynamically between 279kbps and 420kbps to suit the wireless environment, so that in heavy RF environments it will automatically drop quality to avoid connection issues.

Noise-cancelling here is good, moderately intense but not quite to the point of creating imbalance in the ears or eyeballs, so we didn’t crave the different levels that were made available in the original PX7. The ANC was highly effective in banishing the rumble of a bus commute, and we have every confidence of it cancelling plane drone too, though we didn’t get in one to try. The noise cancellation has the use of four microphones, and there are two more for making calls, which in our trials came through rather quieter than the curtailed music, but very clear to hear on both ends of the conversation. Future Islands’ Waiting on You is similarly well-balanced, as tangy synth stab-chords punch through driving bass lines; vocals are rich and assertive.This was confirmed to us by the company’s Andy Kerr in the UK, who also admitted, however, that EQ is a bit of a problem for Bowers & Wilkins, because, well, to abandon modesty, it simply thinks it knows best. It has carefully tuned these headphones and would prefer that you don’t mess with them, ideally. But in this age where everyone gets to define their own personal truth, they couldn’t leave the EQ section showing just a message to F-off and listen, so they’ve deigned to include simple (and relatively mild) bass and treble sliders. The headphones come with a few accessories, including a hard carry sleeve, a USB-C charging cable and an aux cable. It’s not a huge range of accessories, but it’s everything you’ll need. Comfort One time we chose that convenience was while testing a turntable (above) which offered Bluetooth wireless output, so that we were able to enjoy the strange and unusual pleasure of strolling the home listening wirelessly to vinyl records. This is an addictive experience, and works nicely in a two-person home where you can use noise-cancellation to mask the preferred TV chatter of your partner while listening instead to the Px7s’ delivery of some vinyl.