Numerous instances, we’ve heard from producers that even once they provide a vibrant end for one or a few of their merchandise, the most-sold color remains to be usually black. New Zealand hi-fi model Perreaux gives its merchandise in any color you want… and nonethelesseven in the course of the interval when all color choices price the identical, the preferred color was, you guessed it, black.
Nicely, if Bowers & Wilkins can provide the Px7 S2e in a color as beautiful because the Forest Inexperienced (pictured) and the most-sold variant seems to be Anthracite Black, there’s frankly no hope for vibrant hi-fi’s world takeover.
Design & Construct
The British model isn’t any stranger to producing trendy, or certainly vibrant, hi-fi, as its ‘Midnight Blue Metallic’ 800 Sequence Signature loudspeakers, silky, honeycomb-shell Formation Wedge wi-fi speaker, and even the earlier Px7 S2 (no ‘e’) iteration show. The all-new Px7 S2e within the inexperienced end we acquired (learn: begged for) for this assessment are the newest reminders of Bowers’ debonair design. In truth, they make the present class leaders within the premium wi-fi noise-cancelling area, the Sony WH-1000XM5, feel and look moderately… unusual.
It could usually be tough for wi-fi headphones previous a sure value stage to nail perceived worth, however every thing in regards to the Px7 S2e’s feel and look factors to a premium pair. Not solely is the Forest Inexperienced color a breath of contemporary air – autumnal, if we needed to choose a season – however the earcups’ textured end, gold accents and cylindrical, proudly ‘Bowers & Wilkins’-stamped, badge additionally mix to make a really visually fascinating product. We’ve additionally had eyes on the aforementioned black end and might guarantee you they’re tremendous sensible too, so haven’t any motive to consider the opposite Ocean Blue and Cloud Gray choices aren’t too.
Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2e tech specs
Inputs USB-C
Bluetooth? Sure, 5.2
Codecs SBC, AAC, aptX Adaptive
Battery life 30 hours
App? Sure
Finishes x 4
Weight 307g
The thickness of the pleather for the earpads and the headscarf’s underside actually suggests the Px7 S2e will take care of your noggin and lugs, and certainly they’re snug – tender and cushiony, absorbing a lot of the headphones’ 307g weight in order that they don’t really feel like a burden in your head throughout longer wears.
They could be thought-about old school in a technological period the place even sensible mirrors and fridges sport touch-control surfaces, however we love the reliability and accessibility of the bodily buttons on the earcups, too; they’re straightforward to find and use haphazardly, whether or not you’re utilizing the center button on the suitable earcup to play/pause a music, or the only button on the left earcup to cycle by ANC modes. No rage-tapping on the bus right here.
Our solely scribble on the wishlist could be a hinge mechanism permitting the earcups to break down inwards to allow them to be simply shoved right into a coat pocket, although they do not less than fold flat for simpler put on across the neck. That is the place they have to be in to slot in the provided cloth hard-shell carry case, which is bag-, albeit not pocket-, pleasant.
Value
You might argue the Px7 S2e wanted to look pricier subsequent to their competitors… as a result of they’re pricier. They went on sale in September 2023 for £379 / $399 / AU$599, which is a premium of round 10 to fifteen per cent, territory dependent, over the Sony WH-1000XM5 on the time of writing.
That makes them costlier than different standard rivals too, specifically the Sennheiser Momentum Wi-fi 4 and Bose QuietComfort 45, though comfortably beneath the extra premium crop of wi-fi ANC over-ears that has established itself up to now couple of years by the Apple AirPods Max, Focal Bathys and Bowers & Wilkins’ personal Px8, throughout or over £500 / $500 / AU900.
Options
Simply because we’ve chosen to guide this assessment with, and spend a substantial variety of phrases on, the Px7 S2e’s aesthetic doesn’t imply that’s their solely expertise. And even their largest one.
Scan down their spec sheet and a number of other bins have massive satisfying ticks in them. Battery life is a commendable 30 hours, although arguably much more spectacular is their means to supply seven hours of playback from a mere 15-minute cost. There’s help for one of many higher-quality Bluetooth codecs round, Qualcomm’s aptX Adaptive, in addition to each USB-C and three.5mm cable connections (each cable varieties are offered within the field).
The accompanying Bowers & Wilkins Music App opens the gateway to off-unit playback and controls, permitting house owners to regulate the Px7 S2e’s EQ; set the left earcup button to pick noise-cancelling or launch their telephone’s voice assistant; change the sensitivity of the wearer detection characteristic for computerized pausing; or choose between noise-cancelling modes ‘on’, ‘off’ or ‘passthrough’ (which permits extra of the surface world).
The Music app additionally gives direct entry to music streaming service libraries you’re signed as much as (at the moment Deezer, Qobuz, Tidal and TuneIn are supported, with extra attributable to be “added quickly”), although as good and acquainted because the built-in Tidal interface is on the Music app, we are able to’t see many individuals preferring it to Tidal’s personal.
However none of these issues represents the Px7 S2e’s largest expertise both, which narrows down the chances – and lively noise cancellation, whereas respectable, will not be it. The ANC system, comprising six microphones working collectively to cancel undesirable noise for music listening and voice calling, is completely advantageous and can encase the wearer in quietude in most situations, even when solely quiet instrumental music or certainly nothing is taking part in. Pesky bassy sounds from, for instance, bus engines are significantly properly absorbed – a giant plus for individuals who commute or journey commonly. We do, nonetheless, discover the aforementioned Sony barely higher blockers, significantly of mid and higher frequencies, whereas Bose’s premium wi-fi QuietComfort headphones are in a noise-rejecting league of their very own.
Sound
As those that save the final chew of steak for his or her final mouthful will perceive, we’ve saved one of the best factor in regards to the Px7 S2e – their largest expertise – until final: sound high quality.
Of their five-star predecessors, we described performers that have been predominantly analytical – “refined, impartial and detailed”. The sound had matured for the reason that unique Px7, although a bit enthusiasm had been sacrificed, in the end main us to favor the spacious, livelier Sony XM5.
Bowers says that its newest efforts right here boast “important advances in total sound high quality” in comparison with the outgoing Px7 S2, a key contributor to that development being “extensively upgraded DSP” due to the learnings from the flagship Px8. The corporate says it took our (very minor) criticisms of the Px7 S2 onboard to refine the sonic method, too, and believes it has opened the sound up a bit.
Contemplating the success of that pair of headphones and the carrying over of the identical 40mm customized driver, it isn’t wholly shocking that the Px7 S2e sound acquainted to their predecessors in loads of methods. They continue to be tremendously detailed for wi-fi headphones at this stage, in a position to floor finer particulars and talk delicate dynamic shifts to an extent that’s uncommon for his or her value. Play Anohni And The Johnsons’ Relaxation and the Px7 S2e gives a large window into the cathartic gospel-rock observe, offering the transparency to get beneath Hegarty’s soul-spilling vocal supply and the dynamism to hold simply as a lot feeling within the barraging intervals of prog-rock.
How the headphones render decrease frequencies stays a spotlight too, with bass depth and punch in head-bopping provide right here. The pulsing beat underpinning Gunship’s Empress Of The Damned throbs away beneath the accompanying synths and pop vocals by Canadian singer Lights, which come by with a lushness that laps up the electropop manufacturing. Bowers has not solely aired out the soundstage barely right here for added openness and coherency but additionally smoothed the presentation considerably. It’s sweeter and simpler to pay attention, and none of their predecessor’s readability and tonal stability has been relinquished both.
Feeding them one thing extra sonically stripped-back, like Gregory Alan Isakov’s Watchmanwe are able to simply sit again and benefit from the music because the Bowers embrace the richly saturated manufacturing; the jangly acoustic textures, mellow piano notes and Isakov’s relaxed vocal the sonic equal of a heat hug.
On a sliding scale bookended by ‘analytical’ and ‘energetic’, the Px7 S2e would nonetheless edge towards the previous, however they’re now, to B&W’s credit score, a lot nearer to the Sony’s musicality whereas setting a benchmark for element at this stage.
Verdict
In the end, Bowers has succeeded in tweaking its five-star method to squeeze much more efficiency out of its mid-range wi-fi headphones. With class-leading perception and a extra compelling stability over their forebears, to not point out a advantageous sense of favor, the Px7 S2e are a splendidly full bundle.
SCORES
MORE:
Learn our Sony WH-1000XM5 assessment
Our choose of the greatest noise-cancelling headphones
How lively noise-cancelling headphones work: the expertise behind ANC
