The new Bowers & Wilkins PX5 and PX7 wireless noise cancelling headphones have arrived here
at Minidisc, and right from the outset I will say these are a bit of a mixed bag for me.
Starting with the positives, the industrial design and finish on these headphones is superb.
From the tasteful mix of textiles and metals in the earcups to the sportscar inspired carbon
fibre arms, these ooze luxury.
Bowers and Wilkins clearly took feedback on the design of the previous generation PX,
which some of our customers found uncomfortable due to the overall weight and the density
of the earpads.
The PX5, which is on-ear, and the PX7, which is a larger than average portable over-ear
design, improve on this with a much softer and more compliant earpad material - though
clamping force remains on the firmer side.
Now unfortunately I’m finding that with my head, the pressure of the headband on the
PX5 and PX7 ends up mostly concentrated in an uncomfortable hot spot right on the top
of my head.
Your mileage may vary, and I did notice that this got a little better with time, but in
terms of comfort I still find the Sony WH1000XM3 leagues ahead thanks to its lower clamping
force and lower weight.
The Sony doesn’t look half as fancy though.
A real positive with these new headphones, and particularly with the PX7, is the really
strong noise cancelling performance.
The new Bowers & Wilkins perform comparably with the market leading Sonys, and a physical
button makes it easy to turn switch between low, high and automatic noise cancellation,
as well as a transparency mode or turning off noise cancellation entirely.
The PX5 isn’t quite as good as the PX7 in terms of active noise cancelling performance,
probably due to its on-ear design, but even passive noise isolation with these headphones
is quite good.
Another highlight is the support for the Adaptive AptX bluetooth protocol on both of these headphones,
and this new protocol combines both low latency and a highly adaptive bitrate to deliver the
best effort possible in any given environment.
Unfortunately we weren’t able to test this out since Adaptive AptX is so new that even
Wing’s shiny new Pixel 4 doesn’t support it.
Now we get to my thoughts on the sound and I have to say that unfortunately, I do not
like the sound of the PX7 very much at all.
The PX7 doesn’t really have a sound that can be described as warm or bright or even
V-shaped - to me they just sound a bit lumpy.
The most distinctive components of the sound of the PX7 are a very strong bass response
coupled with a odd sounding gap in the upper midrange that makes almost all vocals sound
like they are being sung through cupped hands.
And then on top of this, with some tracks the PX7 picks up a harsh metallic sizzle in
the very highest frequencies.
Even though I find the Sony WH1000XM3 a little bassy and slow with its stock sound, next
to the PX7 I found the Sony quite natural and pleasant.
And compared to the Beyedynamic Lagoon ANC, which is my personal sound quality benchmark
for wireless ANC headphones, I found the PX7’s sound overboosted in the bass and uneven in
the highs compared to the Beyer’s warmish, but otherwise detailed, punchy and linear
signature.
The one area where the PX7 outdoes the competition is with its exceptionally wide soundstage,
which is really quite spacious and impressive compared to its more intimate sounding rivals.
But where I found the PX7’s peculiar tuning most effective was actually when watching
movies, where they sound big and impressive, like a home theatre for your ears.
But with the majority of music that I listen to, I really found the sound of the PX7 a
little bizarre.
Now we did try two different units just to make sure our impressions were not due to
a faulty unit.
That being said we have had some positive feedback from customers who have happily taken
a PX7 home with them, so it may just be that this is not the right headphone for me, but
it may be for you.
As always an in-store demo is your friend.
Now I’m happy to report that I much preferred the sound of the PX5.
Due to the on-ear design, I found the soundstage much narrower and more intimate on the PX5,
but I also found the tuning to be much more natural, with a warm, balanced tone and just
a little bit of extra energy in the bass and the upper midrange that makes the PX5 like
a more vibrant sounding version of the Sony WH1000XM3.
It’s a pleasant tuning that I have no complaints about.
And I kind of wish that Bowers and Wilkins and somehow made a headphone with the PX5’s
tuning and the PX7’s comfort, noise cancelling performance and soundstage.
Now we’re interested in your feedback on both of these headphones, because something
I’ve learnt working at a headphone store is that there truly is a headphone for everybody,
and maybe these are the ones for you.
Next time we will be looking at the PI wireless earphones from Bowers & Wilkins, which I am
a MUCH bigger fan of.
This is Lachlan for MinidiscTV - and we’ll see you next time!