bowers and wilkins the iconic high-end speaker manufacturer from
england just released a brand new special edition version of their top of
the line px7 noise cancelling headphone the px7
carbon edition and wow it's really beautiful this is a special
edition black and diamond cut version of the
highly successful px7 noise cancelling headphones
that was inspired by the designs of high-end race cars
needless to say we're excited to be the first ones to receive this
just before the official release we'll tell you all about it
and then we'll compare it to the top-rated sony wh-1000xm4
and the bose 700s as always if you want to read more
just click the link in the description to be taken the full written review on
audioadvice.com and our full written comparison there's
a chart that breaks down all the major differences between all
three models so be sure to check that out for a
complete overview and if you purchase the brand new px7
carbon edition from our website you'll receive our
exclusive tips and tricks video that shows you how to get up and running fast
now let's get started with more people working from home
over-ear noise cancelling headphones have become increasingly popular but
with so many of them coming out this year it can be really tough choosing the
right one for your specific needs one could offer better sound quality for
music while another one might do a better job suppressing high
or low frequency sounds in your environment since your lifestyle is
unique everyone will have a different
expectation about what's important when it comes to the performance of the
best noise-canceling headphones first let's talk about how they each
look the headphones themselves have modern high-end designs of the three the
bowers and wilkins px7 carbon has the most striking appearance
it features a lightweight composite carbon fiber and cloth
aluminum construction the new carbon edition has shiny diamond cut edges that
surround the ventilation ports on the sides of each ear cup since the
diamond cut edges affect how air flows around the drivers
the engineers at bowers and wilkins spent many months getting the new
eye-catching diamond cut design right while also preserving the iconic
bmw sound signature that fans know and love
from the original px7 the original edition px7 is still
available in space gray and silver color options
which are matched on the ear cups and the headband we think the high-end look
of the original edition px7 is a step better than the competition but the look
that b&w produced here with the new carbon edition takes the luxury high
performance look to a completely different level
bose decided to stick with a traditional all-black or all-white plastic design
the new sony wh-1000xm4 has the most understated design of the three with
minimal accents while the accidents are small they're
tasteful and they give the xm4 a sophisticated look that should remain
fashionable for years down the road finally all three headphones have a usb
c port on the right ear cup for charging the battery however
bowers and wilkins is the only one to make the usb-c
port capable of both charging and passing high-res audio through its wired
connection since most people will be working from
home these days with a laptop that doesn't have a 3.5 millimeter jack
anymore we think the usb-c audio cable is a
really nice touch for people wanting the best audio quality from their laptops
in terms of build quality each one features ear cups that swivel
this allows you to lay the headphones down flat on a desk
whenever you don't have a headphone stand nearby the biggest difference here
is the way sony designed the xm4 to swivel and fold into the case this
foldable structure makes it easy to store or carry the sony xm4s
even without a case but it can be a little challenging to figure out how it
works at first all three are well crafted but the
carbon edition px7 comes up on top with its lightweight carbon fiber
construction carbon fiber also has anti-resonance properties that
have acoustic advantages as well so its superior design and build quality
doesn't interfere with the headphone's sound signature
in terms of comfort all three headphones weigh about the same
the sony xm4 and the bose 700 are the lightest
each weighing about nine ounces the b&ws come in just over 10 ounces
however all three are very comfortable we all agree there's less pressure on
our heads while wearing the new bowers and wilkins px7 carbon edition
and the sony xm4 the pressure relieving foam pads are slightly larger on the
b&ws and the sonys too so they cover more
surface area around the ears having a slightly larger ear cup means
there's more room in the chamber for your ears to stay
cool so i was able to wear these longer without my ears getting clammy
the bose 700 does a great job hugging your head for a very tight snug and
secure fit but the pressure on top of my head just
got in the way of my longer listening sessions
it was also a little more difficult to readjust the rubberized headband
to redistribute the weight and make it comfortable again overall
the strong but lightweight materials in the bowers and wilkins
creates the best balance overall for a secure fitting headphone
that also stays comfortable longer however the sony xm4 comes in a close
second place for being the lightest even if it's just slightly less secure
fading when you compare it directly with the px7 carbon
edition all three headphones are packed with technology
they all utilize smartphone apps to customize the noise cancelling levels
adjust the ambient pass-through and other features
one thing to note is that bose requires you to give them your email
your first and last name and other information to utilize the bose music
app so if this is a privacy concern for you
you'll want to go with either the sony's or the bowers and wilkins
one area where both sony and bowers and wilkins slightly outshine
the bose is also in battery life i found that the b&ws and the sony xm4
ran over 25 hours on a single charge in a real world scenario
with active noise cancellation turned on the bose clocks out at around 20 hours
with noise cancelling this is sufficient for most travelers but when you start
talking over 25 hours it really opens the door for these types of headphones
to be used on a regular daily basis at work home
and really everywhere in between both sony and the
b&ws are also superior in terms of quick charging
these both give you just over five hours of charge in just
10 to 15 minutes compared to the bose which gives you three and a half hours
after a 15 minute charge in terms of controls sony and bose use
intuitive touch capacitive controls that let you swipe
your finger on the right ear cup to pause play
or increase the volume the b&ws use tactile
physical buttons to perform these same functions and we find that pretty much
everyone can use buttons and find out where they are
however capacitive touch tends to be intuitive and easy to learn for some
while others just might not like it another cool feature with the b&ws
and the sony xm4 is that they automatically pause the music for you
when you take them off the bose 700 does not support this
feature however they all work with popular voice assistants so you'll still
be able to use them to pause or play the music
skip ahead just by saying the commands the b&w px7 carbon edition and the sony
xm4 are the ones that have automatic adaptive active noise canceling features
so if you're sitting in a plane listening to music they'll cancel out
the plane noise but as you're walking through a terminal
they'll adjust to the new environment as we mentioned in our sony xm4
headphone review our favorite feature to use in the office is speak to chat
this automatically pauses your music and pipes in ambient noise
just by speaking out loud and it's really useful
we did a few key listening tests with active noise cancelling on
first the bose 700s have a brighter sound signature than the others
it's sort of a classic bose sound with the highs and lows generally over
indexed versus the mid-range the bose 700 provides good sound for the money
but if you're looking for more low end the px7 carbon edition or the sony
wh-1000xm4 really are the better choices next the
bowers px7 carbon presents a wider sound stage and they are less bright and have
slightly deeper bass b&w utilize the same engineers as the
ones behind their prestigious 800 series diamond speakers used in abbey
road studios and this is what makes both the original
edition px7 and the new carbon edition really stand
out these utilize b&w's custom 43.6
millimeter drivers which are the largest in the bowers and wilkins headphone
lineup they're also larger than the 40
millimeter drivers used in virtually every other headphone in this class
the sony xm4's low-end is full well-defined and the mid-range is warm
and punchy and the highs are also exciting but if
you leave all the settings neutral across
all the headphones in this comparison we think the bowers and wilkins
are just a touch closer to matching the original source material
and depth of bass overall the sony xm4 is fun to listen to and it works really
well on almost any top 40 song where there's a good bottom end weight to it
it really shines the most on modern pop hip hop and dance music
so if that's your thing this headphone will really work well for you
plus if you like streaming high-res music you'll want to go with either the
bowers and wilkins or the sony xm4 for that
they're compatible with high-res bluetooth formats like aptx or
ldac so with either of these you'll hear music that's more detailed
with tighter bass and clearer mid-range compared to the standard bluetooth on
the bose and we have to say we found the bose
bluetooth connection a little challenging
there were a few times that it just did not connect correctly
and we have not had this problem with either the bowers and wilkins headphones
or the sony xm4 next we tested the noise cancellation and in
terms of low frequency cancellation like the low end hum
in a car or the sound of a train passing the bowers and wilkins px7 carbon
performed about the same as the bose the bose 700 blocked out more low
frequency content marginally better but it was so hard to
tell the difference here that it was nearly a tie between the two
there was however a clear difference when it came to noises
and the higher frequencies when we were walking on a busy street with sounds of
people talking cars honking and sirens coming from all
directions we're impressed by how well the sony xm4
canceled these types of sounds compared to the others
in terms of noise cancelling during phone calls the px7 carbon had a slight
advantage during calls when we were walking and talking in a
crowded street people on the other end told us that the reduction of background
noises was slightly better on conference calls
fewer people also asked us to mute if there was
wind or other background noises but honestly they're all pretty good
after more than a week of comparing this new carbon edition px7 from bowers and
wilkins to the sony xm4 and the bose 700 we were seriously
impressed if you want top of the line wireless
noise cancelling headphones with the best sound quality available
and you've got the money for a really cool looking pair the px7 carbon edition
is the best option out there on the other hand the sony wh-1000xm4
will give you premium sound quality and outstanding features that
outperform the bose for less than 350 dollars priced
at 379 the bose 700 will be perfect for anyone who wants noise cancelling
features but may be less interested in having the
best performance available when it comes to sound quality
and comfort we hope you've enjoyed this comparison of the latest px7 carbon
edition to the competition from sony and bose
choosing the right one always comes down to how you plan to use
it so if you have any questions feel free to give us a call
chat with one of our experts at audioadvice.com or stop into one of our
raleigh or charlotte north carolina showrooms
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