Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2 Review

It’s embarrassing when a younger, more expensive model steals the spotlight at your own party. To add insult to injury, when Bowers & Wilkins unveiled the Px7 S2 as the next generation of its high-end wireless noise-cancelling headphones, it also chose to announce the release of the even better, pricier, “no-holds-barred” Px8 pair a few months later in the year, effectively destroying the prestige of the Px7 S2.

The Px7 S2 might have easily been written off as a minor visual refresh that does little to improve the sound quality. A more analytical, if not the most exciting, alternative to the current class leaders, they turn in a precise and competent hi-fi performance with considerable advancements from 2020’s Px7.

Bowers & Wilkins Px7  Specs

Price

Prior to the release of the Apple AirPods Max, Focal Bathys, and the new flagship B&W Px8, the Px7 S2’s price point of £379/$399/AU$600 represented the upper echelon of consumer headphones. Sony’s newest offering from its What Hi-Fi? Award-winning line, the WH-1000XM5 (£380/$399/AU$550), and the Px7 S2 are both premium headphones. The Sonys have established a standard that these B&Ws will attempt to meet or even exceed.

Comfort

The Px7 S2 differs most visibly from its predecessor in its earcups, which go from being smooth ovoids to being chamfered and therefore seeming less bulky and more like the original PX headphones that came out in 2017. One possible explanation is that the driver size has been reduced to 40 mm from the prior 43.7 mm.

The headphones’ total size has been reduced by 3cm thanks to this nostalgic overhaul. In common, though, is a C-shaped yoke that allows for 180 degrees of horizontal rotation and a moisture-repellent fabric covering the headband and outer shells.

Depending on the colourway, gold or silver embellishments distinguish the shell from the memory foam cups, and the matte plastic composite arms that were inspired by race cars have been replaced with these. In contrast to some of the more obviously plastic versions now available, these details gently generate more quality and, dare we say, adult appeal.

The Px7 S2 only loses 3 grams in weight to 307 grams despite its smaller chassis. They fit well, creating a tight seal around the ear, and the clamping force is more substantial than that of the WH-1000XM5. The Px7 S2 is quite pleasant to wear for extended periods of time; however, those with long hair should be careful not to get it caught in the swivelling yoke.

Feature

The left earcup features a quick-action button that, like previous versions, maybe remapped in the app to activate a voice assistant or switch between the three noise-cancelling modes (on, passthrough, and off). Two microphones evaluate the output of each drive unit, two respond to external noise, and two try to improve speech quality while suppressing noise; this is B&W’s enhanced ANC technology.

The Px7 S2 performed well in terms of noise cancellation overall, with minimal sound colouring and consistent performance across the various settings. While the WH-1000XM5 excels at blocking out low-frequency hums like those you might hear on a train, the WH-1000XM6 lets in more high-frequency sounds like a vacuum cleaner or even birdsong. The right earcup has the power/Bluetooth pairing slider, the media controls, and the charging/wired playback USB-C connector. Bowers & Wilkins has opted to ditch the 3.5mm jack input seen on prior models in favor of a small jack-to-USB-C connection and a USB-C-to-USB-C cable.

Sound

We like the ability to fine-tune, but the Px7 S2’s sound is just right as-is. When listening to And She Was by Talking Heads via streaming, we were delighted by the tightness and agility of the bass guitar and kick drum and how they blended so naturally with the rest of the instrument, the midrange, and the high end, which sounded sweeter and more polished than the Px7’s.

This song has a lot of dynamic power and assault. Transients are delivered by the Px7 S2 with pinpoint precision, from the plucked electric guitar of the verse to the repeating synth trill of the bridge and the persistent cowbell of the chorus. Maybe it’s due to the unique orientation of its drivers, but the Px7 S2 always sounds quite honest. Breakfast in Bed, performed by Dusty Springfield, has a certain forthrightness that brings the arrangement’s sly voice and pulsating rhythms closer to the listener. They are more tone-neutral and analytical than the previous Px7, which tends to emphasize the track’s background hiss.

Anti-Noise Technology

Six microphones are used to reduce or eliminate unwanted background noise without compromising audio quality. The drivers’ output is measured by two microphones while surrounding noise is measured by two more. The other two microphones improve the quality of wireless phone conversations by cutting down on wind noise and employing Alango’s noise suppression technology.