The Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2 headphones have been a mainstay in our Best Headphones Roundup since their launch earlier this year, winning the top prize as Best Audiophile Headphones of 2022 at the Tom's Guide Awards earlier this year We are proud to announce that our all-new Drive Uni We loved the sound delivery achieved by the next-generation S2, which features an all-new drive unit and repositioning, and we're excited to see that with the recent announcement of Bowers & Wilkins' flagship Px8 wireless noise-canceling headphones, these You can imagine how happy I was to see these design upgrades enhanced in Bowers & Wilkins' recently announced Px8 flagship wireless noise-canceling headphones

With a custom-made 40mm carbon cone drive unit for even finer sound across the entire frequency range, and luxurious materials for even greater comfort, the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 is a top noise-canceling headphones from Sennheiser and Sony But Bowers & Wilkins is confident it can pull it off, stating that the Px8 is "the most advanced noise-canceling headphone ever made"

Bowers & Wilkins' Px8 headphones are available now, with an MSRP of $699 / £599 / $1,150 AUD, more expensive than rivals Sony WH-1000XM5 and Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless, even more expensive than Apple's premium-priced AirPods Max headphones

They are available from the Bowers & Wilkins website and from online retailers such as Amazon and Crutchfield The headphones come in two finishes: black leather and tan leather Both versions have cast aluminum arm construction with alloy accents and trim on the ear cups

It's easy to see where the extra money is spent on the Px8 This new flagship model exudes status the moment you pick it up The ear cups, memory foam cushions, and headband are all trimmed in nappa leather, and the combination of alloy and soft leather makes a statement that this is a premium product

The soft leather provided a comfortable fit for my early morning commute, and the headband and ear cushions were light as a feather, feeling only a light pinch on either side of my head The overall weight of the Px8 is a few ounces heavier than the Px7 S2, but it never bothered me when using it; the weight is evenly distributed The overall weight of the Px8 is a few ounces heavier than the Px7 S2, but this did not bother me, and the weight was evenly distributed and felt lighter than some of the wireless competitors I experienced

There was never any sense of unnecessary pressure on my head and ears, nor was there any sense of heat buildup at the main contact points, thanks to the soft, breathable leather that helps mitigate any heat buildup that might occur with prolonged listening

Unlike Sony's WH-1000XM5 and Sennheiser's Momentum Wireless 4, the Px8 does not have touch controls on the ear cups for playback navigation Instead, physical control buttons are located on the rear edge of the right ear cup for play/pause, volume up/down, skip forward/backward, power on/off, and Bluetooth pairing

The Bowers & Wilkins Music App was upgraded to coincide with the launch of the Px8 and guided me through the features and controls during initial setup The app provides a single point of control for all B&W products and integration with the streaming services to which we are already subscribed, including Tidal, Qobuz, Deezer, Soundcloud, and TuneIn It also displays the battery level of your headphones so you can manage charging

The only disappointment was the lack of multi-band EQ adjustment for personal customization, but bass and treble controls are provided Noise cancellation has an "on"/"off"/"pass-through" mode, but that's as far as it goes

Device management allows you to select auto-standby, and the Px8 powers down to low power mode after 15 minutes Meanwhile, the wearing sensor can be set to low, medium, or high, with automatic playback control when the headphones are removed from the head

We like the reassuring sound that confirms that the headphones are paired and connected to a playback device

Wireless audio is via Bluetooth 52, which supports SBC, AAC, aptX HD, and aptX Adaptive codecs when connected to a compatible playback device The lack of support for LDAC and aptX Lossless Audio for the highest quality Bluetooth streaming may disappoint some sound quality fans, but connecting headphones to a playback device with a headphone jack (or add-on headphones/DAC) A USB-C to 35mm analog cable is provided to connect headphones to a playback device with a headphone jack (or an add-on headphone/DAC)

The Px8 headphones feature all-new, custom-made 40mm carbon cone dynamic speaker drivers in each ear cup The new headphone drivers are made of an ultra-lightweight material said to be inspired by the carbon dome drive units found in the company's 700 Series loudspeakers Bowers & Wilkins says the new drivers will deliver better resolution, detail, and timing than the high bar set by the Px7 S2

And from my experience with the review pair, I can assure you that the new drivers certainly achieve higher resolution and timing: as with the Px7 S2, the Px8 drive units are carefully angled on the inside of each ear cup, and the distance from the entire driver surface to the distance to the listener's ear is kept constant

Bass is natural and rich without being over-emphasized At first, the bass sounded a bit tilted compared to the Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 4, but when listening closer, I could hear the details of the bag without feeling like it was overshadowing other sounds It's an agile performance, able to follow individual elements within the music and easily locate different elements of the mix

To be honest, I have always preferred open-back, over-ear headphones However, in the world of headphones, where noise-canceling features are a must, open-back designs are becoming a rarity

Despite the closed-back design, the Px8s do a great job of presenting a wide range of soundstage with a pleasant sense of spaciousness, and the Allison Goldfrapp "Lovely Head" in particular provided a wonderful sense of realism Of course, there are no problems with the other frequency bands, but it is in the midrange where Bowers & Wilkins' flagship headphones excel, providing an abundance of natural detail and midrange clarity that makes every syllable sound convincingly realistic

According to Bowers & Wilkins, the Px8 headphones use six high-performance microphones, two to measure the output of each drive unit, two to react to ambient noise from the outside world, and the remaining two to take voice calls

The soft nappa leather ear cushions did an effective job of passively reducing background noise in any environment, cutting the typical office bustle to half the normal level, even without ANC turned on With noise cancellation turned on, they were even more effective, shutting out the noise of colleagues traveling together on the train However, some sounds still came through, such as a colleague tapping on the desk behind me; ANC performance was more than satisfactory, if not excellent, and not up there with the best noise-canceling headphones, such as the Sony WH-1000XM5 or the Bose 700

I am not the type to make video or voice calls while listening to music through headphones, but I found that when I needed to, I could wear the Px8s and have a respectable call, with the caller on the other end of the call hearing me clearly as with the Px7 S2, the two external microphones placed closer together and relocated to improve voice capture and reduce wind-noise interference

The Px8's battery life of 30 hours is comparable to the Px7 S2 and its closest competitor, the Sony WH-1000XM5, but still a bit slow to beat the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless' 60-hour playback with ANC

Like the Px7 S2, the actual battery life lived up to its claims and my expectations, with up to 7 hours of listening on a 15-minute quick charge

The Bowers & Wilkins Px8 headphones are a luxurious leap forward in terms of design and audio output They fulfill the status of flagship over-ear headphones, balancing luxury design with audiophile credibility to great effect, and are among the most agile and engaging wireless headphones I've heard

The use of high-end materials and attention to detail are enough to justify the high price, but there are plenty of competitors offering something close to the Px8's performance for considerably less