Bluetooth: 5.2
Codec support: SBC, AAC, aptX Adaptive
Noise cancelling? Yes
Battery life: 30 hours
Finishes: x 5 (blue, grey, green, black, red)
Weight: 307g
The Px7 S2e set a new benchmark for detail and insight when they launched, and while the Px7 S3 are the newer iteration, there's plenty to love about B&W's second-gen over-ears.
For
- Still sound full and lush
- Great levels of insight
- More finish options than the Px7 S3
- Often available at a great discount
Against
- Sonically outperformed by their successors
- Newer Px7 S3 offer more features
Bluetooth: 5.3
Codec support: SBC, AAC, aptX HD, aptX Classic, aptX Lossless, aptX Adaptive
Noise cancelling? Yes
Battery life: 30 hours (with ANC on)
Finishes: x 3 (black, blue, white)
Weight: 300g
The Px7 S3 may well be the best over-ear wireless headphones that Bowers & Wilkins has ever made. Handsome, healthily supplied with features and highly enjoyable to listen to, they're a delight from top to bottom.
For
- Exceptional sonic performance
- Outstrip their predecessors' sonic capabilities
- Offer more features than the Px7 S2e
- Slimmer than the Px7 S2e
Against
- Currently more expensive than their predecessors
- Not all features are available straight away
When the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2e arrived a few years back, we thought they were an excellent pair of wireless headphones. Boasting a premium quality of build alongside excellent sound and lots of features, it was hard to pick too many holes in their credentials.
Good as the Px7 S2e are, B&W wanted to go one better with the sequel. Promoting them as their most "advanced and capable headphones ever", the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 have arrived burdened by seriously high expectations.
Thankfully, they're another excellent pair of over-ear wireless headphones, but how do they stack up against the older model and, more importantly, should you stick with the Px7 S2e or upgrade to the newer cans?
Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2e vs Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3: price
As you'll know if you're a frequent hi-fi or headphones buyer, the older a product gets, the lower its price tends to drop. Considering they arrived around two years ago, the PX7 S2e have fallen to roughly £249 / $350 / AU$460 as the five-star over-ears begin the slow process of being phased out.
The newer Px7 S3 won't see prices slashed anytime soon, so their debut figure of £399 / AU$699 is the one you're going to have to pay if you want a pair. Note also that the Px7 S3 aren't yet available in the United States and don't even have a US price tag thanks to ongoing political and economic uncertainties. We'll update you as soon as we have those prices, of course.
A convincing win for the excellent-value Px7 S2e, then.
**Winner: Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2e**
Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2e vs Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3: build and design
Oh, these really are lovely headphones.
We haven't changed our minds about just how nice the older B&W headphones are. The earcups' two-tone finish with a metallic oval and a textured surround just works so nicely, while gold accents and the cylindrical ‘Bowers & Wilkins’ logo text combine to make a very visually desirable product. Whatever finish you pick – and there are a few more with the Px7 S2e than the Px7 S3 at the time of writing – you won't be disappointed by how they look.
It's the same story with the third-generation cans, which follow roughly the same configuration as their predecessors. There are differences, however, including a decreased weight from 307g to 300g and a flatter, slimmer profile whereby the earcups don't protrude as far from the body of the overall design. That makes the Px7 S3, and their smaller case, more portable and easier to wear for long periods.
We've found both pairs to justify their premium price tags. The Px7 S2e felt like a well-made pair of headphones, a legacy that continues to the Px7 S3. From the fabric used on the headband to the quality of the metal arms, both sets feel like they've been built to last.
Both sets of headphones use old-fashioned button controls, and that's something with which we have no issue. The layout of the buttons makes sense and, once you get used to where everything is, you won't have too much trouble locating your desired functionalities.
The small fly in the ointment? Neither folds away, with the earcups instead swivelling from inwards to outwards, but not collapsing up and into the headband like, say, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones. It's not a huge deal, but worth noting all the same.
Two lovely sets of headphones, but their slimmer, lighter and more comfortable design gives the win to the Px7 S3.
**Winner: Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3**
Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2e vs Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3: features
Scan down each respective spec sheet and you won't find too many gaps. Battery life is a commendable 30 hours for both both pairs, though we're a bit miffed that the Px7 S3 couldn't build on that and add a few more hours to the total. Still, their ability to offer seven hours of playback from a mere 15-minute charge is mightily impressive and super convenient.
Codec compatibility is solid for both. There's support for the higher-quality Bluetooth codecs, with both offering aptX Adaptive as well as both USB-C and 3.5mm cable connections provided in both boxes. The S3 take things a little further, offering all flavours of aptX so you're covered if you have a compatible device; aptx Adaptive, HD, Classic and Lossless are all available, plus 24-bit/96kHz quality when listening via USB-C.
The accompanying Bowers & Wilkins Music App is where you'll control your headphones, with the newer cans working from the updated version of the platform. It's a place we like to be, allowing owners to adjust their phone settings, change the sensitivity of the wearer detection feature for automatic pausing, select noise-cancelling modes or access the customisable five-band equaliser. You even get many streaming service libraries, including the likes of Deezer, Qobuz, Tidal and TuneIn, all in one place.
The Px7 S3, naturally, will have some features not available with the older cans. Auracast will be available soon, meaning the Px7 S3 can receive audio transmissions from compatible broadcast sources when the time comes. This will be available alongside LE Audio support and the LC3 higher-quality codec as a future over-the-air update, says B&W.
**Winner: Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3**
Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2e vs Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3: noise cancelling and call quality
The Px7 S2e’s noise-cancelling capabilities are solid, and it's a similar story for the third generation of the brand’s premium over-ears. Thanks to their repositioned eight-mic array, the Px7 S3 have a natural-sounding ability to block out unwanted sounds and intrusions in much the same way as their predecessors.
Neither set matches the cocoon-like feeling of impermeability you get with the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones, but the organic-style performance is solid enough from both sets. The Px7 S3 are a little better, as we would have hoped, and we certainly discern more of a difference when switching between full-fat ANC or the more permeable pass-through mode.
Voice calls are competently handled by each contender. Repositioned microphones and B&W’s ‘ADI Pure Voice’ voice processing technology tease “outstanding voice clarity” for the Px7 S3, and while the Px7 S2e weren't bad with voice calls, we feel that the newer model is better at muffling background noises such as passing cars or the whooshes of wind and air.
**Winner: Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3**
Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2e vs Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3: sound quality
Make no mistake, the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2e are an exceptional pair of headphones at this price. Their sound is excellent, and it only took the brilliance of the Award-winning Sony WH-1000XM5 to prevent us from considering them to be the absolute leaders in their given field. Some of our test team actually prefer the older B&W cans to the Sony, so it's a very close run thing.
Why are the Px7 S2e so good? They remain tremendously detailed for wireless headphones at this level, able to bring out finer details and communicate dynamic shifts to an extent that few rivals can match. The B&W cans have the transparency to dig out the emotional depth to vocals, making sung performances sound authentic and sincere rather than rote and non-committal.
They're great at the lower-end, too, all while retaining a lovely feeling of space and scale. To quote from our review: "How the headphones render lower frequencies remains a highlight, with bass depth and punch in head-bopping supply. Bowers has not only aired out the soundstage slightly for added openness and coherency but also smoothed the presentation somewhat. It’s sweeter and easier to listen, and none of their predecessors’ clarity and tonal balance has been relinquished either."
So, there's no need to get the newer Px7 S3 then, right?
Wrong. The Px7 S3 are the step above, elevating an excellent pair of headphones to exceptional new levels. Compare them with any price-comparable rival and the Px7 S3 will hold their own and, more often than not, trump the competition. They offer class-leading levels of insight, instrumental detail and sonic punch. Even against the more expensive Dali IO-8, we found them to be more capable of pulling out textures with greater talent and a more perceptible feeling of weight and body.
To borrow from our recent review: "These are wireless headphones that dig deep into your music, eschewing a broad or general sonic overview and instead pulling out instrumental timbres with the relentless curiosity and enthusiasm of a bloodhound on the scent of a new lead." High praise.
We loved the bass reproduction of the outgoing B&W, but here the bar has been raised. The newer model offers a lower-end reproduction that drops to new depths, yet the B&W are cultured enough to keep things from sounding blobby or unwieldy. Powerful bass reproduction blended with true finesse isn't easy, but it's a trick the Px7 S3 pull off like it's no big thing.
Across the board, if sound quality is your key priority, the Px7 S3 have to be somewhere at the top of your shortlist. In a straight shootout against the Px7 S2e, they're the clear winners to our ears.
**Winner: Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3**
Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2e vs Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3: verdict
Regardless of which pair they're put up against, the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 are some of the best wireless over-ear headphones you can buy at their premium price point. If sound and style matter to you (and you're rather keen on a healthy feature set, too), we'd have no problem recommending them, even at full price.
What's the case for the Px7 S2e, then? In short, it's a question of price and value. The older cans arrived at £379 / $399 / AU$599, yet now that they're often more than £100 / $100 / AU$150 off, the sound-per-pound value they represent is seriously attractive.
Like so many things in life, this one might simply come down to a question of money.
MORE:
Check out our Sony WH-1000XM5 vs Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 head-to-head
These are the best noise-cancelling headphones we've tested
