Bowers & Wilkins has released the over-ear headphones Px7 S3, the successor to the Px7 S2e. The engineers have tinkered with the Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) and the overall sound quality has also been improved according to the manufacturer. The headphones are available in three different colors. The recommended retail price is just under 430 euros.
Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3
Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) has significantly revised and improved the drivers compared to its predecessor, the Px7 S2e (also read our review of the B&W Px7 S2e ). The cone material remains the same, but the chassis and the voice coil, suspension and magnet of the 40-millimetre-diameter biocellulose drivers have been redesigned. According to the designers, this should help to reduce colouration and distortion and increase resolution and dynamics. The Px7 S3 will also be the first over-ear headphones from B&W to be equipped with a discrete headphone amplifier.
The Px7 S2e already supported many audio codecs with SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX Adaptive and aptX HD. With the new S3, that support is expanded with aptX Lossless and LC3. The Px7 S3 also has Auracast broadcast functionality to wirelessly share the sound from the headphones with other playback devices. In addition, the headphones can be connected to an analogue 3.5mm jack plug connection and digital hi-res audio sources via USB-C. The necessary cables are included, as well as a more compact storage and transport box. Support for spatial audio will also be added later this year via an over-the-air update, B&W promises. According to Bowers & Wilkins, this does not involve virtual surround sound, but a proprietary sound algorithm that reproduces music as if you were listening to a pair of speakers at home.
Better Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) without background noise
The ANC (noise cancellation) and call performance have also been revised/improved. Instead of the six microphones in the Px7 S2e, the Px7 S3 has a total of eight microphones on board. Two of them measure the reproduction of the drivers, four measure the ambient noise and the last two microphones pick up speech. Bowers & Wilkins emphasizes that it does not strive to offer the best ANC, but that the design goal was to block out as much noise as possible without annoying background noise that could detract from the music experience.
The Px7 S3 has a slightly narrower design than the S2e, making the headphones appear less wide when worn. The over-ears have a new headband with a revised arm mechanism for a better fit on the head. The ear cushions are covered in memory foam. Like their predecessors, the headphones have physical controls for volume, play and pause, plus a customizable ‘Quick Action’ button. These buttons have been redesigned to make them easier to find by touch, according to the manufacturer. The equalizer in the Music control app on the new headphones has five adjustable bands, instead of just bass and treble like on the previous model. Users can also now create and save multiple presets.
The battery life has remained the same as that of the Px7 S2e. According to Bowers & Wilkins, the Px7 S3 has a listening time of approximately thirty hours with ANC enabled, while a fifteen minute charge is enough for an additional seven hours of usage time with ANC enabled.
Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3: price and delivery information
The Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 is available in Anthracite Black, Indigo Blue and Canvas White and will retail for just under $430.
