Bowers & Wilkins' new Sony and Bose beating ANC headphones are epic — but there's a tariff-shaped problem

When making its brand new WH-1000XM5 beating headphones, Bowers & Wilkins went back to the drawing board. I’m told that the only similarity between the old Px7 S2e and these, the Px7 S3, is the material that constructs the drivers. Everything else? New.

The result is an extremely comfortable, eminently listenable alternative to our current best headphones list toppers. The ANC is improved over last time, and while it’s not quite as all-silencing as Bose’s effort, it is mighty impressive.

Alas, there’s a fly in the ointment. If I were to go out and buy a pair of the Px7 S3s in the UK today, I would pay a not-unreasonable £399. That’s the same price as the Sonys, and less than the Bose. For US buyers, though, there’s a massive, tariff-shaped problem — that’s yet to be resolved.

I’m not told how much the price increase will be, but I am told there likely will be one. And that is a mighty, mighty shame for what could’ve been your next pair of noise-canceling headphones.

Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? B&W’s latest pair of mid-weight, flagship-beating ANC headphones
• Who is it for? People looking for a classier alternative to Bose and Sony in the $390-$450 price range
• What does it cost? £399/AU$699 (US pricing available soon)
• What do we like? Top-notch sound quality, impeccable build, comfortable fit
• What don’t we like? Tariff-pricing has the potential to ruin the party

Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 review: Price and availability

This is a difficult section to pen this time around. While you’ll be able to pick up a pair of Px7 S3 in the U.K. and the E.U. as of today, the 24th April, you’ll struggle in the U.S.. Thanks to those pesky tariffs, B&W is currently weighing up options as to when they’ll come out, and how much they’ll cost when they do.

So, if you’re in the U.K. and you’ve got a spare £399, or the E.U. and a wodge of notes totaling €429 is burning a hole in your pocket, you can (and should) buy a pair. You’ll find them on your local version of Amazon, amongst other retailers, and they’ll be delivered to your door without extra cost.

If they launch in the U.S. at similar prices to their E.U. and U.K. outlays, they’re an excellent alternative to Sony and Bose with better sound, a more comfortable fit and better build than both. For $50 more, they’re still in the running, although you should think about what you value before you drop the cash.

More than that, and you’ll struggle to make a case for their purchase over the other options. And that’s a massive, massive shame. Once we’ve a picture of their price and release in the U.S., I’ll update the review.

Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 review: Build and design

• Premium build
• Incredible memory foam padding
• Stylish, slimline looks

The Px7 S2e were an ‘evolution’ of the design of the S2 — the S3 are a complete redesign. The styling is the same, but it’s all gone on a very intensive diet. As a result, the new cans are slimmer, lighter, and more comfortable.

They’re only 2 ounces lighter than the previous model, but that makes a pretty good difference when you get them on your head. Thanks to the incredibly padded headband and the deep, plush memory foam of the earcups, they’re a joy to wear for hours and hours on end. Vegans rejoice — no leather here, just lovely soft synthetic alternatives.

I’ve been testing them out for a good three weeks, and I’ve found them extremely comfortable to wear for long periods. I listened to music for 12 hours over one day, and the whole time I was wearing the Px7 S3.

Moving from comfort to looks, things remain rosy for the Px7 S3. They’ve got the same style that we’ve become used to from B&W, although it doesn’t stand out quite so much anymore, thanks to the aforementioned Atkins diet that they’ve gone on.

They don’t stick out from the sides of your head as much as older versions have done, making for an altogether sleeker look. I think they look great, although I wish I had the Blue version rather than the black. The black option is nice, but, like, blue. Who doesn’t like Blue?

Build quality is also excellent. They’re made of premium-feeling plastic, with some lovely detail touches. The smooth armature mechanism is slick and features perfect resistance. Despite their light weight, there’s some nice, premium heft. They feel like you’ve got your money’s worth, and they’re much better built than the Sony or Bose alternatives — and that’s really saying something.

Also better than the Sony and Bose alternatives — the case. It’s fairly compact, and the headphones fit inside perfectly. There’s a magnetically closing section where you’ll find space for the charging and listening cable. It’s sturdy and lined with soft material. It's sturdier than the Sony and Bose cases, and I think it looks more expensive than both.

Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 review: Features

• Great, functional app
• AptX Adaptive
• Some features are coming soon

Out of the box, the Px7 S3 have a decent range of features — although I am told that more will be coming in “future software updates.” While not available at launch, Bluetooth LE audio and Spatial Audio are coming at a later date.

Interestingly, the latter isn’t going to follow normal Atmos encoding. Instead, it’s an in-house version that will make your music sound like it’s coming from a pair of speakers in front of you. I’m yet to give it a try, but I’m interested to see how it differs from Bose’s Immersive Audio take on the format.

As for what is on board, you’ve a fairly watertight feature set. We’ll start with the ‘Bowers & Wilkins Music’ app. On the surface, it’s a fairly simple app that lets you access the headphones' settings, but there’s more to it than meets the eye.

It’s also used to control other Bowers & Wilkins devices you’ve got around the house, which opens up some interesting opportunities. You connect your best music streaming service of choice to the app, and then start streaming your tunes to your Px7 S3. So far, so simple.

Now, say that you’ve got a B&W Zeppelin Pro WiFi speaker in a different room, and you want to pick up your music where you left off on your headphones. Thanks to the app, you can just transfer your listening from the headphones to your Wi-Fi-connected speaker.

There are caveats. The alternative devices have to be B&W-made, connected, and supported by the app. It’s a very cool feature though, and useful if you’ve invested in the B&W ecosystem.

In the app’s settings panel, you’ll find a comprehensive list of ways to control the headphones. There are options for the noise canceling here, including on, pass-through, and off. There’s a five-band EQ to dial in the sound profile, and then you can customize what the physical controls on the earcups do.

Much to my surprise and my delight, the Px7 S3 eschew modern touch controls in preference for excellent, clicky buttons. They’re great. They’re small, but separated well and easy to distinguish between. The power switch and ANC button have been relocated to the left earcup, making them easier to find.

On the note of the ANC button. If you know you’re going to leave the ANC on, you can change the function of the button to awaken your chosen voice assistant. Finally, you can alter the sensitivity of the wear detect — or turn it off completely.

Plug the headphones into your musical source device with a USB-C cable and you’ll find a hi-res listening mode of 24-bit 96kHz. That’s a nice bonus, although there’s no option for wired listening when the battery is dead. Shame.

It’s a feature set that, on launch, isn’t quite up to the same standard as Bose or Sony, but with the launch timetable set out for us, the headphones will quickly catch up. It’s a shame some features won’t be available straight away, though, and they’ll never match the dizzying number of ANC modes found on Sony’s WH-1000XM5.

Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 review: ANC

• Vastly improved
• 8 mics
• Little audible change to the sound

As much as I’d like to report that “finally, Sony and Bose have some real competition to their world-beating ANC!” I can’t. I can, however, report that B&W has gotten treacherously close — these are some of the best noise canceling headphones around.

There’s a palpable increase in noise canceling here, and when you’re listening to music, you’d be hard pressed to tell me what headphones you’re listening through.

There’s a definite focus on low-end sound blocking here. Bus engines are all but completely silenced, and chatter in busy offices melts into nothing so that you can enjoy that Bananarama playlist you’re trying to keep secret from everyone.

It falls down slightly in the higher range, where you might spot some noises making it through when music isn’t playing. My clacking keyboard was discernible between tracks when listening to music, and quieter sections let me hear the slight beeping emanating from the fridge when someone left the door open.

Overall, the ANC will more than suffice for any kind of listening that you’ll want to do. No, it’s not quite up to the same standard as Sony and Bose, but I sometimes find those algorithms impact the sound of your music, emphasising the low end more than I’d like. Not so here — there’s very little, if any, sonic difference between on and off.

Pass-through mode is good too, and it’s one of the more natural-sounding options that I’ve tested. It worked great when I was checking with the train conductor about where I should get off during my trip to London, and I didn’t have to take the cans off when I was paying for the week's shopping at the grocery store.

Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 review: Call quality

• Clear microphone audio
• Tripped up slightly by ambient sound

Call quality is excellent. The recipient of my call came through clear on my end, and the extensive microphone array meant that I was perfectly audible on the other end.

I took the headphones out for a walk near a main road as well to double-check how they’d fare with busier use, and things were still good. There was some leakage of the sounds of the road into the call, but I was still clear to the person on the other end of the call.

Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 review: Sound quality

• Big, expansive bass
• Clear, detailed highs
• Effortless soundstage

The audio internals of the Px7 S3 have seen a complete redesign over the previous model. The only similarity is the material that the cone of the driver is made of — everything else is new.

This time around, we’ve got a 40mm bio-cellulose driver with a dedicated headphone amp. That means fuller sound at lower volumes rather than extra loudness. As a result, they do go very loud, should you want to give yourself permanent hearing damage. Which, you know, you really shouldn’t.

B&W has always gotten the sound part of its headphones very, very right, and the Px7 S3 take it to the next level. They sound better than the price might suggest, making for an audio experience that feels expensive.

The high-end is detailed, crisp and clear, with even the most delicate of cymbals and the upper register picked out amongst busy soundscapes. For me, that means cymbals in death metal that can cut through distorted chugs and growls. For you, it means a generally more holistic listen.

The mids are fat and round, with plenty of body for all the best bits of your music. Guitars sound thick and well defined, while vocals and the spoken word (for podcast listeners) are effortlessly presented. There’s perhaps some dip in the lower mids, but you’d be hard pressed to notice it in most listening.

The low end is a highlight. Like the WH-1000XM5 and the QuietComfort Ultra, there’s a warmer tone here that’ll please a greater range of listeners than a more detailed audiophile alternative. Where the Px7 S3 excel, however, is in low-end control and presence.

The competition tends towards a ‘wall of bass.’ An all-defeating, all-smothering presentation that to most people sounds fine — until they experience the kind of bass that the Px7 S3 are capable of. There’s more definition to notes, and more space for the rest of the music to breathe.

That allows for greater instrument separation and a more holistic approach to your music. It’s wonderful, and sounds as good as headphones that cost a whole lot more. Plug in the USB-C cable for some wired listening and you’re treated to more detail and an even wider soundstage — it’s lovely.

Spinning up Qobuz for some Casiopea, where the Japanese Jazz Funk giants bring the noise with I Love New York. Things are warm, welcoming, and imminently comfortable. Despite that lovely, velvety warmth from the funky bass line, the chirping cymbals and synthesized voice line are well defined. There’s space for everything to be heard, making for a wonderful sonic performance.

Ichiko Aoba’s Luciférine is one of those tracks that seems written to make me cry. Effervescent and atmospheric, there’s plenty of layering for the Px7 S3 to get their teeth into. Each instrument is beautifully separated, from the lowest bass note, the quietest piano note, and the smooth strings. It’s all punctuated by Aoba’s stunning voice, as soft and welcoming as the sun peering through summer trees. I’m not crying, you are.

Finally, I have to get heavy. Arch Enemy’s I Will Live Again chugs with power and purpose, and some headphones morph it into a kind of single-note mire. The Px7 S3 separate Angela Gossow’s growls from the guitars, while the drums drive the track into the powerful force of rebellion it should be. The bass is a highlight here, as the headphones give the bass guitar some love. Crushingly heavy, and loads and loads of fun.

Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 review: Battery life

• 30 hours
• It’s fine, but not exemplary

Bowers & Wilkins isn’t chasing after massive battery life with the Px7 S3. Instead, it gives you ‘enough battery,’ to the tune of 30 hours. I believe that’s plenty of battery for most people, given that you’re almost certainly going to find yourself near a charger when you’re using them most of the time.

That places them straight in the middle of Sony and Bose. The WH-1000XM5 manage 34 hours of staying time, while the Bose QuietComfort Ultra slum it with 24 hours. If you drain the battery of the Px7 S3, you can juice them up for 5 minutes to get an extra 7 hours of battery.

My testing shows that the 30-hour claim rings true. I counted (with a clock, not my fingers — I’m not mad) around 31 hours before I drained them, listening to music at middling volume. That was over multiple listening sessions. I don’t think anyone could wear headphones for a full 30 hours without going insane.

There’s no ‘ANC off’ claim out of Bowers & Wilkins, although my testing shows you could see an increase. After 10 hours of use with ANC turned off, I used around 25 percent of the battery, so you could see up to 40 hours. Your mileage will vary, depending on volume level and even the genres you like to listen to.

Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 review: Verdict

If you’re looking for out-and-out noise-canceling performance, go for Sony’s XM5 and Bose’s QC Ultra headphones. The Px7 S3 have improved ANC, but it’s still not quite as good at blocking out sound.

If, however, you want an alternative that does almost everything else better than the Sony and the Bose options, you’d be hard pressed to find something as good as the Px7 S3. They’re a premium pair of headphones at a less premium price, and their sound, comfort, and feature list more than give Sony and Bose a very difficult run for the money.

Yet still, as with so many electronics at the moment, the specter of tariffs, potential price hikes, and availability issues hang over the Px7 S3 in the US like a stubborn shadow. With some luck, things will get less tumultuous, and you’ll be able to get Sony and Bose beating headphones for a great price.

As it stands, I can wholeheartedly recommend them for U.K. and E.U. buyers — but I have to say ‘wait and see’ if you’re in the U.S..

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