Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 review

We’ve thought about it a lot, and maybe the idea of David Beckham advertising Bowers & Wilkins wireless headphones does make sense. After all, Becks was always known as the man who brought serious glamour to the modern game, blending effortless good looks and pinpoint style with genuine footballing substance. You don’t get over 100 caps for England just for having nice hair and good cheekbones.

The best Bowers & Wilkins headphones are the same. The current flagship Px8 remain a treat to hear and to admire, while the five-star Px7 S2e boast that same devastating combination of style and performance. The S2e’s sequel – the new Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 – unquestionably share the same handsome genes as their progenitors, but good looks are nothing if you can’t kick a ball or hum a decent tune.

If they can also nail that potent combination of style and substance, B&W’s latest offering could turn out to be another Beckham-level winner for the established brand.

Price

Costing £399 / €429 / AU$699, the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 are a premium pair of wireless headphones with serious competition to contend with, as all of the following rival headphones feature in our guide to the best wireless headphones.

The five-star Dali IO-8 over-ears generally sit at around £499 / $499 / €599 these days, while the Apple AirPods Max cost roughly £450 in the UK, €500 on the continent and between $500-$550 in the US.

For something a little cheaper, the ever-excellent Sony WH-1000XM5 currently sit at around £250 / $330 / €300 / AU$550. The best-for-ANC Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones, meanwhile, can be yours for £349 / $399 / AU$549 these days.

For those in the US, it's mixed news. These new headphones will be available at some point in the future, however due to the current changing market conditions, those plans have been delayed at the moment. We'll update this review with US pricing and availability once it has been confirmed.

Build & design

Maybe it’s just us, but the Px7 S3 are such a lovely pair of headphones that we’re almost reluctant to extract them from their case and actually wear them. B&W has always known how to make a pair of cans look chic and classy, continuing that keen-eyed legacy with these ever-so-stylish third-generation headphones.

We considered the Px7 S2e to have nailed that air of high perceived value, but if anything, their successors see the headphones line looking and feeling better than ever.

To handle, they’re a delight. Every part of the construction feels as though genuine care and attention have been made in its design, be it the hinges adjoining the earcups, the textured woven fabric of the headband or the subtle metallic embellishments gleaming when exposed to the light. It’s all subjective, but we’re struggling to think of a nicer-looking pair at this price.

Following feedback that some users found the Px7 S2e to be just a little weighty and oversized, B&W has put its newest cans on a crash diet, resulting in a lighter weight of just 300 grams and a shallower profile when laid flat. That makes the newer model easier to wear and transport, and while the S3 don’t fold away, the accompanying carry case also boasts a flatter, smaller footprint for sliding into a backpack or slipping into a suitcase.

That new lightness, combined with an established configuration that never exactly starved us for comfort, leads to a pleasant fit. The clamping force is well-judged, while the earpads’ blend of firmness and forgiving suppleness (they feel slightly softer than their predecessors) doesn’t have our ears begging for relief after mere minutes, even if we did experience some on-ear heat during testing. With one eye on sustainability, the S3’s various components – ear cushions, headband, even the internal drive units – are replaceable should they begin to falter.

If you’re not mad about on-cup touch controls and relying on a series of swipes and taps to get your cans to co-operate, Bowers & Wilkins has kept things relatively traditional courtesy of the Px7 S3’s small array of physical buttons. The backside of the right earcup offers a play/pause button flanked by longer volume controls, whereas the left cup features a sliding Bluetooth/power toggle alongside a configurable ‘Quick Action’ button we currently have reserved for cycling through our test pair’s noise-cancelling modes.

Features

What you have here is a spec sheet with the essential boxes ticked, and ticked well. Battery life clocks in at an eminently respectable 30 hours with ANC on (the same as the Px7 S2e), with a stunning seven hours of life provided by a mere 15-minute charging boost. Even if we’d have liked to have seen the overall battery life increased a bit, those quick-juicing talents are little short of remarkable. The Sony WH-1000XM5 will also offer around 30 hours of playback, so that overall playing time is hardly an Achilles heel.

Bluetooth codec support is ample, with the standard AAC and SBC codecs living alongside higher-quality flavours. aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless are on the menu, and if you want to go all out on audio fidelity, USB-C and 3.5mm cable connections are provided straight out of the box for listening at rates up to 24-bit/96kHz.

These are headphones that have moved with the times. There is Auracast support, meaning that the Px7 S3 can receive audio transmissions from compatible broadcast sources. However, this will be available alongside LE Audio support and the LC3 higher-quality codec as a future update, says B&W.

Another over-the-air update later this year will also see spatial audio incorporated into a pair of Bowers & Wilkins headphones for the first time.

In happier news, the ever-useful Bluetooth Multipoint is available straight away, which makes listening and switching between multiple connected source devices easy.

The Bowers & Wilkins Music app is the place to be for customising your user experience, adjusting the equaliser or checking your headphones’ key vitals. It’s a professional and involved platform that also offers direct access to music streaming service libraries you’re signed up to, including the likes of Tidal, Deezer and Qobuz, though as we noted when we tested the Px7 S2e, we don’t imagine many users will use the Tidal integrated interface over their preferred platform’s in-app experience.

ANC & call quality

The Px7 S2e’s noise-cancelling capabilities were certainly worth shouting about, and it’s a similar story for this third generation of the British brand’s premium over-ears. Thanks to their cannily-positioned eight-mic array, the Px7 S3 have a poised, effortless ability to block out unwanted sounds and intrusions in a way that feels natural and pleasingly comprehensive.

There’s a solid barrier between you and the outside world, and while you don’t get that impermeable bubble effect crafted by the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones, the B&Ws’ organic-feeling performance is solid enough. Road rumbles are reduced, the chatter of voices is softened, and sharp bangs or yells have the edge taken off to keep you from jumping out of your seat when a door slams or a passing car beeps its shrill horn.

Two noise-cancelling modes are on the menu, with no adaptive or ‘real-time’ settings to be found, but the standard remains high whether we choose full-fat ANC or the more permeable pass-through mode. Both settings work as they should, with the latter transparency mode granting enough information to pass into our ears to keep us informed on public transport or in a chatty office.

Voice calls are competently handled. Repositioned microphones and B&W’s ‘ADI Pure Voice’ voice processing technology tease “outstanding voice clarity”, and while we wouldn’t quite stretch to such lofty adjectives, calls are hardly a chore. Human speech sounds natural without seeming muffled or mechanical, whereas background noises – aside from the occasional minor intrusion – rarely disrupt our conversations during tests.

Sound

Bowers & Wilkins has made big claims about its latest cans’ sonic capabilities, dubbing them its most “advanced and capable” wireless headphones ever. When you consider the pedigree of the five-star Px7 S2e over-ears and the more premium Px8, that’s a serious statement to make.

To reach such vaunted heights, the Px7 S3 are equipped with redesigned 40mm paper drivers furnished with a new chassis, voice coil, magnet and suspension, all of which combine for what B&W claims to be "improved resolution and superior dynamics".

While it’s always prudent to be wary of hyperbole, our time cross-examining the Px7 S3’s sonic talents leaves us finding few gaps in their armour. The Px7 S3 really are exceptionally refined and detailed headphones, stunning us with their ability to outstrip their predecessors and even outperform the more expensive Dali IO-8 for textural insight.

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.

The Px7 S3 drop you deep into a performance, breaking the boundary between you and your music and insisting that you become a part of the experience, a little like a mate at a gig who ushers you ever-closer towards the stage. The Sony WH-1000XM5 will grant a more open presentation, but the B&W have an intimate character that puts you in the eye of the musical storm no matter what you choose to feed them.

That’s a long way from being a criticism. The effect of being immersed in the centre of your tunes is thrilling, amplified by those remarkable levels of detail the Bowers & Wilkins over-ears unveil. The earthy strings on Nick Cave & Warren Ellis’s Song For Bob have real bite and grip as the track’s forlorn heart is revealed, while the varying components of John Williams’ Duel Of The Fates – rumbling drums, punchy horn stabs, operatic vocals – blend authenticity with a thrilling sense of drama.

The Px7 S2e and Px8 are hardly light on the details, but the richness and insight of these latest over-ears are simply on another level.

If the details on display are to be admired, the Px7 S3’s muscular nature grants them a further dimension – these are potently powerful headphones, a fact that becomes clear when we select Slipknot’s Left Behind as our hardcore testing mainstay. As the pulse-pounding anthem transitions from zig-zagging verses to its fist-pumping chorus, the Px7 S3 make a big play of those walloping industrial drums, adding enough weight and muscle to make for an appropriately headbanging affair.

There’s more than enough wallop at the lower end to keep basshunters satisfied, too. The bursts of fuzzy electro-instrumentation on Massive Attack’s Risingson drop to meaty depths, yet the B&W are cultured and controlled enough to keep things from sounding blobby or misaligned. Powerful bass reproduction is one thing, but a potent lower end with agility and refinement? That’s a far tougher task.

Whereas the Sony WH-1000XM5 have a lighter, freer sense of movement as they keep a Tidal rendition of Radiohead’s Burn The Witch skipping along, their B&W rivals dig deep into the track’s tricky rhythmic pattern with greater skill. Yes, the Dali IO-8 are the benchmark at this level for teasing out the song’s dynamic shifts, but the Px7 S3’s blend of rhythmic insight and dynamic nuance still makes for a potent mix.

Bowers & Wilkins has included a physical tether with its new headphones, and we would advise that if you’re hunting for the best sound possible, the wired connection is the way to go – you’ll still have to have them switched on, mind you. Hooking up to our source player via USB-C makes the headphones sound clearer, more insightful and more detailed, yet never to the detriment of their muscular and entertaining sonic signature.

Verdict

B&W’s follow-up to the five-star Px7 S2e has been a resounding success. Matching their predecessors’ overall appeal was never going to be easy, but the Px7 S3’s powerfully entertaining sonic performance and refined design make them an elite contender in a crowded marketplace.

Sonically, the Px7 S3 outmatch their predecessors in almost every department – as a blend of style and substance, they’re very much the real deal.

First reviewed: April 2025

SCORES

• Sound 5
• Build 5
• Features 5

MORE:

Read our review of the Dali IO-8

Also consider the Sony WH-1000XM5

Read our Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones review

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