Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 vs Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones: which noise-cancelling pair is better?

Bowers & Wilkins has a new pair of wireless headphones. If you're familiar with the brand's excellent Px7 S2e, you'll know just what a big deal the new Px7 S3 are – so big a deal, in fact, that we awarded these excellent-sounding over-ears five stars in our review.

Active noise cancellation (ANC) comes as part of the package, but how do they fare against the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones, which are easily some of the best noise-cancelling headphones around?

Let's find out.

B&W Px7 S3 vs Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones: price

The Px7 S3 are Bowers & Wilkins' latest wireless headphones model, costing £399 / €429 / AU$699 (they're not on sale in the US yet). They're a little cheaper than the flagship Px8.

They're also a little pricier than the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones – these flagship headphones launched at £450 / $429 / AU$649, but having been around a while, can now be found for around £349 / $399 / AU$499.

B&W's headphones often feature in the big sale events, but we wouldn't expect any sizeable discounts until Black Friday at the earliest. Even then, they're likely to remain pricier than their Bose rivals.

** Winner: Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones **

B&W Px7 S3 vs Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones: design

The Px7 S3 are beautifully made. Design is B&W's bread and butter, and it shows. They're lighter and shallower than the Px7 S2e (though still heavier than the Bose QC Ultra), and made of more premium materials than the Bose.

Little touches like the metallic trim, woven fabric on the headband and metal sliders really make a difference, and as we stated in our review, "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".

The Px7 S3 are nicer to the touch – the Bose look and feel just a bit boring by comparison –but the Bose do fold away, unlike the B&W which only feature externally rotating earcup hinges. That makes the Bose the more user-friendly and portable pair, especially if you'll be travelling long haul, though the slimline accompanying case provided with the Px7 S3 means that they're hardly averse to going on adventures.

The Bose are also arguably a little more comfortable. Some of our reviews team found the Px7 S3 heated up their ears, though it was far from a deal-breaker. The Px7 S3 are still a comfortable pair of cans thanks to their slimmed-down construction and softened earpads, but for most people, we think the QC Ultra Headphones will be easier to wear over long periods.

The two pairs take a different tack in terms of controls. The Bose headphones have on-cup touch controls while B&W uses buttons. Both systems work well, so there's no advantage of one over the other, it's just a case of whether you prefer on-cup swipes or a more traditional array of physical buttons.

For us, their exemplary build and finish make the Px7 S3 the choice if aesthetics and premium quality matter. If comfort and convenience are king, go for the QC Ultra Headphones.

** Winner: Draw**

B&W Px7 S3 vs Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones: features

Of course modern headphones can do a lot more than 'just' bring you music. The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones have Bose's Immersive Audio spatial audio tech, though we're still not convinced it really adds anything to the music experience. The fact that this feature eats into the battery life considerably means we suspect most people will leave it off, too.

The B&W Px7 S3 will gain spatial audio features later this year via an over-the-air update. We'll update our review – and this article – once we've tested this feature. Suffice to say it aims to do much the same as Bose's tech, but hopefully more effectively.

That's not the only similarity between these two feature sets. Both pairs have Bluetooth Multipoint for connecting to two devices and seamlessly switching between them (see our guide on what is Bluetooth Multipoint?). Both support various versions of aptX for low latency and a more stable wireless connection, though the Px7 S3 have a more extensive array of flavours on offer, including aptX Lossless and aptX HD.

The B&W will have Auracast support – which allows them to receive audio transmissions from compatible broadcast sources – as well as LE Audio support and the LC3 higher-quality codec at a later date. Again, we'll let you know once these features arrive.

In terms of battery life, the Px7 S3 come out on top. Not only do they last longer between charges (you get 30 hours of use, compared to 24 for the Bose with ANC on), but they also have a powerful quick-charge function that gives you seven hours of playtime from just 15 minutes of charging. According to Bose, a 15-minute charge of the QC Ultra Headphones will grant 2.5 hours of playback with immersive audio turned off.

As the newer pair, the Px7 S3 take the win on the features front.

** Winner: Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 **

B&W Px7 S3 vs Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones: noise cancelling and call quality

Bose invented noise-cancelling headphones, first for pilots, then for us consumers. Its pairs consistently rank among the best noise-cancelling headphones around, and its flagship QC Ultras are the best of the bunch.

Not only do they 'suck' all the noise from your ears, they also automatically optimise their performance to match your surroundings (what Bose calls CustomTune calibration). Bose Aware Mode with ActiveSense automatically adjusts the amount of ANC you’re hearing, so your music isn’t drowned out by particularly loud noises.

You can also set your own presets and adjust how much outside noise, if any, to allow in, meaning you have plenty of options.

The Px7 S3's noise cancellation feels more natural, which some will prefer – it's less of a vacuum for your ears. It's very good, taking the edge off a range of outside noises to minimise distractions, but we don't feel it's as effective as Bose's class-leading system.

Nor as comprehensive. There are only two ANC modes (standard or pass-through), with no adaptive or ‘real-time’ settings to be found, but both modes work as they should, keeping you nicely isolated from, or informed of, your surroundings as you choose.

How about call quality? Neither set lets itself down here, with the Bose handling calls clearly and blocking out decent levels of background noise. It's a similar story with the Px7 S3, although the newer cans are better at blocking out the outside world on calls due to their repositioned eight-mic array.

For their superior noise-cancelling capabilities, we have to give the win to the Bose here.

** Winner: Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones **

B&W Px7 S3 vs Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones: sound

Both of these pairs sound brilliant, but they do have different strengths. Even so, there's only one winner in our book...

The Bose are very entertaining, with a precise, punchy delivery. As we wrote in our review: "Every note is tightly defined and they have no problem painting textures and giving them shape."

Both high and low notes have plenty of richness and refinement, while the timing is spot-on throughout. These are excellent headphones, so if you go ahead and grab a pair, we don't think you'll be disappointed by the levels of dynamics, detail, clarity or rhythmic capabilities on display.

That said, the Bowers & Wilkins are in a different league. The level of detail they unearth is stunning – they even outperform the more expensive Dali IO-8 in terms of textural insight, and that's a serious achievement considering how good (and costly) the Dali are.

As we wrote in our Px7 S3 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."

They have plenty of muscle too, with enough power to do justice to the more forthright tracks in our testing library. The low end throbs with intent, while remaining refined and agile. They even sound better than the flagship Px8, and their Px7 S2e predecessors. B&W's claims that these are its best-sounding wireless cans ever might just have turned out to be true.

Sonically, the Bose are still excellent, but they're just not as exciting, nuanced or detailed as their class-leading B&W rivals.

** Winner: Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 **

B&W Px7 S3 vs Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones: verdict

It's worth noting that you can't go far wrong with either pair. Both earned five stars from us, which is no mean feat, and both perform excellently across the key areas of usability and performancr.

If you have to choose between them, overall we would plump for the B&W, especially if sound is your priority. They offer a more premium build, a more comprehensive feature set and the better overall sound, even if they cost significantly more than the Bose at the time of writing.

The Bose are still tops in terms of noise cancellation though, and they are a little more comfortable to wear and easier to pack away thanks to their foldable design. If those areas outweigh your other concerns, the QC Ultra will fit the bill nicely.

MORE:

Read our Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 review

And our Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones review

B&W Px7 S3 vs Sony WH-1000XM5: which are better?