Bowers & Wilkins Introduces Its All-New Px7 S3 Wireless ANC Headphones

Forbes

24-04-2025

The new Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 headphones are available in Anthracite Black, Indigo Blue and Canvas ... More White colorways.
Classic British audio and speaker brand Bowers & Wilkins has announced its 'most advanced wireless headphone yet.' Based on the award-winning Px7 S2e model, the new Px7 S3 headphones feature re-engineered driver units, support for Qualcomm's aptX Adaptive 24/96, aptX Lossless codec and dedicated amplifiers.
The Px7 S3's all-new design and profile have been engineered for comfortable, extended listening, with a notably slimmer form than previous models. Even the new carry case is now more compact and easier to fit into a bag. The new headband and redesigned arm mechanism ensure the headphones fit closer to the wearer's head, while the earpads with improved memory foam cushion the ears for long listening sessions.
B&W claims the new Px7 S3 deliver dramatic advances in acoustic performance compared to the Px7 S2e. Almost every element in the design is new, including the 40mm biocellulose drive units with their redesigned and improved chassis, voice coil, suspension and magnet. Only the cone material is the same as the previous generation of headphones.
The Px7 S3 from Bowers & Wilkins has completely redesigned drivers from dramatically improved sound. ... More
The drive units are designed to deliver less coloration and distortion, as well as improved resolution and dynamics. As before, the drivers are angled towards the listener's ears to ensure a consistent distance from every point across the surface of each driver to each ear. The results, according to B&W, are better imaging and stereo soundstage.
For the first time in B&W over-ear headphones, the high-resolution drive units are powered by a dedicated, discrete headphone amplifier. The amplifier provides more scale and energy to the sound for a dynamic and exciting listen that B&W says is accurate and realistic to listen to.
The Px7 S3 includes both aptX Adaptive 24/96 wireless technology and Qualcomm's latest aptX Lossless codec. Both technologies can automatically optimize wireless music transmission from compatible phones, tablets and computers, ensuring higher quality sound with high-resolution music streaming services such as Qobuz and TIDAL, both of which can stream directly from the B&W Music app.
These latest generation of Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 have both ear pads and headband that can be ... More replaced.
Supported by B&W's Digital Signal Processing, the headphones can handle 24-bit / 96kHz high-resolution sound. There is also a 3.5mm analog audio connection as well as high-resolution-capable USB-C for direct connection to computers and compatible mobile devices, including the latest generation of iPhone. Both cable types are included in the carry case.
B&W's engineers say the new Px7 S3 have the most powerful and effective ANC technology the brand has ever used. The approach to ANC balances the effective removal of unwanted noise while not harming the quality of the music. To ensure the ANC is effective, B&W uses eight high-performance microphones located around the periphery of each ear cup to deliver the best results. Two microphones measure the output of each drive unit, while four are positioned at opposite ends of each earcup for the best possible coverage of ambient noise from the outside world.
Two more mics are dedicated to picking up the user's voice during phone calls. The microphones are carefully positioned and angled to enhance performance in noisy environments. When making calls, unwanted sounds are suppressed by the latest generation of voice processing technology, ADI Pure Voice. All eight microphones work in conjunction with noise-canceling and voice-processing technologies for clearer calls.
Redesigned controls on the Px7 S3 provide improved tactile experience. The power button has been ... More moved to the left ear cup.
With 30 hours of battery life from a full charge, even with full noise cancellation turned on, the Px7 S3 headphones can play all day long. Meanwhile, a burst charge of 15 minutes is sufficient to provide up to 7 hours of additional listening time.
As with all other current generations of B&W headphones and earbuds, the Px7 S3 can be configured and controlled using the B&W Music app. Users can activate or disengage the noise-canceling transparency mode to enable more or less of the outside world into the mix. The app also monitors the headphone's charge levels, adjusts the wear sensor sensitivity and defines the user's preferred operation for the physical 'Quick Action' button.
A significant upgrade to the app means listeners can now fine-tune the sound through an adjustable five-band EQ, complete with the option to store their preferred settings as easily accessible presets. The EQ option can also be bypassed by selecting the True Sound mode, which represents the preferred audio tuning selected by the acoustic team at B&W's Southwater Research Establishment.
As before, physical controls on each earcup are also included, ensuring full control even without the Music app. The revised button layout, which reshapes the volume up, volume down and play/pause buttons improves their tactile feedback. The power button has been relocated to the left-hand earcup. The Quick Action button lets users either quickly cycle through the Px7 S3's noise-cancelling modes—Off, Pass-Through and On—or launch their phone's Voice Assistant.
The design of the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 is slimmer and more comfortable than previous generations. ... More
For the first time in B&W's headphone history, the Px7 S3 will offer support for spatial audio. In line with the brand's True Sound philosophy, engineers have developed a proprietary audio processing technology designed to give listeners a realistic sense of acoustic space and a natural, yet immersive, experience with spatial audio. The new technology will be rolled out as an over-the-air update later this year.
In another first for B&W, the Px7 S3 will also offer support for Bluetooth LE Audio, complete with Auracast broadcast functionality, enabling a single audio source to broadcast to an unlimited number of receiving headphones. LE Audio also includes a new high-quality audio codec, LC3, which offers the potential for higher-quality sound than standard Bluetooth audio. Bowers & Wilkins will roll out LE Audio compatibility to Px7 S3 as a future update.
The Px7 S3 headphones are available in three finishes: Anthracite Black, Indigo Blue and Canvas White, each with complementary detailing. B&W has engineered the new design so that both ear cushions and headband are replaceable by trained service engineers.
The all-new Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 headphones are available in Uk, EU and other markets from April 24 at bowerswilkins.com and from third-party retailers. The price is £399 / €429. Px7 S3 will not be available in North and Latin America on April 24. Bowers & Wilkins is taking this additional time to evaluate the evolving market conditions and ensure their offerings remain aligned with consumer expectations.