Latest news with #Bowers&Wilkins
Tom's Guide
23-05-2025
- Business
- Tom's Guide
Forget Sony WH100XM6 — these excellent over-ear headphones are now available to pre-order in the US
If you're looking for the best pair of over-ear headphones you can buy right now, there's a strong argument that the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 is it. We awarded it 4.5 stars in our recent review and we can't get enough of these headphones right now. Following their release in the U.K. and Europe, Bowers & Wilkins has just confirmed these headphones are now available to pre-order in the U.S. That wasn't always a given; B&W said it was weighing up options as to whether it would launch the headphones in the U.S., and there was always a question of how much they'd cost due to the ongoing uncertainty around tariffs. But you can order them right now for $449 at Amazon, with shipping slated for June 11 — the day after their formal release. And since Sony just confirmed it was bumping the U.S. price of the WH-1000XM6 to the same price, we'd recommend opting for the Px7 S3s. The Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 are one of the best pairs of over-ear headphones you can buy right now thanks to supreme sound quality, awesome comfort and a great battery life. In our Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 review, we called these Editor's Choice 'phones the best sounding headphones for the price with impeccable build quality. What do you need to know about the B&W Px7 S3? Well, our audio editor thinks they're an excellent alternative to Sony and Bose with better sound, a more comfortable fit, and better build than both. The headphones have been redesigned from the previous iteration of the Px7s, to make them two ounces lighter. The padded headband and plush memory foam of the earcups mean you can wear these all day without noticing and, well, they've got tactile physical buttons for controlling volume and playback. Although it's likely you'll use these wirelessly, you can plug them in with a USB-C cable for hi-res listening at 24-bit 96kHz. The only thing to note is that you won't be able to use wired listening if the battery is dead. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Overall though, at a time when many companies are either hiking prices or withholding U.S. product launches entirely, it's great to see these excellent British headphones are going to make their way across the pond after all — and at a good price to boot.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Yahoo
Best Windows laptops for 2025: Our top pick lasts longer than the M4 MacBook Pros
All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers. If you buy something through links on our site, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission. The best Windows laptops run an impressive gamut, from Qualcomm-powered workhorses that refuse to die to dual-display stunners and subtle gaming stations. (Some of them, dare we say, will tempt even the most devoted Apple Macbook disciples.) Users who need a new laptop for everyday productivity, creativity, or entertainment have no shortage of options. And that's for better or worse. To help you pick out your next PC from the crowded Windows market, we've broken out our best laptops rundown into this separate guide to the best Windows machines of 2025. All of these laptops have been thoroughly hands-on tested by members of the Mashable team for performance, build quality, and battery life, and we stand by their value — or at least think they're worth hunting down on sale. As of April 2025, Mashable's favorite Windows laptop is the 13-inch Microsoft Surface Laptop 7, an elegant workhorse powered by the impressive Snapdragon X Elite processor. It's got high-end power, a premium design, interesting AI features, and an incredible battery life. It's actually the longest-lasting laptop we've ever reviewed: Even the latest M4 MacBooks can't keep up. For almost as much Snapdragon oomph at a lower price point, opt for the HP Omnibook X 14, the best mid-range Windows laptop. It's not much to look at, but it's plenty power-efficient and equipped with a great keyboard. It also comes with the same AI tools as the Surface Laptop 7. SEE ALSO: The best laptops for 2025, tested by our experts Those on an even tighter budget should look into the Lenovo Yoga 7 14 (Gen 9): Solid performance, a good amount of ports, and a versatile 2-in-1 design have made it our new favorite cheap Windows laptop. It dethrones our previous pick, the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 3, a pretty ultraportable with specs that are too dated for 2025 buyers. If you're shopping for a convertible across all price points, the Lenovo Yoga 9i 14 (Gen 9) is our top 2-in-1 laptop overall, earning praise from our reviewer for its gorgeous 2.8K OLED touchscreen, its peppy (albeit piping-hot) CPU, and its clear Bowers & Wilkins soundbar. For a twist on the hybrid form factor, we also highly recommend the 2024 Asus Zenbook Duo, a beautiful dual-screener. We've got additional picks for specialty users — the Alienware m16 R2 is the best gaming laptop we've tested thus far, and the Acer Swift X 14 is our go-to Windows laptop for photo and video editing. Read on for Mashable's in-depth guide to the best Windows laptops of 2025. FYI: We've listed the pricing and specs of our testing units, which may not apply to each laptop's base model. Our team has several Windows laptops in hand for testing, including two AI-ready gaming laptops: the latest Intel-powered Framework Laptop 13, an upgradable and repairable PC the new Asus ZenBook A14, the "world's lightest Copilot+ PC" (and the winner of Mashable's Best of CES award in the laptop category this year) the latest Asus VivoBook S 15, a Copilot+ PC that comes in just under $1,000 the latest Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x (Gen 9), a mid-range Copilot+ PC with an OLED touchscreen the Acer Predator Helios 16, a 16-inch gaming laptop with a 240Hz display and an RTX 4080 GPU the MSI Stealth A16 AI+, another 16-inch gaming laptop with a 240Hz display and an RTX 4070 GPU I just finished testing the Dell XPS 13 (9350), a 13-inch Lunar Lake Copilot+ PC with an anti-reflective tandem OLED touchscreen display. Above all, it's a gorgeous laptop: That display is one of the nicest I've ever seen, and its edge-to-edge design gives it a super premium, minimalist look. It also lasted more than 13 hours in our battery life test, which is great when you factor in that power-sucking display. However, the XPS 13 favors prettiness over practicality in certain ways that make it a pain to use. Namely, its zero-lattic keyboard felt cramped, its glass touchpad often misbehaved, and its port selection was dire. (There are just two Thunderbolt 4/USB-C ports — that's too much minimalism, IMO.) Those might've been more forgivable if the XPS 13 didn't cost so much. My testing unit with a firmly mid-range Intel Core Ultra 256V CPU, 16GB of RAM, and only 512GB of storage goes for $1,849.99. You can knock that down to $1,199.99 if you go without the OLED display upgrade, which feels way more reasonable, but at the same time, that was the one thing I liked most about it. I rated it a 3.8/5 overall. Earlier this year, I tested the HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14, a slick convertible with awesome build quality, an excellent 15-hour battery life, and a beautiful design that includes a 3K OLED touchscreen. It's a knockout, but its weird port placements and middling Geekbench 6 multi-core score kept it from earning a Mashable Choice Award. (I rated it a 4.4/5 overall — so close!) To give more context to the latter point, my $1,899.99 testing unit had an Intel Core Ultra 258V processor with 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage. (That's a brand-new upper mid-range CPU.) In our Geekbench 6 benchmark, it scored slightly worse than the 15-inch M2 Apple MacBook Air from 2023 and significantly worse than its predecessor, last year's HP Spectre x360 14, which had a mid-range Intel Core Series 1 CPU as tested. For nearly $2,000, I wanted way more oomph from the OmniBook. I do think the OmniBook Ultra Flip 14 is a decent splurge for future-proofers, but it's not well-rounded enough to be one of our top picks. Stick with the Yoga 9i 14 if you're looking for the best hybrid laptop out there, or look into the Spectre x360 14 if you want to stay within the HP family — it offers better performance and audio quality for about the same price as the OmniBook model.
IOL News
12-05-2025
- Automotive
- IOL News
BMW 740i road test: the flagship sedan redefining luxury and outshining SUVs
The BMW 7-Series ticks all the right boxes. Image: Willem van de Putte You've probably seen that meme with a turtle on a fence post and wondered how it got there, followed by a politician's face asking how they got into the position they occupy. That's pretty much the same way I feel about SUVs. When did the world decide that saloon cars aren't a thing anymore and turn their attention to ubiquitous boxes? Perhaps I'm just being old fashioned but an SUV should be a rugged vehicle used for adventures and exploring not a flashy wannabe Camel man transporter. This was the discussion I was having with my mate around a braai fire while I had the BMW 740i on test. He's a long-time BMW fan having owned a couple of 3-Series and was fortunate enough to have owned a fifth generation 7-series with a V12 turbo-charged engine. Like many people he's not a fan of the big signature kidney grille and while beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I think it befits the rather large 7-Series flagship, but not so much on some of their other models. Luxury interior There are no polarising opinions on the interior, though, with everything worthy of being classified as the 7 luxury sedan. It's like sitting in a luxury Bordeaux villa in a comfortably soft La-Z-Boy with so much modern technology you'll have to own the car for months before you've managed to get to grips with everything. It has BMW's curved display digital screen that combines a 12.3-inch driver's display and 14.9-inch touchscreen infotainment system that uses BMW's Operating System 8 and can be controlled either through touch or voice control. The BMW 740i has a curved display digital screen that combines a 12.3-inch driver's display and 14.9-inch touchscreen infotainment system. Image: Supplied Big screen TV The real star of the show, though, is behind the front seats. Apart from the impressive amount of space and the fully reclining seat with a footrest behind the front passenger seat, there's a 31.3-inch 8K screen that folds down from the headlining! You can be entertained via Amazon Fire TV, stream videos, play games or listen to music thundering through on the Bowers & Wilkins surround sound system. It's operated by a 5.5-inch touch control display in the rear doors, and as someone put it when they climbed into the back, it's like having your phone in the door. When you select Theatre Mode, window blinds cover all the glass in the back, cocooning you in the lap of luxury. Engine The 740i is powered by BMW's popular 3.0-litre turbo-charged engine that in this iteration provides 230kW and 450Nm of torque, coupled to an eight-speed automatic ZF gearbox. They've made some technical changes to improve the set-up including a 48-vault mild hybrid system that adds 8kW when needed while the integrated starter generator supplies power to keep the electrics running and it suits the car perfectly. Space It was fortuitous that I had the car over a weekend we had planned to spend at Kaapsehoop in Mpumalanga. It proved to be the ideal testing ground for the 740i with about three and a half hours of driving open roads, most of it in good condition. With my one overnight bag and my partner's more than one overnight bag, the enormous 540-litre boot made short work of it, with ample room to spare. Here, I'd like to point out that the 740i's SUV sibling, the X7, has only 300 litres with the rear seats up. See what I did there SUV driver? Fancy some TV in the back of your car? The BMW 740i has you covered. Image: Supplied Driving The 7 The 740i is a magic carpet ride. I can't remember when last I drove a car that's so incredibly comfortable and easy to pilot despite its size and two ton kerb weight. The chassis, adaptive two-axle air suspension and Active Roll Comfort function combine brilliantly to provide an almost Rolls Royce-type experience. Adding to the ease of driving is the 7's level 3 autonomous driving system, which means, if legislation allows, it can drive itself. Once we had turned onto the N4, I activated adaptive cruise control, and from there, it basically did everything itself with my hands and sometimes only a finger gently on the wheel. It's impressive to see how it keeps between the lines on some of the twists and turns, and while I wouldn't advocate it for everyday use considering some of our fellow drivers' road manners, it's certainly something I can get behind, especially in a luxury sedan. There's no denying the imposing stance of the BMW 7-Series. Image: Willem van de Putte But as they say, that's not all. My partner suffers from chronic lower back ache, and for her to say that it's the most comfortable and plush seat she's sat in, considering all the cars I've tested over the years, is a massive compliment. It was no doubt also aided by the various message options activated via the touchscreen. It proved to be a massive hit in the tiny village, with visitors filming the car and lots of selfies taken over the weekend. Consumption Being that big and heavy, you'd expect a massive fuel bill, but it came in under BMW's claimed 7.9l/100km with consumption figures of 6.8l/100km on the way there and 7.3l/100km back to Pretoria. You'd probably get close to 9l/100km with a combined cycle but I'll settle for that any day. The BMW 740i isn't a bulk seller, and more's the pity, but it's heartening to see that the company still considers it to be their flagship, and if I had R2 359 104 and was shopping around, I'd scratch every SUV off my list. Willem's star rating: 5/5 Star Rating Scale: 5 Stars: Exceptional A best-in-class car with outstanding features, no major flaws, and excellent value. 4 Stars: Very Good Highly capable with minor shortcomings. A great choice for most buyers. 3 Stars: Good Decent performance, comfort, or safety but lacks standout qualities or has notable drawbacks. 2 Stars: Below Average Some significant flaws, like poor value, outdated features, or compromised safety or comfort. 1 Star: Poor Lags behind competitors in most aspects, with serious deficiencies in key areas.
Tom's Guide
10-05-2025
- Tom's Guide
Bose QuietComfort Ultra vs Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3: Which noise-cancelling headphones win?
Bowers & Wilkins went back to the drawing board with the Px7 S3, creating a new pair of headphones from the ground up. The result is a pair of headphones with good battery life, solid ANC, and stunning sound quality. The ANC kings remain a solid option for those looking for a new pair of noise-cancelling headphones. They're very comfortable and feature the best noise cancelling of just about anything. Battery life leaves something to be desired, but not enough to be a deal-breaker. Bose has long been the class leader for ANC, with the QuietComfort Ultra headphones dominating our best noise-cancelling headphones list for some time. The algorithm that Bose uses is simply the very best that you'll find just about anywhere, and it more than justifies their higher price. But the cans fall apart slightly when you look at other specs, like battery life and sound. That's where the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 step up to the plate. B&W's latest headphones pack in a stunning design, excellent build quality, and some of the best sound you've ever heard. While they've yet to see a US release date, the Px7 S3 might be a better pair of headphones than the QuietComfort Ultra Headphones in the long run — so let's see how the sets of cans stack up against each other. Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones Price £399 / AU$599 $429 / £449 / AU$645 Colors Canvas white; anthracite black; indigo blue Lunar Blue; Deep Plum; White Smoke; Black Size Not specified Not specified Weight 10 ounces 8.8 ounces Battery life (rated) Up to 30 hours Up to 24 hours Connectivity Bluetooth 5.3 with SBC, AAC, aptX Adaptive, aptX HD support Bluetooth 5.3 with SBC, AAC and LDAC, aptX HD support support Special features ANC, pass-through audio mode, Bluetooth multipoint, customizable sound, quick charge, Spatial Audio, Bluetooth LE, audio hand-off ANC, Immersive Audio, Bluetooth multipoint, customizable EQ, quick charge This is going to depend on where you are in the world. If you live outside of the U.K., the Px7 S3 are a much better deal than the QuietComfort Ultra. The B&W cans will set you back £399, as opposed to the £449 of the Bose. They're both available on and stock is fairly regular. The Bose are older and have seen discounts, but they are rarer than we'd hope. Unlike the equivalent Sony option, the WH-1000XM5, there haven't been as many discounts. Still, if you're in the U.K., the B&W cans are the better buy. There's a different story in America. Here, you'll find the Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones for $429, and… no price tag for the Px7 S3 while Bowers & Wilkins work out post-tariff pricing. I'm hoping things are as opportune as the U.K., but that remains to be seen. Alas for the B&W cans, the Bose option is available in both markets to buy — and thus they take this round early on. Thanks to their metal hinge design and sublime finishes, the QuietComfort Ultra Headphones look suitably worth their loftier price tag. I really like them. There are color options galore, from a diamond colorway to navy blue. Unfortunately, the build quality isn't quite there though: They rattle a bit too much for my liking, and when placed in their protective case, the left earcup can become pinched. As a result, my review unit has an unfortunate mark on the cushion. They're not built poorly, but you'd hope for more for the price. Despite the single color all over approach, the Px7 S3 have some lovely texture variation to catch the fingers and the eyes, and their shaping is far more interesting than the Bose. There's an air of luxury in the way that the Bowers & Wilkins look, and it extends to the build — they feel great in hand, and don't rattle, no matter how much you might wiggle them around. The hinge is sturdy, the headband creak-less, and the earcups feel lovely. Both are very comfortable, but I found the slightly firmer foam of the B&W meant I could wear them for longer than the QuietComfort Ultra Headphones. The carrying cases are comparable as well — B&W's feel nicer with no fake leather and a nice textured finish, but both are protective. The Px7 S3 case won't pinch any earcups either. Despite the Bose's folding abilities, both cases take up about the same amount of space in a backpack. In the end, the design and build of the B&W cans take the cake. Spoiler alert! If you've got all physical controls, you dominate in this field. The Px7 S3 features physical controls, so you can already imagine where this one is going to go. The buttons on the Bowers & Wilkins are small and clicky, but easy to make out thanks to textured surfaces. They're split over the two earcups, with the right housing the power and ANC controls, and the left containing the playback and volume control. Thanks to those physical controls, I've found no accidental pauses, skipping, or ANC toggling. The Bose have a mixture of physical and touch controls, the latter of which is super interesting — but it doesn't work all that well. The 'multi-function' and power buttons are both on the right earcup, joined by a touch-sensitive slider control… thing. The Bose have a mixture of physical and touch controls, the latter of which is super interesting — but it doesn't work all that well. This is what you'll use for the volume — and little else. You swipe up for more volume and down to decrease the noise. Playback is controlled with the 'multi-function button.' This needs multiple presses or a hold to control playing, pausing, and the ANC — and that's annoying. A multi-press is one thing, but one button for almost everything is almost as annoying as accidental button presses with an overly sensitive touch panel. The volume slider is annoying too – sometimes you'll increase the volume too much without meaning to, or decrease it beyond the desired spot. It's very imprecise, which is not great. As you might imagine, the B&W cans beat the Bose option here. Bose has never had sound quality at the top of the list, but the QuietComfort Ultra Headphones still sound pretty good. A great deal of attention has been paid to the sonic capabilities of the cans, and, as a result, they're some of the best-sounding headphones that Bose has ever made. There's some excellent bass on offer, although it does have a habit of becoming unruly. Detail is good, and the dynamics are fun, giving you a very solid-sounding pair of headphones. But… the Bowers & Wilkins blow them out of the water. They're more controlled, more detailed, more spacious, and far more mature in the sonic presentation. They're a masterwork for the price, packing in sound that is only rivalled by headphones that cost hundreds of dollars more. The Bose don't sound bad — but they don't sound anywhere near as good as the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3. Both headphones offer very similar feature sets, and you'll not be wanting for anything with either: Both have multiple ANC modes like transparency, although only the B&W can turn it completely 'off.' On the Spatial Audio front, the Bose packs in Bose's own 'Immersive Audio' feature, which uses some fancy wizardry to make your music sound bigger. Some love it, and some hate it — I'm closer to the latter category rather than the former. The B&W will have a spatial audio component, although it's coming in a future update so I don't know how good it is yet. B&W tell me it's all about making the sound feel like it's coming from a pair of stereo speakers in front of you, which sounds intriguing — but I'll reserve judgment for when I've actually heard it. Both the Bose and the B&W apps are easy to use and helpful, although the latter does connect to your favorite streaming services for a very cool feature if you've invested in other B&W devices. You can hand off music to WiFi-connected speakers from your headphones and vice versa so that the music doesn't stop — it's fun, and works well. The Bowers & Wilkins are also going to get Auracast in the future, which is something that the Bose option doesn't have. Overall, I'm going to call this one a tie — mostly because I can't try the biggest features of the Px7 S3 quite yet. This section doesn't need to be very long — if you want the best ANC, buy the QuietComfort Ultra headphones. The noise cancelling is like magic, blocking out every ounce of noise even when music isn't playing. The lack of any external noise is almost eerie, but it makes them the best ANC headphones you can buy right now. It would be nice if you could turn it off, of course, so that you could increase the paltry battery life (I'll get to you later), but it's still incredibly impressive. That's not to say the Px7 S3 noise cancellation is bad, far from it – it's just not on the same level as the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones. Still, at least you can turn it off when you've blocked out the sound of that baby at the back of the bus. The battery life available in the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones is fine, but not great. They fall well below our expected minimum 30 hours with only 24 hours of staying power on tap. That's better than the likes of the AirPods Max, but nowhere near as good as the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3. The B&W feature 30 hours of battery, in line with our expectations for noise-cancelling headphones in 2025. You can even extend that if you turn the ANC off, something you can't do with the Bose headphones. That's six hours more — and my testing showed that I might even be able to get them to last longer, depending on volume level with ANC on. Charging stats are in Bowers & Wilkins' favor as well. A 15-minute charge boosts them up to 7 hours of life, while the same time plugged in for the Bose only nets you another 2 hours of use. To fully charge the headphones you're looking at 2.5 hours with the B&W, but 3 for the Bose. Bose's battery life simply doesn't match up — the Px7 S3 win this round. First things first — the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 aren't yet available in the U.S., making the Bose the winners overall by default. But, the moment the B&W are available in the U.S., they'll take the QuietComfort Ultra Headphones to school, and take all their lunch money. And their shoes. The Px7 S3 are just a better pair of headphones all around — they're built much better, with no rattles and creaks, and they don't get pinched when you put them in their excellent carrying case. Their sound is the very best around, and their battery life completely outmatches the staying power of the Bose. If you want ANC, you're better off with the Bose, of course. But you'd be missing out on one of the best headphones around, which block plenty of noise without completely silencing the entirety of the rest of the world. The Bose QuietComfort Ultra are a good pair of headphones, but the Px7 are just better. I'm just hoping they aren't dead on arrival, thanks to a massive price hike the moment they hit U.S. shores. Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2e Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones Price and value (5) 4 3 Design (15) 15 14 Controls (10) 9 5 Sound quality (25) 25 20 Active noise cancellation (20) 19 20 Call quality (10) 8 9 Connectivity (5) 5 5 Battery life (10) 7 5 Total Score (100) 92 81
Stuff.tv
09-05-2025
- Business
- Stuff.tv
I tested the brilliant Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S3, but they won't be top dog for long
The latest version of Bowers & Wilkins' key noise-cancelling headphones is here. The last refresh of them two years ago – with the PX7 S2e (which followed up the S2) – was also accompanied by the PX8, a brand new range-topper. And that's the slight conundrum with this review. As you can see from the score, we think these are brilliant. But we already know we'll get a new version of the PX8s later this year – PX8 S2 of course – to counter expected releases from Apple, Sony and others. Bowers & Wilkins is talking up the PX7 S3's audio quality as being comparable with – or even better than – the current PX8s. Indeed, in its marketing materials for the S3s it calls them 'the most advanced and capable wireless headphone the brand has yet made.' But the advent of the second-gen PX8s will surely see them superceded as the best you can get. And that's before we get to all those other chunky manufacturers named above and their upcoming headphone releases. The main thing going for the PX7 S3 compared to the PX8 S2 is almost certainly the prowess you get for what is a relatively modest price point. One problem with Bowers' naming conventions is the word soup that successive versions of the PX7 have generated. S2 vs S2e vs S3 isn't exactly easy to say or tell the differences between, but then again neither is Sony's current benchmark in the form of the WH-1000MX5. As you'll hear, I do wonder why these headphones don't have a completely new product name… The Px7 S3 is available in the UK for £399 and the rest of Europe for €429 which was a little more than I was originally expecting. Bowers & Wilkins says that the headphones won't immediately be available in the Americas. And it doesn't take a genius to conclude that this is due to the crazy situation with tariffs. If the tariff problems do abate, expect $399. In a statement, the company said: 'Px7 S3 will not be available in North and Latin America on April 24, though launch plans in other markets remain unchanged and will proceed as scheduled. Bowers & Wilkins are taking this additional time to evaluate the evolving market conditions and ensure their offerings remain aligned with consumer expectations. We'll share more details at a later date.' Design: similar but more refined and less bulky Although the PX7 S3 looks very similar to Bowers' previous high-end headphones – PX7, PX7 S2 and PX7 S2e – they have been quite significantly redesigned, not least with a more compact design – the earcup protrudes less than on the previous version of these headphones. The case is also not too big and is very backpackable indeed. The 2022 PX7 S2e is on the left with the new PX7 S3 on the right. The button arrangement has been tweaked this time around and it's a very welcome change. I'm a big fan of the physical controls on offer, but the trio of controls on the right cup seemed too similar to each other by touch in previous versions. The key play/pause/answer/end button has now been given a textured finish and is a different size to distinguish it from other controls. Bowers & Wilkins also says the PX7 S3's cushions and headband are replaceable, though this work needs to be done by trained service engineers rather than being something the end user can do. However, it's a step in the right direction. The PX7 S3s are available in three colours, Anthracite Black, Indigo Blue and Canvas White. Once again there's no 3.5mm headphone jack, but you can connect up to those sources using the included 3.5mm to USB-C cable. Wired listening via USB-C to USB-C will also give you the very best quality sound. aptX Adaptive 24bit/96kHz over Bluetooth 5.2 is the usual on offer, but these cans can support aptX Lossless when teamed with appropriate Snapdragon Sound-enabled hardware or are cabled up via USB-C. Interestingly, Bowers hasn't chosen to deploy spatial audio at launch for these headphones but it has been so bold as to say support will be coming later this year, presumably timed alongside the PX8 S2. Bluetooth LE (including Auracast) is also on the way, again as part of a software update (it seems like this will be separate to the spatial audio update). This will enable other devices to transmit to the headphones and include in a system. It'll be interesting to hear how this works in practice. We had access to a pre-release version of Bowers' Music app to test out these headphones ahead of launch and it wasn't an overwhelming experience. We've had issues with this app on iOS before, notably that it takes a long time to recognise your headphones even if they're paired with your iPhone/iPad already. However, the final version of the app had much improved performance and paired with our headphones fine each time we connected them. The main problem with this app is that it essentially has the same name as Apple's own music app, meaning it's rather hard to search for on iOS – far from ideal. Features-wise, there's now an adjustable EQ inside the app which is welcome and you can add in non-Apple music services but the reality is that once you've mastered cycling through the noise cancellation options on the headphones themselves, you'll probably end up just using it to occasionally change settings. There's no compelling reason to touch the app on a regular basis if you're used to using them with a normal streaming service. Sound quality: superb soundstage, excellent noise-cancelling The really good news is that the audio experience on offer here is nothing short of excellent with highly rich audio quality when the source is up to scratch. A dedicated amplifier is are now used to power the 40mm drive units which offer improved resolution. That's especially evident on tracks which have a larger lineup of instruments. You can hear it all. If you do whack up the volume to barely-bareable levels, distortion is still basically non-existent. Quite remarkable. These have also been redesigned with a new chassis, voice coil, suspension, and magnet, with only the cone material still the same versus the predecessors. Once again, they are slightly angled towards the ear. Because the quality is so good, you don't feel like you have to raise the volume to a high level to feel you're experiencing the music properly; a bar that many headphones don't manage to get over. You do wonder what more tricks can bring to the forthcoming PX8 S3 to beat this level of quality. It absolutely breezed through our list of audio test tracks, handling everything from driving bass to smooth classical with aplomb. It'll be very interesting when spatial audio is added to this mix. The active noise cancellation (ANC) has also been significantly improved this time around and an eight mic array is in use for this. Across various situations it was immediately clear there has been a big step forward and in full cancellation external sound is highly minimised. It's actually now so good that we wouldn't recommend walking around a city without switching into transparency mode. You certainly won't hear a bike or EV which obviously could be a bit of a problem. On a plane, conversations are easily blanked out and other noises such as drinks trolleys and banging toilet doors just drifted away. You can hear that announcements are happening, but you can't hear them clearly… As is the norm nowadays, the PX7 S3 boast wear detection, so the audio will stop when you take then off. I found they were a little too sensitive to this out of the box, so I toned the sensitivity down which worked a treat. I want them to pause only when they're lifted off the head, rather than if they're slightly skewed on the head thanks to them being knocked or when you have them against a seat on a flight. If there is one spec on the list where the PX7 S3 is lagging behind some rivals a little, it's in terms of headline battery life. It still offers 30 hours of battery life with ANC enabled, which is great of course. It's just that I've been regularly seeing battery life quite a bit longer than this now. OK, so it's still lengthy and there's a 15 minute for seven hours fast charge, but it's surely becoming an easy point of distinction for consumers. Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S3 verdict The PX7 S3 offer a huge amount more than their perfectly serviceable predecessors and a lot has clearly been done to improve their capabilities, particularly in the area of noise cancelling. But the sound quality has also taken a real leap forward. Such a step up should surely boast more than just a 'S3' label on the end of the product name. Still, naming conventions aside, it's really rather hard to recommend you buy anything else and it will be fascinating to see if others can match or better them in the days and months to come. And what Bowers will do itself with the PX8s… So what are the problems? Well, there's a massive amount of competition for starters. It's increasingly busy around the $299/£299 mark in particular. The battery life is also. now only so-so for a premium headphone. It's still great, of course, but such is the competition that it has to be a small mark in the negative column. Nitpicking though really, because these are brilliant headphones. Stuff Says… Score: 5/5 A real step change from their predecessors, the PX7 S3 offer a wonderful soundstage, while the noise cancelling is simply terrific. Pros Stunngly rich sound Class-matching noise cancelling Improved controls More compact design Cons Very stiff competition, not least from the incoming PX8 S2 Spatial audio not there at launch Battery life is now only so-so There's no 3.5mm headphone jack, but a cable is provided Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S3 tech specs Drivers 40mm dynamic full range bio cellulose Audio formats SBC, AAC, aptX Classic, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive, aptX Lossless Battery life 30hrs (7hrs from 15min quick charge) Connectivity USB-C, Bluetooth 5.3 Size 177 x 60 x 234mm Weight 300g
