Bowers & Wilkins Px8 Over-Ear Wireless Headphones, Advanced Active Noise Cancellation, Luxurious Materials, 30-Hour Battery Life, 15-Min Quick Charging, Black

Incredible sound and comfort makes them worth the high asking price
I have spent months (years, really) of research searching for the perfect set of no-compromise, best-at-everything bluetooth ANC headphones at any price. I’ve bought and ended up returning a couple sets that each disappointed in some way or another, and had essentially given up on such a headset ever existing. My priorities are (in order): – Sound (including high-bitrate bluetooth codecs because I prefer to listen wirelessly) – Comfort (especially over many hours on long flights) – Active Noise Canceling (ANC) – Call quality – Quality-of-life features (I like buttons, though I know some prefer touch controls)The recent wave of ultra-premium headphones (Focal Bathys, B&W PX8, M&D MW75, Mark Levinson No. 5909, B&O Beoplay H95, etc.) got my hopes up, and while I don’t think any of them truly hit that “no compromise” standard, the PX8 from Bowers & Wilkins came *very* close, and for me is the best on the market at any price (as of fall 2022).~~~Sound~~~First and foremost, they sound incredible. My wife has the Sony WH-1000XM5’s and while those sound great (significantly better than their Bose counterparts, imho), the PX8’s blow them out of the water on clarity and separation. I won’t try to write up a full audiophile description of the sound because there are plenty of more qualified ones online, but I will give an anecdote: without telling her which headphones or their price tag, I put these on my wife’s head and played a song she loves and has heard many times (instrumental metal, if that matters). She listened quietly and said “It sounds like I’m hearing this song for the first time.”Also important to me is the fact that the sound is on the warm side and easy to listen to for extended periods. I am sensitive to high-frequency sound and often have problems with sibilance or a “sharp” quality to high end audio equipment that strives for upper range extension. These have plenty of detail in the highs, but none of that sharp quality that I personally find irritating.~~~Comfort~~~The other area that the B&W PX8’s really shine is on comfort. I have big ears that stick out a lot, and many over-ear headphones press my ears down in a way that gets uncomfortable. My wife’s Sony XM5’s are a great example – because they have such stellar ANC I like to borrow them for flights, but I can only wear them for a couple hours before my ears get physically sore. The PX8’s have no such problem. They have large earcups, and the angled drivers create a deep space in the back that gently cradles even my Dumbo-esque ears. I keep finding excuses to wear them, because they just feel so good.~~~Active Noise Cancelling~~~This is why I say they aren’t truly “no compromise” headphones. The passive noise blocking is quite good, and the ANC is effective at cutting down outside sound, but it isn’t class-leading. The Sony XM5’s, Bose QC45’s, and Apple Airpods Max all seem to do a better job of creating that total Cone of Silence I crave on long flights. This is a common trend among the most premium audiophile headphones though, and some companies have said that there are engineering trade-offs that have to be made between sound quality and ANC. I’m not sure I’m totally sold on that narrative, but if slightly weaker ANC is the price of this glorious sound quality, then that’s an acceptable trade in my book.~~~Call Quality~~~Very good, my voice can be heard clearly. Not quite as good at blocking out background sounds as the Sony XM5’s or my Jabra headset with a boom mic, but perfectly adequate for the situations I need.~~~Features~~~I love the well-made buttons (I live in a cold weather climate where touch controls are less than ideal), and the app is refreshingly simple. It doesn’t have some bells and whistles (no adjustable ANC, limited EQ options, no voice detection or automatic situational awareness), but it has what I need and works well. The only exception here is on-ear detection, which is finicky and frequently pauses the music even on “low” so I had to turn it off. It’s not a must-have feature for me but might be more bothersome for some.Edit: another issue I have noticed after a couple weeks of use is that the “skip backward” function doesn’t work very well. In theory you can skip backward with a triple-press of the multifunction button, which I do often when I want to go back a few seconds in a podcast, but 80% of the time it either skips forward or pauses instead. Not a huge deal, but annoying.~~~Summary~~~Best-sounding, most comfortable bluetooth ANC headphones I have ever tried. Other features aren’t necessarily the best among the competition – in particular I wouldn’t mind having stronger, adjustable ANC – but they are more than good enough, and all together I think the package justifies the high price.

Excelente sonido y calidad de materiales, muy cómodos

Beira a perfeição !

Second edit:So the Momentums just weren’t cutting it for me and eventually I decided to give the Px8 another chance… and I’m glad I did. Have not had any issues with the second pair after months of daily use. They’re easily the best pair of wireless headphones I’ve ever used. Right back to five stars. It’s annoying I received a dud the first time around, but the quality and comfort is so good I’ll forgive them for it and not even dock a star.Edit:Ended up having to return the headphones because the left ear suddenly stopped working. That’s pretty dissapointing to have happen on headphones this expensive, I expected better from B&W’s quality control. First time I’ve had it happen on headphones that cost over 100$. They were great while they lasted, just wish they lasted longer than a month. I decided to save some money and switch to the Momentum 4 instead.Original review (5 stars):These headphones are absolutely amazing, but Samsung users are better off saving their money and getting something cheaper. The sound quality gap between AptX and AptX HD on these is unreal, and it’s absolutely not worth the price tag for people whose Android phones do not support AptX HD. Using the Px8 with AAC on iPhone is surprisingly almost as good as AptX HD on Android, though, but with a slightly narrower soundstage and a little less clarity. If you only plan on using these wired through a dac, there are better options for cheaper.Tested these with my Samsung Galaxy s21, iPhone 11 and Pixel 7 pro. They easily sound the worst on the s21 (the soundstage was so narrow they practically felt like earbuds), are leagues better on iPhone, and the soundstage is widest and clarity is at its best on the AptX HD equipped Pixel.I also compared them to the B&W Px7 s2, Sennheiser momentum 4, Bose qc45, and Sony xm4 and xm5, using Amazon Music Unlimited set to it’s highest quality (and Dolby Atmos turned off, it sounds bad IMO and all of the headphones suffer with it enabled) as the audio source.For battery life, I found them all to be fairly accurate to their respective advertised hours of battery life, and honestly thought they were all good enough for regular usage.In terms of sound quality, the Px8 are the best sounding of the group (with AptX HD or iPhone), plain and simple. Bass has a very strong presence without being muddy or overpowering (I personally set it to +2 bass in the B&W app for a little more oomph, though), clarity and instrument separation are terrific, and the soundstage is nice and open-feeling. The momentum 4 sound almost as good as these in overall sound quality (but feel a little more flat EQ-wise, and I couldn’t fix that with EQ adjustments in their companion app), and the Px7 s2 are in third place behind these and the Momentums. The Sony and Bose headphones were nowhere near the Px8 in overall sound quality, with Bose surprisingly being the worst of the group – great instrument separation and handles highs well, but godawful soundstage and weak bass.Noise cancellation on the Px8 is exactly the same quality as on the Px7 s2, but the Bose and Sony’s all have much more effective noise cancellation. The Momentums were only slightly less effective than these. The Sony’s are the best at blocking out environmental noise, Bose was the best at blocking people’s voices.Build quality-wise the Px8 are the best by far, they really do have a very sturdy yet luxurious feel to them. The Bose have the worst build quality, they’re built to be as lightweight as possible in the name of comfort but it leaves the plastic feeling very cheap and thin. The Momentums are the most dissapointing though, I’m not a fan of the shift from metal and leather to canvas and plastic.Comfort-wise, the Px8 are in second place. The Bose qc45 use softer cushioning with much less clamping force that felt more comfortable to wear for long periods of time. The weight is balanced perfectly on the Px8, so I can’t even really feel the headband on top of my head when I wear them. The ear cushions are comfortable enough right out of the box to wear for long periods of time, are breathable enough to not make my ears sweat, and are very spacious for big ears and piercings, but the clamping pressure is a bit tighter than I’d like. I’m sure that will improve over time, but they’re not as immediately comfortable as the Bose QC45.Overall, if you’re an iPhone user or have an Android device with AptX HD, and you are okay with the crazy high price tag on these, they’re worth it. They’re the best Bluetooth headphones I’ve ever tried. If you’re curious about these but don’t want to pay as much, get the Px7 s2. If you just want sound quality and don’t care about anything else (especially build quality), get the Sennheiser momentum 4. If comfort is your top priority, go Bose QC45. Noise cancelling matters more than anything else? Go Sony (except if you want to block out voices, like in an office setting. In that case pick Bose). If you use a Samsung phone or Spotify, just get whatever’s on sale for the cheapest.