Stuff - UK (2020-01)

By the

Bowers of

grey skull!

B&W takes on the masters of the noise-cancelling universe with

a pair of tastefully-clad cans packing heroic levels of low-end beef

FIRST TEST BOWERS & WILKINS PX7

or most people,

choosing a pair

of noise-cancelling

headphones comes

down to a toss-up between

Sony, Sennheiser and Bose.

But you’d be doing your ears

a real disservice if you ignored

Bowers & Wilkins.

B&W had its first crack at

noise-cancelling two years ago

with the PXs, and immediately

looked as surprisingly at ease

among its more experienced

competitors as Sheffield United

do in the Premier League. And

now we have a successor in the

PX7 model, promising improved

noise-cancelling and even

better sound.

If those original PXs were

‘business class only’ cans, the

PX7s are happy to slum it in

economy. That they look ever

so slightly less premium isn’t

meant as an insult, though.

They’re chunky and spongy,

the metal arms have been

swapped for carbon fibre, and

the flush-sitting silver B&W

badge looks mighty fine.

Downsides? They don’t fold

away like some big headphones;

instead you twist the cups to lie

flat in the relatively chunky carry

case. It’s hardly a deal-breaker,

but there are more compact

options for travel.

Also, we’re quite fond of the

touch-sensitive controls used

by Sony and Bose, but you’ll

find no such witchcraft here,

just buttons. Still, do the PX7s

press ours?

F

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£350 / stuff.tv/PX7