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I’m in a tough spot with the Px8 S2 headphones. I recently reviewed the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3s and found them a solid upgrade over the Px7 S2s. I really liked the Px7 S3s, though they are unquestionably bass-heavy, and if that’s not your thing, they’re not for you. The Px8 S2s are (bit of a spoiler here) far better balanced. They also look a little nicer. My sample’s two-tone beige and silver finish looked beautifully classy.
Inside are 40mm carbon drivers and Bluetooth 5.3 with support for aptX Lossless and Adaptive. B&W claims 30 hours of playback per charge, with seven hours available after 15 minutes of charging.
However, they’re also pricey: US$799, CA$999, £629, €729, as of this writing in late November. There are lots of fantastic options at or below US$500 that also have noise canceling and great sound. Some even have lively planar-magnetic driver designs. I can see B&W’s problem, though, since the Px7 S3s are already right around the price of the biggest players in the $500 space, such as the Sony WH‑1000XM6, Beats Studio Pro, and Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones. The Px8s are intended to have a more premium sound and feel, so the price was going to be high regardless. But there’s high and then there’s high.
For an extra $100, you can opt for the Px8 S2 McLaren Edition, which has a McLaren-èsque “Anthracite Grey & Papaya” color scheme that looks pretty cool but is hardly worth the extra cost unless you really, really like orange.
In the box
With the Px8 S2s, you get a color-matching hard-shell case, along with a USB‑C-to-USB‑C charging cable and a USB‑C-to-3.5mm cable to connect the Px8 S2s un-wirelessly.
Use
The Px8 S2s feel like premium headphones, a good thing that’s not always a given. With a metal frame, lots of leather, and the aforementioned classy looks, they have a decidedly high-end vibe. Like the Px7s, the earcups aren’t particularly big in height or width, so if you have larger ears, they might press on them a bit. They’re fairly deep, though, so you should be able to get a decent fit even if your ears stick out a bit.
On the back of the left earcup is the power switch, which, when pressed upwards, activates the Bluetooth pairing mode. Above that is a Quick Action button, which you can program via the app to either select the noise-canceling mode or to activate your phone’s voice assistant. In the same place on the right earcup are the volume controls and a single media-control button that can pause your music or skip forward or back a track when double- or triple-tapped.
Speaking of the app, B&W’s Music app lets you adjust settings such as the sensitivity of the wear sensors and noise-cancellation mode. There are three NC settings: NC on, pass-through on, and NC and pass-through off. There’s also a five-band EQ, though it’s fairly simplistic. There’s no frequency range listed for each band, and only three labels: Lo, Mid, and Hi. You can save multiple presets, though.
Sound
The Px8 S2s have a well-balanced sound profile, with some extra bass (but less than you’d expect for B&W headphones) and clean, accurate treble.
I started with the multi-genre blend “Elevator Operator” by Electric Callboy (single, 24‑bit/44.1kHz FLAC, Century Media / Qobuz). This heavy mix of techno and hardcore heavy metal, aka “electronicore,” has a lot going on, and the Px8s managed to sort everything out well. The bass was never boomy, even during the heaviest passages. The vocals and synths were smooth and never piercing. The guitars had an intense growl. Nothing got overwhelmed or disappeared in the cacophony.
Whiplashing in the other direction, I cued up “Goose Snow Cone” from Aimee Mann’s Mental Illness (24/44.1 FLAC, Super Ego Records / Qobuz). The bells at the start are delicate, and through the Px8 S2s, there was no edge to their sound, as there can be with lesser headphones. The soundstage spread nicely, seemingly beyond the earcups themselves. That’s decently wide for closed-back headphones. Mann’s voice and the strums of the acoustic guitars all blended together well.
Somewhere in between those selections is “Level Up” from Vienna Teng’s Aims (16/44.1 FLAC, Soltruna Records / Qobuz). This track steadily increases in intensity, adding instruments as it progresses. Teng’s voice wasn’t quite as present as I’ve heard with other headphones, but only slightly less present. When the song really gets going, the various strings and guitars sounded massive through the Px8s. The timbre of the piano came through powerfully. With “In the 99,” the opening bass notes extended very deep without being boomy.
The noise canceling is fairly average. It takes the edge off, reducing some low frequencies, but there isn’t much attenuation higher in the audioband. NC isn’t a main reason to buy the Px8s, and that’s disappointing for the price. I’ve heard cheaper headphones with better noise canceling.
Comparison
Comparing the Px8 S2s to the Px7 S3s (US$479, CA$649, £399, €429) seemed pretty logical, despite the price difference. So what do you get when you spend more? Basically, I heard more bass through the Px7 S3s, but the bass seemed unbalanced when compared back-to-back with the Px8 S2s. It’s hard to say whether there was less midrange with the Px7s or if it just seemed that way due to the extra bass. With “In the 99,” the bass extended deeper with the Px8s but felt flatter, almost like it was being overcontrolled—like a bass drum with too much damping. It wasn’t bad, but I found the bass from the Px7s subjectively more pleasing to my ears, despite there being more of that bass overall and it not extending as deep.
I also compared the Px8s to the Beyerdynamic DT 1990 MkIIs, which are among my favorite headphones I’ve reviewed in the last year or so. These are, of course, quite different. They’re open-back, so no noise canceling obviously, and they’re also wired. At US$599.99, they’re closer in price to the Px8s. With America’s “Ventura Highway” (Homecoming, 24/192 FLAC, Rhino / Qobuz), the opening guitars felt like they were just beyond the earcups on the Px8s. The Beyers, being open-back, sounded even larger, of course, with the guitars closer to the edges of my shoulders. I heard more treble and less bass with the 1990s, which offered a lighter sound overall. While less airy, the Px8s still had detailed and smooth treble.
Overall, while the DT 1990s and Px8 S2s sound different, they both sound really good. Does adding an amp, battery, and other electronics amount to a $200 higher price? It could, certainly, but what it says to me is that the Px8 S2s have an impressive sound comparable to others in the same price range.
Conclusion
I’m of two minds about the Px8 S2s. On the one hand, they’re great headphones. They look good, feel good, and sound good. But that price—ouch. Judging price is inherently difficult in any review. An extreme sum to some isn’t even a rounding error on someone else’s Black Card.
So here’s my take. Personally, I like the Px7 S3s better. I like the quality of the bass more and I appreciate the lower price. If you want deeper bass and a better-balanced sound overall, the Px8 S2s sound lovely and look great. I’m not sure that’s worth a 30 percent premium over other headphones that have better noise canceling, but the Px8s do look more luxurious than most of those options.
. . . Geoffrey Morrison
Associated Equipment
- Smartphone: Google Pixel 9 Pro
- PC: iBuyPower running Windows 11
- DAC–headphone amplifier: Schiit Audio Magni
Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2 headphones
Price: US$799, CA$999, £629, €729
Warranty: Two years, parts and labor
Bowers & Wilkins
B&W Group, Ltd.
Dale Road, Worthing
West Sussex BN11 2BH
England, UK
Phone: +44 (0)1903-221-800
Bowers & Wilkins North America
5541 Fermi Ct. N.
Carlsbad, CA
92008
Phone: 1-800-370-3740
Email:
Website: www.bowers-wilkins.com
