So I have always liked the Bowers And Wilkins PX’s and the PX7’s… I really think the PX7’s have very incredible instrument separation and I have always liked their unique design. However, I could never really wear the PX7’s for an extended period of time cause they weren’t big head approved. But now, we have the PX7 S2’s and these things have been completely redesigned. They feel better and they fit better… but they don’t preform any better.
Regarding pricing, the PX7 S2’s have a retail price of $400. The same as the PX7’s when they first came out. Now bowers and Wilkins says that the PX7’s aren’t going anywhere and that they will be getting a price reduction. But right now, I don’t now how much the PX7’s will be selling for cause they are still listed for $400 on bowers and Wilkins’s site. Nonetheless, if you want to pick up either of these two headphones they’ll be linked down below, or you can press on the YouTube shopping button, give it a try.
Now first lets talk about this case. The PX7 S2’s come included with a very hard hard shell case. This is perhaps one of the hardest cases out there cause the cases that come included with Sony’s headphones or Bose’s headphones just aren’t as stiff… or they simply compress way more than either of Bowers and Wilkins’s cases. Now size wise, the PX7 S2’s case is decently small. Its a little larger than your Bose QC45 case and Sony 1000XM4’s case… But its not huge like the Sony 1000XM5’s case which is a noticeable inconvenience if you have these headphones in your carry on. However, one noticeable difference between this case and the PX7’s case is that it is a little thinner cause the PX7 S2’s case doesn’t have that hump that’s found on the PX7’s case. Overall, the PX7 S2’s come included with a very high quality, hard, and decently small case that’s decent for traveling.
But now lets talk about the headphones themselves… the major differentiating factor between the PX7 S2’s and PX7’s all comes down to their design and build quality. The PX7 S2’s have a completely different body from the PX7’s. Now initially I didn’t like PX7 S2’s new body… but after getting to know them… I prefer this design over the PX7’s. Now at first glance, these headphones look very similar to one another, they both have fabric touch surfaces on both the ear cups and headband. Both of their headbands smoothly glide in and out. And we’ve got leatherette underneath the headband and on the earpads. However, the quality and feel of the fabric and leatherette found on the PX7 S2’s just feels better. The fabric on the PX7 S2’s feels smoother and finer, almost like it has a higher thread count than the PX7’s an the leatherette on the PX7 S2’s also feels more supple, it has a better grain to it and it feels more natural than the leatherette found on the PX7’s. Overall, I have to express how much more premium and refined these headphones feel in your hands than the PX7’s. Also it doesn’t hurt that the ear cups on the PX7 S2’s now fully swivel from one side to another… where as the ear cups on the PX7’s can only be laid down flat in one direction… but they don’t fully lay flat in the other direction. But another cosmetic change found on the PX7 S2’s that I really like is that they changed the button layout on these headphones. The S2’s now have 3 distinctly separated buttons and the center one is textured… so its very easy to orient yourself. Where as the buttons on the PX7 are super close together, so telling these buttons apart can be hard. And the final major cosmetic change found on the S2’s that I really like is that their headband is much more low profile when compared to the headband found on the PX7’s. The headband on the PX7’s is very bulbous… yeah its thin… but when you wear these headphones, it looks like you have a helmet on. Where as, the headband on the S2’s not so much. But then, there are the physical changes on the S2’s that really help these headphones fit a lot more comfortably than the PX7’s. For starters, the S2’s don’t fit as tight as the PX7’s. Now the PX7 S2’s still have a snug fit to them, and they fit more snug than your Bose QC45, Bose NC 700, Sony 1000XM4’s, and Sony 1000XM5’s… but I would still say that they are big head approved cause I can wear these headphones for multiple hours on end without any problems… which is something that I can’t say about the PX7’s. But also, the headband on the S2’s is a little different than the headband found on the PX7’s. The headband on the S2’s is a little wider than the headband on the PX7’s… plus, the headband on the S2’s has a little more padding than the headband on the PX7’s. So the headband on the S2’s does a much better job of spreading out the weight of these headphones… and it also doesn’t create a hot spot on the top of your head, like the headband on the PX7’s can after you’ve been wearing them for like an hour. The only cosmetic change on the S2’s that I feel is a little bit of a down grade from the PX7’s are the earpads. Now the earpads on the S2’s are decently spacious and they should be able to accomadte most ear types… however, the earpads on the PX7’s are a little more spacious… and since the earpads on the PX7’s have a little less surface area coming in contact with your skin… these earpads stay cooler for a little longer than then earpads on the S2’s. Now I’m not saying that the S2’s have an over heating problem… but the PX7’s do feel a little more breathable. But finally, lets discus the weight of these headphones. Now the PX7’s weigh in at 310 grams… now they’re not super heavy like the AirPods Max which weigh in at 384 grams, which is a lot… but they are noticeably heavier than the Bose NC 700’s which weigh in at 274 grams, the Sony 1000XM4’s which weigh in at 254 grams, the sony 1000XM5’s which weigh in at 250 grams and the Bose QC45’s which weigh in at 234 grams. Now technically, the PX7 S2’s have gotten a weight reduction cause they weigh in at 307 grams… but honestly, the weight reduction here is negligible. With the PX7 S2’s, these are a pair of headphones that you never really forget that you’re wearing when you’re sitting at your desk working… and you are going to notice them shifting around while you’re walking with them on. But due to their more premium build and materials… I think that’s okay. Overall, I like the new body on the PX7 S2’s they fit better and they feel more premium than their predecessors.
But now, lets talk about tech specs… regarding battery life, the S2’s have the same advertised battery life of 30 hours with their active noise cancelation turned on just like the PX7’s. And if you were to use these headphones with their active noise cancelation turned off… then you’ll be able to extend their battery life. Overall, im not too upset that the S2’s didn’t get a battery life upgrade from the PX7’s… cause both of these headphones have above average battery life.
Now when it comes to charging these headphones, the S2’s charge via a USB C port just like the PX7’s… however, the S2’s have gotten a slight upgrade when it comes to fast chargning, if you were to charge these headphones for 15 minutes from a dead battery for 15 minutes… they’re going to get you 7 hours of playback time… versus the 5 hours that you’ll get with the PX7’s.
Now when it comes to bluetooth connectivity the S2’s are using bluetooth 5.2… which is an upgrade over the PX7’s which are using Bluetooth 5.0. but more importantly, both of these headphones can be connected to two devices at the same time which is good if you’re a power user.
And when it comes to overall performance, these headphones have zero latency across the board when watching movies or videos on your phone whether you’re using an iPhone or an android device… and when it comes to audio codecs, the S2’s have support for SBC and AAC, just as you’d expect… but they also have support for APTX, APTX HD and APTX adaptive. The same stack as the PX7’s. However, if you want to take advantage of APTX you do have to be an android user cause iPhones top out at AAC. But regardless, these headphones are still going to sound great even if you’re using them with AAC.
But if you want to you can always use the PX7 S2’s with a wired connection. Now the S2’s don’t have an audio jack like the PX7’s… but you can use their USB C port as a wired connection. Now you can either use a USB C to USB C cable… or you can use the included USB C to audio jack. So you’re good if you want to use an audio jack. The only critique here is that I don’t like that the USB C port is angled backwards… it does feel a little awkward.
But now lets talk about actually listening to music with these headphones. First off, I do have to point out that there are some changes here when it comes to sound. The S2’s are now using 40 millimeter drivers where as the PX7’s are using 43 millimeter drivers. Nonetheless, both of these headphones have the same great instrument separation that has really helped bowers and Wilkins stand out from your Bose or Sony headphones. However, I can’t help but notice that the PX7’s sound a little brighter than the S2’s… the vocals are a little more pronounced on the PX7’s than on the S2’s. Where as with the S2’s they sound a little more balanced. However, another major change between these two headphones is that with the S2’s, you can now adjust the treble and bass on these headphones. Where as with the PX7’s, you’re stuck with what you’ve got. Now overall, I think the PX7’s sound great just the way they are… but it is nice that you can crank up the bass on the S2’s and physically feel your bass. But nonetheless, both of these headphones are meant for people who like a more neutral or vocals focused sound signature. The bass on the PX7’s does not physically rattle your head like the bass on the AirPods Max or Sennheiser Momentum 3’s can. The bass on the PX7’s is strictly on the audible side. And even though you can adjust the bass on the S2’s… and these headphones will rattle your head somewhat… even if the bass on these headphones is maxed out… these are still suited for someone who likes a more neutral eq. Now simply put, yes both of Bowers and Wilkin’s headphones have better instrument separation than the Bose QC45 and Bose NC 700’s… and they have far better instrument separation than your Sony 1000XM4’s and Sony 1000XM5’s. However, I still maintain that the AirPods Max and Sennheiser Momentum 3’s have better instrument separation than the PX7 S2’s. Plus combined with the fact that both the AirPods Max and Sennheiser Momentum 3’s can physically rattle your head a good amount if you want them too… I feel that the PX7 S2’s aren’t as flexible as the AirPods Max or Momentum 3’s. The PX7 S2’s are mainly geared towards someone who likes a neutral EQ… but if your taste changes… then the PX7 S2’s will have a hard time adapting to you.
And finally, there’s the affect that active noise cancelation has on the overall sound quality of this headphones. With the PX7’s ANC really affects how these headphones sound. With their ANC turned on, the PX7’s get a little narrow and their bass won’t hit as hard. Now with the S2’s they don’t get narrow if you have their ANC turned on… but their bass won’t hit as hard. Overall, if you want the best sound quality out of these headphones, you want to use them with their ANC turned off… and my critique of how these headphones sound was with their ANC turned off.
Now when it comes to controlling your music… like I mentioned earlier the PX7 S2’s are using physical buttons. And this alone could be a deciding factor for some people. And like I mentioned earlier, I prefer the layout of these buttons over the layout of the PX7’s buttons cause they’re much easier to tell apart.
However, these headphones also have wear sensors, so these headphones will automatically pause your music if you take them off and they’ll start playing your music again when you put them back on. But the problem is, these wear sensors will randomly play and pause your music even if you’re sitting still. Now I have already tried using the different sensitivity levels for these wear sensors… but I’m still having these issues. And personally, I’m not surprised that the S2’s are having these issues… cause this was an issue with the PX7’s and original PX’s when they first came out. But it was fixed through a software update. So I do expect this to be fixed in a future software update… but come on Bowers and Wilkins… this is the third time this happens. You should know better by now.
But now lets talk about the active noise cancelation on these headphones… unfortunalty, the ANC on the PX7 S2’s has been downgraded from the PX7’s. Now, the PX7 S2’s block out a decent amount of noise for a pair of premium ANC headphones… but they simply aren’t blocking out as much noise as their predecessors.
So like you may have just seen, both the PX7 and PX7 S2’s block out a decent amount of noise for a pair of premium ANC headphones. But neither of these two headphones block out nearly as much noise as the Sony 1000XM5’s which are currently the top dog when it comes to ANC. And like I mentioned earlier, the S2’s are blocking out a little less noise than their predecessors. Now the difference in performance isn’t huge… and the ANC on the S2’s does have a little less cabin pressure than the PX7’s… but after almost 3 years, you would expect that Bowers And Wilkins would have better preforming ANC than this. Overall, the ANC on the PX7 S2’s can help if you plan on traveling with these headphones… but you defneitly shouldn’t pick them up if ANC is your main priority, or super important to you.
But next there’s their ambient mode. Now both of these headphones have an ambient mode… and the ambient mode on these headphones sounds very good. However, there are two key differences here. With the PX7’s you can adjust their ambient mode to your liking. Now if you have their ambient mode set to 50%… it sounds just like the PX7 S2’s… but if you raise their ambient mode past 50%, that’s when they start to sound a little artificial. Overall, I think the ambient mode on the S2’s sounds fine… but the most important thing here is that the microphone array on the S2’s does a much better job of rejecting wind noise than the microphone array found on the PX7’s… and this improved microphone array on the S2’s also helps with their ANC cause you’re not going to hear as much wind noise either. Now even though I am glad to see that the microphone array on the S2’s has been improved… I still feel that Bowers And Wilkins should have added a conversation feature on the S2’s, cause this is a rather standard feature these days and its super useful when you’re traveling… and it works a little like this.
So like you may have just seen with the NC 700’s… I can quickly lower the volume of my music and pump in all of the ambient sound around me, so that I can quickly talk to someone without having to take my headphones off. And when I’m done with my quick conversation… my headphones will go back to normal at the press of a button. I really feel that B And W should have added this feature on the S2’s cause it was sorry lacking on the PX7’s.
But finally here’s the microphone test… and this is one area where bowers and Wilkins really improved with the S2’s… cause simply put, microphone is unusable
Where as simply put, this microphone just sounds much better. My voice doesn’t sound super shallow like with the PX7’s
But where this microphone really shines is when it comes to blocking out noise pollution. Cause right now this microphone is doing a really good job of blocking out this road noise. Cause for comparison sake, if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone you’re going to clearly hear all of this road noise, but if we were to switch back over to the PX7 S2 it is greatly reduced.
Where as with the PX7’s, this microphone isn’t doing much to block out any road noise and I sound super shallow.
And the same thing can be said when it comes to blocking out chatter… I sound super shallow and this microphone isn’t doing much to block out this chatter
Where as with the PX7 S2… this microphone does a much better job of blocking out this chatter and my voice sounds much clearer. Overall I think bowers and Wilkins did a great job with this microphone.
But with all of that being said… I think the Bowers And Wilkins PX7 S2 are a decent pair of headphones that look great and they are very well built. This upgrade from the PX7’s was mostly cosmetic and some minor refinement. Personally, I really like the new design of the PX7 S2’s cause they fit better, they feel better and they look better. That lower profile headband really makes a huge difference. I also like that the PX7 S2’s have an improved microphone array that helps reduce wind noise either when you’re letting in ambient noise or blocking out noise, they also have a much better sounding microphone for phone calls… and I like that you can now raise the bass on these headphones so that you can get some physically out of them. However, these headphones are only going to be able to please people who really appreciate instrument separation… and technically the PX7 S2’s are blocking out less noise than the PX7’s.