\n<\/p>\n
\n\tIf you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission.<\/p>\n
\n\tBowers & Wilkins has long been known for blending high-end design with serious audio bona fides, and the British brand\u2019s latest launch, the Px8 S2, are a refined upgrade to their flagship Px8 headphones. The Px8 S2 aren\u2019t a drastic departure from the originals, first released in 2022 \u2014 but there are some tweaks that make this a worthwhile successor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tWhile I have only been testing them out for a few days, the Px8 S2 are without a doubt among the best-sounding and easily the most attractive headphones I\u2019ve tried, with impressive active noise-canceling and improved comfort over the last generation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tBowers & Wilkins Px8 S2\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
\n\t\tStated Battery Life<\/strong>: Up to 30 hours \n\tIf there\u2019s one obvious drawback, it\u2019s the price. At $800, these are a seriously pricey pair of headphones, and $350 pricier than recent releases from Sony and Bose. Whether or not they\u2019re worth it is a personal calculation, but it\u2019s clear that B&W elevated the standard Bluetooth headphones with premium materials and exceptional sound quality.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tOne of my biggest gripes with the original Px8 was the heft \u2014 while the premium materials felt luxurious, I found them overly heavy for all-day wear. The Px8 S2 are a slimmed-down version. While the actual weight difference isn\u2019t enormous (about seven grams, according to my kitchen scale), the S2 headphones wear lighter.\u00a0The case is also slightly slimmer and more travel-friendly.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJonathan Zavaleta\/Rolling Stone<\/p>\n \n\tThe headphones are made from Nappa leather with aluminum details, setting them apart from the primarily plastic build of most headphones. The earcups rotate inward and outward, but don\u2019t fold in, meaning the case is still somewhat large. The zippered case includes a pouch for a USB-C to 3.5mm cable and a USB-C to USB-C charging cable. The headphones don\u2019t have a 3.5mm jack, only USB-C.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThey\u2019re currently available in onyx black and warm stone. My review unit was the latter, which is ever so slightly more blush in real life. The cushions and headband are replaceable by \u201cservice engineers,\u201d according to the brand. It would be nice to see user-replaceable earcups, as is common with other headphones.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThe headphones feature intuitive tactile controls, with dedicated buttons on the left earcups for controlling ANC and power. On the right, you get dedicated buttons to raise and lower volume, plus a textured button that controls playback. The headphones also feature wear detection, automatically pausing when you take them off.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJonathan Zavaleta\/Rolling Stone<\/p>\n \n\tAs for the app, it\u2019s fairly bare bones and, somewhat frustratingly, requires an email account to use. The app lets you directly connect music services like Tidal, Qobuz, and Amazon Music (but not Spotify or Apple Music), although most people will probably opt to control their music directly through their preferred app.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tYou can also customize the EQ with a five-band equalizer, a new feature to these headphones.Bowers & Wilkins says they will roll out new features like spatial audio later this year. As for battery life, these headphones have up to 30 hours of battery life, which is fairly standard for headphones in this class.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThe Px8 S2 headphones boast richly detailed audio performance that\u2019s immersive and engaging, with a wide soundstage and rich detail that will stand out to casual listeners and enthusiasts alike.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tB&W uses 40mm full-range carbon drivers and aptX Lossless for the highest sound quality over Bluetooth possible. There\u2019s a catch with codecs, though \u2014 the source device also has to support it, and manufacturers like Apple and Samsung prefer to emphasize their own codecs. Still, even using a device without the full performance of aptX, the high-quality drivers and the dedicated headphone amplifier squeeze more quality out of the signal.<\/p>\n \n\tNoise-canceling is improved over the last generation, thanks to the inclusion of eight microphones. ANC performance isn\u2019t on par with Bose or Apple, but these headphones are no slouches in the noise-canceling department \u2014 in my testing, they capably cut loud street noises to a whisper.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tIn quick tests recording my voice, I found the quality to be clear and crisp, including with loud background noises. That performance is owed to the eight mics in the headphones, and you shouldn\u2019t have any trouble using these for calls. \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThere\u2019s a lot to love about these headphones. And for $800, you\u2019d hope there would be. The design is exceptionally stylish, regardless of which colorway you choose. The headphones are built from aluminum and leather, setting them apart from most headphones.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tCrucially, the sound quality is excellent, as is the active noise canceling. The lighter, sleeker build is a small improvement over the last generation, but one that makes a difference for all-day wearing.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tWhile it\u2019s hard to enthusiastically recommend a pair of $800 headphones, Bowers & Wilkins undoubtedly delivers on the promise of beautiful, high-quality headphones.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tBowers & Wilkins Px8 S2\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n \n\t\tPros<\/strong>: Premium build quality, excellent sound quality and strong ANC performance, lighter and more comfortable than last gen If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission. Bowers & Wilkins has long been known for blending high-end design with serious audio bona fides, and the British brand\u2019s latest launch, the Px8 S2, are a refined upgrade to their flagship Px8<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24151,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[14707,3032,14709,1085,14708],"class_list":{"0":"post-24150","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-bowers","9":"tag-headphones","10":"tag-px8","11":"tag-review","12":"tag-wilkins"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24150\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Colors<\/strong>: Onyx black, warm stone
Features<\/strong>: AptX Lossless, dedicated amplifier\/DAC, custom EQ\t<\/p>\n\n\t\tBowers & Wilkins Px8 S2: Design and Construction\t<\/h2>\n
\n\t\tBowers & Wilkins Px8 S2: Controls and Features\u00a0\t<\/h2>\n
\n\t\tBowers & Wilkins Px8 S2: Sound Quality and Noise Canceling\t<\/h2>\n
\n\t\tVerdict\u00a0\t<\/h2>\n
\n
Cons<\/strong>: Steep price, earcups aren\u2019t user replaceable, some features not coming until later\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"