British audio firm Bowers & Wilkins has finally made its Px8 S2 flagship wireless active noise-cancelling headphones official. As is normally the case with new products, B&W is calling these “the best headphones [it has] ever made,” and from the sound of things (heh heh) they might well be.
The company is promising improvements and upgrades across the board, including better sound, a slightly tweaked design, improved noise cancellation, and comfort. With all the competition in this price segment, B&W must nail those claims if the Px8 S2 are to become ‘the new reference in wireless headphones.’
The new Px8 S2 this way comes
B&W’s new 40mm carbon cone driver is at the heart of the Px8 S2’s audio upgrades, which is said to have “exceptionally low coloration and distortion” paired with “stunning detail and clarity”. Every bit of the new drive units, from the chassis to the voice coil and magnet, has been redesigned.
The new drivers are also powered by dedicated headphone amplifiers, one each, and are able to reach an audio resolution of up to 24-bit/96kHz. Supported hi-res wireless codecs include aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless, and the Px8 S2 also feature wired listening over 3.5mm and USB-C.
Noise-cancelling has received a rework too. There are now eight microphones scattered around both earcups that work to shut out unwanted external noise while retaining your music’s energy and dynamics. The mics also use the company’s proprietary ADI PureVoice algorithm to better isolate your voice in noisy environments during calls.
While not record-breaking, the Px8 S2’s 30-hour battery life (that’s with ANC enabled) will probably still be ample for most folks. When they need a top-up, a 15-minute charge will provide up to seven hours of listening.
We’re in the midst of testing the B&W Px7 S3, so it seems likely the Px8 S2 will eventually make their way to South Africa, although we don’t yet know how much they’ll cost when they do. They’re selling for $800 in the US, which comes to just under R14,000 when converted, but they’ll likely be closer to R20,000 when they turn up.
