As the headphone market continues to grow and develop it’s becoming increasingly difficult to know which ones are the best for your needs and which brand to pick. Here to help you out, we’ve taken one the top audio brands in Britain and tested out their latest wireless headphones – The Bowers & Wilkins P5 Wireless.
A common misconception with wireless headphones is a loss of connectivity, disturbed listening and draining of device battery power, but thankfully after our extensive trial of the P5’s we’re happy to report that with these headphones all of the above are just myth. Yes, wireless headphones do contribute to a slight loss of power, nothing during the use suggested that this would be anymore than using a wired pair and actually, the rechargeable battery lasts a class-leading 17 hours before a charge is required via its provided USB cable.
If you decide you’d rather use a cable, then one is supplied in the box along with a padded carry case, which we must add with it’s quilted design was a hit with the men and women of Luxury Lifestyle. With its magnetic close, the carry case not only holds any extras and provides protection for your headphones but also looks stylish for both male and female use.
Moving onto the headphones themselves, the luxurious leather and aluminium materials and discreet, timeless design will be familiar to those who know the P5 Series 2, but with the wire-free ability of the P5’s users can experience the Bowers & Wilkins sound quality cable-free. We prefer using the headphones to their full wireless ability but the option to add a cable is always good to have. The luxurious materials used combine to create a comfortable experience, reducing the ‘hot ear’ known from some its rivals and with an adjustable headband it was easy to forget you had them on.
During our test we were impressed with the true Hi-Fi sound, reminiscent of the renowned P5 Series 2 headphones, and the clarity when in a variety of environments was consistently enjoyable. It’s exciting to see a audio brand take on the wireless challenge and succeed without compromising on audio quality.
The reason behind their success is the Bluetooth aptX® technology, applicable to smartphone, tablet and computer use, which not only provides seamless audio streaming but also assists with the intuitive controls located on the headphones themselves. Enabling you to play/pause/skip music and also to answer and end calls the mad panic to find your device in your bag is over when you’re alerted to an incoming call. It took a little while to get used to the various buttons and function but after a little trial we soon adapted and before we knew it were using the controls subconsciously. Also, we discovered that the headphones feature two microphones which help not only to deliver clear and unmuffled telephony but also contribute to the overall music playback.
All in all, in case you couldn’t already tell, we couldn’t praise the Bowers & Wilkins P5’s highly enough. With undisturbed and clear audio from a highly comfortable and stylish pair of headphones the P5’s tick all of the boxes. The latest convenience headphones without compromising audio quality have won us over. We look forward to seeing what is next to come from the British company.
Buy your own Bowers & Wilkins P5’s for £329.99 and discover what we’re talking about here.
