Earphones Bowers Wilkins P5 Wireless: Photos and customer reviews

Metal. Leather. Unrealistically steep speakers. No, it's not a member of the Motörhead group, but something more refined - "head phones" Bowers & Wilkins P5 Series 2 (the recommended price is $ 299.99 USD). The updated version of headphones has the same attractive combination of soft sheep skin and curved metal wrapped around new, improved speakers.

Style and solidity

The Bowers & Wilkins P5 headphones are famous among music lovers with their scrupulously made, comfortable headphones, capable of remarkable auditory splendor. P5 Series 2 are comfortable, stylish and sound great. In addition to a slight distortion on the bass, the sound is very weighted and correctly emphasizes the entire frequency range. They have practically no competitors. You can find cheaper devices with better technical characteristics, but with a huge difference in design. There are also stylish headphones with the best basses for about the same price, but listeners who need a lot of solidity should keep in mind this particular model.

Bowers & Wilkins P5: Design Review

Great attention to detail really justifies itself. It's hard to imagine someone who thinks these headphones are ugly, although some may object that they are too unusual. Luxurious skin helps soften the inner surface of the bow, moving down to the cups through smooth, expressively curved metal branches. The reverse side of each cup proudly carries its own name of the model inside the grainy black-brown ovals framed by the same shiny metal inserts.

The ear pads themselves, made of foam-filled soft sheep skin, practically envelop the ears. They are not only as comfortable as possible, which can be expected for $ 300. P5 are about as convenient as earbuds. The ear pads are attached to the magnets, and at any time they can be removed easily from the edge. This not only allows you to satisfy your curiosity and consider the dynamics near, but it is also necessary to replace the standard audio cable with the supplied 3.5 / 2.5mm spare. The bow is quite stiff, but if the user wears glasses or finds the headphones too bulky, then this model represents a good compromise that this category has to offer. The cups themselves have a good range of movement and are far from the bow, enough to cope with heads of all shapes and sizes.

Compared to most headphones, the Bowers & Wilkins P5 are very comfortable and light enough to be worn for hours.

Connectivity

At first glance, the P5 is connected with a non-removable cable, but, as with other B & W headphone models, it can be easily removed if you remove the left-hand earpiece first. By default, the wire has a built-in combination of a microphone and a three-button control panel. There is also a spare cable without a microphone. Although this is a simple wire with 3.5 mm connectors on both ends, it's worth noting that they have a special shape, so a replacement for something else is impossible. Cables, surprisingly, are strong in the most vulnerable places, but relatively thin and flexible. Wires are short, but sound and durable enough.

Pouch

For travel, the Bowers & Wilkins P5 has a neatly sewn polyester cover trimmed with a quilted pattern. Inside, it is lined with felt, which is designed to gently clean the headphones from fingerprints and dust particles whenever the headphones are placed in it. The cover is closed by a valve with a strong magnet, which ensures that the contents do not accidentally fall out of it. It will not protect against strong squeezing, but will allow to maintain an excellent appearance of the device on the road.

Bowers amp Wilkins P5 Wireless

The headphone design corresponds to the P5 series: ear cups are very soft, made of black leather; It is also decorated with an arch; Perforated leather covers 40 mm speakers; Aluminum pins are screwed into cups like spiral staircases. Wireless version of Bowers & Wilkins P5 Wireless will cost $ 100 more. At a weight of 213 g, 18 grams of headphones are heavier than wired ones. The battery life is quite good and amounts to 17 hours of continuous music playback. Three buttons on the right cup allow you to control the volume, skip tracks back and forth, and also answer calls - there is a built-in microphone of excellent quality. There is also a switch that serves simultaneously as a button for setting up a Bluetooth connection, and a micro USB port for recharging the batteries. A separate charger is not included in the kit - you will have to use a computer or something else with a USB connector.

Bowers & Wilkins P5 Wireless supports the AptX Bluetooth standard, which supposedly provides better sound quality, but this is debatable. The speakers are identical to the P5 Series 2. In Bluetooth mode, their clarity and dynamics are not fully apparent. The difference becomes apparent if Bowers & Wilkins P5 Wireless headphones are connected via the supplied cable. HF sound brighter, and LF - denser. This is not surprising, because it is difficult to find wireless headphones, the quality of their work is not inferior to wired.

Specifications

The main parameters of Bowers & Wilkins P5 are as follows:

• Frequency range: 10 Hz - 20 kHz.
• Speaker diameter: 40 mm.
• Impedance: 22 Ohm.
• Sensitivity: 108 dB at a frequency of 1 kHz.
• Maximum input power: 50 mW.

Sound quality

A pair of headphones of such a small size a bit shocking at what low frequencies it can reproduce. On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like Nyf's Silent Shout, P5 gives out a real thunder. Deep rumbling bass in the mix can be heard without distortion, even at maximum volume. Outside the mix, headphones do not fabricate artificially sounding lows, like devices with heavily-raised basses. An excellent example of this is the composition of Bill Callahan Drover. His rich baritone does not need to increase the bass, and this does not happen. While some headphones with forced low frequencies make the sound of his voice on this track slightly cloudy, the P5 provides an exceptionally clear transmission. The vocals are excellent, neither thin, nor too bright. The drums on this track are slightly more present, but insignificantly.

When playing the composition of J-Z and Kanye West, No Church in the Wild P5 sounds phenomenal again. The attack of the bass drum is punched through a mix with fierce high midrange, massively supported by the LF. The vocals float over the dense track clearly, and the sub-bass strokes of the synthesizer have hoarse midrange, which makes their sound formidable, with a rounded subwoofer-like presence, through which the listener feels as if the sound passes through the club amplifier. A sign of excellent headphones is their ability to give songs intended for performance on the radio or in clubs, the power they need, while coping with such subtle tracks as Drover.

Classical compositions, such as John Adams' initial scene "The Gospel of Another Mary", offer the same excellent balance across the entire frequency range. String lowercase is present just as much as necessary. A remarkable resonance is heard when the mix demands this, and a higher register of strings, brass, and vocals fill the scene clearly and clearly. Nothing sounds too bright, hard or thin.

Audio test

Bowers & Wilkins P5 Series 2 look incredible, but for their price they should work just as well. Although the testing showed a lot of positive qualities, including a detailed, balanced sound, the P5 suffers from noticeable distortions at low frequencies. Without forcing low frequencies, like many consumer headphones, the Bowers & Wilkins P5 S2 provide a healthy, smooth sound throughout the entire bass range. It is to be expected that instruments such as trumpet, cello and electric bass guitar will be easy to catch and not muffle other sources on the stage - this is very important, as B & W sometimes lacks the feeling of space for full-sized headphones. MF elements such as vocals or guitar are underlined slightly less in their normal range and slightly more in harmonic, which helps to distinguish subtle details. In addition, the upper mid- and high-frequency sounds, such as piccolo, flute and cymbals, are quiet at the first attack, but their harmonic resonance is heard quite well.

Evaluation of work

In general, Bowers & Wilkins P5 produce a balanced, comfortable sound that does not make too much or insufficient emphasis on any element. He lacks the plane necessary for studio engineers, but music lovers who are looking for a nice, even tonal answer, will love these headphones.

However, the P5 has one notable drawback: deep sub-bass and bass elements tend to exhibit perceptible distortions at high volumes, causing unwanted interference at low frequencies. P5 does not have any serious problems, but for their high cost, you can expect an excellent result. It is likely that only people with perfect hearing will notice distortions, but they are nonetheless present.

In other respects P5 - one positive. Headphones perfectly isolate sound after their proper placement. A small distortion is a small price for high quality.

Verdict

Bowers & Wilkins P5 Series 2 is that rare breed of headphones that look just as good as they sound. Smooth, molded metal and warm skin accent attention to detail. No distortion would make the P5 an ideal option. Depressing and lack of compatibility with other popular mobile operating systems is also depressing. Users Androis and Windows remain with nothing. The price at $ 300 is a little overpriced, because you can find cheaper offers.

Music lovers who are looking for comfortable, excellent headphones, the choice is small. Premium customers, as a rule, stop at full-sized devices, so the companies-manufacturers focused their efforts on this segment. But music lovers with glasses or every day spending a lot of time on the way cumbersome headphones will not work. Bowers & Wilkins P5 will be an excellent compromise for those who need portability, design and sound quality.