I bought Bowers & Wilkins PI3 as a commuting substitute for airpods for my wife before. This is not a gift. My wife also secretly gave me the Bowers & Wilkins PX7 that I always wanted to buy, or the new carbon edition color scheme. It just happened to be us recently. Small gift for marriage. After playing with the headset for a while, I think the overall performance of the PX7 headset is indeed good, which meets my needs, so I have this sharing. To
Unboxing
Since the headset has been used for a while, let’s just take a fake out of the box. The packaging of the Bowers & Wilkins PX7 carbon edition is still the simple and atmospheric packaging design of the Bowers & Wilkins family.
The difference from the normal version is the product icon and the Carbon Edition logo.
Some technical features of Bowers & Wilkins PX7 are listed on the back of the box. What I care more about is the 43.6mm large audio unit, 30 hours of battery life and support for the latest APTX encoding.
Unpacking and lying inside is the bundled headset case, and Bowers & Wilkins PX7 headphones are placed inside the headset case.
Compared with the soft leather case that was included with the previous generation PX, the hard headset case included with the PX7 is much more practical.
Because Bowers & Wilkins PX7 cannot be folded, there is a streamlined raised design on the front, which leads to an increase in the volume of the headset case. The materials and workmanship are quite good. The surface woven texture feels very comfortable, but if you match the theme of this carbon edition, the color It would be better to change to black.
There is also a compartment inside the headset case, which contains the attached 3.5mm headphone cable and USB-C to A data cable.
This is the case for accessories, there are all that should be there, and there is an instruction card, which is simpler and more intuitive than the manual.
You should have seen a lot of unboxing articles on the regular version of Bowers & Wilkins PX7. Actually, I just released the PX7 after selling the previous generation of PX. Then I wanted to buy it, but the color matching of the two regular versions made me I have not placed an order for a long time, because the saturation of the real objects is a bit low, even the deep space gray color of the real objects is a little lighter, I don’t like it too much, because the overall design style of the PX7 has become a little sleek, with light and black collisions. The color will appear bloated, and the new carbon edition does not have this problem.
The so-called carbon edition is to blacken the original woven surface and metal panel, and the black of the whole body is cleaner.
Bowers & Wilkins PX7’s distinctive carbon fiber arm frame is a perfect match with this carbon black color scheme. The carbon fiber arm frame has a mottled texture, which feels wonderful to the touch, but I am a little worried about the connection with the headset. strength.
The internal unit has a certain angle design, such an acoustic design should be to make the unit closer to the ear canal.
However, the quality of the leather used in the earmuffs and head beam of the B&W PX7 should have been reduced. It is not like the delicate and soft lambskin of the Bowers & Wilkins P7. I did not find a description on the official website, so it is artificial leather. , I’m still a little disappointed, I will talk about the specific wearing experience later.
Inheriting the nano-coated woven material used in the previous generation Bowers & Wilkins PX, it is definitely more durable than the leather material used in Bowers & Wilkins P7. However, I still prefer the texture of the leather material of Bowers & Wilkins P7. Like the difference between leather sofas and fabric sofas, the visual touch is definitely the advantage of leather, but the durability is still selected for textiles.
There is Bowers & Wilkins LOGO on the metal decorative panel, the metal texture is very strong, very delicate, and there are twill details in macro zoom. The strip hole behind the LOGO is the sound hole of the noise reduction microphone. In addition to the blackening of the whole body, the biggest difference from the normal version is that the edge of the metal decorative panel of the carbon edition is polished.
Bowers & Wilkins PX7 still uses the design of physical buttons. Although the same-positioned headsets are now popular to use touch operation, I personally prefer physical buttons to reduce false touches and operate more easily. It is just PX7. I think the feel of the physical buttons is average, and I think it can be optimized for the next generation.
The appearance design of Bowers & Wilkins PX7 is still very beautiful. Although it is slightly thicker and rounder than previous generations, it lacks a sense of design, but the exquisiteness of carbon edition is compared with the previous generation PX and the other two ordinary versions. Still better.
The workmanship is still very good, worthy of the price, the overall is indeed a higher grade than Sony and Bose.
Wear——there is room for improvement
The only reason why the previous generation PX was sold by me was that it was very uncomfortable to wear. After 10 minutes of wearing it, the top of the head began to feel uncomfortable. So what I am looking forward to most for Bowers & Wilkins PX7 this time is the optimization of wearing comfort. Not a small improvement, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. First of all, the cavity size of PX7 is large enough. I have big ears, which can completely cover my ears without touching the inner unit. Secondly, the internal filling of the head beam is a bit thicker than PX, although it is still worn for a long time. There will be a little discomfort, but you will not feel it after adjusting the position.
However, the inner padding of Bowers & Wilkins PX7 earmuffs is a bit harder than competing products. My head circumference is small and I don’t feel any obvious discomfort after wearing it for a long time, but I can still clearly feel that the earphone is worn on your head. After all, the weight of 310g is not light. I don’t know if friends with big head circumference will have obvious discomfort, but most of the reviews on the Internet should be fine, but I still recommend finding a physical store to try it on. In addition, the breathability of PX7 earmuffs is obviously not as good as that of PX. , It should be caused by not using lambskin material.
Sound quality——the leader in wireless noise-canceling headphones
To talk about how I became a fan of Bowers & Wilkins over the years, the first reason is that the sound quality of Bowers & Wilkins headphones has improved, from C5 to MM1, PX, PI4, PI3, PX7, every Bowers I have used & Wilkins products may have some flaws, but the sound quality has never been wrong. I am not a HiFi audiophile, I just like listening to music, and the sound quality of Bowers & Wilkins headphones is standard and comfortable. In the same price range, the sound quality of Bowers & Wilkins PX7 is one of the best in wireless headsets.
In terms of hardware, Bowers & Wilkins PX7 uses a 43.6mm unit, which is larger than the 40mm unit used in many headphones with the same positioning. Bluetooth 5.0, the latest APTX protocol, designed and tuned by the team behind the 800 Diamond series speakers .
I was a little shocked when I first started using the PX7. The low-frequency sense of the PX7 is more than that of the previous PX and P7. In addition, the low-frequency is more prominent when the mid-to-high frequency and sound field are not turned on. After listening to a few songs, I run-in on the computer for a day. It was much better the next day. The mid-to-high frequency and sound field came out. If you taste it carefully, it is still the feeling of Bowers & Wilkins. The mid-frequency vocals are soft and neutral, comfortable and durable, and they appear dense and cohesive when expressing vocals. The high-frequency part is limited by Bluetooth transmission and will not be too melodious, but it will not appear dull. In addition, the resolution of the PX7 is relatively good, with sufficient details, clear positioning, and a regular sound field.
In terms of low frequency, I feel a bit converged during this period of use. Although it can’t compare with the particularly fluffy and heavy feeling of those flagship headphones, the low frequency of Bowers & Wilkins PX7 is also considered outstanding among the headphones of the same size unit. The sense of volume is sufficient, and the sense of cohesion and speed is very good. In fact, many wireless headphones are blindly increasing the low-frequency sense, but most of them do not perform well. The PX7’s low-frequency detail and clarity are very good and very controllable. The low frequency is strong enough and will not affect the performance of the mid and high frequencies. It is a pity that the low frequency extension is still a little less.
Bowers & Wilkins PX7 also supports USB DAC. It is connected to a mobile phone or computer through a data cable and decoded directly through the DAC inside the headset. In the absence of a good enough amp or player, the sound in this way should be PX7 Best state. However, as the details increase, the dental sound phenomenon will be more obvious than in the Bluetooth state. I tried the Android phones and computers, as well as the IPAD PRO, which all support USB DAC, only the IPHONE connected with C-to-L cable did not respond.
One obvious improvement of Bowers & Wilkins PX7 is that there is almost no change in the sound after the noise reduction is turned on. The sound quality of the previous PX will be significantly dull after the noise reduction function is turned on. Although I use it indoors, I almost never use it for commuting, but occasionally I want to cut off some irritating noises indoors. In addition, I think the background noise of PX7 can be controlled well, which is better than Bowers & Wilkins PI4. many.
Noise reduction——just enough
The actual noise reduction performance of Bowers & Wilkins PX7 is actually pretty good. First of all, because of the tight earmuffs, you can feel that the surrounding environment noise is much less when you wear it. Turning on the noise reduction function can also reduce a large part of the noise. Generally, the noise of air conditioners and computers is almost inaudible when used indoors, and the noise of outdoor traffic is almost inaudible. After turning on the music, you can basically immerse yourself in your world.
I tried to take the subway once, and the overall noise reduction ability is still good. It is better than my AirPods Pro and Bowers & Wilkins PI4, and there is definitely a gap with BOSE and SONY. But to be honest, when the music is turned on, it’s almost the same. The outside sound basically has nothing to do with me. I don’t usually go out with headphones. Most of the time I use it indoors. The most important thing is that Bowers & Wilkins PX7 has no bottom noise and no impact on sound quality after turning on noise reduction.
Bowers & Wilkins PX7 also supports APP to adjust parameters. In APP, you can view the power of the headset, change the noise reduction mode and the intensity settings of the ambient sound. In addition, PX7 supports the simultaneous connection of two devices, which can be managed in the APP. In addition, some background music is built in the APP, which can be used with the noise reduction function.
Summary:
The overall performance of Bowers & Wilkins PX7 is still very good, mainly because it is very suitable for my needs. In my opinion, the first task of headphones is to listen to music, and then the comfort, shape, and noise reduction capabilities are considered.
If it’s just for commuting, I would choose TWS headphones like AirPods Pro, so I wouldn’t use it if the sound quality of the headphones is not good. Besides, I don’t want to buy a professional player, so I think PX7 is my first choice in terms of sound quality, appearance, functional convenience, and design workmanship.
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