The Bowers & Wilkins PX5 are premium wireless on-ear headphones. They're amazingly well-built, have a great ANC system, and deliver excellent battery performance. They're also decently comfortable and have a control scheme that places a lot of functionality at your fingertips. Unfortunately, their bass-heavy sound profile may not suit everyone, and their companion app gives you no way to adjust it, which is a disappointing omission. Still, if you don't mind a boomy listening experience and prefer a tight on-ear fit, these may be a good choice.
Our Verdict
The Bowers & Wilkins PX5 are decent for mixed usage. They're well-built, block out plenty of ambient noise, and feature an easy-to-use control scheme, all of which makes them good for commuting. Their multi-device pairing capability and long battery life make them decent for office work. Unfortunately, their bass-heavy sound profile isn't for everyone, and their mediocre integrated microphone limits their usage for phone calls.
- Excellent build quality.
- Great control scheme.
- Impressive noise isolation performance.
- Good battery life.
- No EQ to modify their sound profile.
- No microphone compatibility when using a wired connection.
- Sub-par microphone recording quality and mediocre noise handling capability.
- Mediocre stability.
The Bowers & Wilkins PX5 are mediocre for neutral listening. Their bass response is heavily overemphasized, resulting in a boomy sound profile with muddied vocals and lead instruments. There's no EQ in their companion app either, so you can't adjust their sound profile. Also, they don't provide an especially spacious listening experience.
- Consistent audio delivery.
- Good stereo imaging performance.
- No EQ to modify their sound profile.
- Closed-off soundstage.
The Bowers & Wilkins PX5 are good for commuting. Their adjustable ANC system effectively filters out engine noise and their battery life should be long enough to get you through a long overnight flight. While their on-ear fit may not suit everyone, they're decently comfortable and have very low latency on mobile devices, which is good if you like to watch movies or shows on your way into the office.
- Excellent build quality.
- Impressive noise isolation performance.
- Low wireless latency on mobile devices.
- Good battery life.
- No EQ to modify their sound profile.
- Mediocre stability.
The Bowers & Wilkins PX5 are an acceptable choice for sports and fitness. While they aren't especially stable or easy to carry around, they're sturdy enough to take a few bumps and have a control scheme that easy to use when you're on the go. Their adjustable ANC system and talk-through feature allow you to let in more ambient noise if you're out on a run and want to stay aware of your surroundings.
- Excellent build quality.
- Great control scheme.
- No EQ to modify their sound profile.
- Mediocre stability.
The Bowers & Wilkins PX5 are decent for office use. They're impressively effective when it comes to filtering out the chatter of coworkers and support multi-device pairing, which is useful if you listen to content on your phone and work computer. Their 38-hour battery life should have no trouble dealing with a couple of days in the office.
- Support for multi-device pairing.
- Impressive noise isolation performance.
- Good battery life.
- No EQ to modify their sound profile.
- No microphone compatibility when using a wired connection.
- Sub-par microphone recording quality and mediocre noise handling capability.
The Bowers & Wilkins PX5 aren't suitable for wireless gaming due to their high latency on PC and incompatibility with PS4 and Xbox One consoles.
The Bowers & Wilkins PX5 are okay for wired gaming, as long as you don't plan on using the integrated mic, as neither the 1/8" TRS cable nor USB-A to USB-C charging cable support microphone usage. Their bass-heavy sound profile emphasizes some sound effects in action-heavy games but may overwhelm in-game dialogue. Thankfully, their on-ear fit provides relatively consistent audio delivery.
- Consistent audio delivery.
- Good stereo imaging performance.
- No EQ to modify their sound profile.
- No microphone compatibility when using a wired connection.
The Bowers & Wilkins PX5 are just okay for making phone calls. They do a great job of blocking out ambient noise, so you should have no trouble following the conversation, even in loud environments. Unfortunately, their integrated mic delivers sub-par recording quality and does an unremarkable job of separating speech from ambient noise.
- Excellent build quality.
- Impressive noise isolation performance.
- No microphone compatibility when using a wired connection.
- Sub-par microphone recording quality and mediocre noise handling capability.
Check Price
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
There are two color variants of the Bowers & Wilkins PX5. We tested the 'Blue' variant, though we expect the 'Space Grey' model to perform similarly. If someone comes across a model variant that isn't mentioned, let us know in the discussions below so that we can update our review.
Popular Headphones Comparisons
The Bowers & Wilkins PX5 are well-built on-ear headphones. They have excellent build quality, great battery life, and a user-adjustable ANC system. Unfortunately, while some users may prefer their bass-heavy sound profile, their companion app doesn't feature presets or an EQ, which makes them less than ideal for neutral listening. For more options, take a look at our list of recommendations for the best wireless Bluetooth headphones, the best noise-cancelling headphones, and the best on-ear headphones.
The Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Wireless and the Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless are closely-matched. The on-ear PX5 have a more comprehensive control scheme, are easier to carry around, provide more consistent audio delivery, leak less audio, and have a superior integrated mic. That said, the PX7 are more comfortable and provide a far more spacious listening experience.
The over-ear Bowers & Wilkins PX Wireless are better mixed-usage headphones than the Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless. The PX are better-built, more stable on the head, provide a better-balanced and far more spacious listening experience, and block out more ambient noise. Conversely, the PX5 have a longer battery life, a superior integrated mic, lower wireless latency, and a more comprehensive control scheme.
The Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless are better mixed usage wireless on-ears than the Beats Solo3 2018. The Bowers & Wilkins have an easier-to-use and more comprehensive control scheme, are better-built, block out more ambient noise, and feature a companion app with more options. However, the Beats have a more neutral sound profile and last slightly longer on a single charge. They also offer full audio and microphone compatibility on a wired connection thanks to their 1/8" TRRS cable.
The Beats Solo Pro and the Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless have different strengths. The Bowers & Wilkins are better-built, more comfortable, and have an easier to use control scheme as well as a more comprehensive companion app. They also offer multi-device pairing and wired audio playback, neither of which the Beats support. However, the Beats provide more consistent and neutral sound profile, charge faster, feel more stable, and have a much longer wireless range.
Our How We Test Headphones article takes you behind the scenes in our lab. You'll learn how we choose and purchase products and dive into the details of our review philosophy, from testing and scoring to writing and editing.
You can also discover how we produce recommendations like this one so that you can find the best headphones (or earbuds!) for your needs.
Test Results
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
