Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2

Drivers

2× 40mm carbon-cone dynamic

Noise cancelling

Adaptive, 8 mics: improved, but not class-leading

Battery

30 hrs (ANC on)

Quick charge

15 min → 7 hrs

Codecs

aptX Lossless / Adaptive / HD, AAC, SBC

Materials

Nappa leather + cast aluminium; hingeless friction-rod design

App

B&W Music; 5-band EQ + TrueSound; USB-C 24-bit audio

Weight

310 g (heaviest of the wireless picks)

Warranty

2-year limited

Sound first, because sound is the product. The carbon-cone drivers resolve detail, texture, and dynamics in a way the mass-market flagships don't quite reach, and with aptX Lossless or the USB-C wired interface feeding them good sources, the gap widens. This is the pair for the listener who finds the Sony and Bose competent but a little flat. The category's signature feature is where it concedes ground: the eight-mic adaptive cancellation improves on the original Px8 yet still measures behind the Sony and Bose, most noticeably on low-frequency rumble. As a travel silencer it's a clear step down from the leaders; as a listening instrument it's a step up from everything else on this page.

Best in the group, full stop. Nappa leather, cast-aluminium arms, and a hingeless friction-rod design that looks the price and removes the most common failure point of folding headphones, a fact the Sony's hinge saga makes newly relevant. Long-term reliability data is still thin given the mid-2025 launch, but no defect patterns have surfaced, and the 2-year warranty doubles the coverage Sony, Bose, and Apple provide. The one structural asterisk: it's sealed, with no user-replaceable battery, which is a harder pill at $799 than it would be at $400.

There's no way around the number: $799, roughly $350 more than the Sony or Bose, for a headphone that trails both at noise cancellation. On any features-per-dollar spreadsheet the Px8 S2 loses, and it isn't trying to win one. The premium buys the top of the class in exactly two columns, sound and materials, and the buyer who genuinely cares about those two columns is the only one who should pay it. Everyone else should also know that B&W's own Px7 S3 delivers much of this experience for considerably less.

Verbatim owner and reviewer comments gathered during our research, linked to where we found them. They are not our words, which is the point.

Audiophiles who've been waiting for a wireless pair that doesn't feel like a compromise, and design-led buyers who want leather and metal at every touchpoint. If you'll actually feed it aptX Lossless or the USB-C wired input, you're the target.

Shoppers cross-comparing on noise cancellation or value should stop here: the Sony cancels better for hundreds less, the Sennheiser rounds out better at half the price, and B&W's cheaper Px7 S3 keeps most of the sound. Also skip if 310g and a firm initial clamp sound tiring, because some owners find exactly that.