Bowers & Wilkins Announces New Px7 S3 Advanced Wireless Headphones

Bowers & Wilkins announced its all-new premium active noise-cancelling wireless headphones. The renowned British audio brand has a long-established pedigree in the manufacture of reference-quality loudspeakers and gradually established a solid reputation also in category-defining headphones, from the original P5 of 2010 to the Px7 S2e of 2023. The Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 headphones are a comprehensively re-imagined design benefiting also from Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon Sound platform.
 


Building on the pedigree of the Px7 S2e, the new Px7 S3 is touted as the most advanced and capable wireless headphone Bowers & Wilkins has yet made. Re-engineered drivers, Qualcomm aptX Adaptive 24/96 and aptX Lossless, together with new dedicated amplifiers combine to deliver improved sound quality. Benefiting from the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon Sound platform, the Px7 S3 headphones also have greatly upgraded active noise cancellation features, now supported by a new eight-microphone configuration, also allowing for optimized call quality.

The new 40mm biocellulose drivers are combined with a redesigned and improved chassis, voice coil, suspension, and magnet, with only the cone material itself carrying over from the previous generation of headphones. According to the brand, the redesigned drivers deliver lower coloration and distortion, improved resolution, and superior dynamics. As before, they are carefully angled to the listener’s ears to ensure better imaging and stereo spaciousness.

 

Bowers & Wilkins engineers say that they are confident that the Px7 S3 headphones feature the most powerful and effective active noise cancelling technology the brand has ever offered, with a careful approach to balance effective cancellation of unwanted noise with the musical performance. Using a proprietary Bowers & Wilkins-developed platform, the Px7 S3 features eight high-performance microphones, carefully located around the periphery of each ear cup and working together to deliver the best results. 

Two of the microphones measure the output of each drive unit, four – positioned at opposite ends of each earcup to ensure the best possible coverage – monitor ambient noise from the outside world, and two more provide outstanding voice clarity. Careful positioning and angling of those microphones enhances performance even in the noisiest environments. When making calls, unwanted noise is effectively suppressed by the latest generation of voice processing technology, with Analog Devices Pure Voice. 

Even with all the technology improvements, the all-new design features a slimmer profile and improved fit, using upgraded materials for superior comfort, including memory foam ear cups for effortless all-day listening. The Px7 S3 headphones are designed to deliver the next level of performance and style, carefully engineered with a notably slimmer form than previous models – even the new carry case is more compact. The new headband and redesigned arm mechanism ensure the headphones fit even closer to any head size.

 

And to match the design, Bowers & Wilkins complemented the Px7 S3 headphones with an improved Music app featuring a user-adjustable five-band EQ with preset memory, plus support for spatial audio to be added later in 2025. The brand’s Music app allows users to select the wear sensor sensitivity and define the preferred operation for the physical ‘Quick Action’ button on the headphones.

Building on that high-quality acoustic platform, the headphones now support both aptX Adaptive 24-bit/96kHz wireless technology and aptX Lossless. Both technologies can automatically optimize wireless music transmission from compatible phones, tablets, and computers, ensuring the best possible sound quality with high-resolution music streaming services such as Qobuz and TIDAL, both available to stream directly from the Music app.

Apart from Bluetooth wireless, 3.5mm analog audio connections are also supported, as is high-resolution-capable USB-C – a great benefit for both computer users and owners of compatible mobile devices, including the latest generation of iPhone. Both cable types are included in the carry case that accompanies the headphones.

Offering 30 hours of battery life with full noise cancellation on, the Px7 S3 can play all day long – and more – on just a single charge, while a 15-minute quick recharge is sufficient to provide up to seven hours of additional listening time.

 

As before, physical controls on each earcup are also included, ensuring full control even without the Music app. The revised, more intuitive button layout, which reshapes the volume up, volume down, and play/pause buttons to improve their tactile interaction, also relocates the power button to the left-hand earcup. The Quick Action button allows users to either quickly cycle through the Px7 S3’s noise-cancelling options – Off, Pass-Through, and On – or seamlessly launch their phone’s Voice Assistant at the touch of a button.

For the first time in Bowers & Wilkins headphones, the Px7 S3 will offer support for spatial audio. In line with the brand’s True Sound philosophy, the engineering team at the company’s Southwater Research Establishment (SRE) developed a proprietary audio processing technology designed to give listeners a realistic sense of acoustic space and a natural, yet immersive, experience with spatial audio. This new technology will be rolled out as an over-the-air update later in 2025. 

In another first for Bowers & Wilkins, the Px7 S3 will also offer support for Bluetooth LE Audio, complete with Auracast broadcast functionality. Bowers & Wilkins says that it will roll out LE Audio compatibility to the Px7 S3 headphones as a future update.

 

The new Px7 S3 headphones will be available in three elegant finishes: Anthracite Black, Indigo Blue, and Canvas White, each with complementary detailing. Due to the unpredictability of the US Administration policies, Bowers & Wilkins says that the final pricing and retail availability will be announced at a later date.  For reference, the previous Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2e headphones retailed for US $399.

Bowers & Wilkins says that later in 2025, it also intends to release the all-new flagship Px8 S2 headphones.

www.bowerswilkins.com