After launching the Px7 S3 to acclaim in 2025, Bowers & Wilkins is back with its flagship over-ears in the Px8 S2.
It’s been a busy year for Bowers & Wilkins. Having launched the Pi8 and Pi6 earbuds last year (both earned five stars from this site); then followed those hits with the Px7 S3 (one of the best-sounding wireless headphones of this year).
The Px8 S2 looks to continue that run with Bowers looking to make a statement in the premium arena of the headphones market.
Slightly more expensive
The Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2 are on sale from the 24th September, either from Bowers website or select third-party retailers.
The price has gone up, and it does seem our American cousins are getting the blunt end of the price increase. In the UK the Px8 S2 are £629 and in Europe they are €729, a rise of £30 / €30. In the US the headphones will cost $799, up from the Px8’s $699 price tag.
Evolved design
Tweaks rather than wholesale changes to the look have been made to the Px8 S2. For of the headphones is slimmer than the Px8, while the carry case is a different size (more compact) for carrying in your bag.
Animal lovers beware. While the Px7 S3 excluded the use of leather material, the Px8 S2 goes for Nappa leather. The linkage between the headband and earcups has been given a refresh, with exposed cabling give the headphones some style and grace. The weight of the headphones has come slightly down from the Px8’s 320 to the S2’s 310g
The headphones still aren’t foldable, though the headband appears to have been tweaked too, spreading weight across the head more evenly for a comfier fit.
Colours come in Onyx Black and Warm Stone varieties.
New ANC system
Bowers & Wilkins’ claims that the new active noise-cancelling technologies built for the Px7 S3 and Px8 S2 are the most powerful the brand has developed. Despite that, they still abide by the brand’s notion that ANC should do “no harm to the musicality of the performance”, so don’t expect Bose or Sony levels of noise-cancellation with these headphones.
However, the Px8 S2 should be able to clear away enough ambient noise so you can get on with the task of listening to your music. The are eight high-performance microphones, two of which are for your voice during ccalls, with Bowers declaring the headphones will offer oustanding call clarity wherever you are.
We’ll be the judge of the noise-cancelling and call quality performance once we’ve finished reviewing the Px8 S2. We will say that the Px7 S3 offered similar noise-cancelling to the Px7 S2e, so we’re hoping that the new flagship headphone will have greater impact.
Reference sound?
When the original Px8 launched, we felt there were the best-sounding headphones at their price. But since then, the likes of DALI and Focal have offered contenders that in some ways have beaten the Px8. So what does Bowers have up its sleeve with this latest effort?
The 40mm Carbon Cone driver aims to deliver “exceptionally low coloration and distortion” while feeeding high detailed tracks straight to your ears. The amplifiers haven’t changed but the chassis, voice coil, suspension and magnet are said to have been redesigned and improved to offer more clarity and powerful dynamic with whatever you’re listening to.
Haven’t had a listen of the new headphones at a launch event held in Kings Cross, we were impressied by how much clearer and detailed the Px8 S2 sounded compared to the Px7 S3, a pair of headphones that are no slouch in the audio department.
If you have an Android smartphone, you’ll be able to experience the best wireless sound from the Px8 S2 with its support for aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless audio over a Bluetooth connection. That’ll make it easier to hear high-resolution music from the likes of Amazon Music, Tidal, Qobuz, and yes, Spotify Lossless. The first three services can be streamed directly from the B&W Music app.
If you’re more analogue then a 3.5mm connection is supported, and the Px8 S2 can play audio through its USB-C input, a boon for those who like to listen from their computer or the latest generation of the iPhone.
And that’s not all. Bowers & Wilkins say that they’ll be rolling out firmware updates later this year to add support for spatial audio, as well Bluetooth LE and Auracast functionality.
