Bowers & Wilkins P5 Wireless - Bluetooth On-Ear Headphones - Black

Product Information

The soft leather head band and ear pieces are light and fit tightly, and they provide good but not complete isolation without any undue pressure. The styling of these headphones is just out of this world and in terms of sound, as long as you are not being too analytical about them, they sound very very good and will definitely please most people out there looking for a stylish headphone which sounds good. Regarding sound isolation, you do have to be realistic this is on-ear design which can't be compared to over-ear like P7, so you should still expect to hear outside noise though with a decent attenuation. The overall level of the leakage is also decent, making these headphones perform above average in Leakage. The P5W therefore is more than suitable for noisy environments and will do the trick if you feel like taking them outside with you.

If the P5’s fit isn’t too tight for you, you’ll be rewarded with audio that’s as luxurious as the P5’s craftsmanship. In my opinion, flat storage is more practical for traveling since it lays flat without putting too much stress on the joints when inside of your luggage. You’d struggle to tell them apart at a glance, because they share a design philosophy - rounded rectangular earcups, sheep’s leather and twisted aluminium. They tend to be a bit too smooth which could affect some retrieval of details, but still have a good definition and clarity. However, they struggle to block the ambient noise of loud environments and won't be ideal if you have a busy daily commute or plan to take them on a noisy flight.This is very convenient especially noting headphones nowadays only warn you when the battery goes down to like 20%. Whether you are in the market for a reasonably compact set of headphones as a welcome relief to ear-bud fatigue or are simply looking for a great pair of headphones for home audio use, look no further that the P5s. In its defense, the P5 works just fine straight out of a portable player, which was obviously the designers’ intent, and manages to be pretty forgiving of crappy recordings and rips while maintaining a semblance of fidelity, partly due to the slightly compressed dynamic range. It’s worth noting that on-ear headphone comfort varies person to person and by the size of ears and whether you wear glasses. At top, unwise listening levels, the headphones do not distort on this track, and at moderate, reasonable listening levels, the sense of bass is still palpable and well-defined.

To my ears, the greater treble energy of the HD25 makes for a more realistic overall sound but I’m sure many will disagree. All these operation are accompanied by a pleasant chime tone, the same one used in T7 wireless speaker. A good-looking carrying case with a black, silken finish and a quilted surface houses the headphones, the cables, and a ¼-inch adapter. At the same time, fitment might not be for everyone, and even with my medium size head I had to adjust earcups a bit until I find a sweet spot.This design, along with a tiny cable grip near the bottom of the earpiece, keeps the cable from putting strain on the connector, even if the cable gets pulled or snagged during use. The same right earcup has micro-usb charging port at the bottom next to power button, a bi-color led, and two mic pinhole vents contributing to an excellent voice pick up. In more details, I found Wireless audio performance to be nicely balanced with a full body sound and excellent extension at both ends of frequency spectrum. The P5 Series 2 are a fantastic set of on-ear headphones that audio aficionados will cling to for a the remarkable sound.

The only drawback to the P5 in this respect is that the earpads provide such a solid noise-isolation seal that I did experience mild occlusion effect when talking. Flipping the headphones over, the leather pillows covering the speakers are poked with an intricate grille which allows the sound to freely pass through. P5W controls are straight forward and easier to reach, sound tuning is smoother and more detailed, and Bluetooth performance is more stable. I can't compare the original P5 to the updated P5 Series 2 which I have reviewed here, but I had a chance to read a technical paper regarding new Series 2 which Listening to the live version of "Beethoven's Symphony 6" by Carlos Kleiber and the Bavarian State Orchestra gives a great sense of the area and collective instruments feeling rather epic.On the whole, the P5 is definitely a peculiar flavour of headphone – colored and far from flawless from a technical standpoint – and probably won’t appeal to those who, like myself, seek a more realistic and neutral sound even on the move. But either way, I found P5W to hit the right mark in design quality, selection of premium materials, ergonomics of controls, battery life, and audio performance. Please note that all TONE and TONE related text and images are copyright © 2005–2024 TONE Magazine and The Audiophile Apartment. In other words, would that nice mic **only** work in wired mode with an analog splitter, in BT mode I'd be forced to use the built-in-cup mic? If you are not reading this content in your news aggregator, RSS reader, or direct, then the site you are looking at may be guilty of copyright infringement.

But the details of the P5's design are more exquisite; the square ear pads and headband are genuine sheep leather, for example. Fans of those will be right at home here: the P5 Wireless headphones are based on the excellent P5 Series 2.

Helped along by the compliant fitment mechanism of the P5, the pads spread pressure very evenly across the ear and remain comfortable for many hours. The On2 has a similar amount of bass but some extra warmth in the lower mids and more pronounced treble.