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

Product Information

The clamp is too much for my liking and with leather being steamy over time, after about 1-2 hours of use I noticed my ears kind of sweat, and this happens to me right now as I'm writing this review, even if its freezing cold right now. It's really a clever design which makes a cable attachment to earcup look like it has a hardwired seamless connection. At lower volumes, I prefer the Phiaton MS400 as well – it is only as the volume is turned up that the Phiatons start sounding a bit plasticky in comparison.

Prior to my career in reviewing tech, I worked as an audio engineer—my love of recording audio eventually led me to writing about audio gear. Their sound is a bit tinny, but they should still please most listeners with their better-than-average audio reproduction. Despite the rock-solid construction, the P5 is only marginally heavier than the Phiatons and Monster Beats Solos – quite a feat considering how much more solid the construction of the P5 feels. The backbone of " Reckless Serenade" by the Arctic Monkeys is made up of the pulpy bassline that comes through on the P5 distortion-free and with awesome clarity.Since the chip is the same in each controller, the controls on the P5 work the same as any other pair of iPhone-friendly headphones; it just looks slightly different with a mic on the backside of the control panel. The P5 model I had an opportunity to review is actually an updated Series 2 version, and because I didn't have a chance to listen to the first gen P5, I will review it without comparison to the original one. The on-ear design means they sit on the ear rather than over it with the solid ear pad pressing the whole of your ear into the side of your head. It all started in 1955 with some ingenuity and later the company was officially formed at the urging of an elderly lady (Miss Knight) who apparently had a good ear for quality audio. Truth be told, the P5 does have slightly better clarity and generally sounds smoother, leaner, and tighter than the MS400 but lacks the fullness of the Phiaton’s bass and the warm lushness of its midrange.

These headphones make a statement with their appearance and feel, something akin to designer watches or bespoke suits. In my opinion P5W strikes a perfect balance between all of these with a multi-function spring-loaded power button that turns headphones on when you slide and hold it and goes into pair-up mode when you push it.

Vocals sound a little more airy than the P5W which is a bit more intimate - This is probably likely to the On2 having much thicker ear pads adding space between the driver and your ears. First up was “Don’t You Forget About Me” by New Found Glory, where I expected the vocals to sound really compressed; surprisingly, they weren’t. The main difference however, this headphone has all of its controls on the right earcup, with the left earcup featuring a hole which the cables run through if you wish to use it in wired mode. Sure, there's a little muffling of ambient sound because you're placing the earpads on your ears, but virtually every headphone pair on earth offers this, and it's not very significant.