By Harman Internation,Mark Sparrow,Senior Contributor
Copyright forbes
The new Px8 S2 headphones from Bowers & Wilkins are the British brand’s latest flagship headphones and feature advanced ANC and more features to come.
Bowers & Wilkins, the British audio brand now owned by Harman International, has announced the launch of the Px8 S2, the brand’s latest flagship wireless headphones featuring active noise cancellation.
The Px8 S2 headphones have an evolved design and are engineered for comfortable, extended listening. With a notably slimmer profile than the outgoing Px8 headphones, this latest model even has a redesigned carry case to make it easier to put in carry-on luggage.
The new Px8 S2 is trimmed and finished with Nappa leather covering every primary surface. The aluminum arm mechanism with exposed cable detailing combines a lightweight design with optimal mechanical stiffness in an elegant design.
A combination of aluminum and Nappa leather give the B&W Px8 S2 a luxury feel.
Real Nappa Leather
The Px8 S2 headphones are available in two refined Nappa leather finishes: Onyx Black and Warm Stone. Each has color-coordinated leather and aluminum detailing. Bowers & Wilkins has engineered the new design so that both ear cushions and headband can be replaced at local service centers.
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Building on the award-winning Px7 S3, the new flagship headphones have 40mm Carbon Cone drivers and combine low coloration and low distortion with a lightweight design. The drivers have been comprehensively redesigned with an improved chassis, voice coil, suspension and magnet. The drivers are angled to the listener’s ears to ensure a consistent distance from every point across the surface of each driver to each ear. The result, says B&W, is better imaging and stereo spaciousness. They are powered by a dedicated, discrete headphone amplifier for more scale and energy.
The Px8 S2 includes support for aptX Adaptive 24/96 wireless technology as well as Qualcomm’s latest codec innovation, aptX Lossless. Both technologies can optimize wireless music transmission from compatible phones, tablets and computers, especially from high-resolution music streaming services like Amazon Music, Qobuz and TIDAL.
The Px8 S2 headphones are available in two refined Nappa leather finishes: Onyx Black and Warm Stone.
Bowers & Wilkins’ own digital signal processing provides support for 24-bit / 96 kHz high-resolution sound. There is also a 3.5mm analog audio connection alongside high-resolution USB-C connectivity for connecting directly to the latest generation of iPhones.
Blocking Out The World
Bowers & Wilkins developed its own active noise-cancelling technology for the Px7 S3 and Px8 S2. The company claims it is the most powerful and effective ANC it has ever developed. The company’s approach balances effective cancellation of unwanted noise without harming the musicality of a performance.
As with Px7 S3, the new Px8 S2 headphones include eight high-performance microphones that are carefully located around the periphery of each earcup. Two of the mics measure the output of each drive unit, four monitor ambient noise from the outside world, while two more are there to pick up voices for phone calls.
Building on the award-winning Px7 S3, the new flagship headphones have 40mm Carbon Cone drivers and combine low coloration and low distortion with a lightweight design.
Careful positioning and angling of the microphones enhances their performance even in noisy environments. When making calls, unwanted noise is suppressed by the latest generation of voice processing technology, ADI Pure Voice. All eight microphones work in conjunction with the noise-cancelling and voice-processing technologies to ensure call clarity.
Enhanced Features
With 30 hours of battery life, even with full noise cancellation turned on, Px8 S2 can play all day long on a single charge. A 15-minute quick recharge can provide up to seven hours of additional playing time.
As with all other current generations of Bowers & Wilkins headphones and earbuds, the Px8 S2 can be configured and controlled using the B&W Music app. It can activate or disengage the noise-cancelling transparency mode to let in more or less of the outside world. The app also monitors the headphone charge levels, adjusts wear sensor sensitivity and can define the user’s preferred operation of the physical ‘Quick Action’ button.
The carry case for the B&W Px* S2 has been redesigned and is now slimmer to make it easier to fit in carry-on luggage.
Listeners can opt to fine-tune the sound of their headphones through an adjustable five-band EQ, complete with the option to store preferred settings as easily accessible presets. If preferred, the EQ option can be bypassed by selecting the True Sound mode, which represents the preferred audio tuning selected by the acoustic team at the Southwater Research Establishment.
As with the Px7 S3 headphones, physical controls on each earcup are also included for full control even without the Music app. The revised button layout of volume up, volume down and play/pause buttons helps improve their tactile interaction and relocates the power button over to the left-hand earcup, making it more intuitive to use. The Quick Action button enables users to either quickly cycle through the Px8 S2’s noise-cancelling options — Off, Pass-Through and On — or seamlessly launch a Voice Assistant.
The Px8 S2 is future-proof because Bowers & Wilkins will roll out a series of over-the-air updates later this year, the first of which will include support for spatial audio listening. Bluetooth LE Audio, complete with Auracast broadcast functionality.
Pricing and Availability:
The Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2 headphones will be available from September 24, 2025, from bowerswilkins.com and select third-party retailers. The price will be $799 / £629 / €729.
Tech Specs:
Carbon Cone drive units with a dedicated headphone amplifier.
aptX Adaptive 24/96 and aptX Lossless compatible.
High-performance ANC.
Eight-microphones.
Bowers & Wilkins Music app.
Battery life: 30 hours with ANC on.
Burst charge: 15-minute fast recharge for seven hours of listening.
Spatial audio upgrade will be released later this year, with LE Audio to follow.
Finishes: Onyx Black and Warm Stone.
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