Design and features:This model has controls for volume, music player transport, call connect/disconnect, noise cancellation/ambient sound monitoring on/off, and digital voice assistant activation. It has an automatic pause feature - audio pauses when the headphones are taken off of ears and resumes when they are put back. It supports unspecified digital voice assistants when used with Bluetooth connected devices that have those features. The free Bowers and Wilkins Music app for Android and Apple mobile devices adds additional features.
Sound quality:We found the Px7 S2e delivers excellent active noise reduction and sound quality that falls in the very good range - it reproduces music and voice very well although it does have some noticeable sonic quirks. The overall sound can best be summarized as bit bassy, grainy, and hazy. With the noise cancelling mode engaged and the bass and treble controls set to "0" in the Bowers & Wilkins Music app (the as received settings) the bass (as in bass drums, bass guitars, stand-up bass, etc.) has good impact and goes deep but is a bit prominent and boomy. The midrange (voices, guitars, horns, etc.) is even, but a bit grainy, etched (a bit more sharply outlined then it should be), hazy, and congested (think sonic traffic jam). The treble (cymbals, the upper range of violins, etc.) is extended, but is a touch prominent and smeared. The sound also has a decent sense of liveliness and is somewhat open--sound-wise it almost seems like you don't have anything covering your ears. It also does a decent job of recovering the room ambience of recordings. The bass and treble settings of the app have a noticeable effect on the sound of these headphones. The sound quality was the same sound as the Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S2 except the treble was a touch less prominent and smeared. This model provides excellent noise reduction across the entire frequency range with the low frequencies reduced the most. A faint rushing sound is audible when music is not present at that frequency to mask it.
Comfort and Fit:We found that these headphones produce a sense of moderate pressure around the ears.
As typical of over-ear models the ear pads might feel hot and/or sticky after prolonged use.
Large
Users with larger heads might find that the headband does not have enough adjustment range to allow the ear cups to rest properly over the ears and/or that the headband presses uncomfortably on the top of the head.
Users with larger ears might find that the over-the-ear fit of the ear pads feel cramped, or that the ear pads sit on, rather than around their ears; in that case the less-than-ideal fit around the ears might interfere with the ear pad seal and reduce the bass response and/or noise reduction capabilities of the headphone.
Stability
Some users may find that when they lean far forward the headphones feel unstable and shift forward.
Other noise
When wearing this model while walking the muffled vibrations from each foot step can be heard slightly through the headphones regardless of whether or not the headphones are in noise cancelling mode.
When the audio cord is used the sound of it rubbing on clothing may be faintly heard through the headphones.
This model has the same form factor and fit as the Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S2.
