Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 are refined, full-featured, and highly engaging ANC headphones

Anyone who’s ever watched a James Bond flick knows that you can count on the Brits to come up with gadgets that are both luxurious and ready for action! Hardware that screams, “We’ve paid attention to detail, fit, and finish.” It is in that beauty that the functionality is often hidden, delivering explosive results.

Bowers & Wilkins' latest Px7 S3 over-ear headphones could have been named the “007.”. Everything about them feels premium, like Bond’s Aston Martin Vanquish. They wear like one of his bespoke suits, comfortable over long hours, while looking every bit the part.

The Px7 also boast versatile functionality, like a watch or pen that Bond’s weapons/gadgets guy, Q, would give you. Most importantly, sonically, they’re as engrossing and smooth as Adele’s delivery of the “Skyfall” theme song.

As they say, “the Bond despot is in the details,” so let’s break down what makes Bowers & Wilkins' latest generation of the 007 Px7 series a welcome and worthy addition to your options for best-in-class noise-canceling over-ear headphones.

Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3: Price and availability

The Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 was launched in April 2025 outside the US and Latin America. On May 10th, 2025, Bowers & Wilkins announced U.S. availability, beginning with pre-orders. It's widely available now for $449 in Anthracite Black, Indigo Blue, and Canvas White.

Note that the previous model took five months post-launch to see a $50 price drop on Amazon. So, if $449 is just beyond your budget, wait a moment, and you may find it around $400.

Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3: What I like

Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 are a revelation! Most recently, one of my favorite headphone cases was for the Noble Focus Apollo, partially because I like how they created the pocket to stow cables. I’m no fan of those mesh pockets in the lids of some products.

The Px7 S3 improves on that by offering a smaller case with cable storage featuring a magnetic lid that keeps things looking nice and tidy inside. My only complaint is the lack of a lanyard attachment.

Opening the case and getting to the goods inside, you’re greeted by two USB-C cables. One terminates in a 3.5mm male plug for analog audio, and the other is USB-C for 24/96kHz high-resolution digital audio. For the first time, the Px7 S3 features a built-in headphone amplifier/DAC that powers the connectivity. More on that in a bit.

Bowers & Wilkins sent me the Indigo Blue pair for this review, and they are gorgeous! From the metal backs of the cans and the hinges to the textured, woven fabrics on the cans and the headband to the vegan leather earcups wrapped around delightfully soft memory foam, the Px7 S3 is very well-appointed.

Thankfully, Bowers & Wilkins put as much effort into building mechanics and ergonomics. On the head for hours, the clamping force shouldn’t give you headaches. The hinges slide in and out of the headband with reassuring friction and swivel to fit your ears without feeling wobbly.

Power and Quick Mode buttons.(Image credit: @tshakaarmstrong)

Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 with playback controls.(Image credit: @tshakaarmstrong)

Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 closed case.(Image credit: @tshakaarmstrong)

Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 with bundled cables.(Image credit: @tshakaarmstrong)

Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 with case magnetic lid for accessories.(Image credit: @tshakaarmstrong)

One aspect of the build quality that I love here is the power button. With many competitors, you have to press and hold the power button for a moment, guessing whether it has been activated properly. The Px7 S3’s slide switch never leaves any doubt about whether you’ve switched the headphones on or off or placed them into pairing mode.

I have the Quick Mode button set to cycle through ANC modes, but you can also set it to invoke your voice assistant. That’s on the left can.

The right can is where you’ll find the volume buttons, with the play/pause button between them, and they all have excellent tactility.

Under the luminescence of a diverse array of musical genres, the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 were beautiful every time. My cup of tea, for sure!

The Px7 S3 aren't tuned for reference audio, but instead provide a highly engaging and entertaining listening platform, with the DAC/amps powering robust audio, matched to the angled 40mm biocellulose drivers. Those components have been completely redesigned, with all but one element being new to the Px7 S3—a near redesign from its predecessor, the Px7 S2e.

I listened to audio in Bluetooth mode, utilizing high-resolution aptX with a Google Pixel 9. I also tested sound quality via wired connections to the same phone as well as the excellent Questyle M18i DAC and Hidizs’ AP80 PRO-X DAP (pictured above). Most surprisingly, the sound quality directly from the phone was as good as it was being pumped through the M18i. That speaks volumes about the quality of the DSP and amp/DAC in the Px7 S3.

All of the files I listened to were either high-resolution Tidal streams or local DSF and FLAC files. One of my favorite DSF tracks for testing nuance in the mids is Michael Jackson’s “Wanna Be Starting Somethin’,” and Bowers & Wilkins does not disappoint! A few seconds into the song's intro, Jackson’s backing vocals come into the mix, and lesser headphones don’t isolate them well enough to help them stand out from the whole mix as the Px7 S3 does.

Listening to that track also gave me a glimpse into the weight of the bass representation on offer here. It’s weighty without dropping slop all over the other frequencies.

Dubstep, Hip-Hop, Jazz tracks, and anything with deep bass or driving basslines were thoroughly engaging and immersive. Much like the Hulk but with David Banner’s psyche at the helm of the green monster, the lows have the ability to smash, but under the Px7 S3’s authority, they are a model for power under control.

Skrillex’s “Mumbai Power” and The Roots’ “Do You Want More?!?!!” both have deeply resonant sub-bass, which is produced with delicious depth in these cans without muddying the mids and highs in those tracks. Booming 808s and dark sub-bass are both tightly controlled, with no bleed. This is evident as you listen to the bagpipes in the mix on the Roots’ track.

Overall, the treble is smooth, not analytical, which makes listening to Art Blakey’s “Moanin’” more pleasurable. There are some shrill horns in that mix, which can get a bit fatiguing when I listen via Sennheiser’s god-tier IE900 IEMs. This also makes listening to some metal tracks a smoother experience as you get into wailing electric guitar riffs.

System of a Down’s meticulously mastered albums are a joy to listen to with the Px7 S3. You truly get the texture and grit, the detail in Daron Malakian's fingering frets, with strong vocal representation as lead singer Serj Tankian, goes from softer singing to more guttural speed metal-style vocal delivery.

With the treble being on the smoother side, you get a more intimate soundstage that isn’t as airy or as deep as others. It’s still there, and it’s solid, and some may prefer it over larger presentations.

When it comes to nuance, Bowers & Wilkins' in-house developed digital signal processing does a fantastic job of maintaining the sound's robustness at lower listening levels, just as it does when the volume is cranked.

(Image credit: @tshakaarmstrong)

(Image credit: @tshakaarmstrong)

(Image credit: @tshakaarmstrong)

(Image credit: @tshakaarmstrong)

By the way, does anyone call anyone anymore? I'm not sure, but folks definitely do Zoom and other video chats, so it's good to know that the microphones on the Px7 S3s do a great job of ensuring your voice is clear while eliminating a good amount of background noise.

Bowers & Wilkins claims you'll get 30 hours out of these cans with ANC on, and so far, I've been on track to match that. Of course, you can control ANC directly on the headphones, but the app also allows you to do that, and this year, you even get expanded sound customization in the form of a five-band EQ, up from three in the previous generation.

The app is fairly basic, but that's okay because you can do a lot with the headphones themselves, so you don't actually need much in the app. The default sound is so good that I didn't find additional tuning necessary and was just fine with what Bowers & Wilkins labels "True Sound," which is touted as tuning that allows you to listen to recordings just as the artists intended.

Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3: What could use improvement

ANC does a solid job when it comes to low-frequency sounds, but you will have some high-frequency bleed. Noise from cars, cafe silverware clanking, and even voices in the upper register, but that’s with the sound off. With your music playing, much of that ambient noise won’t be noticeable, thanks to auditory masking.

Officially, there is currently no support for spatial audio, which, in addition to Bluetooth LE, will be added later this year. However, there is a “spatial audio” toggle in the Bluetooth settings on my Google Pixel 9. Why mention this? There is some barely noticeable latency when watching videos, and deactivating this toggle helps alleviate the issue.

I also noticed that some films lose a bit of mid-frequency impact when it’s activated, which is apparent in “Thor: Ragnarok” because Thor’s hammer loses some of its punch. Deactivating HD Audio also helps with latency, which I don’t think most viewers would notice anyway. I have decades of experience in film and TV editing, so I’m prone to noticing extremely subtle sync issues between picture and sound.

Since the headphones don’t launch with Bluetooth LE, that also includes support for Auracast. That’s a pretty big deal, so I’d recommend checking out our explainer on how Auracast will help you.

Lastly, there’s only one potential issue with fit, and that’s the earcups. They were fine for me, but they were a very cozy fit around my ears. Anyone with larger ears may find those earcups a bit constricting.

Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3: Competition

I was somewhat compelled to title this review: The best alternative to Sony or Bose. That would be selling Bowers & Wilkins’ Px7 S3 short. Yes, you’ll get better noise cancellation out of the venerable Sony WH-1000XM6 and Bose QuietComfort Ultra, but ANC tells only a small part of the story. There is so much more to sound, and we all have different use cases and priorities.

Although it has been on the market since 2022, Sennheiser’s Momentum 4 remains a solid pair of over-ear headphones with good ANC. They have a more neutral balance than the Px7 S3, so if having very warm lows coloring your sound isn't your thing, you might consider Sennheiser’s Momentum 4 as an alternative option among Bowers & Wilkins' offering and others.

Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3: Should you buy them?

You should buy the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 if...

• Sound quality is priority #1
• You don’t want to buy a DAC
• You want HiRes Bluetooth and wired audio support

You shouldn't buy the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 if...

• ANC is priority #1
• You need something more compact

The 007 Px7 S3 from Bowers & Wilkins is a gorgeous pair of Bluetooth, noise-canceling headphones that rival the best ANC headphones on the market today. They come with some tricks that others don't, such as USB-C audio, and their design language stands out in a sea of over-ears that look alike.

They won't take home any trophies for active noise cancellation. Still, you'll feel like you've won when you're immersed in the dynamic range of sound and have the versatility of connecting to whatever source you want for music or movies.