Bowers & Wilkins Px8 (Black) review

The Bowers & Wilkins Px8 remains listed as a new over-ear noise-cancelling headphone on the manufacturer's U.S. site. Its published specification puts it in a different place from the lighter Px7 S3 and the newer Px8 S2: a carbon-cone driver, six microphones, Bluetooth 5.2 and a stated 320 g weight. This assessment is based on current U.S. product information and the model manual, not a listening test. No sample was worn, measured or independently tested.

What the specification establishes

The product page describes a 40 mm carbon-cone driver, adaptive noise cancellation, six microphones and Bluetooth support for aptX Adaptive, aptX HD, aptX, AAC and SBC. The headset can play wirelessly for up to 30 hours with ANC enabled according to Bowers & Wilkins. That figure is a manufacturer maximum in a stated wireless mode; it is not evidence that a particular trip or volume level will fit inside it, nor is it a rating for cable listening.

The Px8 is 320 g in the listed specification. That makes it 20 g heavier than the Px7 S3 and 10 g heavier than the Px8 S2 on their respective product pages. Weight alone does not predict pressure, clamp, seal or long-session comfort. Anyone sensitive to those factors should use an applicable return window rather than infer fit from a materials list or a photo.

Connected to two devices, one active source

The manual documents two simultaneous Bluetooth connections. It describes playback from one device at a time, with switching when playback is started on the other; a call can interrupt or pause music. In other words, multipoint means device handoff, not a mixer that plays a laptop and phone together. A paired-device list in the app should also not be confused with two active audio streams.

Codec names are conditional on the source. The computer or phone must support a codec and the connection must negotiate it; the product's inclusion of aptX does not make an unsupported codec available on every host. AAC and SBC provide alternative routes, but no codec list is a promise of identical sound across devices or network conditions.

ANC and the 30-hour rating

ANC is part of the documented product feature set, but the manufacturer's description does not tell us how the Px8 will attenuate a specific aircraft, office or traffic noise. Seal, fit, noise spectrum and listener perception matter. The stated 30 hours applies to continuous wireless media streaming with noise cancellation enabled at average playback volume in the manual's qualifying conditions. It says duration can vary with Bluetooth, ANC and Ambient Pass-Through use. This review does not translate the maximum into a guaranteed daily runtime.

The manual describes quick charging as well, but charge time and remaining playtime depend on battery state and use. There is no separate ANC-on battery rating for the analog cable or USB audio route in the sources reviewed here.

Wired listening needs power

The package list includes a USB-C-to-3.5 mm audio cable and a USB-C charging/data cable. For analog listening, the manual says the headset needs sufficient charge and must be switched on. Treat this as an active headset connected to an analog source, not as a passive battery-empty fallback. Check that the source has a 3.5 mm output; airplane seat connections and some computers may need an additional adapter.

USB audio is a separate digital route: the manual explains using the headphones as a computer sound output device. The reviewed material does not establish a specific ANC runtime on USB or confirm the behavior of ANC during every cable scenario, so the wireless ANC rating should not be carried across to those paths.

Finish and purchase checks

The current U.S. selector names Black, Royal Burgundy, Tan and Dark Forest, while its technical-details finish row lists Black Leather, Tan & Grey Leather, Galvanic Grey & Papaya Orange, and Dark Forest. Individual U.S. finish selections now return exact Px8 item IDs: Black 300494-01-00-308, Royal Burgundy 300494-52-00-308, Tan 300494-38-00-308, and Dark Forest 300494-09-00-308. Each selection also returns a matching official product image. The alternate names in the technical row are not reconciled to the selector labels here, and no finish-specific functional difference is documented or inferred.

Before ordering, verify the generation (original Px8, not Px8 S2), chosen finish and matching item number, included cables, seller's condition and return terms. If two-device handoff is important, note that only one source plays at a time. If you need cable listening with the headset fully discharged, these documents do not support that use. Consult the current U.S. Px8 page and its official manual for the model-specific wording.