Reviews for Bowers & Wilkins P5 Mobile Headphones

I've always been a fan of Bose headphones but these are much better. The sound of the Bose is boosted and manipulated making it sound artificial. With these, the sound has not been altered at all. Bass is perfect, not too little, not too much. Sound quality is impeccable. And compared to the Bose, the Bowers and Wilkins will last much longer since they are made of metal and leather compared to Bose's flimsy plastic and artificial leather. They are worth every penny.

Every time I walked into my local Apple shop I looked at these - I tried them on several times and each time I walked out empty handed, until recently when I plucked up the courage to buy them. I've never been a music enthusiast, hence my reluctance to spend £250 on a set of headphones, but I'm glad I did. I'm now hearing songs far more clearly - each word sounds perfectly crisp; and each note like it was played in front of you. Surface to say, I'm not listening to music far more now than ever before. I also use these to listen to movies on my iPad.

All in all, if you/re into music other than Drum 'n' Base (I believe that's what the kids call it), I think these would be a great buy. The other reason I would opt out if DnB was your cup of tea is simply because I have heard to can buy earphones with a greater range of base, which may suit this genre of music. However, if you're into general music, like me - these are perfect!

FYI: I also enjoy listening to "BIG BAND" names, such as Sinatra through to the more recent Bubble and I have had a wonderful experience, hearing each instrument crisply - including those that give the big BASE sounds!

I previously listened to my music through Beats Pro cans (mainly for the extra bass) but I wanted smaller cans as my main use for headphones are for my commute to work. I was initially apprehensive about buying these as I knew they were not going to be as bass-heavy as the Beats, and I already had it in my head that I would be disappointed with the sound signature of the P5's.

I have had the P5's for 6 weeks and I can assure you that the sound that comes out of these are better than Beats in every aspect. The bass does not rumble like the Beats, but if bass is your 'thing' I can assure you that these still have plenty of bass and will not disappoint.

To compare, when paired with an iPhone, Beats Pro's are like a car stereo with a sub woofer in the boot, bass is nearly always over emphasised. The P5's on the other hand are like good quality floor standing speakers in your lounge paired with a good sound system, the bass always ready to kick in when the song requires it. And the bass does not interfere with the mids and highs.

Another worry I had before purchasing these was the volume output, as I was used to the additional output from the powerful (un-amped) 16ohm Beats. These aren't quite as loud as the Pro's (which go way louder than most other un-amped headphones out there) but the P5's are definitely loud enough for most, and you won't need your iPhone on full volume, like I thought I would prior to using these.

Comfort wise, there is some pressure in the super-aural design as the P5's clamp to your head, but they don't clamp anywhere near as much as the Pro's, and hopefully after time the clamping may loosen a little. There is little to no sound leakage, and the P5's seem to keep noise out very well (you can feel outside noise cut-out as soon as you place these over your ears before even turning your music on!).

The only niggle I found was when the P5's are paired with my MacBook Pro, they sound slightly lacking in both volume and oomph than when paired with my iPhone. I guess the P5's were engineered to work fundamentally with Apple's portable products; which leads me to assume that people who give these a bad review are not using Apple's portable devices to power their P5's... strange, as you would have thought the MBP sound chip would easily beat any Apple portable device, this does not seem the case with the P5's though (my Beats are way louder on the MBP than through the iPhone).

To conclude, if you have Beats (any of the line-up!) and are looking for something new and smaller, or if you are in the market and cannot decide between Beats cans and the P5's, do not think twice, BUY THESE and thank me later (unless you plan to use with a non Apple portable device then I would recommend auditioning these with your device in a store before parting with your cash).

If you're considering an upgrade well worth a try.

I was told by my ear doctor not to wear in ear headphones as they kept giving ear infections so decided to test these. I wasn't that confident that they would be that good. I own a great pair of Grado headphones already but didn't fancy carrying a pre amp around with me everywhere!!!

Boy was I suprised. Sound fantastic on my stereo, sound very respectable without EQ, but remember no matter how good the headphones if you're going to use with iPod or iPhone as I do, that an MP3 will always sound like an MP3 don't expect the earth.

I'm a sound engineer at a well known recording studio so I do know sound, and these sound really good not 5 star but a genuinely honest 4 stars. You have to raise the cost 10 fold to get 5 star.

One more thing. Don't buy the dre headphones unless you're after a designer label, they're bass heavy flimsy toys and are not even in the same league as these cans.

Very very good, even wife thinks they're great and she knows everything!!!

Headphones are personal TRY before you BUY.

I originally purchased the bose quietcomfort 3 headphones which were £300, I wasn't impressed with them from the off. The noise cancellation function works brilliantly to cut out background noise however when listening in silence you can hear a feint buzz which is incredibly annoying. The material lining the cups isn't leather either so I would expect the lifetime to be significantly reduced and to top it off the sound reproduction isn't that good.

After returning the bose headphones I went to the apple store in meadowhall (Sheffield) and purchased the p5's and felt the quality of the product matched the price tag. The aluminium and leather construction makes the headphones feel altogether more durable and aesthetically pleasing. The sound reproduction is second to none and is considerably better than the bose which I feel were a letdown over the mid-range with increased bass to attempt to compensate. The high notes are excellent and the case which is supplied with the headphones is a thing of beauty.

For those of you looking for a quality pair of headphones for under £300 and after sampling a number of products on the market for that price range myself, I have no hesitation in recommending the bowers & wilkins p5's. One of the best products I have ever owned.

Ny Bose noise cancelling fell apart after three years they are now my emergency computer pair, bought the B&W P5's based on write ups only..... and they are sublime. Coupled with the Fiio e11 head phone amplifier a completely new level of sound quality is now available to me. It's astounding how good they are and as far as noise cancelling is concerned the best approach I have found is get a good pair of in ear HP's for the plane......or if your are a road digger stick with the ear plugs.

Really pleased with them... thumbs up from me!

So pleased with these.

To take them a level up, with a big kick up in the low range, consider a portable amp like a FiiO E11. With the optional iPad/iPhone dock connecter the sound is just wonderful.

Originally had the Beats by Dre Solo HDs and canont explain how happy I am upgraded -they were so flimsy and they weren't durable at all - not to mention the sound quality ended up going all fuzzy and crackly, in short they just DIDNT LAST.

The P5s on the other hand, wow. They are not only beautiful with the leather and aluminium design that is miles ahead of any other headphones i've seen in terms of class, but the sound wuality is perfect. The bass is really defined and you can really hear it but it doesnt shake and make that grungy vibrating noise in your ear. No to mention they are so comfortable! The leather is padded and so soft on the ears so you can wear them for hours on end (as I do) and still be totally comfortable.

They're a little on the pricey side for headphones but they're so amazing that they're worth it! If you haven't gottem, gettem!