Reviews for Bowers & Wilkins P5 Mobile Headphones

First of all, the primary areas I had in mind when purchasing headphones was audio quality, design/build quality, ergonomics/portability and cost. I tested every headphone throughout my local Apple store as well as the one's Bestbuy had on display and in my opinion the P5's were the clear winner. The design/build quality is typical B&W. The looks are very elegant and will appeal to anyone that likes the finer things in life. The build quality is very good and should last for years as long as you maintain the fine leather. Ergonomically, I love the feel of the pads and the fit is very comfortable. The cord being on one side is a plus but I do think the controls could have been lowered about two inches but I'm sure I will get use to it. As for the sound, I find them to sound very warm with a good smooth bass. The mid's are warm as well as the highs but it could be a bit more detailed. Controls work great on the iPhone.

Overall, it will be hard to find a better headphone for $300 that will give you quality sound, comfort and the look of elegance. I had the P3's for a few days and realized for a price tag of $200 they just weren't cutting it that's why I stepped up to the P5's.

8 of 8 people found this useful

I loved these. The style is exceptional, and I'm not big on form. The sound is outstanding. They were just too uncomfortable. After two hours, they starated to hurt. After four hours, my jaws and teeth hurt. I had to return them. They are no so nice, that if I were a candidate for Lasik, the surgery would be worth it just to be able to wear these. I would have kept them longer to try to break them in, but my state had a tax holiday, forcing a 24 hour decision.

32 of 49 people found this useful

The headphones feel excellent on the head even after prolonged wearing. The sound is great even the base is sufficient. The cable could be better, but is removable for replacement. Wish they would put the the beats Dr. Dre cable in the box instead. Maximum Volume output is excellent. Passive Noise Cancelation in the Airplane was on par with my much more expensive Sennheiser PXC 450 active Noise Cancelation headset, which will go on the block. Prior to buying the P5's I compared at the Apple Store with the Beats by Dr. Dre Studio and as much as the base is better at the Studio, the overall sound is more balanced at the P5's.

11 of 14 people found this useful

this headphone are by far the best headphones i have used

however my brother took them away with him and managed to lose one of the magnetic ear pads so now they are unwearable.

i have searched the the internet up and down for a replacement pad and cant find one anywhere

well thats £250 down the drain

7 of 23 people found this useful

I love these headphones, the sound quality is great. I apparently do not have the most sophisticated hearing. From what I am reading, one reviewer wrote that the headphones are best for Classical, Jazz. I listen to everything from Pop, R&B, Country and most everything but heavy metal or death metal. From what I have heard from my P5's, I think the headphones can handle and provide great listening for anything I throw its way.

Yes, the price is steep but, I buy quality not quantity and if you are good at keeping things and not destroying them quickly, I would say spend the money for a quality listening experience. If you have the money and want to purchase quality headphones, I don't think you can go wrong with the P5's.

Here is where I want to submit my lack of providing a fifth star. My single gripe is that I caught the cord to many times on things and my control cord no longer works correctly. I have to push the one end of the cord in to get hearing in the right ear. This was my fault, nothing B&W did however, I can't find a control cord out there on the web for under $60 to save my life, to be honest, I haven't even found 1 pair even over $60. I did hear through the internet of a pair on B&W website for $60 (or close to) but, I wasn't able to link to the B&W page to look at it.

So my gripe is that if they (B&W) want to sell great headphones, make the availability of the replacement parts available to purchase as well. The best way I can think of is to do this through the Apple Store which I purchased the headphones through.

19 of 19 people found this useful

The sound quality is really good, seems to be a lot more balanced than the Beats and the tone through mid and high are much clearer. Construction is solid and the headphones have a cool retro vibe to them. It took me a couple of times to figure out how to sit them on my ears for best sound quality, but once I did the sound was great. Beats are awesome if you like real condensed solid bass type sound, but if you want to run through the sound spectrum these are a much better option. They're a bit expensive, that and the fact that the headphone cables a little flimsy in feel, stop me giving them a 5. But overall I rate these higher than Beats solo HD and Bose, both of which I've used.

9 of 14 people found this useful

Incredible sound, clarity, bass, comfort, timbre of voice and instruments. Comfortable, engaging, and seem to be really well constructed with quality materials. Great with acoustic and slower songs, but DO NOT ROCK! Oh well. Mellow out with these.

8 of 14 people found this useful

Not an audiophile, but appreciate good music so hearing every note and instrument is important to me. Just sent my Etymotic Research EF2's in for repair and ran to Apple Store after and picked these up. Wanted some comfortable cans when I don't want to shove the EF2's into my ear canal. I have a pair of Dre Beats Studio at home, waiting for a new buyer. I like to compare them to ball players, the Beats are like Lebron, the P5's are like Kobe. They're both good, but Kobe is a better all around player.

Beats:
Pros
- great headphones. Excellent with hip hop, pop, rock. Good with classical.
- deeper warmer, punchier sound
- looks
- Hardcase is excellent

Cons
- Some classical music not as well defined
- Poor build
- doesn't work without batteries, grrrr.
- remote mic poor sound and no volume control
- looks
- design will get dated quickly

P5
Pros
- Sound is amazing. You can actually hear vocals! All genres shine through.
- Built to last, feels like a heritage piece ala Dieter Rams.
- Timeless design, looks and feels more high end.
- Remote mic sounds much better and has volume control
- replaceable earcups
- low profile design, looks amazing on your head compared to the chunkiness of the Beats
- comfortable even after many hours, unlike the Beats.

Cons
- The case is embarrassing, looks like a hand purse you bring to weddings and events. Functionally poor, it's a softcase as opposed to the Beats hardcase.

Summary:
For those deciding between the two, if you're looking for a more punchy heavy sound, go with the Beats. If you're looking for a well balanced clearer sound, go with the P5's. Let me be clear, this does NOT mean the P5's lack bass. They just don't overwhelm. The breaking point for me with the Beats was the battery consumption. They're died so many times on the train, and unless you're always carrying spares with you, you're screwed.

The only reason I deducted a star is the poor excuse for a case. Seriously, you spend $300 and they couldn't include a hardcase like the Beats?

Give them a week to break in. They sound tight in the beginning, but loosen up as you use them more.

18 of 24 people found this useful

My headphones of choice for the past 3 years were the wildly popular Sennheiser 555. I decided i wanted to try something new. Something without an amp, smaller, closed headphone, and amazing sound!

I Because I didn't want to make a mistake and buy a pair of headphones online relying only through reading reviews, I decided to check out the Apple Store and do some demoing of headphones there. I ended up buying the Bose On Ear's. While I am aware of the Bose hate, I was impressed by the power that came out of such a small headphone. So i bought it . Needless to say, Bose lived up to their "live sound" signature, because no matter what i played was excessive with bass. It worked well on harder songs, or hip hop, but when i played a mellow song, the bass would drowned out everything. Sounded muddy. I returned it to buy the Bose Around Ear. While these definitely had more clarity, and very comfortable, but they had very little low end, very bright and hollow sounding. My 555's sounded better. Back to the drawing board..

Enter the Bowers and Wilkins P5'S

I came across these gorgeous headphones. The P5's are made out of aluminum, metal, and authentic sheep leather. These scream class. They can scream anything but do they scream good sound? Lets just say, when I listen to music with the P5's they transport me into a wooden cottage in the woods listening to music plugged into a turn table. They sound very warm, almost the warmth you would get from beautiful vintage analog.Sounds very full, not hollow. Its hard to put into words. I am definitely not an audiophile, the bass these provide are not the over exaggerated bass you would get from Dr Dre's Beats or the On Ear Bose but provide a very audible punchy bass. Authentic natural sound all around. These are the only headphones I have listened to that sounds like the headphones are adapting to the music, rather than the music adapting to the headphones. Meaning that the headphones generally stay out of the way, and you get to hear the music as is. Not with extra bass, or power boost or what ever else headphones usually EQ into its signature sound. Its hard to believe that when I play Nick Drake, these are the same headphones that just blasted me out of the room playing Meshuggah. They adapt that well. No amp needed on these, just plug and play! The sound isolation on the P5's are quite good, you don't hear much of the outside world. The built in iPod volume works as advertised. Because they are on the ear designed, they did take a bit of adjusting for me because my Senn's were around the ears. Because they are on ears they employ a closed design.

Rating these headphones I give them a solid 4 out of 5.

Why not a 5 out of 5? Well lets just say I will be using these for many years as my headphones of choice, they are seriously a work of modern art. I love the industrial design, I love the size, I love the warm sound, I love that they sound this good without any amplification. I am going to be a real and say there is more than likely better headphones out there, ones that sound better or do something specifically better than the P5's. Personally I do wish they were more comfortable, but I think I feel that way because I am not used to on the ear type of headphone. However when you look at the sound, size, design, and price the P5's are unmatched.. For that reason is why I rate them a very solid 4 out of 5.

33 of 37 people found this useful

These headphones have very good quality, but they are very expensive. I recommend these headphones for people who really want great sound without all of the wires.

3 of 11 people found this useful