P5 Wireless are Bowers & Wilkins first Bluetooth headphones, and offer all the power, precision and true Hi-Fi sound of the renowned P5 Series 2 headphones, the same luxurious materials and solid build quality, but with the added advantage of high-quality wireless streaming.
The P5 Wireless headphones leverage the same advanced Bluetooth aptX technology that helped deliver fantastic audio for the Bowers & Wilkins T7 portable speaker, now for truly mobile users. Simple to connect to a compatible device, the P5 Wireless headphones also feature intuitive controls that allow users to not only play/pause and skip music but also answer calls. They feature two microphones, which help deliver great telephony audio in addition to music playback.
The two microphones and Clear Voice Capture technology (CVC 2) algorithms combined improve performance compared to a single microphone. One microphone focuses on the voice that is to
be heard, while the additional microphone monitors the environmental noise. This allows the microphone to focus and reproduce the voice to be heard while reducing background noise.
The parts that house the microphone have been designed in a way that reduces wind noise.
According to Bowers & Wilkins, most Bluetooth headphones use an amplifier that is part of the Bluetooth electronics module. The P5 Wireless uses a separate amplifier section selected and tuned to ensure an open natural sound. The digital signal processor has been developed to produce a linear listening experience independent of source device or volume level.
The P5 Wireless uses Bluetooth v3.0 and apart from the AAC and SBC standard transmission modes, also support aptX audio coding technology for high-resolution streaming. It features optimized electronics and battery, allowing it to achieve 17 hours at normal listening levels. The rechargeable lithium battery can be charged from a computer, using the supplied USB cable. If a cable is preferred to wireless listening, one is supplied in the box along with a padded carry case.
The famous British company has also engineered the exclusive driver used in the P5 Wireless headphones, adopting some of the techniques successfully implemented in the P7 driver, creating a new kind of headphone driver that Bowers & Wilkins says works more like the drive unit in a Hi-Fi speaker. Which means a full-range drive unit with a more precise, controlled movement and better sound quality. The driver is a 40mm (1.2 in) unit with a Nylon damped diaphragm and copper-clad aluminum wire (CCAW) coil, extended frequency response, 22 ohms impedance and 109dB/V sensitivity at 1kHz.
Like, the P5 Series 2 headphones, the P5 Wireless also use a patented new chassis design with the speaker plate component carefully designed to include acoustic ventings, optimized to enhance bass performance and add openness to the sound. Additionally, the location of the speaker within the plate has been adjusted to ensure optimum position against the ear.
Bowers & Wilkins also designed the new wireless headphones to sound the same when used wirelessly or with a cable. To achieve this the P5 Wireless was tuned passively, using mechanical and acoustic techniques, with no additional equalization from the electronics when in wireless mode. Retuning the acoustic damping foam and careful selecting the resistive mesh on the speaker chassis has compensated for the loss in acoustic volume, the company explains.
Because of the volume occupied by the electronics and battery, the internal volume and structure of the left and right sides have been designed to be identical. This also helps to achieve an identical frequency response between sides, while the P5 Wireless total weight is just 213g. Not bad at all considering the quality leather and aluminium materials are as used in the P5 Series 2. The new P5 Wireless is available July 2015, priced at 399.99 / £329.99 / €399.99.
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