مراجعة Bowers & Wilkins Px8: الصوت المذهل يأتي بتكلفة
تبدو سماعات الرأس التي تبلغ قيمتها 699 دولارًا مذهلة ، ولكن هناك نقص في المجالات الأخرى.
عندما أعلنت Bowers & Wilkins عن سماعاتها Px7 S2 العام الماضي ، أوضحت الشركة أن لديها بالفعل عرضًا أكثر تميزًا جاهزًا تقريبًا في أوقات الذروة. بعد ثلاثة أشهر ، وصلت Px8 . في حين أن Px8 يحمل مظهرًا مشابهًا لسابقه ، فقد صنعت Bowers & Wilkins هذه المجموعة من سماعات الرأس من مواد أكثر فخامة وتمكنت من تحسين جودة الصوت الرائعة بالفعل. ومع ذلك ، تأتي الترقيات بسعر باهظ: سعر 699 دولارًا × 8 هو 300 دولارًا أكثر من Px7 S2.
تصميم
في لمحة ، يبدو Px8 متطابقًا تقريبًا مع Px7 S2 Bowers & Wilkins الذي ظهر لأول مرة العام الماضي. على الرغم من الفحص الدقيق ، أصبحت الاختلافات واضحة. يتميز Px8 بجماليات أكثر دقة ، حيث يحل الجلد الناعم محل القماش المنسوج على الجزء الخارجي من عصابة الرأس وأكواب الأذن. أصبحت الألواح الخارجية لأغطية الأذن ، حيث توجد العلامة النصية للشركة ، الآن معدنية بدلاً من البلاستيك. كما أن الأذرع وشريط تمرير عقال مصنوعان من الألمنيوم المصبوب ، مما يكمل التصميم الأكثر تميزًا.
The Px8 weighs 13 grams more than the Px7 S2, which is probably (at least partially) due to the change in materials. Memory foam ear cushions keep things comfy, but you can feel the extra load if you’re doing a side-by-side comparison. For that reason, I give a slight edge to the S2 if you need something to wear for several hours at a time. After a Vegas to Atlanta flight this month, I was starting to feel the added weight – and also the rings around the ear cups.
On-board controls are still physical buttons on the Px8, and they’re in the exact same locations as the Px7 S2. On the right, a power/pairing slider sits above a trio of buttons for volume, playback and calls. Over on the left side, a single control toggles between active noise cancellation (ANC), transparency mode and both off. While some companies have nixed buttons in favor of touch panels, those aren’t always reliable, but what Bowers & Wilkins offers here certainly gets the job done.
Software
The Bowers & Wilkins Music app gives you access to all of the settings on the Px8, just like it has for the company’s previous headphones. On the main screen, there’s up-to-date battery status with noise mode selection just below (ANC, Pass-through and off). You can also manage connections here as the Px8 supports multipoint Bluetooth with two devices. Lastly, the company has put media controls (if you link compatible services), tone settings, a quick start guide and product support right on that first panel.
Once you dive deeper into the settings section, battery life percentage and noise mode (or Environmental Control as the company calls it) are prominently displayed once more. Treble and bass sliders are there as well, allowing for very basic EQ tweaks. The company hasn’t provided any presets here, so you’re left with those two variables to adjust. The ability to manage connections is repeated here as well, just above the option to reassign the Quick Action button on the left earcup. By default, it cycles between sound modes. However, if you prefer, you can make it summon a voice assistant.
The last two notable items have to do with power management. First, Bowers & WIlkins offers an automatic standby feature that activates a low power state after 15 minutes of inactivity. You can switch it off if you’d like. The second tool is the ability to activate or disable the wear sensor for automatic pausing. The company says this should pause music when you lift one earcup, but that isn’t always the case. Bowers & Wilkins gives you three sensitivity options to help fine-tune it (low, medium and high), but none of those remedy the fact that the Px8 – like the Px7 S2 – is slow to pause when you lift an ear cup or take them off your head. This could still use some work so that at the very least audio resumes quicker after a break.