Bowers & Wilkins P5 Wireless

[AtrafCreez]

 Sorry, it seems that nowhere on the forum (yet) is there any information on the NEW "Bowers & Wilkins  wireless P7".
There has been out a wireless B&W P5, but the P7 seems also to have a larger earcup and hopefully better audio.
I have just read about them :
http://www.cnet.com/news/bowers-wilkins-p7-headphones-go-wireless-as-price-of-older-models-drops/#ftag=CAD590a51e
http://www.trustedreviews.com/bowers-wilkins-p7-wireless-review
    Below the reader must beware.  The B&W review is posted in aa British typical "Yellow" magazine  with the top stories  things like
"Man swallows live turkey whole" etc.
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/tech/news/542319/Bowers-and-Wilkins-P7-Wireless-Apple-iPhone-7 

 

 

[audiowatts]

B&W dropped these down $100 (US) in price recently which is a great deal!
 
However, does anyone know if this is because an updated model is on the way soon?

 

[SonRK]

$230 for a Recertified (refurbished) on Amazon.

$170 off from just a year ago! I picked up a pair of P7s for day to day stuff, but I contacted support and they said they would cover all warranty issues for 2 years on the P5 Wireless Recertified. 

I specifically asked for Sweat Damage, and they said it would fall under Warranty.

Just picked up a pair of P5s when I'm out cycling and light exercising!

 

[Maxsquared]

Has anyone tried to clear the device memory? I tried this, the blue light just keeps flashing and not doing anything, how long does it take?

 

[sojer2005]

And also battery can't be fully charged to 100 percents. (IPhone battery indicator always show 90 percents.) is that a major flaw about this product? Anyone could give me piece of advise or solutions?

Hi ,
I have the same issue, iPhone 6s battery widget shows 100 % and just one second after removing USB charging cable , it drops to 90 %. Is it normal ? Please advise.

 

[ef2000]

Hi.. So far, it seems like the firmware of the headphone isn't available for any update. Hence, battery life is alright since usage till now. And, I had enquired from B&W before regarding the battery indicating issue and they claimed they are also facing the same issue with their own. For your information. Thank you.

 

[Julienstanford]

Is there anyway to distinguish the wired versus unwired versions other than looking at buttons on the side?

I’m looking P5’s on eBay and I don’t want to accidentally by the wireless version. As some sellers don’t always know what they have and will label things incorrectly.

 

[rotor2k]

I just bought some P5 Wireless, and although the form factor is a dream (small, over-ear) and they seem reasonably comfortable for an hour+, they have two problems that I can't believe don't get mentioned:

- They have a constant background buzzing in the right ear. Very minor, kind of like a cat purring, but nearly always there. Also there are "bump" sounds when it transitions to a minor standby mode after a few seconds of silence. So e.g. you're watching a YouTube video, the video ends, now you're hearing the buzzing, and then a few seconds later (30 seconds?) you get a bumpity-bump sound while it transitions to standby. Still buzzing. This buzzing completely ruins these headphones for me! How is nobody complaining about this? I contacted B&W tech support and they acknowledge that this noise exists.
- Even though the specs say these headphones support AAC, I have yet to be able to get them working with AAC on my Mac and my iPad. In both cases it only wants to use SBC. I have been able to force it to use AptX on the Mac (this is not possible on the iPad), but it is extremely sensitive to signal quality, and constantly drops out. Given AAC is vastly superior to SBC, again, how has nobody picked up on this?

Signed, a curious P5 Wireless non-believer.

 

[lowrider007]

I just recently bought a pair of these but the connection is awful, if I have my phone in my left trouser pocket I get audio cut outs all the time! Really for the price of these you would think they could keep a connection from your waist to your head, I upgraded from a pair of AKG Y50 BT and they have amazing BT connection, doesn't matter where I place my phone, in fact I can just leave my phone in my office and walk around my entire apartment no cut outs, it's a real shame as I love the sound of them.

 

[fbny71]

I have a pair of B&W P5W's and I've loved the sound, the build, the styling, I just couldn't bear to wear them for more than an hour and a half, maybe two before the clamping felt too uncomfortable. I don't (think) I have a very large head and I've tried leaving them clamped around a stack of books several times for days at a time but still didn't really find them any more comfortable than before. Huge shame because I don't use them as often as I would because of that.

I'm about to try something new with them. These replacement ear pads, $25, free shipping from China off eBay seem to turn the P5W's into something more resembling over ear!? The listing says that the P5 and P5 S2 ear pads are a different fit from each other and I assume that the P5W's being based on the P5 S2's would use those ear pads but obviously I'm waiting on the seller to answer before buying. It's only $25 but no returns so...

 

[fbny71]

It seems I answered my own question...

B&W website sells replacement ear pads: http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/Shop/accessories/P5-Series-2-ear-pad.html

"Suitable for P5 Series 2 and P5 Wireless, not the original P5."

I'm going to order the Chinese replacement pads and hope they make my P5W's more comfortable so I can use them more often. Will report when I've tried them out.

 

[fbny71]

I received the Chinese replacement ear pads. The stitching is not as neat as it is on the photos but the pads should hold up. The material does feel close enough to the leather on the original pads. The reason I got them though was comfort and I’m that regard they deliver...at least in my case they’re infinitely more comfortable.

I’ll follow up with some pics of the pads side by side with the originals for anyone thinking of getting them.

 

[fbny71]

A couple of photos for anyone interested in these replacement pads.

 

[fbny71]

A couple more:

 

[fbny71]

These closeups are so you can see the wonky stitching. Appears to be structurally sound but not as pretty as the ones in the pictures: