If you are fine embracing your cyber-nerd image, these Bower & Wilkins headphones are made for you
Bower & Wilkins PX5 headphones
£269.99, bowerswilkins.com
Forget ginger people or middle-aged men – people wearing large headphones are one of the last minorities it’s OK to abuse.
‘Cyberman!’ ‘Nerd!’ – I’ve heard it all. Mostly from my darling wife.
But I have to admit that when I see my vast cans in the mirror, I occasionally find myself agreeing.
Bower & Wilkins PX5 headphones. They’re less bulky than over-ear headphones, and offer noise-cancelling and Bluetooth without making you look like one of Doctor Who’s cyborg foes
So there’s definitely a market for the new Bowers & Wilkins PX5 on-ear headsets, which sit on top of your ears rather than swamping them in leather.
They’re less bulky than over-ear headphones, and offer noise-cancelling and Bluetooth without making you look like one of Doctor Who’s cyborg foes.
Like most of these wireless headsets, they’re expensive, but they feel pleasingly cosy, with a bit less clamping on your head than previous offerings from Bowers & Wilkins. They’re far lighter, with a carbon-fibre frame, rather than metal. Importantly, they still don’t look like ‘young people’ headphones. At least, this is important to me.
Another important result of the ‘on-ear’ redesign is that your ears are a lot less sweaty.
Like most of these wireless headsets, they’re expensive, but they feel pleasingly cosy, with a bit less clamping on your head than previous offerings from Bowers & Wilkins
They sound splendid, and are particularly flattering to ‘real’ music played on actual instruments – although the noise-cancelling is on the subtle side. I had a couple of moments where I could hear the outside world, which, as a card-carrying headphone addict, I found distinctly alarming.
You can, of course, get cheaper Bluetooth cans. But who wants to look like a cyborg – or worse, a trendy vicar type who is trying to rock ‘cool’ cans in middle age?