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  1. Home
  2. Headphones
  3. Compare
  1. Table of Contents
  2. Top
  3. Main Differences
  4. Design
    1. Style
    2. Comfort
    3. Controls
    4. Breathability
    5. Portability
    6. Case
    7. Build Quality
    8. Stability
    9. Headshots 1
    10. Headshots 2
    11. Top
    12. In The Box
  5. Sound
    1. Sound Profile
    2. Frequency Response Consistency
    3. Raw Frequency Response
    4. Bass Profile: Target Compliance
    5. Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance
    6. Treble Profile: Target Compliance
    7. Peaks/Dips
    8. Imaging
    9. Passive Soundstage
    10. Virtual Soundstage
    11. Weighted Harmonic Distortion
    12. Test Settings
  6. Isolation
    1. Noise Isolation - Full Range
    2. Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios
    3. Noise Isolation - Voice Handling
    4. ANC Wind Handling
    5. Leakage
  7. Microphone
    1. Microphone Style
    2. Recording Quality
    3. Noise Handling
  8. Active Features
    1. Battery
    2. App Support
  9. Connectivity
    1. Wired Connection
    2. Bluetooth Connection
    3. Wireless Connection (Dongle)
    4. PC Compatibility
    5. PlayStation Compatibility
    6. Xbox Compatibility
    7. Base/Dock
    8. PC / PS4 Compatibility
  10. Comments

Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless vs Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless

Side-by-Side Comparison

Products

Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless
Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless

Tested using Methodology v1.4

Updated Jan 16, 2024 02:58 PM

SEE PRICE
Amazon.com

Tested using Methodology v1.8

Updated May 27, 2025 08:03 PM

SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless Picture
Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Picture
TypeOn-ear
Noise CancellingYes
EnclosureClosed-Back
WirelessYes
TransducerDynamic
MicYes
TypeOver-ear
Noise CancellingYes
EnclosureClosed-Back
WirelessYes
TransducerDynamic
MicYes
  1. Recommended in 9 articles:
  2. Noise Cancelling
  3. Headphones
  4. Over-Ear
  5. Wireless
  6. Music
  7. Sony
  8. Brands
  9. Commuting
  10. Bass

Variants

  • PX5 (Blue)
  • PX5 (Space Grey)
  • WH-1000XM4 (Black)
  • WH-1000XM4 (Midnight Blue)
  • WH-1000XM4 (Silver)

Review

See Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless Review
See Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Review
0 
0 

Our Verdict

Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless

Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless

Full comparison details regarding individual product score sets can be found in the section below
0 

Check Price

Blue
PX5
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Black
WH-1000XM4
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Space Grey
PX5
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Midnight Blue
WH-1000XM4
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Silver
WH-1000XM4
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Read more

Main Differences for
Mixed Usage

Threshold 

0.10

Mixed Usage 

6.9
No major differences between these headphones for mixed usage. See full list of tests below.

Full Comparison

Design

Style  

Design Picture 2  

Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless Design Picture 2
Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Design Picture 2

Type  

On-ear
Over-ear

Enclosure  

Closed-Back
Closed-Back

Wireless  

Yes
Yes

Transducer  

Dynamic
Dynamic
Show Text 

Comfort 
 

7.0
8.0

Comfort Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless Comfort Picture
Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Comfort Picture

Weight  

0.59 lbs
0.6 lbs

Clamping Force 
 

0.8 lbs
1 lbs
Show Text 

Controls 
 

8.1
7.6

Controls Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless Controls Picture
Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Controls Picture

OS Compatibility 
 

Not OS specific
Not OS specific

Ease Of Use  

Good
Good

Feedback  

Good
Decent

Call/Music Control  

Yes
Yes

Volume Control  

Yes
Yes

Microphone Control  

Mute/Unmute
No

Channel Mixing 
 

No
No

Noise Cancelling Control  

Presets
On/Off

Talk-Through 
 

On/Off
On/Off

Additional Controls  

Bluetooth Sync
Voice Assistant
Show Text 

Breathability 
 

5.4

Breathability After Picture  

Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Breathability After Picture

Avg.Temp.Difference  

8.2 °C
Show Text 

Portability 
 

6.1
6.1

Portability Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless Portability Picture
Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Portability Picture

L  

7.7"
7.4" (18.8 cm)

W  

6.8"
6.1" (15.5 cm)

H  

1.8"
2.0" (5.1 cm)

Volume  

94 in³
90.00 in³ (1,474.83 cm³)

Transmitter Required  

No
No
Show Text 

Case 
 

6.5
8.0

Case Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless Case Picture
Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Case Picture

Type  

Soft case
Hard case

L  

9"
8.3" (21.1 cm)

W  

6.5"
6.6" (16.8 cm)

H  

2.4"
2.3" (5.8 cm)

Volume  

140 in³
126.00 in³ (2,064.76 cm³)
Show Text 

Build Quality 
 

8.5
8.0

Build Quality Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless Build Quality Picture
Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Build Quality Picture
Show Text 

Stability 
 

6.0
7.0

Stability Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless Stability Picture
Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Stability Picture
Show Text 

Headshots 1  

Angled Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless Angled Picture
Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Angled Picture

Side Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless Side Picture
Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Side Picture

Headshots 2  

Front Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless Front Picture
Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Front Picture

Rear Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless Rear Picture
Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Rear Picture

Top  

Top Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless Top Picture
Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Top Picture

In The Box  

In The Box Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless In The Box Picture
Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless In The Box Picture
Show Text 
Sound

Sound Profile 
 

Sound Profile  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Normalization Frequency 
 

400 Hz

Bass Amount 
 

2.24 dB
5.1 dB

Treble Amount 
 

-3.07 dB
-0.4 dB
Show Text 

Frequency Response Consistency 
 

7.5
8.2

Consistency L  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Consistency R  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Avg. Std. Deviation 
 

0.49 dB
0.35 dB
Show Text 

Raw Frequency Response 
 

Raw FR L  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Raw FR R  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Bass Profile: Target Compliance 
 

4.8
7.6

Bass Profile: Target Compliance  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

RMS Deviation From Target 
 

7.35 dB
5.2 dB

Low-Frequency Extension 
 

10 Hz
20 Hz

Low Bass 
 

4.21 dB
4.49 dB

Mid Bass 
 

8.15 dB
5.5 dB

High Bass 
 

10.13 dB
5.6 dB
Show Text 

Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance 
 

7.3
8.4

Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

RMS Deviation From Target 
 

3.63 dB
1.58 dB

Low Mid 
 

5.7 dB
1.24 dB

Mid-Mid 
 

1.39 dB
-0.07 dB

High Mid 
 

0.51 dB
-1.15 dB
Show Text 

Treble Profile: Target Compliance 
 

7.0
7.3

Treble Profile: Target Compliance  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

RMS Deviation From Target 
 

4 dB
3.01 dB

Low Treble 
 

1.64 dB
-1.71 dB

Mid Treble 
 

4.43 dB
1.38 dB

High Treble 
 

-7.45 dB
-2.88 dB
Show Text 

Peaks/Dips 
 

6.9
7.9

Peaks/Dips Graph 
 

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Peaks 
 

2.2 dB
1.2 dB

Dips 
 

1.19 dB
1.46 dB
Show Text 

Imaging 
 

7.8
8.6

Group Delay  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Phase Response  

See details on graph tool

Phase Response Mismatch  

See details on graph tool

Weighted Group Delay 
 

0.17
0.16

Weighted Phase Mismatch 
 

15.75
4.36

Weighted Amplitude Mismatch 
 

1.1
0.79

Weighted Frequency Mismatch 
 

2.12
2.07
Show Text 

Passive Soundstage 
 

3.0
3.5

PRTF  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

PRTF Accuracy (Std. Dev.) 
 

2.58 dB
3.11 dB

PRTF Size (Avg.) 
 

1.25 dB
8.34 dB

PRTF Distance 
 

3.59 dB
1.8 dB

Openness 
 

1.7
0.4

Acoustic Space Excitation 
 

2.5
3.4
Show Text 

Virtual Soundstage 
 

0.0
4.1

Virtual Soundstage  

Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless Virtual Soundstage
Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Virtual Soundstage

Head Modeling 
 

No
On/Off

Speaker Modeling 
 

No
On/Off

Room Ambience 
 

No
No

Head Tracking 
 

No
No

Virtual Surround 
 

No
360 Reality Audio
Show Text 

Weighted Harmonic Distortion 
 

7.2
7.7

Weighted Harmonic Distortion  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

WHD @ 90 
 

0.474
0.265

WHD @ 100 
 

0.186
0.130
Show Text 

Test Settings 
 

Firmware 
 

1.1 (1B084)
2.6.0

Power 
 

On
On

Connection 
 

Bluetooth 5.0
Bluetooth

Codec 
 

aptX HD, 24-bit, 48kHz
SBC, 16-bit, 48kHz

Test Instrument  

Audio Precision APx517B

EQ 
 

No EQ
Off

ANC 
 

High
On

Tip/Pad 
 

Default
Default

Microphone 
 

Integrated
Integrated
Show Text 
Isolation

Noise Isolation - Full Range 
 

8.3
9.5

Noise Isolation - Full Range Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Noise Cancelling  

Yes
Yes

Overall Attenuation 
 

-22.97 dB
-27.13 dB

Isolation Audio 
 

Bass 
 

-16.61 dB
-24.80 dB

Mid 
 

-18.67 dB
-25.37 dB

Treble 
 

-33.61 dB
-31.92 dB
Show Text 

Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios 
 

9.7

Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios Graph  

See details on graph tool

Airplane Noise Attenuation 
 

-23.51 dB

Airplane Noise Isolation Audio 
 

Office Noise Attenuation 
 

-22.93 dB

Office Noise Isolation Audio 
 

Street Noise Attenuation 
 

-26.02 dB

Street Noise Isolation Audio 
 

Show Text 

Noise Isolation - Voice Handling 
 

Female Voice 1 
 

Male Voice 1 
 

Female Voice 2 
 

Male Voice 2 
 

ANC Wind Handling 
 

ANC Wind Handling Graph  

See details on graph tool

ANC Wind Noise 
 

Show Text 

Leakage 
 

7.8
7.1

Leakage  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Leakage Audio 
 

Overall Leakage @ 1ft 
 

34.69 dB
39.28 dB
Show Text 
Microphone

Microphone Style 
 

Integrated 
 

Yes
Yes

In-Line 
 

No
No

Boom 
 

No
No

Detachable Boom 
 

No
No

Mic  

Yes
Yes
Show Text 

Recording Quality 
 

5.6
6.1

Microphone Frequency Response  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Recorded Speech 
 

LFE 
 

315.41 Hz
269.09 Hz

FR Std. Dev. 
 

6.23 dB
2.11 dB

HFE 
 

2,560 Hz
3,726.47 Hz

Weighted THD 
 

0.851
65.861

Gain 
 

21.05 dB
11.46 dB
Show Text 

Noise Handling 
 

6.4
5.6

SpNR  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

SpNR 
 

16.81 dB
11.47 dB

Noise Gate 
 

No

Speech + Pink Noise Handling 
 

6.0

Speech + Pink Noise Audio Sample  

Speech + Subway Noise Handling 
 

5.0

Speech + Subway Noise Audio Sample  

Show Text 
Active Features

Battery 
 

8.6
8.7

Battery Type 
 

Rechargable
Rechargable

Continuous Battery Life 
 

37.8 hrs
37.7 hrs

Additional Charges 
 

0.0
0.0

Total Battery Life 
 

37.8 hrs
37.7 hrs

Charge Time 
 

1.6 hrs
2.3 hrs

Power-Saving Feature 
 

Standby mode
Auto-Off Timer

Audio While Charging 
 

Yes
No

Passive Playback 
 

No
Yes

Charging Port  

USB-C
USB-C
Show Text 

App Support 
 

6.5
8.0

App Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless App Picture
Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless App Picture

App Name  

Bowers & Wilkins Headphones
Sony| Headphones Connect

iOS  

Yes
Yes

Android  

Yes
Yes

macOS  

No
No

Windows  

No
No

Equalizer 
 

No
Graphic + Presets

ANC Control 
 

Presets
On/Off

Mic Control  

No
No

Room Effects 
 

No
No

Playback Control 
 

No
Yes

Button Mapping  

No
Yes

Surround Support 
 

No
Yes
Show Text 
Connectivity

Wired Connection 
 

9.8
9.9

Cable Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless Cable Picture
Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Cable Picture

Analog Audio 
 

Yes
Yes

USB Audio 
 

USB Type A
No

Detachable 
 

Yes
Yes

Length 
 

3.9 ft
4.00 ft (1.22 m)

Connector 
 

1/8" TRS
1/8" TRS

Latency - Analog 
 

0.3 ms

Latency - USB 
 

8 ms
N/A

Recorded Latency 
 

Recorded Latency Connection  

Analog
Show Text 

Bluetooth Connection 
 

8.0
8.6

Bluetooth Version 
 

5.0
5.010

Multi-Device Pairing 
 

2 Devices
2 Devices

NFC Pairing 
 

No

Quick Pair (Android) 
 

Yes

Quick Pair (iOS) 
 

No

Line Of Sight Range 
 

158 ft
299.00 ft (91.14 m)

Latency - SBC 
 

226 ms
245 ms

Latency - aptX 
 

219 ms
N/A

Latency - aptX Adaptive (High Quality) 
 

N/A

Latency - aptX Adaptive (Low Latency) 
 

N/A

Latency - LDAC 
 

237 ms

Recorded Latency 
 

Recorded Latency Codec  

SBC

AAC Support 
 

Yes

PC Latency (aptX HD) 
 

221 ms

PC Latency (aptX-LL) 
 

N/A

iOS Latency 
 

126 ms

Android Latency 
 

49 ms
Show Text 

Wireless Connection (Dongle) 
 

0.0
0.0

Line Of Sight Range 
 

N/A
N/A

Latency - Dongle 
 

N/A
N/A

Recorded Latency 
 

N/A
Show Text 

PC Compatibility 
 

Analog 
 

Audio Only

Wired USB 
 

No

Non-BT Wireless 
 

No
Show Text 

PlayStation Compatibility 
 

PS4 Analog 
 

Audio Only
Audio Only

PS4 Wired USB 
 

Audio Only
No

PS4 Non-BT Wireless 
 

No
No

PS5 Analog 
 

Audio Only

PS5 Wired USB 
 

No

PS5 Non-BT Wireless 
 

No
Show Text 

Xbox Compatibility 
 

Xbox One Analog 
 

Audio Only
Audio Only

Xbox One Wired USB 
 

No
No

Xbox One Non-BT Wireless 
 

No
No

Xbox Series X|S Analog 
 

Audio Only

Xbox Series X|S Wired USB 
 

No

Xbox Series X|S Non-BT Wireless 
 

No
Show Text 

Base/Dock 
 

0.0
0.0

Type 
 

No Base/Dock
No Base/Dock

USB Input 
 

No
No

Line In 
 

No
No

Line Out 
 

No
No

Optical Input 
 

No
No

RCA Input 
 

No
No

Dock Charging 
 

No
No

Power Supply 
 

No Base/Dock
No Base/Dock
Show Text 

PC / PS4 Compatibility 
 

PC/PS4 Analog 
 

Audio Only
Audio Only

PC/PS4 Wired USB 
 

Audio Only
No

PC/PS4 Non-BT Wireless 
 

No
No
Show Text 

Check Price

Blue
PX5
Searching
Finding store
Black
WH-1000XM4
Searching
Finding store
Space Grey
PX5
Searching
Finding store
Midnight Blue
WH-1000XM4
Searching
Finding store
 
Silver
WH-1000XM4
Searching
Finding store
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Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless

Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless

Comments

  1. Comparison
 • Posted 1 year ago

Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless vs Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless: Main Discussion

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