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  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 Accuracy
    5. Mid Accuracy
    6. Treble Accuracy
    7. Peaks/Dips
    8. Imaging
    9. Passive Soundstage
    10. Virtual Soundstage
    11. Weighted Harmonic Distortion
    12. Test Settings
  6. Isolation
    1. Noise Isolation
    2. Leakage
  7. Microphone
    1. Microphone Style
    2. Recording Quality
    3. Noise Handling
  8. Active Features
    1. Battery
    2. App Support
  9. Connectivity
    1. Bluetooth
    2. Non-Bluetooth Wireless
    3. Wired
    4. PC Compatibility
    5. PlayStation Compatibility
    6. Xbox Compatibility
    7. Base/Dock
  10. Comments

Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Wireless vs Sennheiser PXC 550-II Wireless

Side-by-Side Comparison

Products

Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Wireless
Sennheiser PXC 550-II Wireless

Tested using Methodology v1.5

Updated Mar 15, 2024 04:52 PM

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Tested using Methodology v1.5

Updated Jan 16, 2024 03:12 PM

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Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Wireless Picture
Sennheiser PXC 550-II Wireless Picture

Variants

  • PX7 (Silver)
  • PX7 (Space Grey)
  • PXC 550-II (Black)

Our Verdict

Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Wireless

Sennheiser PXC 550-II Wireless

The Sennheiser PXC 550-II Wireless are better headphones than the Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Wireless. They have better controls, a much more accurate sound profile, and feel more stable. On the other hand, the Bowers & Wilkins feel more premium, have much longer battery life, and very similar ANC performance.

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Black
PXC 550-II
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Black
PXC 550-II
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Black
PXC 550-II
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Main Differences for

Threshold 

0.10

Neutral Sound 

6.6
7.4

Bass Accuracy 
 

6.6
8.7

Passive Soundstage 
 

4.8
3.1

Treble Accuracy 
 

5.4
7.1

Mid Accuracy 
 

7.8
8.7

Full Comparison

Design

Style  

Design Picture 2  

Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Wireless Design Picture 2
Sennheiser PXC 550-II Wireless Design Picture 2

Type  

Over-ear
Over-ear

Enclosure  

Closed-Back
Closed-Back

Wireless  

Yes
Yes

Transducer  

Dynamic
Dynamic

Show text

Comfort 
 

7.5
7.5

Comfort Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Wireless Comfort Picture
Sennheiser PXC 550-II Wireless Comfort Picture

Weight  

0.7 lbs
0.51 lbs

Clamping Force 
 

1.2 lbs
0.8 lbs

Show text

Controls 
 

7.7
7.6

Controls Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Wireless Controls Picture
Sennheiser PXC 550-II 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  

No
No

Channel Mixing 
 

No
No

Noise Cancelling Control  

Adjustable
Adjustable

Talk-Through 
 

On/Off
On/Off

Additional Controls  

Bluetooth Sync
Voice Assistant

Show text

Breathability 
 

6.5
7.3

Breathability After Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Wireless Breathability After Picture
Sennheiser PXC 550-II Wireless Breathability After Picture

Avg.Temp.Difference  

5.8 °C
3.5 °C

Show text

Portability 
 

5.9
6.5

Portability Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Wireless Portability Picture
Sennheiser PXC 550-II Wireless Portability Picture

 

8.3" (21.1 cm)
7.0" (17.8 cm)

 

6.5" (16.5 cm)
6.3" (16.0 cm)

 

2.2" (5.6 cm)
1.4" (3.6 cm)

Volume  

119.00 in³ (1,950.05 cm³)
62.00 in³ (1,015.99 cm³)

Transmitter Required  

No
No

Show text

Case 
 

8.0
7.0

Case Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Wireless Case Picture
Sennheiser PXC 550-II Wireless Case Picture

Type  

Hard case
Hard case

 

9.0" (22.9 cm)
6.9" (17.5 cm)

 

7.3" (18.5 cm)
7.4" (18.8 cm)

 

2.8" (7.1 cm)
1.8" (4.6 cm)

Volume  

184.00 in³ (3,015.21 cm³)
92.00 in³ (1,507.60 cm³)

Show text

Build Quality 
 

8.0
7.5

Build Quality Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Wireless Build Quality Picture
Sennheiser PXC 550-II Wireless Build Quality Picture

Show text

Stability 
 

7.0
7.5

Stability Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Wireless Stability Picture
Sennheiser PXC 550-II Wireless Stability Picture

Show text

Headshots 1  

Angled Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Wireless Angled Picture
Sennheiser PXC 550-II Wireless Angled Picture

Side Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Wireless Side Picture
Sennheiser PXC 550-II Wireless Side Picture

Headshots 2  

Front Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Wireless Front Picture
Sennheiser PXC 550-II Wireless Front Picture

Rear Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Wireless Rear Picture
Sennheiser PXC 550-II Wireless Rear Picture

Top  

Top Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Wireless Top Picture
Sennheiser PXC 550-II Wireless Top Picture

In The Box  

In The Box Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Wireless In The Box Picture
Sennheiser PXC 550-II Wireless In The Box Picture

Show text

Sound

Sound Profile 
 

Frequency Response  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Bass Amount 
 

4.98 dB
-0.62 dB

Treble Amount 
 

-2.77 dB
-0.53 dB

Show text

Frequency Response Consistency 
 

5.9
7.0

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 
 

0.98 dB
0.61 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 Accuracy 
 

6.6
8.7

Bass  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Std. Err. 
 

5.58 dB
1.83 dB

Low-Frequency Extension 
 

10 Hz
23.44 Hz

Low-Bass 
 

5.36 dB
-0.61 dB

Mid-Bass 
 

6.89 dB
0.78 dB

High-Bass 
 

5.69 dB
3 dB

Show text

Mid Accuracy 
 

7.8
8.7

Mid  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Std. Err. 
 

2.96 dB
1.69 dB

Low-Mid 
 

0.54 dB
0.36 dB

Mid-Mid 
 

0.46 dB
0.51 dB

High-Mid 
 

-3.68 dB
-0.83 dB

Show text

Treble Accuracy 
 

5.4
7.1

Treble  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Std. Err. 
 

6.53 dB
4.27 dB

Low-Treble 
 

-4.01 dB
-3.06 dB

Mid-Treble 
 

1.64 dB
3.37 dB

High-Treble 
 

-5.96 dB
-1.93 dB

Show text

Peaks/Dips 
 

6.0
7.1

Peaks/Dips Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Peaks 
 

2.72 dB
1.85 dB

Dips 
 

2.13 dB
1.48 dB

Show text

Imaging 
 

8.0
8.4

Group Delay  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Phase Response Mismatch  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Weighted Group Delay 
 

0.24
0.31

Weighted Phase Mismatch 
 

10.04
4.48

Weighted Amplitude Mismatch 
 

0.73
0.27

Weighted Frequency Mismatch 
 

2.71
2.78

Show text

Passive Soundstage 
 

4.8
3.1

PRTF  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

PRTF Accuracy (Std. Dev.) 
 

4.93 dB
5.3 dB

PRTF Size (Avg.) 
 

5.87 dB
1.3 dB

PRTF Distance 
 

8.93 dB
4.08 dB

Openness 
 

1.9
2.0

Acoustic Space Excitation 
 

3.7
3.7

Show text

Virtual Soundstage 
 

0.0
0.0

Virtual Soundstage  

Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Wireless Virtual Soundstage
Sennheiser PXC 550-II Wireless Virtual Soundstage

Head Modeling 
 

No
No

Speaker Modeling 
 

No
No

Room Ambience 
 

No
No

Head Tracking 
 

No
No

Virtual Surround 
 

No
No

Weighted Harmonic Distortion 
 

7.2
7.5

Weighted Harmonic Distortion  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

WHD @ 90 
 

0.438
0.311

WHD @ 100 
 

0.189
0.158

Show text

Test Settings 
 

Firmware 
 

Unknown
Unknown

Power 
 

On
On

Connection 
 

Bluetooth 4.2
Unknown

Codec 
 

aptX, 16-bit, 48kHz
aptX, 16-bit, 48kHz

EQ 
 

No EQ
Default

ANC 
 

High
Maximum

Tip/Pad 
 

Default
Default

Microphone 
 

Integrated
Integrated

Show text

Isolation

Noise Isolation 
 

7.9
8.0

Noise Isolation  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Isolation Audio 
 

Overall Attenuation 
 

-22.58 dB
-21.88 dB

Noise Cancelling  

Yes
Yes

Bass 
 

-13.23 dB
-15.02 dB

Mid 
 

-22.7 dB
-21.04 dB

Treble 
 

-32.74 dB
-30.12 dB

Show text

Leakage 
 

6.8
6.7

Leakage  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Leakage Audio 
 

Overall Leakage @ 1ft 
 

40.77 dB
41.04 dB

Show text

Microphone

Microphone Style 
 

Integrated 
 

Yes
Yes

In-Line 
 

No
No

Boom 
 

No
No

Detachable Boom 
 

No
No

Mic  

Yes
Yes

Recording Quality 
 

5.3
6.8

Microphone Frequency Response  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Recorded Speech 
 

LFE 
 

239.73 Hz
364.41 Hz

FR Std. Dev. 
 

6.81 dB
3.73 dB

HFE 
 

3,517.32 Hz
7,346.09 Hz

Weighted THD 
 

27.547
1.586

Gain 
 

-20.29 dB
12.54 dB

Show text

Noise Handling 
 

5.9
7.0

SpNR  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

SpNR 
 

8.78 dB
18.55 dB

Noise Gate 
 

Always On
No

Speech + Pink Noise Handling 
 

5.5
7.0

Speech + Pink Noise Audio Sample  

Speech + Subway Noise Handling 
 

6.5
7.0

Speech + Subway Noise Audio Sample  

Show text

Active Features

Battery 
 

8.6
8.8

Battery Type 
 

Rechargable
Rechargable

Continuous Battery Life 
 

37.8 hrs
21.3 hrs

Additional Charges 
 

0.0
0.0

Total Battery Life 
 

37.8 hrs
21.3 hrs

Charge Time 
 

1.7 hrs
1.3 hrs

Power-Saving Feature 
 

Standby mode
Standby mode

Audio While Charging 
 

Yes
Yes

Passive Playback 
 

No
Yes

Charging Port  

USB-C
micro-USB

Show text

App Support 
 

6.5
6.5

App Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Wireless App Picture
Sennheiser PXC 550-II Wireless App Picture

App Name  

Bowers & Wilkins Headphones
Sennheiser Smart Control

iOS  

Yes
Yes

Android  

Yes
Yes

macOS  

No
No

Windows  

No
No

Equalizer 
 

No
Presets

ANC Control 
 

Adjustable
Adjustable

Mic Control  

No
No

Room Effects 
 

No
Yes

Playback Control 
 

No
No

Button Mapping  

No
No

Surround Support 
 

No
No

Show text

Connectivity

Bluetooth 
 

8.2
8.2

Bluetooth Version 
 

5.0
5.0

Multi-Device Pairing 
 

2 Devices
2 Devices

NFC Pairing 
 

No
No

Line Of Sight Range 
 

280.00 ft (85.34 m)
237.00 ft (72.24 m)

PC Latency (SBC) 
 

229 ms
164 ms

PC Latency (aptX) 
 

219 ms
103 ms

PC Latency (aptX HD) 
 

222 ms
N/A

PC Latency (aptX-LL) 
 

N/A
54 ms

iOS Latency 
 

94 ms
280 ms

Android Latency 
 

68 ms
85 ms

Show text

Non-Bluetooth Wireless 
 

0.0
0.0

Non-BT Line Of Sight Range 
 

N/A
N/A

Non-BT Latency 
 

N/A
N/A

Wired 
 

8.9
10

Cable Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Wireless Cable Picture
Sennheiser PXC 550-II Wireless Cable Picture

Analog Audio 
 

Yes
Yes

USB Audio 
 

USB Type A
USB Type A

Detachable  

Yes
Yes

Length  

4.20 ft (1.28 m)
4.70 ft (1.43 m)

Connection 
 

1/8" TRS
1/8" TRRS

Analog/USB Audio Latency 
 

41 ms
-3 ms

Show text

PC Compatibility 
 

Analog 
 

Audio Only
Audio Only

Wired USB 
 

Audio Only
Audio + Microphone

Non-BT Wireless 
 

No
No

Show text

PlayStation Compatibility 
 

PS4 Analog 
 

Audio Only
Audio Only

PS4 Wired USB 
 

Audio Only
Audio + Microphone

PS4 Non-BT Wireless 
 

No
No

PS5 Analog 
 

Audio Only
Audio Only

PS5 Wired USB 
 

Audio Only
Audio + Microphone

PS5 Non-BT Wireless 
 

No
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
Audio Only

Xbox Series X|S Wired USB 
 

No
No

Xbox Series X|S Non-BT Wireless 
 

No
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

Check Price

 
Black
PXC 550-II
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Black
PXC 550-II
Searching
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Black
PXC 550-II
Searching
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Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Wireless

Sennheiser PXC 550-II Wireless

Comments

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