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- Table of Contents
- Top
- Main Differences
- Design
- Sound
- Isolation
- Microphone
- Active Features
- Connectivity
- Comments
Sennheiser PXC 550-II Wireless vs Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless
Side-by-Side Comparison
Products
Sennheiser PXC 550-II Wireless
Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless
Tested using Methodology v1.5
Updated Jan 16, 2024 03:12 PM
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Amazon.comTested using Methodology v1.4
Updated Jan 16, 2024 02:58 PM
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Amazon.com
TypeOver-ear
EnclosureClosed-Back
WirelessYes
TransducerDynamic
Noise CancellingYes
MicYes
TypeOn-ear
EnclosureClosed-Back
WirelessYes
TransducerDynamic
Noise CancellingYes
MicYes
Variants
- PXC 550-II (Black)
- PX5 (Blue)
- PX5 (Space Grey)
Our Verdict
Sennheiser PXC 550-II Wireless
Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless
The Sennheiser PXC 550-II Wireless are more versatile than the Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless. The over-ear Sennheiser have a more comfortable and stable fit, a more neutral sound profile, and a better integrated microphone. They also support the aptX-LL codec for low latency audio and provide a lower-latency Βluetooth connection with PCs using that codec. Ηowever, the Bowers & Wilkins are better-built, have a much longer battery life, leak less audio, and have a superior control scheme.
Check Price
Black
PXC 550-II
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Amazon.comBlue
PX5
Searching
Finding storeBlack
PXC 550-II
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Walmart.comSpace Grey
PX5
Searching
Finding storeBlack
PXC 550-II
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B&HBlack
PXC 550-II
SEARCH
BestBuy.comBlack
PXC 550-II
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LG.comBlack
PXC 550-II
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Target.comMain Differences forMixed Usage
Mixed Usage
Threshold
Mixed Usage
6.9
Full Comparison
Design
Style
Design Picture 2
Type
Over-ear
On-ear
Enclosure
Closed-Back
Closed-Back
Wireless
Yes
Yes
Transducer
Dynamic
Dynamic
Comfort
7.5
7.0
Comfort Picture
Weight
0.51 lbs
0.59 lbs
Clamping Force
0.8 lbs
0.8 lbs
Controls
7.6
8.1
Controls Picture
OS Compatibility
Not OS specific
Not OS specific
Ease Of Use
Good
Good
Feedback
Decent
Good
Call/Music Control
Yes
Yes
Volume Control
Yes
Yes
Microphone Control
No
Mute/Unmute
Channel Mixing
No
No
Noise Cancelling Control
Adjustable
Presets
Talk-Through
On/Off
On/Off
Additional Controls
Voice Assistant
Bluetooth Sync
Breathability
7.3
Breathability After Picture
Avg.Temp.Difference
3.5 °C
Portability
6.5
6.1
Portability Picture
L
7.0" (17.8 cm)
7.7"
W
6.3" (16.0 cm)
6.8"
H
1.4" (3.6 cm)
1.8"
Volume
62.00 in³ (1,015.99 cm³)
94 in³
Transmitter Required
No
No
Case
7.0
6.5
Case Picture
Type
Hard case
Soft case
L
6.9" (17.5 cm)
9"
W
7.4" (18.8 cm)
6.5"
H
1.8" (4.6 cm)
2.4"
Volume
92.00 in³ (1,507.60 cm³)
140 in³
Build Quality
7.5
8.5
Build Quality Picture
Stability
7.5
6.0
Stability Picture
Headshots 1
Angled Picture
Side Picture
Headshots 2
Front Picture
Rear Picture
Top
Top Picture
In The Box
In The Box Picture
Sound
Sound Profile
Frequency Response
Bass Amount
-0.62 dB
2.24 dB
Treble Amount
-0.53 dB
-3.07 dB
Frequency Response Consistency
7.0
7.5
Consistency L
Consistency R
Avg. Std. Deviation
0.61 dB
0.49 dB
Raw Frequency Response
Bass Accuracy
8.7
4.8
Std. Err.
1.83 dB
7.35 dB
Low-Frequency Extension
23.44 Hz
10 Hz
Low-Bass
-0.61 dB
4.21 dB
Mid-Bass
0.78 dB
8.15 dB
High-Bass
3 dB
10.13 dB
Mid Accuracy
8.7
7.3
Std. Err.
1.69 dB
3.63 dB
Low-Mid
0.36 dB
5.7 dB
Mid-Mid
0.51 dB
1.39 dB
High-Mid
-0.83 dB
0.51 dB
Treble Accuracy
7.1
7.0
Std. Err.
4.27 dB
4 dB
Low-Treble
-3.06 dB
1.64 dB
Mid-Treble
3.37 dB
4.43 dB
High-Treble
-1.93 dB
-7.45 dB
Peaks/Dips
7.1
6.9
Peaks/Dips Graph
Peaks
1.85 dB
2.2 dB
Dips
1.48 dB
1.19 dB
Imaging
8.4
7.8
Phase Response
Phase Response Mismatch
Weighted Group Delay
0.31
0.17
Weighted Phase Mismatch
4.48
15.75
Weighted Amplitude Mismatch
0.27
1.1
Weighted Frequency Mismatch
2.78
2.12
Passive Soundstage
3.1
3.0
PRTF Accuracy (Std. Dev.)
5.3 dB
2.58 dB
PRTF Size (Avg.)
1.3 dB
1.25 dB
PRTF Distance
4.08 dB
3.59 dB
Openness
2.0
1.7
Acoustic Space Excitation
3.7
2.5
Virtual Soundstage
0.0
0.0
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
7.5
7.2
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
WHD @ 90
0.311
0.474
WHD @ 100
0.158
0.186
Test Settings
Firmware
Unknown
1.1 (1B084)
Power
On
On
Connection
Unknown
Bluetooth 5.0
Codec
aptX, 16-bit, 48kHz
aptX HD, 24-bit, 48kHz
EQ
Default
No EQ
ANC
Maximum
High
Tip/Pad
Default
Default
Microphone
Integrated
Integrated
Isolation
Noise Isolation
8.0
8.3
Noise Isolation
Isolation Audio
Overall Attenuation
-21.88 dB
-22.97 dB
Noise Cancelling
Yes
Yes
Bass
-15.02 dB
-16.61 dB
Mid
-21.04 dB
-18.67 dB
Treble
-30.12 dB
-33.61 dB
Leakage
6.7
7.8
Leakage Audio
Overall Leakage @ 1ft
41.04 dB
34.69 dB
Microphone
Microphone Style
Integrated
Yes
Yes
In-Line
No
No
Boom
No
No
Detachable Boom
No
No
Mic
Yes
Yes
Recording Quality
6.8
5.6
Microphone Frequency Response
Recorded Speech
LFE
364.41 Hz
315.41 Hz
FR Std. Dev.
3.73 dB
6.23 dB
HFE
7,346.09 Hz
2,560 Hz
Weighted THD
1.586
0.851
Gain
12.54 dB
21.05 dB
Noise Handling
7.0
6.4
SpNR
18.55 dB
16.81 dB
Noise Gate
No
Speech + Pink Noise Handling
7.0
Speech + Pink Noise Audio Sample
Speech + Subway Noise Handling
7.0
Speech + Subway Noise Audio Sample
Active Features
Battery
8.8
8.6
Battery Type
Rechargable
Rechargable
Continuous Battery Life
21.3 hrs
37.8 hrs
Additional Charges
0.0
0.0
Total Battery Life
21.3 hrs
37.8 hrs
Charge Time
1.3 hrs
1.6 hrs
Power-Saving Feature
Standby mode
Standby mode
Audio While Charging
Yes
Yes
Passive Playback
Yes
No
Charging Port
micro-USB
USB-C
App Support
6.5
6.5
App Picture
App Name
Sennheiser Smart Control
Bowers & Wilkins Headphones
iOS
Yes
Yes
Android
Yes
Yes
macOS
No
No
Windows
No
No
Equalizer
Presets
No
ANC Control
Adjustable
Presets
Mic Control
No
No
Room Effects
Yes
No
Playback Control
No
No
Button Mapping
No
No
Surround Support
No
No
Connectivity
Bluetooth
8.2
8.0
Bluetooth Version
5.0
5.0
Multi-Device Pairing
2 Devices
2 Devices
NFC Pairing
No
No
Line Of Sight Range
237.00 ft (72.24 m)
158 ft
PC Latency (SBC)
164 ms
226 ms
PC Latency (aptX)
103 ms
219 ms
PC Latency (aptX HD)
N/A
221 ms
PC Latency (aptX-LL)
54 ms
N/A
iOS Latency
280 ms
126 ms
Android Latency
85 ms
49 ms
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
10
9.8
Cable Picture
Analog Audio
Yes
Yes
USB Audio
USB Type A
USB Type A
Detachable
Yes
Yes
Length
4.70 ft (1.43 m)
3.9 ft
Connection
1/8" TRRS
1/8" TRS
Analog/USB Audio Latency
-3 ms
8 ms
PC Compatibility
Analog
Audio Only
Wired USB
Audio + Microphone
Non-BT Wireless
No
PC / PS4 Compatibility
PC/PS4 Analog
Audio Only
Audio Only
PC/PS4 Wired USB
Audio + Microphone
Audio Only
PC/PS4 Non-BT Wireless
No
No
PlayStation Compatibility
PS4 Analog
Audio Only
Audio Only
PS4 Wired USB
Audio + Microphone
Audio Only
PS4 Non-BT Wireless
No
No
PS5 Analog
Audio Only
PS5 Wired USB
Audio + Microphone
PS5 Non-BT Wireless
No
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
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
Check Price
Black
PXC 550-II
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comBlue
PX5
Searching
Finding storeBlack
PXC 550-II
SEE PRICE
Walmart.comSpace Grey
PX5
Searching
Finding storeBlack
PXC 550-II
SEARCH
B&HBlack
PXC 550-II
SEARCH
BestBuy.comBlack
PXC 550-II
SEARCH
LG.comBlack
PXC 550-II
SEARCH
Target.com
Sennheiser PXC 550-II Wireless
Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless
Comments
Sennheiser PXC 550-II Wireless vs Bowers & Wilkins PX5 Wireless: Main Discussion
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