Bowers & Wilkins P5

Exquisite sound, impeccable design, decadent comfort

300 list price renders them expensive; too-short cable

Pull off the magnetic ear pads and you’ll find 40mm mylar diaphragms driven by neodymium magnets. The phones come with two cables: a conventional cord with 1/8-inch jack and a ¼-inch adapter, and a second featuring an in-line remote control and...

Excellent design, outstanding sound quality, choice of cables, noise isolation

The B&W P5 aren't designed to be a reference grade headset for your home recording studio, which some might have expected: they are designed to be portable and for taking on the move, partnered with your iPod or iPhone. They fold flat and you get a bag...

The B&W P5 aren't designed to be a reference grade headset for your home recording studio, which some might have expected: they are designed to be portable and for taking on the move, partnered with your iPod or iPhone. They fold flat and you get a bag...

While expensive, the P5-MFIs offer good audio quality and a professional appearance in a portable package.

There's no escaping the old maxim of garbage in garbage out, but the Bowers & Wilkins P5 headphones make an iPod sound better than you have any right to expect, and for that they have to be applauded. However, they can only do so much with a...

Excellent audio performance. Extremely comfortable. Handsome design and carrying case. Relatively lightweight. Equipped with iPhone/iPod in-line remote control

Expensive. Despite the claim, offers no noise isolation

With the P5, Bowers & Wilkins gracefully enters the consumer headphone market with a stunning design that's comfortable and sonically superb.

Excellent sound quality ; Good noise-isolation capability ; Sturdy construction ; Appealing design ; Useful in-cable remote control for iPods and the iPhone 3GS

Thin and delicate cable ; Low end may prove too dominant for some

One complaint is that the included cabling is rather delicate -- it's quite skinny, and liable to tear if you're not careful. You could switch this cable for one of your own (it plugs in via a socket beneath the left earpad), but you'd lose the useful...

Sounds so sweet, you’ll want to re-rip your entire music library into lossless files. Memory foam earpads block a ton of ambient noise. Go ahead and wear ‘em in public — the low-profile headphones won’t make you look like a ham radio operator....

One small gripe: The tiny sub-earpad tab that holds the cable in its routing channel is poorly machined and sharp enough to cut the rubber cord jacket. Pricey? Yep. Worth it? No doubt

Luxury build and styling ; Even-handed yet exciting sound ; Replaceable cables with iPhone mic

Flimsy cable easily broken ; Treble can become harsh

The B&W P5's are very good headphones, with an exquisite build that doesn't look too ridiculous when worn out on the street. It's just a pity that the thin rubber cable and jack are so delicate and hard to replace.

iPad-friendly

Price; microphone sits a little low

Bowers & Wilkins make premium equipment at a premium price. But rarely do customers who spend the money come away disappointed, and that goes for the P5 headphones. Amazing sound, comfort and design come at a price, and B&W has shown that it’s worth it.