Sony 1000X The Collexion vs Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2: which premium headphones should you pick?

Sony and B&W are two of the biggest names in the wireless headphones market, and with Sony recently launching its ultra-premium 1000X The Collexion headphones, there is little doubt that it had the B&W Px8 S2 squarely in its sights.

We’ve already put each of these headphones through their respective paces, with both gaining very respectable four-star reviews, but if you’re thinking of spending upwards of £550 / $800 on your next pair of headphones, where is your money best spent between the two?

We’ve put them head to head in a battle of the flagship wireless cans to help you decide – read on to find out which pair comes out on top.

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Sony 1000X The Collexion vs Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2: price

We already know that these two pairs of headphones don’t come cheap – after all, they are the premium options in their brands’ respective wireless lineups.

However, the B&W Px8 S2 are still a chunk of change more expensive than their Sony competitors at £629 / $799, compared with the Sony’s asking price of £550 / $650.

You probably aren’t considering either of these headphones if budget is a prime concern, but an £80 saving between the two is still not to be sniffed at. The win goes to the Sony The Collexion if you’re keen to save a bit of cash, but there are listeners who will find value in the extra outlay for the B&W. More on that below.

** Winner: Sony 1000X The Collexion **

Sony 1000X The Collexion vs Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2: design and comfort

There’s one big difference between the design of the 1000X The Collexion and the Px8 S2 which is likely to divide opinion, and that is their materials. Sony has chosen to play it safe with a faux leather across the earcups and headband, while B&W has decided to revert back to animal products for its premium line, and use Nappa leather.

There’s not a lot of difference in the feel of the two, and you probably wouldn’t know the Sonys weren’t leather, or vice versa, if we hadn’t mentioned it. Still, we’d say B&W’s over-ears edge it as the more premium-looking of the two, with their signature aluminium plates on the earcups and exposed cable design on the arms giving the classy cans a higher perceived value than the Sonys.

We also worry with the Sony 1000X The Collexion that their faux leather exterior can be prone to marking and scratches, something we found when trying out our test pair.

Sony uses aluminium on the arms and over the top of the headband for its rival over-ears. They still look smart and nicely finished, but are bulkier (even though they’ve been slimmed down compared with the WH-1000XM6) and are just a little plainer overall.

However, Sony gains back some points when it comes to actual wear. The Sonys are very comfortable, and put hardly any pressure onto the ears or the top of the head while listening. There is also a bigger space inside the earcups, so they are more accommodating to larger ears. They are actually a touch heavier than the Px8 S2, at 320g compared with B&W’s 310g, but you wouldn’t know that from wearing them.

The B&W Px8 S2 are by no means uncomfortable, but do offer a slightly snugger fit across the board, and that just makes you more aware of them during longer listens. This does make them feel a bit more secure than the Sonys, though, which can feel a touch unstable and prone to movement on smaller heads.

As for controls, the B&W Px8 S2 goes all in on physical buttons, while the Sony 1000X The Collexion offer a mixture of touch controls for playback and call control, alongside a couple of buttons for switching between sound modes and noise cancellation.

We did find the B&W controls slightly awkward to use at first, but it’s always a learning curve with any on-ear controls, so users might find themselves acclimatising over time. The touch controls on the Sony, conversely, are responsive and slightly easier to use on the go, and we would generally find their system preferable to the one found on their rivals.

It's a close run on this one, with plenty of positives – and indeed drawbacks – on both sides. Considering the use of leather could write the Bowers & Wilkins cans off for a whole section of listeners though, we’re going to label this one a draw.

** Winner: Draw **

Sony 1000X The Collexion vs Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2: features

Sony’s headphones tend to have some of the richest feature sets of any wireless headphones we test, and 1000X The Collexion are no different. The premium over-ears use Sony’s Sound Connect app, which is packed with ways to make the headphones sound your own.

As usual, alongside the standard noise cancellation and customisable ambient sound settings, Sony offers Adaptive Noise Cancelling mode, which can alter your noise cancellation level automatically depending on what you are doing. This has long been a great feature of established Sony headphones, such as the WH-1000XM6, and one we do find ourselves using pretty regularly.

Another useful feature is Scene-based Listening, which can have the headphones play music when the app detects you’re doing certain things, such as walking, running or on your commute home.

There are other features that we don’t turn to as often. There are now three spatial audio settings for ‘Music’, ‘Cinema’, and ‘Game’, plus a ‘Background Music’ setting for making your music sound like it’s playing in the distance – supposedly to better aid your concentration while working.

These are fun to play around with, and we did enjoy testing the ‘Cinema’ setting while watching movies, but we envision these will be ‘nice to haves’ rather than anything you’ll find ourselves using daily.

Bowers & Wilkins’ app is much more straightforward, with options for noise cancellation or ambient sound, the ability to turn on wear detection and a 5-band EQ. By comparison, Sony offers a 10-band offering (and a number of presets) on The Collexion. There’s no spatial audio support on the Px8 S2 either, nor is there Bluetooth LE as there is on The Collexion, though there have been promises for these in the future via a firmware update.

Both headphones support the standard SBC and AAC codecs, as well as higher-quality codecs for compatible devices – that’s LDAC for the Sony 1000X and aptX Lossless and aptX Adaptive for the B&W Px8 S2.

B&W’s Px8 S2 do grant the better battery life at 30 hours with ANC on, compared with the Sony 1000X’s 24 hours, the latter of which feels a little stingy.

Still, for the pure amount of features offered on the Sonys, they take the win here.

** Winner: Sony 1000X The Collexion **

Sony 1000X The Collexion vs Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2: ANC and voice calls

Sony’s over-ear headphones have offered some of the very best noise cancelling you can buy for some time, and although Sony has said sound quality has taken precedence over the very best ANC here, it’s still really good.

The 1000X use the same QN3 chip and 12-mic array as found in the WH-1000XM6, and we find they do a great job of suppressing noise throughout the frequencies.

The noise cancelling on B&W’s Px8 S2 is a little disappointing by comparison. They still block out a good chunk of background whirrs and rumbles, but higher frequency noises are more prone to cutting through – much more than we notice on the Sonys. We imagine that’s at least in some part down to the fact the B&W have four mics fewer than the Sony, offering eight in total.

Call quality is good across both pairs, with a decent level of noise reduction and callers sounding clear and detailed. Our callers largely reported the same, though they did say there was more richness to our voice through the B&W Px8 S2, with the Sony cans sounding ever so slightly thinner.

Overall, the better noise cancelling on the Sony 1000X The Collexion is the biggest win here, so we’re giving this one to them.

** Winner: Sony 1000X The Collexion **

Sony 1000X The Collexion vs Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2: sound quality

Behind both of these headphones’ respective performances are optimised drivers that were created especially for them. The 1000X The Collexion use a bespoke carbon composite 30mm drive unit, adapted from the one found in the WH-1000XM6, with a soft edge and hard centre.

The Px8 S2 uses a new 40mm carbon cone driver, also adapted to have a stiffer chassis, alongside a new motor system and voice coil.

The Sony 1000X exist to deliver a performance worthy of a 10^th birthday celebration, promising more refinement, detail and maturity compared with the standard XM6 – and they do live up to that promise. They have a wide open presentation, excellent detail levels and incredible clarity and insight, all complemented by a powerful yet controlled low end.

To be fair, all of that can also be said of the B&W Px8 S2, but we are particularly impressed with their handling of low frequencies, with plenty of power and authority in the bass. In our review, we also highlighted how engaging they are when listening to Keane's Everybody's Changing, writing: “The rise and fall in dynamics is handled superbly. The instruments deliver enthusiasm and life but the Bowers also communicate the tinge of sadness that comes from the lyrics".

While there’s a greater sense of scale on the 1000X over the B&W Px8 S2, it’s how these headphones make us feel that is perhaps the biggest difference between the two – and it’s here that the Sonys fall down.

The Sony 1000X simply aren’t as explicit or dynamic as we’d like, which makes them sound more removed and ultimately not as engaging as the B&W.

In our review, we described them as “standoffish”, and said that they “trade off some of that signature expressiveness we’ve heard in other Sony headphones for greater openness and detail, something that reduces the extent to which we feel truly involved with our music”.

In absolute terms, that means the Px8 S2 are just more interesting to listen to long-term, and we feel more emotionally connected to our music when we are listening to them. For that, they take the win.

** Winner: Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2 **

Sony 1000X The Collexion vs Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2: verdict

If you’re considering spending this much money on a pair of headphones, you want to make sure you’re spending wisely. Thankfully there are clear winners across our categories, and which pair you ultimately pick will depend on your given priorities.

The B&W are the more expensive, but they do at least justify this by being the more premium feeling of the two. The compromises here are that they come with minimal features for customisation and good-but-not-great noise cancelling, all of which is worth considering if you like your headphones to be the complete package.

For those who are looking for more in those aforementioned areas, the Sony 1000X The Collexion make a solid case for themselves, thanks to their decent build and handsome feature set.

This is backed up by a spacious, detail-rich sound – plus they’re a bit cheaper. Yet for the better sound quality of the two, we recommend the B&W Px8 S2 for their rich, detailed and more engaging personality.

** Overall winner: Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2 **

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