I like to consider myself a young and “hip” mom. However, I do tend to like my gadgets a little more on the grown and sexy side. Although my 12 year old loves gadgets as much as I do I think I long decided to leave the obnoxiously big, multi colored over ear headphones in his world. After having the chance to enjoy the amazing quality of Bowers & Wilkins C5 headphones – when they offered me a chance to try out their P3 Mobile Hi-Fi headphones I was intrigued.
First of all, stylistically they’re impressive. The words aluminum and rubber don’t usually paint a picture of class or aesthetically pleasing but for the P3’s it manages to accomplish both. They come in a hard clam shell carrying case that is lined with what feels like velvet and closely resembles my eyeglass case – I find that strangely comforting. The P3’s come with two pair of cables; one with an iDevice compatible remote/microphone attachment; and another with no attachment said to be more compatible with all other make and model mobile devices.
If you decide you want to change out the cables you it’s easy as pie. You just pop off the replaceable, magnetic memory foam ear pads and voila -you’re all set. Since I use an iPod, iPad and an iPhone regularly I see no reason to have to switch cables. I also use a Samsung Galaxy S III and with the remote/mic attachment I was able to play music and actually answer calls. I did notice a very noticeable decline in sound quality when using it to talk on the S III, however using the music player and Spotify apps sound quality was perfection.
The custom fabric on the ear pads make them comfortable, fashionable and seemingly improves the listening experience by allowing for a more natural, true to life sound. I used these headphones to listen to hip-hop, pop and a classical music and must say there is a huge difference with these headphones when listening to live versus manufactured instrumentation.
The P3’s come in either a white finish or black finish and at $199.99, they are worth the price. Perfect for working out, walking the dog or anything you can thing of doing with headphones on. After several ours of use I noticed they are not as comfortable long term as my Rocnation Aviators or my V-Moda Crossfades – but the upside is they also don’t make my ears sweat and I don’t look like I’m trying to be my sons age when I wear them.
The pictures don’t fully do them justice so check out the video below then head over to the website for more information.
Winning the T3 award for Best Music Gadget of 2012 isn’t bad either.
