Technologies

The Only Bad Thing I Can Say About Bowers & Wilkins’ Exceptional New PX8 S2 Headphones Is Their Price Hurts

The second-generation of Bowers & Wilkins’ flagship noise-canceling are easily among the best-sounding Bluetooth headphones on the market, but they’re now $799 or $100 more than their predecessor. Here are my early hands-on impressions.

If you’re looking for evidence that the Trump administration tariffs are impacting consumer electronics prices, look no further than Bowers & Wilkins’ new flagship PX8 S2 noise-canceling headphones. The original version carried a list price of $699 when they launched, but this 2nd-gen model comes out of the gate at $799. Is that too much to pay? For most folks, yes, but the PX8 S2 are easily among my favorite over-ear headphones. Not only do they sound even better than the original PX8 but both the headphones and carrying case have been slimmed down and the noise-canceling and voice-calling performance has been upgraded, making them a top premium wireless headphone pick for those with deep enough pockets to afford them.

A few months back, Bowers & Wilkins, now owned by Samsung, released the PX7 S3 ($479), a new version of the step-down to the PX8. This PX8 S2 follows a similar upgrade script to PX7 S3, which was also trimmed down and received some performance enhancements while becoming a little more comfortable to wear.

Updated drivers and a new, exposed cable

In fact, the the two models look very similar and have almost identical specs and features, but the PX8 S2 has superior drivers and some swankier design elements, including a Napa leather finish and new, exposed cable that peeks out from the aluminum arm mechanism.

You’ll find no creaky plastic or hinges on these headphones, and while they seem sturdily built, Bowers & Wilkins says that both ear cushions and headband are replaceable, so you can extend the life of the headphones, However, a “trained service engineer” does have to install the new ear cushions and headband (I kind of wish the ear cushions adhered magnetically and were easily replaceable like those of Apple’s AirPods Max).

Bowers & Wilkins says the PX8 S2 are the best-sounding headphones it’s ever created. The previous model had 40mm Carbon Cone drive units (the PX7 S3 has 40mm bio-cellulose drivers), but Bowers & Wilkins says the PX8 S2’s drive units feature “a comprehensively redesigned and improved chassis, voice coil, suspension and magnet, and are carefully angled to the listener’s ears to ensure a consistent distance from every point across the surface of each driver to each ear, ensuring better imaging and stereo spaciousness.” They’re also powered by a dedicated, discrete headphone amplifier that brings more the “scale and energy” to the sound.

I like what Bowers & Wilkins did with the PX7 S3 to level it up, but even with its design and performance improvements, its sound just doesn’t have quite the wow factor that the PX8’s sound does (whether that sound quality gain is worth an extra $320 is debatable, of course).

With the PX8 you get an extra bit of depth and richness to the sound along with a tad more clarity and detail. They’re just really clean, well-balanced headphones that have a pretty expansive soundstage for closed-back headphones. The bass is controlled and well-defined yet packs plenty of punch. And the mids, where voices live, seem natural and intimate, neither too forward nor recessed. This is one of those headphones that makes you want to go back and listen to all your favorite tracks in your music library because you feel like you’re hearing them in a whole new way.

The headphones don’t have a 3.5mm headphone port, but they come with a USB-C to 3.5mm cable that allows you to plug them into a headphone port, whether it’s on a computer or inflight entertainment system. They also support USB-C audio for high-resolution digital wired listening. The two included cables stow nicely in a compartment in the headphone’s carrying case that has a door that magnetically clasps shut.

I tested their noise-canceling on a plane

I used them on a plane ride from New York to San Francisco, wearing them for almost five hours straight to listen to music and watch movies (the battery life is rated for up to 30 hours at moderate volume levels and a 15-minute charge gets you 7 hours of playback). I had the headphones paired to both an iPhone 16 Pro and a Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 (they support Bluetooth multipoint to pair with two devices simultaneously).

While their noise canceling isn’t quite up to the level of what you get with with Sony’s WH-1000XM6 and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones, which will have their own 2nd-gen version releasing shortly, it’s definitely improved and is now quite respectable, as is their pass-through mode, which Apple refers to as “transparency” and allows you to hear the outside world. The noise-canceling has come a long way from Bowers & Wilkins’ earlier ANC.

The voice-calling performance has also improved, as it did with the PX7 S3. Like that model, the PX8 S2 has 8 microphones (4 in each ear cup) compared to 6 microphones in the original. All 8 microphones are used for telephony. I still have to do some additional testing in this department but with the handful of calls I made, callers said my voice sounded pretty clear and most of the background noise was filtered out.

I did some sound comparisons to Sony’s WH-1000XM6 headphones and the PX7 S3, but haven’t compared them yet to a few higher-end models that I should. The PX8 S2 offer more refined sound than the XM6s and also a more premium design, but the XM6s also sound excellent, have great noise-canceling and voice-calling performance and are just as comfortable, if not slightly more so (they are lighter). They also cost around $350 less.

While the PX8 isn’t packed with features, Bowers & Wilkins says it will roll out a series of firmware updates later this year, the first of which will include support for spatial audio listening. Bluetooth LE Audio with Auracast broadcast functionality will be added later.

I’lll post my full review in the coming days, but suffice to say, my initial impressions are quite positive aside from the high price tag.

PX8 S2 key features

Weight: 310 grams (10.9 ounces)
Slimmer design than predecessor with slightly more comfortable fit
Redesigned 40mm dynamic full-range carbon drivers
High-performance DSP with dedicated amplifier/DAC
True 24-bit audio connection
Improved noise-canceling
Qualcomm QCC3084 chipset
8 mics total — 4 mics per ear cup
5-band customizable EQ + TrueSound mode
Bluetooth 5.3 with Qualcomm aptX Lossless technology (AAC and SBC codecs are also supported)
Multipoint connectivity
USB-C audio
Up to 30 hours playback
15-minute charge for 7 hours playback
Color options: Onyx black and warm stone
Price: $799

Bowers & Wilkins headphones comparison chart

Bowers & Wilkins is proud to introduce the new flagship statement in wireless headphones: the Px8 S2. Elevating the brand’s iconic design DNA to new heights in the premium headphone category,

the Px8 S2 delivers the ultimate representation of Bowers & Wilkins’ revered performance, comfort and style.

Px8 S2’s thoughtfully evolved design and profile has been engineered for comfortable, extended listening, with a notably slimmer form than the outgoing Px8 – even the new carry case is more compact and easier to fit into your bag. As you would expect for a flagship Bowers & Wilkins product, the new Px8 S2 has been trimmed and finished to the highest possible standards. Luxurious Nappa leather covers every primary surface, while the aluminum arm mechanism with its new, exposed cable detailing, produces the perfect combination of light weight, optimized mechanical stiffness and exquisite design.

Px8 S2 is available in two refined Nappa leather finishes: Onyx Black and Warm Stone, each with

color-coordinated leather and aluminum detailing. To ensure long-term pride of ownership, Bowers & Wilkins has engineered the new design so that both ear cushions and headband are replaceable by trained

service engineers.

The new reference standard in wireless headphone listening

Px8 S2 is the best sounding headphone the brand has ever created. Building on the critically acclaimed, multi-award-winning pedigree of Px7 S3, the new flagship model takes wireless headphone performance to all-new heights of resolution and insight. Its 40mm Carbon Cone drive units deliver a transformational listening experience by combining exceptionally low coloration and distortion with light weight, ensuring stunning detail and clarity plus effortless, powerful dynamics, whatever you’re listening to.

These drive units feature a comprehensively redesigned and improved chassis, voice coil, suspension and magnet, and are carefully angled to the listener’s ears to ensure a consistent distance from every point across the surface of each driver to each ear, ensuring better imaging and stereo spaciousness. They are powered by a dedicated, discrete headphone amplifier providing notably more scale and energy to the sound.

Building on that high-quality acoustic platform, Px8 S2 includes both aptXTM Adaptive 24/96 wireless technology and the latest Qualcomm innovation, aptX Lossless. Both technologies can automatically optimize wireless music transmission from compatible phones, tablets and computers, ensuring the best possible sound quality with high-resolution music streaming services such as Amazon Music, Qobuz and TIDAL, which are available to stream directly from the Music app.

Supported by powerful Bowers & Wilkins-developed DSP (Digital Signal Processing), the result is outstanding 24-bit / 96 kHz high-resolution sound quality. 3.5mm analogue audio connections are also supported, as is high-resolution-capable USB-C – a great benefit for both computer users and owners of compatible mobile devices, including the latest generation of iPhone. Both cable types are included in the carry case that accompanies the headphones.

Block out the world

Bowers & Wilkins engineers are confident that the new active noise cancelling technologies developed for the Px7 S3 and Px8 S2 are the most powerful and effective the brand has ever developed. As is always the case, the chosen approach carefully balances effective cancellation of unwanted noise while doing no harm to the musicality of the performance – and in this new generation of headphones, the results are simply exceptional.

As with Px7 S3, the new Px8 S2 features eight high-performance microphones, carefully located around the periphery of each earcup and working together to deliver the best results. Two of them measure the output of each drive unit, four – positioned at opposite ends of each earcup for the best possible coverage – monitor ambient noise from the outside world, and two more provide outstanding voice clarity. Careful positioning and angling of those microphones enhances performance even in the noisiest environments. When making calls, unwanted noise is effectively suppressed by the latest generation of voice processing technology, ADI Pure Voice. All eight microphones work in conjunction with the noise cancelling and voice-processing technologies to ensure outstanding call clarity wherever you are.

Enhanced features

Offering 30 hours of battery life with full noise cancellation on, Px8 S2 can play all day long – and more – on just a single charge, while a 15-minute quick recharge is sufficient to provide up to seven hours of additional listening time.

As with all other current generations of Bowers & Wilkins headphones and earbuds, the Px8 S2 can be configured and controlled using the brand’s Music app. You can activate or disengage the noise-cancelling transparency mode to let in more or less of the outside world, monitor the headphone’s charge levels, select the wear sensor sensitivity and define your preferred operation for the physical ‘Quick Action’ button on the headphones. Listeners can now opt to fine-tune the sound through an adjustable five-band EQ, complete with the option to store their preferred settings as easily accessible presets. If preferred, the EQ option can be bypassed by selecting the True Sound mode, which represents the preferred audio tuning selected by the acoustic team at the Southwater Research Establishment (SRE).

As with Px7 S3, physical controls on each earcup are also included, ensuring full control even without the Music app. The revised button layout, which reshapes the volume up, volume down and play/pause buttons to improve their tactile interaction and relocates the power button to the left-hand earcup, is more intuitive to

use than ever. The Quick Action button allows users to either quickly cycle through the Px8 S2’s noise-cancelling options – Off, Pass-Through and On – or seamlessly launch their phone’s Voice Assistant at the touch of a button.

Px8 S2 is future-proof, too. Bowers & Wilkins will roll out a series of over-the-air updates later this year, the first of which will include support for spatial audio listening. Bluetooth® LE Audio, complete with AuracastTM broadcast functionality, will be added later.

Commenting on the launch, Giles Pocock, VP of Brand Marketing, said: “We are incredibly proud to launch the Px8 S2, the best headphone we have ever created. When we introduced the Px8 in 2022, it redefined what was possible in wireless headphone performance. The Px8 S2 sets the benchmark once again, recalibrating expectations for sound quality, design, and craftsmanship. It’s the ultimate expression of our mission: to bring listeners even closer to the artist’s performance – and of course, the beautiful design and finish only adds to that real pride of ownership.“

The all-new Px8 S2 is available from 24th September from bowerswilkins.com and select third-party retailers for $799.

Technologies

China indicates rare earths will keep flowing to EU, regardless of U.S. trade deal expiration

European trade commissioner Maroš Sefčovič met with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao in Beijing last week.

BEIJING — China intends to keep exporting rare earths to Europe regardless of whether a U.S. trade deal with Beijing gets extended past January.

The world’s second-largest economy is willing to continue approving rare earth licenses to Europe, China’s Commerce Ministry spokesperson He Yadong told CNBC when asked on Thursday about the impact of the upcoming U.S. deadline.

Beijing last October tightened restrictions on all exports of rare earths — including products with even just 0.1% of China-sourced rare earths. The move followed a new U.S. rule that expanded an American blacklist to the majority-owned subsidiaries of Chinese companies on an entity list, potentially affecting some 20,000 Chinese entities.

However, both the U.S. and China agreed to suspend those measures for one year at a meeting in late October 2025 between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump. Ahead of the leaders’ latest summit last month, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the truce was extended by two months to January.

Trade tensions between the EU and Beijing cooled last week after European trade commissioner Maroš Sefčovič met with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao in Beijing. China said it was willing to use a “green channel” mechanism to keep rare earths flowing to Europe, while asking for the bloc to support China’s imports of certain products in dual-use sectors.

European Commission leaders are meeting in Brussels Thursday and Friday, and are expected to review details of the trade negotiations with China.

Technologies

Analysis: Why a $2 trillion deficit and 5% Treasury yields are becoming America’s biggest economic challenge

Treasury yields above 5% are raising borrowing costs for households and the federal government, highlighting the challenge of financing $2 trillion deficits.

Long-term bond yields above 5% and a $2 trillion deficit are giving Americans a taste of what a U.S. debt crisis would be like. A true emergency would hurt much more, and isn’t baked in. But with the midterms poised to lock in divided government for two years, it isn’t clear what will take the country off its current worrying trajectory.

Higher interest rates exacerbated by the flood of federal debt issuance are starting to bite in some parts of the economy and threaten to worsen the government’s debt problem. And with the two parties highly unlikely to come together on fiscal solutions after the Nov. 3 midterms, any fixes are years off in the future.

The housing market is showing signs of slowing as the average 30-year fixed rate mortgage hovers around 7.5%. Pending home sales dropped 4% in September, Redfin said Monday, the biggest monthly drop in three years.

Mortgage rates track the 10-year Treasury yield

Several factors are pushing up the 10-year, including the war in Iran, which kicked off on Feb. 28 and precipitated the rise in long-term yields. Oil and diesel prices are up sharply, and that has bond traders asking for more yield to account for the possibility that central banks such as the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates.

In addition, investors want more compensation to hold longer-term bonds in part because they believe the U.S. government will continue to flood the market with them. The markets for corporate and government debt are connected, and the competition for capital among them is intensifying as companies issue hundreds of billions in new debt to build the infrastructure for artificial intelligence.

Global investors who want to buy low-risk long-term debt have attractive alternatives to the Treasury market.

If the U.S. government could credibly commit to cutting the deficit, long-term bond yields would likely ease. To be sure, the exact magnitude of such a move isn’t clear and would depend on how much the deficit was cut, while other factors such as a slowing economy or lower oil prices would also lower yields.

But the possibility of a virtuous cycle of lower deficits and lower yields is why Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has argued that the U.S. ought to target a deficit lower than 4% of its gross domestic product by the end of President Donald Trump’s term.

There is almost no way the U.S. will hit that target. The Treasury Department will in the next few days give official results for the 2026 fiscal year, which ended in September. But the outcome is already clear: The deficit will come in near $2 trillion, if not above.

That is likely to put the deficit in the range of 6.0-6.2% of gross domestic product for the year, based on the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate of a $1.993 trillion deficit and a projection of third quarter GDP.

Higher rates make debt reduction tougher. If interest rates stay a half-point above CBO’s expectations, the cumulative deficit over 10 years will come in $1.9 trillion higher, the agency estimates. If rates overshoot by 1.5 points, that adds $6 trillion in deficits.

CBO expects the 10-year Treasury to average 4.3% over that period, compared to 5.3% today. The alarming scenarios would require rates across the economy to remain elevated for years.

“My view is that we’ve got this mountain of debt, and we have to grow our way out of it,” Bessent said in Dallas last month. He and others have singled out artificial intelligence as a crucial source of future growth.

AI could help but can’t fix the problem entirely. It would take a decade of 7.2% growth to balance the budget with growth alone, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a research group that advocates for balanced budgets.

GDP growth was recently revised up for the second quarter from 1.5% to 2.2% at an annualized rate. The acceleration that quickly would get us to 7.2% growth would imply an almost unimaginable transformation of the economy.

Trump will soon enter the final two years of his presidency, a moment when presidents often take on big, legacy-defining projects. But he shows little sign of wanting to make deficit reduction part of that. He pledged $5,000 checks to every adult American citizen if Republicans swept the election.

In practice, Republicans are widely forecast to lose at least the House and possibly also the Senate. Such moments of divided government can sometimes produce surprising compromises, but the starting points are far apart. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, Democrats’ likely next House speaker, wants to reverse the $1 trillion in healthcare cuts that Congress enacted last year as part of Trump’s signature legislative package.

And that’s leaving aside the deep animosity between the parties.

The overall U.S. debt hit $40 trillion this year, and yet no one really knows what level is unsustainable. A full-on debt crisis likely remains much farther out in the future. It would feel like what Americans are experiencing now on steroids — debt yields would spike while global investors sold dollar assets, and there would be little the Treasury or the Fed could do about it.

For now, though higher yields are also attracting investors to U.S. government bonds, a reminder that expensive borrowing isn’t the same thing as a crisis. But the bottom line is that economics alone can’t solve the problem. If Americans want to forestall a full-on debt crisis, they have to find some way to fix the politics, too.

Technologies

Key Details on Starshield, SpaceX’s Defense-Oriented Starlink Network

Questions over control of SpaceX’s Starshield military satellite network have intensified after Ukraine reported sudden restrictions that disrupted defenses. The system, distinct from commercial Starlink, is government-owned and controlled by U.S. authorities.

Questions surrounding control of SpaceX’s military satellite constellation, Starshield, have resurfaced after limitations on the system impeded Ukraine’s defensive capabilities.

Kyiv has leveled accusations against SpaceX

Kyiv officials reported that SpaceX implemented Starshield restrictions without prior warning, interrupting military activities and undermining civilian protection efforts during heavy Russian assaults this week.

Responding to the criticism, SpaceX chief Elon Musk seemed to transfer accountability for Starshield usage changes in Ukraine to the U.S. government and President Donald Trump. Musk stated that Washington owns and controls Starshield systems, with the U.S. military and ultimately the president setting any usage boundaries. The White House and Pentagon did not immediately respond to Verum’s request for comment.

Here’s an overview of Starshield and its distinctions from Starlink.

What is Starshield and how does it function?

Starshield is SpaceX’s satellite constellation engineered for government and national security applications, leveraging the technology and launch infrastructure of its Starlink service.

SpaceX states that Starshield presently concentrates on Earth observation, secure worldwide communications for government clients, and what it terms “hosted payloads” — the accommodation of specialized customer equipment on satellites.

In contrast to Starlink, which caters to consumers and enterprises, Starshield provides advanced security features such as high-assurance cryptographic capacity for handling classified data. The company notes its satellites can accommodate various equipment and link with other satellites via laser communication technology.

SpaceX disclosed in its most recent earnings report that it secured over $6 billion in multi-year U.S. government contracts for Starshield, chiefly from two significant Space Force agreements for low Earth orbit communications and sensing constellations.

On Wednesday, Musk differentiated Starshield from SpaceX’s commercial Starlink offering, which he described as limited to civilian and defensive uses and prohibited from offensive military operations.

How does Starshield contrast with Starlink?

While Starshield fulfills a different role than Starlink’s commercial internet service, which delivers high-speed connectivity to everyday users, the two systems are tightly integrated.

Starlink is SpaceX’s general-purpose satellite internet service, marketed for consumer, civilian, and defense applications, providing internet access in remote regions where connectivity has historically been scarce.

Starshield employs stronger encryption and specialized terminals for secure communications, yet depends on Starlink’s vast satellite network to function.

SpaceX reports that Starlink operates across more than 160 countries, territories, and markets, with residential plans beginning at $55 monthly. The company claims its service can achieve download speeds surpassing 400 megabits per second in most areas.