They're neither too thin nor a ridiculous subwoofer-style assault on the ears; the low-end presence anchors the mix rather than overwhelming it. It’s worth noting that on-ear headphone comfort varies person to person and by the size of ears and whether you wear glasses. Where the P5 succeeds is in offering comfort, portability, and isolation to match the HD25 without tossing style so completely out of the window.

The overall level of the leakage is also decent, making these headphones perform above average in Leakage. It has a nicely balanced sound with a slightly boosted bass, great clarity throughout and a non-fatiguing signature. Treble clarity is on-par with the MS400 but the HD25 still fares better and derives an additional bit of perceived clarity from its brighter overall tone. These headphones make a statement with their appearance and feel, something akin to designer watches or bespoke suits.However, considering these headphones don't have active noise cancelling, the passive isolation provided by the ear cups is decent. Fidelity, however, is not a strong suit of the headphones, which possess a couple of technical shortcomings but generally take few sonic risks with their warm and colored sound. With the Bowers and Wilkins P5 Wireless, what you get is as close as possible to the true, unadulterated sound of the original recording, as you were meant to hear it. Throw in aptX Bluetooth and 17 hours worth of nonstop listening on a single battery charge and everything adds up to a fine product.

At top, unwise listening levels, the headphones do not distort on this track, and at moderate, reasonable listening levels, the sense of bass is still palpable and well-defined. It's really a clever design which makes a cable attachment to earcup look like it has a hardwired seamless connection.In the context of the P5’s laid-back sound signature, the lower mids are actually somewhat forward but next to the intimate-sounding MS400, the P5 still sounds slightly distant on the whole.