Bowers & Wilkins
If you’ve ever strapped a pair of Bowers & Wilkins cans to your ears or cranked some Zeppelin on the Zeppelin Air, you know that the company’s headphones and speakers are no joke. And because of that—audio unheard and $350 price notwithstanding—we’re excited about the company’s first Bluetooth speaker, the T7.
Bowers & Wilkins has released a few AirPlay and dock-style speakers for Apple’s iDevices in the past, but the T7 will be the first platform-agnostic wireless speaker in its lineup. It’ll handle any Bluetooth streaming source or 3.5mm jack-connected component, but due to the T7’s AptX support, it may offer audio-quality benefits if you don’t use an Apple device. The sound-enhancing AptX codec requires an AptX-capable streaming device, and Apple’s devices don’t do AptX.
This is a Bluetooth speaker for people who thumb their noses at Bluetooth speakers. The pricey portable sound system comes equipped with rare features for the Bluetooth-speaker market: An onboard DAC, two 50mm glass-fiber drivers, a pair of passive bass radiators on the front and back that the company says eliminates low-end distortion, and a honeycomb frame that is designed to reduce rattling and vibrations.
Battery life also sounds special. Bowers & Wilkins claims the T7 gets up to 18 hours per charge.
At $350, it’s about twice the price of most portable Bluetooth speakers, so here’s hoping it sounds at least twice as good. It’s available for preorder now, and the Bowers & Wilkins site says the speakers will ship on October 30.
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