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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
If you want a wireless, noise-cancelling everyday companion you can wear on a plane, in a café, or on a call, choose Bowers & Wilkins Px7; if you need an open-back, wired, planar-magnetic headphone built for critical listening at a desk, choose HIFIMAN HE600.
• Bowers & Wilkins Px7 — biggest strength: a complete wireless system in one box — Bluetooth 5.2 with aptX Adaptive, 6-mic active noise cancellation, voice control, and up to 30 hours of playback.
• Bowers & Wilkins Px7 — biggest trade-off: it's a closed, battery-dependent design, so it's not a purist's open-back listening tool.
• HIFIMAN HE600 — biggest strength: an open-back planar-magnetic driver with an 8Hz–65kHz frequency range and a Neo Supernano Gen.2 diaphragm, aimed at detail and spaciousness rather than convenience.
• HIFIMAN HE600 — biggest trade-off: it's wired only, has no noise cancellation, and at 389g it's heavier and needs a headphone amp or good source to shine.
• Choose Px7 if you want one headphone for commuting, travel, calls and casual listening.
• Choose HE600 if you want a dedicated home listening headphone for a quiet room and a proper source.
The Px7 S2e is a self-contained listening system. Inside each earcup sits a custom-designed 40mm dynamic driver, angled deliberately and paired with a 24-bit DSP, so the tuning is handled digitally before it ever reaches your ears. Qualcomm aptX Adaptive keeps the wireless link clean on compatible sources, and Bluetooth 5.2 gives you a stable 10-metre range. In other words, you don't need to think about anything — pair it and go.
The features that matter most here are the ones that make it usable outside a quiet room. Six microphones drive the active noise cancellation and the call clarity, which is the difference between hearing your music on a train and hearing the train. Battery life is rated at 30 hours, and quick charge support means a short top-up gets you moving again. There's also a 3.5mm jack via the included USB-C adapter, plus a USB-C to USB-C cable, so you can go wired when you want to. The Bowers & Wilkins music app adds direct streaming and voice assistant support if you like tuning things to taste.
HIFIMAN HE600: Who It's For
The HE600 is the opposite philosophy. It's a wired, open-back, over-ear headphone built around a planar-magnetic driver, and it exists to reproduce detail rather than to travel with you. The frequency range runs from 8Hz to 65kHz — dramatically wider than the Px7's 20Hz–20,000Hz — which tells you HIFIMAN is chasing extension at both ends, especially the top. The Neo Supernano diaphragm Gen.2 is 60% of the thickness of the first generation, which is the kind of change that usually shows up as faster, more delicate treble.
The headline engineering story is the magnet. HIFIMAN uses rare-earth-free permanent magnetic materials with an optimised structure to reach a sensitivity that approaches drivers using rare-earth magnets. That matters because planar-magnetic headphones have historically been hard to drive. With a 94dB sensitivity and 28Ω impedance, the HE600 is designed to work from a standard headphone amplifier rather than demanding a speaker amp — HIFIMAN explicitly frames it as replicating the sound signature of the HE6 driven by a high-power amplifier. If you've read about the HE6's reputation for being amp-hungry, this is the friendlier interpretation.
Comfort got attention too. The 2nd Generation Ergonomic HeadBand shaves 20g off the previous design and adds rotatable hinges. That said, 389g is still 389g — noticeably heavier than the Px7's 307g — and the open-back enclosure means sound leaks both ways. There's no noise cancellation here at all. Buy it if you listen at a desk or in a dedicated quiet room, you already own a decent amp or DAC, and you want an open, wide presentation. Skip it if you need portability, isolation, or a wireless option.
Side-by-Side: Which Should You Choose?
• Best for commuting and travel → Bowers & Wilkins Px7. Bluetooth 5.2, aptX Adaptive, and active noise cancellation are all built for movement.
• Best for calls and meetings → Bowers & Wilkins Px7. Six microphones handle both noise cancellation and conversation clarity.
• Best for long listening sessions without charging → Bowers & Wilkins Px7. 30 hours of playback plus quick charge, versus a wired headphone that never needs a battery but always needs a cable.
• Best for source flexibility → Bowers & Wilkins Px7. Wireless, USB-C, and 3.5mm via adapter, all in the box.
• Best for amplifier owners → HIFIMAN HE600. At 28Ω and 94dB, it's designed to run from a standard headphone amp — and it rewards a good one.
• Best for lighter weight on your head → Bowers & Wilkins Px7. 307g against 389g, and the HE600's 20g reduction is relative to its own predecessor, not to the Px7.
• Best for blocking out an office or a plane → Bowers & Wilkins Px7. The HE600 has no noise control of any kind.
For most people reading this, I'd buy the Bowers & Wilkins Px7. It's the one headphone here that works on a flight, on a call, on a walk, and on the couch — 30 hours of battery, real noise cancellation, and three ways to connect. In my opinion, the HIFIMAN HE600 is the better listening headphone in a quiet room with a good amp, and its 8Hz–65kHz range and planar driver are genuinely a different experience. But it's a specialist's tool: wired, open, heavier, and silent about noise cancellation. If you can only own one, the Px7 covers more of your actual life. If you already have a commuter pair and want a dedicated desk setup, the HE600 is the more interesting pick.
They solve different problems. The Px7 wins on convenience, noise cancellation, wireless freedom, and battery life. The HE600 wins on driver technology, frequency extension, and open-back presentation. Neither is universally better — it depends on whether you need portability or purity.
Do I need an amplifier for the HIFIMAN HE600?
HIFIMAN designed it to run from a standard headphone amplifier, and its 28Ω impedance with 94dB sensitivity reflects that goal. It also has no wireless mode and no battery, so a wired source is mandatory. The Px7, by contrast, needs nothing but a Bluetooth connection.
The Px7 is lighter at 307g with foam earpads and a fabric finish, which suits extended sessions. The HE600 is 389g but uses a 2nd Generation Ergonomic HeadBand with rotatable hinges and a 20g reduction over its predecessor. Weight favors the Px7; the HE600's hinges help with fit adjustment.
Both are worth checking against current pricing before you commit, since they sit in very different categories — one is a wireless ANC flagship, the other a wired planar-magnetic specialist. Check the latest price on Amazon for each and weigh that against which features you'll actually use.
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