Bowers & Wilkins teams up with McLaren for new Px8 headphones

Grey leather and orange details command a sizable premium over the regular cans

Bowers & Wilkins px8 McLaren Edition
(Image credit: Bowers & Wilkins)

British audio company Bowers. & Wilkins has announced a special edition of its flagship Px8 headphones, complete with McLaren branding and the supercar maker's signature papaya orange colourway.

Coming hot on the heels of the James Bond version of Px8, the McLaren edition is finished in galvanic grey to match a common interior option of McLaren's cars, with papaya orange details.

These include metal bands on each can, and orange fabric on the inner lining of each earphone. The McLaren logo is seen on the outside edge of the headband, and the headphones come in a matching galvanic grey case, also with McLaren branding.

Priced at £699, these are £100 more than the regular Px8, and cost the same as the recently-announced James Bond edition of the high-end headphones. In that case, they are finished in blue to match Bond's dinner jacket in Dr. No, with a red power switch and gun barrel detailing on the inner lining.

Aside from the colours and branding, the McLaren Edition is otherwise identical to the regular Px8. This means a pair of 40mm carbon-coned drivers, soft leather padding on the ear cups and headband, an aluminium chassis, and 30 hours of battery life.

Bowers & Wilkins px8

(Image credit: Bowers & Wilkins)

They also have active noise cancelling, up to 30 hours of battery life, support for the aptX Adaptive sound codec, Bluetooth 5.2, and a USB-C port for charging and wired audio. The headphones come with a hard-sided carry case and a pair of cables for USB-C and 3.5mm aux connectivity.

In our review of the regular Px8 headphones we gave them the full five stars, with our reviewer praising their "energetic, poised and thoroughly convincing sound...great standard of build and finish, [and]...effective noise-cancellation." They added: " If you’re prepared to spend big on a new pair of headphones, but want to hear as well as see and feel where all that money has gone, you need to check out the Bowers & Wilkins PX8."

Bowers & Wilkins has produced audio equipment for McLaren cars since 2015, with its systems used most recently by the three-seat Speedtail and hybrid Artura supercars.

Alistair Charlton

Alistair is a freelance automotive and technology journalist. He has bylines on esteemed sites such as the BBC, Forbes, TechRadar, and of best of all, T3, where he covers topics ranging from classic cars and men's lifestyle, to smart home technology, phones, electric cars, autonomy, Swiss watches, and much more besides. He is an experienced journalist, writing news, features, interviews and product reviews. If that didn't make him busy enough, he is also the co-host of the AutoChat podcast.