The T7 is the latest bluetooth speaker from the British audio brand Bowers & Wilkins and promises good sound in a stylish and compact package. We were allowed to decorate the living room with the Bowers & Wilkins T7 Wireless.
Bowers & Wilkins T7 Wireless
Price:€ 349,-
Connections:
Bluetooth v4.1 with aptX, AAC & SBC, analog 3.5mm headphone jack
Frequency range:
50Hz – 21kHz
driver:
2 x 50mm, 2 x ABR
Assets:
2 x 12 Watts
Battery life:
18 hours
Dimensions:
114mm x 210mm x 54mm (H x W x D)
Weight:
940 grams
Website:
www.bowers-wilkins.nl 6 Score 60
- Pros
- Premium design
- Supports aptX
- Compact and sturdy
- Negatives
- No NFC
- No power bank function
- Pricey for features and sound
honeycombs
We deliberately use the word 'adorn', because the T7 is certainly not a punishment to look at. Despite the neutral rectangular design, the speaker is a real eye-catcher due to the speaker that protrudes slightly and the honeycomb pattern along the edge.
The outer edge is covered with a non-slip material, which gives the speaker more grip and also gives a nicely finished impression. The honeycomb pattern is not a print, but a full grid that runs along the clear edge. This makes it possible to see through the speaker and it seems as if the speaker itself is floating in the housing. The speaker protrudes slightly from the housing at both the front and back, which nicely interrupts the brick-shaped design. Everything points to a carefully designed speaker and the T7 has a fairly premium appearance.
Buttons
On the top we find the standard buttons to pause or play music, adjust the volume and a bluetooth button. The on and off button is on the side and also functions as a button to activate the battery indicator. By briefly pressing the button while the speaker is on, 1 to 4 lights light up on the side that indicate how full the battery is. This is a nice feature; not only is it more subtle than a light that is always on to indicate battery status, not every speaker gives you the opportunity to see how full the battery is during use. Both the battery lights on the side and the status light on the top are not visible when not on, keeping the look of the T7 sleek.
On the back we find an input for the charger, a 3.5mm headphone input and a micro USB input for service and updates. In addition, there is a small button that you can press with a needle or toothpick to reset the speaker. The entrances are not covered; the speaker is therefore not water resistant.
Small is beautiful
Due to the design, the actual speaker is slightly smaller than the housing. Although Bowers & Wilkins itself claims that the edge around the speaker benefits the listening experience, in our eyes it is just decoration. On the one hand, it is nice if a speaker looks nice, but it makes the housing of the speaker unnecessarily large.
When you connect the speaker via Bluetooth, the speaker mirrors its volume with the volume of the music source. If you use the headphone input, the speaker switches to its own sound interface with 32 volume settings. This makes it possible to adjust the speaker very precisely in terms of volume.
At lower and medium volumes, the T7 sounds particularly good for such a small speaker. When listening to different genres at an average sound level, the T7 gives a detailed sound image where all instruments can be perfectly distinguished. However, the size does bring some drawbacks when we try to fill a room with the sound of the T7 Wireless.
Not enough
Specific songs where the low tones play an important role, do not fully come into their own at higher volumes by the T7 Wireless. The speaker lacks the power to transfer the energy of a song like Uptown Funk to the entire room. A song like Mein Herz Brennt by Rammstein even sounds almost mild and the low end of the song Core by RL Grime was simply out of reach for a large part of the T7. The moment you place the speaker in an angle with the back towards a wall or in a kitchen cupboard, you notice a clear difference and the range of the speaker becomes a lot larger. However, this is not possible in every user situation.
The Bowers & Wilkins speaker is a lot softer than, for example, the JBL Charge 3 and has much more trouble with low tones than the JBL speaker. However, the Bowers & Wilkins speaker is a lot more detailed. Even at high volumes, the T7 manages to maintain the detailed soundstage. The bass line from Kool & The Gang's Jungle Boogie was still clearly present and a joy to listen to. The guitar solo in Rock 'n Roll by Led Zeppelin was also clearly distinguishable from the other instruments at higher volumes; in many speakers the second guitar part, bass guitar and drums melt together into a mush the moment Page starts his solo. It was audible that the hi-hats dropped slightly at higher volumes.
Questionable showpiece
All in all, the T7 Wireless has an impressive amount of and especially detailed sound for its size, especially if you consider that the actual speaker itself is a lot smaller than the housing. It might seem unfair to judge such a small speaker so critically when it comes to sound, were it not for the fact that the T7 Wireless is positioned as a portable hi-fi speaker with a price tag to match. The Bowers & Wilkins T7 Wireless is over the counter for 350 euros. That is a lot of money for a bluetooth speaker that sounds a lot weaker in many areas and has fewer functions than, for example, the much cheaper JBL Charge 3.
Have you fallen in love with the appearance of the T7, do you want a compact speaker with a detailed sound and it doesn't have to be very loud? Then the Bowers & Wilkins speaker can become the showpiece of your living room or kitchen. Do you also want enough power for larger spaces? Then there are plenty of cheaper alternatives that may sound a little less detailed, but have much more power and functions. Do you really want hi-fi? Then add 50 euros for a Dali Katch, which has more functions and can easily fill much larger spaces.
