Verdict
Bowers & Wilkins ' entry into the Atmos disturbance with the Panorama 3 is a largely telling endeavour , pitch plenty of naturalism with film , TV and music . It has its faults , lacks a few feature that home cinema enthusiast would love , and it can be temperamental . However , as a streaming Atmos soundbar , there ’s much to look up to and delight .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The last soundbar we saw from esteemed British audio make Bowers & Wilkins was theFormation Bar , and while that appear great and sound tremendous , it come at a time when the soundbar marketplace was in its suit of Atmos , its arriver seemed to bear on against the predominate winds .
But with the Panorama 3 , B&W has the Atmos fart in its sails , and like its recentZeppelin wireless speaker , the latest Panorama has a streaming focus , presenting itself as a high - end modus vivendi bar .
The individual - box Atmos market has grown in popularity , the like ofSonos , Bose , Harman Kardon andBang & Olufsenjust a few name to have a go . Where does Bowers & Wilkins Panorama 3 fit in ?
Design
satiny , slim and slender are all pertinent wrangle to delineate the Panorama 3 . compare to previousPanorama bars , the former model is “ less ” rather than “ more ” : the sculptured look pare down ; the altitude trim down by almost half ; and the stripe has break down on a dieting , from 14.5 kilogram to 6.5 kg . This allows it to be more easy accommodated – a soundbar that actively wants to slip by unnoticed .
Although its graceful appearance means you ’ll likely admire it from the advantage point of your lounge , the contoured boundary of the enclosure give it a subtly angular look , the soma of which is intend to optimise its delivery as it pushes sound forward , above and out to the sides .
As is humdrum for any premium soundbar , there ’s a chic acoustical fabric that wraparounds its midriff , while on the top surface there ’s an acoustically lucid mesh to push speech sound out . There ’s a minimalist touchscreen interface in the middle , which springs to liveliness when its law of proximity sensors detect your presence . This is a classy , well - made occasion .
The display reveals the playback , volume , multifunction ( cycling through rootage and streams ) and voice assistant buttons . Since the display is top - veneer , and only for the purpose of manoeuver the bar when you ’re up and about ( the Panorama 3 does n’t transport with a remote ) , there ’s no traditional display to feed info such as soundtrack details or computer menu scope . Although Bowers & Wilkins would likely say its Music app fulfils those wants .
In a deep-set area around the rear sit down the connections , while , if you choose to , the soundbar can be paries - mounted with the packaged angle bracket . The Panorama 3 is only available in mordant , which only reasserts its attempt not to be note .
Features
I observe connection originally , and it ’s here that the Panorama 3 proves a downgrade on late example . There ’s one HDMI ( eARC ) comment , visual digital , Ethernet for pumped-up internet and service connection USB - C. In contrast , thePanorama 2featured optical / aux , three HDMI inputs and one output , plus a sub out .
While B&W will preach simplicity for having a single HDMI port wine , farcheaper Atmos barsoffer a HDMI input ; Sony’sHT - A7000features two , as doesSamsung ’s HW - Q900A. The Panorama 3 ’s frugalness wo n’t be helpful for those with raft of source to plug in .
Like it did with the Zeppelin , the B&W bar fully embraces the wireless animation . Spotify Connect , Apple’sAirPlay 2and aptX Adaptive Bluetooth are onboard , and with the Bowers & Wilkins Music app , you have access to a host of integrate medicine well out services such asTidal , Soundcloud , Qobuz , Deezer , Last.fm and TuneIn .
There ’s no option of Chromecast , though ; but app integration with Tidal and Qobuz gets preceding having to cast those services . The B&W app does n’t show the bit - rate / resolving songs bet in , however . Tidal is lossless but not Master calibre , while Qobuz is up to 24 - bit/96kHz .
There ’s a tinge of disappointment with soundtrack livelihood , too . There’sDolby Atmos , and the Panorama 3 can take over lossless TrueHD or lossy Digital+ stochastic variable from 4 potassium Blu - rays and video recording cyclosis services alike . What it ca n’t deal with is DTS , meet LPCM instead .
Inside the inclosure are 13 single number one wood units arranged in a 3.1.2 configuration . That ’s three 19 mm Titanium noggin tweeters , to the full decouple from the console to avoid high - frequency torture . The six frontwards - facing 50 mm woven glass - fiber cone freshwater bass / mid - range units are twinned together in left , centre and right position . Atmos height unit are cover by two 50 millimetre woven glass - fibre drivers , while low frequencies are provided by two 100 mm lowly - profile bass units .
Alexa is built in and an Amazon account can be linked to the B&W Music app . The bar ’s mics can pick up my voice even when something is playing at mellow volume , and Alexa will deal with postulation or play music fromSpotifyin no metre – although playback from Tidal with Alexa is unsupported .
The app is a slick familiar , with a neatly organised port and unproblematic EQ customisation potential by amending bass and two-fold . It ’s nettlesome that changing bass / three-fold applies toallsources , so amend it for picture and it will skew music playback , too , and the same hold honest for volume level . There are no sound modes to choose from in the app .
Like the Zeppelin receiving set speaker , the Panorama 3 has a digital “ brain ” that can be upgraded . Multi - room documentation is planned , which will give up it to speak to other Panoramas , Zeppelins andFormation products .
Sound Quality
It would be easy to get caught up in the Panorama 3 ’s marketing , specially when it mentions being “ the most immersive , most convincing spatial audio ever heard from a sound bar . ”One - box Atmos barshave their limitations , but the Panorama 3 makes a convincing argument to be considered among the well - sounding model of its ilk .
One limitation , or compromise , is that this is n’t strictly “ reliable ” Atmos . lawful Atmos bank on environs speakers to create a cerebral hemisphere of phone , and the Panorama 3 bears no upgrade route for adding extra talker , do this a front - heavy effort where soundtracks do n’t wraparoundthe listener . I ’d have recollect the Formation Flex would have been utile in this example as a rear artilleryman .
Nevertheless , the Panorama 3 deliver a spacious , wide and elaborate sound . Tonally it ’s crisp and tart , not too dissimilar to the HT - A7000 , and it avail the B&W extract every rubbish of particular – from the mo to the most impactful . There ’s a slight difference between Atmos track on stream vs 4 KB Blu - ray , a little less sharpness and point detectable when compare the lossyDisney+version of Star war : The Force Awakens to the lossless 4 K Blu - ray .
In worldwide , though , the way it conk out about its business is with tremendous force of energy , but also plenty of subtlety . In The Force Awakens , volatile sequences such as the escape from Jakku , or when the Resistance come to the rescue after Maz Kanata ’s cantina is attacked , are bring with an intensity that accentuates the spectacle on - screen in a lifelike mode .
Poe Dameron ’s X - wing slide from the sky , the bar create a broad three - dimensional sense of space as he zooms towards and aside from the listener , shooting down Tie Fighter after Tie Fighter . activeness in the height channels convinces , full of explosions and the sound of laser pulse across the sky . The degree to which the taproom pushes fathom above , and the muscularity it conveys , is mightily impressive .
The taproom ’s levels of sharpness help in full term of definition , but its crisp musical note can have an untoward wallop on talks . In Netflix ’s The Dig , the programme of Britain ’s decision to put down World War II over a radio is penetrating to the decimal point where it becomes slightly opaque . Compared to the Devialet Dione , the latter ’s smoothness enunciate negotiation better .
A few more moments where dialog falters is in Tenet , where Kat unhook Sator ’s communication channel to a catamaran , flinging him into the sea . The pitch of Kat ’s “ burn in hell , Andre ” can sound unintelligible on some systems , and it is n’t intelligibly delivered on the B&W ( but is on the Dione ) .
In Dune , where Jessica recites the Litany of Fear as Paul proceed through the gom jabbar ritual , the soundbar is so caught up in the energy and big businessman of Hans Zimmer ’s grievance , that her dialogue becomes grueling to hear . It may be a quirk of how negotiation was motley ; but in brassy , more acute scenes , the Panorama 3 sputter to chip at out a clean-cut space for dialog to well exist .
While dialogue falters on occasion , the Panorama 3 utterly convinces with its realism . The moment in The Dig where Edith Pretty and Basil Brown are bundled into a elevator car to take to the woods the crime syndicate of the pressure genuinely sounds chaotic – as it should . The clamour of reporter described as a noisy rabble is truer than the Devialet ’s smoother , matted coming , even if dialog detail between Pretty and Brown is hampered .
The ambience of scenes and the pernicious contingent it picks up on make for an immersive soundscape . The embers in the breeze as Kylo Ren lands on Jakku send you within the setting decently by . In a Croatia - base episode from conversation with Friends ( iPlayer ) , the sound of cricket on the soundtrack produces the same effect , as does the speech sound of spice in the air as the Atreides touch down on Arrakis , almost carry the viewer to Dune itself . The Bowers & Wilkins ’ Panorama 3 birth subtlety along with excitement , kindle lots of detail and nuance from quieter scenes in a wholly natural manner .
The crisp tone allows it to go from quiet to loud like a high - carrying out sports car go from 0 - 60 ; the moment where Eloise travels back to sixties London for the first time in Last Night in Soho sells the entry into a different world with relish as the soundtrack opens up in scale and dynamics . The effects and dialog in a number of films and telly I watched were placed beyond the boundary of the screen and bar , as soundtrack are given infinite to rest .
But where there ’s a plus , there ’s a drawback . The abject - frequency effects from plastic film such as Mother ! , V for Vendetta and Blade Runner 2049 have spate of slug , but not much depth or extension , voice on the shallow and flat side . The destruction of the Old Bailey in V for Vendetta does n’t have the same heftiness as the HT - A7000 , nor does the fight between K and Sapper Morton sport the same free weight and violence as the Dione can showcase .
However , while watching music - base films such as A Star is Born , the concert performances go galvanizing . The crispy tone helps with the definition of guitars , drums and the vocals of Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper , the sentiency of blank and dynamism giving it a naturalistic feel .
There are some erratic issues to compete with , though . There ’s the lack of compatibility with DTS tracks , plus there can also be some eldritch buzzing for no unmistakable reason , and not just in film themselves but popping up on the menu of Blu - electron beam . While that was infrequent , more frequent were the audible pops and screaming when scanning a magnetic disc , and sometimes sound cut out completely when used with a Sony A80J OLED . Perhaps it ’s just this sample .
euphony playback occupy on similar qualities to picture : crisp and thin in tone . Takuya Kuroda ’s Fade ( effort . Corey King ) is dally back with plenty of energy and clarity , vocal avoiding sibilance . The sharpness of high frequency makes the barroom an expressive and defined performing artist . Turn it up and the Panorama 3 can make a rumpus .
And it ’s a dab hand with wearisome songs , too , such as Faye Webster ’s Sometimes , the mid - range process with excellent clarity and disinterest . The bar reveals lots of detail from the cymbal crashes to the gentle guitar in the ground .
With David Bowie ’s Modern Love there ’s more of its lean , energetic flack ; but as is the face with films , the Panorama 3 could take more care with elevating voices above the fray . Bluetooth playback is observably smoother , although not as wide in its soundstage , or as sharp and attacking . Nevertheless , it ’s still good than most soundbars I ’ve listened to recently .
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Should you buy it?
For less than £ 1000 , the Panorama 3 puts in a energetic and roomy operation that brings Hollywood motion-picture show to life with impressive fidelity . If you ca n’t save the space for a environment system , or do n’t want one , this is one of the more distinguished Atmos performers on the market .
The Panorama 3 has modus vivendi cyclosis soundbar daub all over it , with its lack of DTS support , no HDMI input and no upgrade itinerary for sum more speaker unit . The latter feels like a drop opportunity .
Final Thoughts
The name Panorama harks back to the “ Golden age ” earned run average of Hollywood ( not the BBC TV show ) , a mix of Panavision and Cinerama – although both are ocular technologies , which is odd now that I think about it . Still , I can see what B&W is fit for , especially in this Dolby Atmos age , as the Panorama 3 propose a panoramic sound performance .
It ’s a convincing step into the region of object - based audio for the caller , give birth inflammation and refinement to convey films and goggle box show to life . It can be just as incisive and clear - eyed with medicine – and with the Bowers & Wilkins app , there ’s plenty of ways to turn it into a capable music system .
The Panorama 3 does have its quirks , however . Its erratic side ( at least with this sample ) make a regular appearance ; the deficiency of DTS support / HDMI inputs will disappoint home movie house partizan ; and , despite the positive degree I ’ve given it for its speech sound , talks clarity is an expanse for improvement . Still , the Panorama 3 is a great sounding Atmos ginmill wrapped in a endearing packaging , and one of the more impressive efforts useable for under £ 1000 .
Trusted Score
How we test
We prove every soundbar we go over thoroughly over an elongated period of clock time . We use manufacture received mental testing to compare features properly . We ’ll always say you what we discover . We never , ever , accept money to brush up a product .
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FAQs
No , the Bowers & Wilkins app does n’t patronage Tidal Masters ( it ’s currently at 16 - scrap lossless ) , but an update is expected to add MQA support subsequently in the year .
There ’s no Night style or sound modes in general to pick out from , with only bass and treble adaption available through the app .
Full Specs
