B&W C5 In-Ear Headset

Bowers & Wilkins has come up with an amazing pair of headphones targeted mostly for the people who likes ear-bud compared to on-ear at a very reasonable price of $180. The device comes with a hard-shell case, airplane & right angle adapter with three smoky silver silicone ear tips of varying sizes. The aluminum bud is shaped like a bullet and has a glossy black shell. It comes with thick silicone cabling with B&W patented in-line controller plus mic. The buttons on the controller have nice clicking response despite of its glossy finish. The wires are rigid but causes a bit of noise while walking, in likeness with the old in-ear bud of Apple.

There have been two major modification in the bud design for C5. Firstly, the weight of the buds have been increased to keep it sitting inside the ear, by using hundreds of super tiny steel balls at the back, aptly dubbed as Tungsten Weighting. Secondly, an optional extra loop has been added near the buds to secure it along the inner of the ear. Also, the silicone tips don’t sit far from the ears providing enough cushion for a better fit.

By design, the buds are good to cancel out noises but it’s not exactly a true noise canceling device like Bose ear-buds. It is truly designed for iDevices and hence the sound is pleasantly open for an ear-bud, with thick punchy bass for lows. Even in the mids the device does pretty well especially with guitar solos. The highs are good but not excellent leaving a trace of fatigue at louder volumes. Still it has great instrument isolation and an awesome sound quality for a price as low as this.

To wrap up the review, C5 is no doubt a well built, well executed, comfortable set of buds coming at a price as low as $180. Overall, B&W has done an admirable job in crafting the device to perfection & beauty.