When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Bowers & Wilkins)
(Image credit: Bowers & Wilkins)
T3 Verdict
Reasons to buy+Full-blooded, confident and absorbing movie sound+Dextrous and convincing with music+Ample control options
Full-blooded, confident and absorbing movie sound
Dextrous and convincing with music
Ample control options
No wireless surround option
No HDMI passthrough
Why you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
Why you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
Bowers & Wilkins Panorama 3 deals
31 Amazon customer reviews☆☆☆☆☆
31 Amazon customer reviews☆☆☆☆☆
☆☆☆☆☆
$696.23View$999View$999View
$696.23View
$696.23View
$696.23View
$696.23
$696.23
$999View
$999View
$999View
$999
$999
$999View
$999View
$999View
$999
$999
We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
The Bowers & Wilkins Panorama 3 finally fills in what has been, relatively speaking, a Bowers & Wilkins blind spot. Where wireless speakers, headphones and, of course, traditional loudspeakers are concerned, the company’s reputation is basically impeccable – but where soundbars are concerned, it’s tended to fall a little short.
In this Bowers & Wilkins Panorama 3 review, we’re looking at the product that breaks this particular cycle. As the name suggests, it’s the third Panorama soundbar, with the first having launched in 2009 – but it’s the first to seriously trouble our list of thebest soundbars.
It turns out to be a seriously impressive bit of kit that bests the competition in some areas, but falls a little short in a few other areas – but that might make it the balance you’re looking for. Here’s what we thought.
B&W Panorama 3 review: price & release date
The Bowers & Wilkins Panorama 3 was released in March 2022. In the United Kingdom you’ll have to part with £899 to secure one, while in America you’ll be handing over $999. Australian customers, meanwhile, are looking at AU$1599.
But it’s still fairly premium, and the price is right inSonosArc territory, which has been a huge hit for a reason. No pressure, then…
Today’s best Bowers & Wilkins Panorama 3 deals31 Amazon customer reviews☆☆☆☆☆$696.23View$999View$999ViewWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Today’s best Bowers & Wilkins Panorama 3 deals31 Amazon customer reviews☆☆☆☆☆$696.23View$999View$999ViewWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Today’s best Bowers & Wilkins Panorama 3 deals
31 Amazon customer reviews☆☆☆☆☆
31 Amazon customer reviews☆☆☆☆☆
☆☆☆☆☆
$696.23View$999View$999View
$696.23View
$696.23View
$696.23View
$696.23
$696.23
$999View
$999View
$999View
$999
$999
$999View
$999View
$999View
$999
$999
We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
The Panorama 3 is wide – it’s only good for TVs 55 inches and up, really.(Image credit: Bowers & Wilkins)
The Panorama 3 is wide – it’s only good for TVs 55 inches and up, really.
The Panorama 3 is wide – it’s only good for TVs 55 inches and up, really.
(Image credit: Bowers & Wilkins)
B&W Panorama 3 review: features & what’s new
The left, right and centre channels are arranged across the front of the soundbar, behind some nicely applied wraparound acoustic material. Each channel features a 19mm decoupled titanium-dome tweeter and two 50mm midrange drivers, and together they form the ‘3’ of the soundbar’s 3.1.2-channel configuration.
In terms of getting information on board the Panorama 3 in the first place, there are both wired and wireless options. In a little recessed rear panel you’ll find an HDMI input (just the one, mind you, because for some reason Bowers & Wilkins – like Sonos – seems to think HDMI passthrough is some kind of bourgeois affectation, rather than a practical necessity in many cases), digital optical input and ethernet socket, along with an input for power, a USB-C socket for service updates and a ‘reset’ button.
Wireless connectivity, meanwhile, runs toAppleAirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect over Wi-Fi, plus Bluetooth with aptX Adaptive compatibility.
There’s no support for any kind of wireless rear speakers to add true surround sound – a lot of people won’t mind this one bit, but it does mean that what you’re getting here is the maximum amount of immersion it has to offer. You can’t add more channels later, unlike the Sonos Arc.
The Panorama 3’s fabric hides the array of drivers, and looks smart in a living room.(Image credit: Future)
The Panorama 3’s fabric hides the array of drivers, and looks smart in a living room.
The Panorama 3’s fabric hides the array of drivers, and looks smart in a living room.
(Image credit: Future)
B&W Panorama 3 review: performance
And despite the smooth integration from the top to the bottom of the frequency range, both bass and treble information keeps well out of the way of the midrange. Which means it’s free to get on with communicating all the nuance and all of the detail your favourite soundtracks feature. Dialogue, in particular, projects forward well, which makes even murky or overdriven speechifying easy to follow.
But for all its precision, control and organisation, Panorama 3 is more than capable of kicking right off if the soundtrack demands it. There’s real dynamic power here, and the soundbar can switch from ‘near-silence’ to ‘enormous earth-shattering explosion’ and back again in an eye-blink. It’s equally adept with the second-stage dynamics of overlapping speech, revving engines or anything else that carries minor harmonic variations within it.
As far as the width, depth and coherence of the soundstage the Bowers & Wilkins describes, there’s nothing to take issue with. The soundbar is able to shift effects from right to left or front to back with real confidence, and can distribute sound far wider than the actual cabinet itself.
Switch to some music instead of movies, though, and if anything Panorama 3 is even more impressive. We were primed to expect good movie performance from a Bowers & Wilkins soundbar costing proper money, of course – but products of this type can quite often fall down quite badly when asked to perform as a music speaker.
But all of the assurance, all of the authority and all of the winning tonal unity Panorama 3 demonstrates with movies is carried over to the way it handles music. And there’s a positivity to the way this soundbar expresses rhythms and manages tempos that is, frankly, not a given even in dedicated music speakers. For those who want their soundbar to be a living room speaker that does everything, it’s ideal.
The Panorama 3’s ports are in a recess on the back – it’s a shame there’s no HDMI passthrough.(Image credit: Future)
The Panorama 3’s ports are in a recess on the back – it’s a shame there’s no HDMI passthrough.
The Panorama 3’s ports are in a recess on the back – it’s a shame there’s no HDMI passthrough.
(Image credit: Future)
B&W Panorama 3 review: design & usability
How much ‘design’ do you want your new soundbar to have undergone? Exactly. So Panorama looks just as it ought to. At 1,210mm wide it needs a biggish TV to sit under – consider 55 inches to be the minimum. Still, at just 65mm high it should be able to sit comfortably beneath most TVs without getting in the way of the actual screen. And if you want to hang it on the wall (there’s a very useful bracket supplied), its tidy 140mm depth means it isn’t going to turn it into a shelf.
Do bear in mind, though, that Panorama 3 has upward-firing drivers positioned on its top panel. Which means they need space and, ideally, uninterrupted line of sight to your ceiling in order to do their thing.
The Bowers & Wilkins is built from a combination of sturdy, creak-free plastics (perforated on the top in order to let the drivers do their thing) and acoustic cloth. As you might expect given a) the brand and b) the price, everything is put together perfectly and feels built to last.
As far as taking control goes, you’ve a number of options. Attach the soundbar to your TV using ARC or eARC and you can use your television’s remote control to adjust volume.Amazon Alexavoice-control is available too, and it’s very nicely implemented.
There are a few capacitive touch-controls on the top panel, which use a proximity sensor to wake up and illuminate. Or there’s the Bowers & Wilkins control app, which in this instance lets you adjust volume, trim ‘bass’ and ‘treble’ EQ levels, and integrate your favourite music streaming services and internet radio providers.
And in time, says Bowers & Wilkins, you’ll be able to use the app to set up a multi-room system with other Panorama, Zeppelin or Formation products from the company’s ranges. At the moment, any multi-room use will have to come from Apple AirPlay or Spotify connect.
B&W Panorama 3 review: verdict
The Arc counters with the best-realised, most intuitive ecosystem in all of home entertainment-land, though, which for some people will be all the recommendation they need – especially if you like the idea of being able to add wireless rear surround speakers in the future. But if you’re after home cinema thrillsandconvincing music reproduction from just one product, well, here it is.
Also consider
Today’s best Bowers & Wilkins Panorama 3, Sonos Arc and Sony HT-A7000 dealsBowers & Wilkins Panorama 3$696.23ViewSee all pricesSonos Arc$783.62ViewSee all pricesSony HT-A7000$1,192ViewSee all pricesWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Today’s best Bowers & Wilkins Panorama 3, Sonos Arc and Sony HT-A7000 dealsBowers & Wilkins Panorama 3$696.23ViewSee all pricesSonos Arc$783.62ViewSee all pricesSony HT-A7000$1,192ViewSee all pricesWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Today’s best Bowers & Wilkins Panorama 3, Sonos Arc and Sony HT-A7000 dealsBowers & Wilkins Panorama 3$696.23ViewSee all pricesSonos Arc$783.62ViewSee all pricesSony HT-A7000$1,192ViewSee all pricesWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Today’s best Bowers & Wilkins Panorama 3, Sonos Arc and Sony HT-A7000 deals
Bowers & Wilkins Panorama 3$696.23ViewSee all pricesSonos Arc$783.62ViewSee all pricesSony HT-A7000$1,192ViewSee all prices
Bowers & Wilkins Panorama 3$696.23ViewSee all prices
Bowers & Wilkins Panorama 3$696.23ViewSee all prices
Bowers & Wilkins Panorama 3
Bowers & Wilkins Panorama 3
$696.23View
$696.23
$696.23
See all prices
Sonos Arc$783.62ViewSee all prices
Sonos Arc$783.62ViewSee all prices
Sonos Arc
Sonos Arc
$783.62View
$783.62
$783.62
See all prices
Sony HT-A7000$1,192ViewSee all prices
Sony HT-A7000$1,192ViewSee all prices
Sony HT-A7000
Sony HT-A7000
$1,192View
$1,192
$1,192
See all prices
We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Bowers & Wilkins Panorama 3: Price Comparison
31 Amazon customer reviews☆☆☆☆☆
31 Amazon customer reviews☆☆☆☆☆
☆☆☆☆☆
$696.23View$999View$999View
$696.23View
$696.23View
$696.23View
$696.23
$696.23
$999View
$999View
$999View
$999
$999
$999View
$999View
$999View
$999
$999
We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Sign up to the T3 newsletter for smarter living straight to your inbox
Get all the latest news, reviews, deals and buying guides on gorgeous tech, home and active products from the T3 experts
Nintendo Switch 2 official – and here’s when you can see the games tooNintendo has finally announced its worst kept secret
Nintendo has finally announced its worst kept secret
This smart kitchen scale will track protein, carbs and calories in your food – and it’s surprisingly affordableNew year, new you?
New year, new you?
The biggest Samsung Galaxy S25 leak yet reveals specs, Galaxy AI features and a lot moreThere are going to be some big changes with the new Samsung phones
There are going to be some big changes with the new Samsung phones
