Anew category of headphones has emerged in the past few years: comfortable, high-quality, portable on-ear headphones that also look great. I compare four such models, each of which has a three-button inline remote for controlling music, a microphone module for taking calls, a generous warranty, and replaceable cables (the cable is the most frequent point of failure). Bowers & Wilkins P3 B&W's P3 headset retains the overall look of the company's P5 headset-the model that gave birth to this category-with similar chrome and brushed-metal highlights. But the $200 P3 trades some of the P5's luxury for a lower price tag. The headset features cloth and rubberized plastic instead of the P5's leather, as well as smaller earpieces and internal speakers. It's no surprise, then, that the P3's sound quality can't match that of its higher-end sibling. The P3's excessive, sloppy bass overwhelms the midrange frequencies. I found listening to the P3 for long periods of time to be fatiguing.
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