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With a remarkably loud design, the B&W Panorama 3 provides a room-filling listening experience. Unfortunately, its narrow 3D surround soundstage makes it inadequate for enthusiastic movie and TV show lovers.
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Table of Contents
Product Snapshot
Overview
The B&W Panorama 3 is a 3.1.2-channel mid-range 2022 model soundbar that offers advanced voice control for both casual users and home theaters. This system has built-in Alexa, allowing users to control the sound of their voice, and it ranks up there with the best speakers in the industry today.
With Dolby Atmos support and a decent 3.1.2 setup, this unit is a good upgrade for users with stereo systems. Optical, Ethernet, and HDMI ARC ports provide hassle-free connectivity. Users can stream audio content wirelessly via Airplay, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth.
However, it lacks a dedicated subwoofer and consequently delivers sup-par bass. Read to the end of this B&W Panorama 3 review and check out the top soundbars today.
Consensus
our Verdict
Professional reviewers love the balanced sound profile and intuitive touch controls on the B&W Panorama, endorsing it as adequate for movies, music, and TV shows. During testing, experts at RTINGS marveled at its remarkably loud design, providing adequate sound to fill a large living room.
Digital Trends editors praised this soundbar’s low latency, seeing no noticeable delay between the video and audio feeds during TV dialogue. Smart features such as built-in Alexa and a companion music app simplify configuring and controlling the system.
One flaw experts found on this soundbar is that it downmixes surround sound to stereo, so it doesn’t have a wide soundstage for serious gamers and movie buffs. Additionally, it lacks the kind of EQ presets on more advanced models, although it comes with bass and treble sliders.
This soundbar is good for music but a bit inadequate for movies and TV shows. Its sound profile is dark, so vocals, dialogues, and instruments aren’t completely clear. The stereo soundstage is satisfactory, with sound placement feeling more general than precise.
Average voice clarity
Dialogues and vocals are a bit unclear because of the underemphasized treble and emphasized low mids. The center channel, however, places voices accurately in the soundstage.
Standard smart features and inputs
You can control all of the soundbar’s settings through the Bowers & Wilkins Music app (Android and iOS), including volume, casting, bass, and treble adjustment. The input options are acceptable and include 1 x Optical audio and 1 x HDMI eARC. You won’t experience any audio lag over Optical audio because its tested latency is quite low at 22 ms, which ranks among our best tested. eARC latency is higher at 63 ms, but there are no lag issues.
Reason to Avoid
Poor surround sound
The soundbar has subpar surround performance because its 3.1.2 setup downmixes surround content to stereo, and it doesn’t sound as realistic as satellites. Sounds feel like they’re emerging from the front rather than being placed around you. The Atmos, too, doesn’t create a convincing sense of height.
Underemphasized bass response
The bass response is lacking because it is underemphasized, making this soundbar lack the necessary thump and rumble for action movies and EDM and hip-hop music. The Atmos is lacking bass as well, and there is no graphic EQ to appropriately adjust the profile. For a soundbar with better sound customization, read our Denon Home Sound Bar 550 review.
No remote
This soundbar doesn’t come with a remote. You’ll have to use the Bowers & Wilkins Music app to control it through your smartphone.
Bowers & Wilkins Panorama 3 Specs
Bluetooth Enabled
Yes
Depth
5.6"
Dialogue Enhancement Feature
–
Energy Star Certified
Yes
Equalizer Settings
n/a
HDMI ARC
na
Height
2.9"
Number of Audio Channels
3.1.2
Subwoofer
–
Surround Sound Supported
–
Voice Assistant
–
Wall Mountable
–
Weight
–
Width
–
Wireless Connectivity
Bluetooth
Works With
–
All Specs
Test Results
These are the most important criteria to test for Soundbars based on our comprehensive Testing Methodology.
Low End Roll Off (Hz)
54.17
High End Roll Off (Hz)
2,712.23
Max Volume Test (db)
98.7
Latency (ms)
63
THD @ 80dB
0.31
Test Results
These are the most important criteria to test for Soundbars based on our comprehensive Testing Methodology.
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The B&W Panorama 3 is a 3.1.2-channel mid-range 2022 model soundbar that offers advanced voice control for both casual users and home theaters. This system…
The B&W Panorama 3 is a 3.1.2-channel mid-range 2022 model soundbar that offers advanced voice control for both casual users and home theaters. This system has built-in Alexa, allowing users to control the sound of their voice, and it ranks up there with the best speakers in the industry today.
With Dolby Atmos support and a decent 3.1.2 setup, this unit is a good upgrade for users with stereo systems. Optical, Ethernet, and HDMI ARC ports provide hassle-free connectivity. Users can stream audio content wirelessly via Airplay, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth.
However, it lacks a dedicated subwoofer and consequently delivers sup-par bass. Read to the end of this B&W Panorama 3 review and check out the top soundbars today.
With built-in Alexa, the B&W Panorama 3 is easier to control than the Bowers & Wilkins Formation Bar, which doesn’t have voice assistant functionality. The…
With built-in Alexa, the B&W Panorama 3 is easier to control than the Bowers & Wilkins Formation Bar, which doesn’t have voice assistant functionality. The Panorama 3 also has an HDMI connector, unlike the Formation. Featuring a 98.4 dB maximum SPL, the Panorama also gets louder than the Formation Bar, which has a 96.0 dB maximum SPL. Check out our Bowers & Wilkins Formation Bar review for details.
Featuring a five-channel surround system, the Sonos Arc provides a more immersive soundstage than the B&W Panorama 3, which has a three-channel surround system. However,…
Featuring a five-channel surround system, the Sonos Arc provides a more immersive soundstage than the B&W Panorama 3, which has a three-channel surround system. However, the B&W Panorama 3 gets louder, boasting a higher 98.4 dB SPL than the Sonos Arc, which has a 96.6 maximum SPL.
The Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar MAX is a better speaker than the B&W Panorama 3 because it has a more immersive 5.1.4 system that provides a…
The Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar MAX is a better speaker than the B&W Panorama 3 because it has a more immersive 5.1.4 system that provides a more immersive experience than the 3.1.2-channel B&W Panorama. The Sennheiser also supports 5.1 PCM via its HDMI input, but the B&W Panorama 3 doesn’t. That said, the B&W Panorama 3 has built-in Alexa, unlike the Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar MAX, which doesn’t have built-in voice assistants.
