Bower & Wilkins Panorama 3 Soundbar Review

The Bower & Wilkins Panorama 3 Soundbar promises to raise the bar, representing a home theater powerhouse in a single component. But does it live up to expectations, especially at almost $1,000? Boasting movie theater-quality sound and the ability to experience music at its best, the manufacturer makes some bold claims about its new soundbar.

What’s more, it does so despite the Panorama 3 lacking a separate subwoofer. It’s also Bower & Wilkins’ first-ever attempt at a Dolby Atmos-equipped soundbar. With stiff competition from the likes of Beats, Bose, Sony, Sennheiser, Sonos, Vizio, and Yamaha, is the $999 Panorama 3 from Bower & Wilkins the best all-in-one soundbar to buy in 2022? Let’s find out.

Bower & Wilkins is a British manufacturer of exclusively high-end speakers and headphones. Established in 1966, the company remains committed to developing new-age, innovative designs.

Bower & Wilkins’ all-new Panorama 3 follows this ethos, immediately breaking soundbar tradition by opting against a separate subwoofer. Quite simply, Bower & Wilkins says it isn’t necessary and that the Dolby Atmos-enabled Panorama 3, with its up-firing drivers, can create room-filling sound without one.

On paper, there’s no reason to doubt that, either. The Panorama 3 certainly packs a punch, offering 400 watts of total output. Six mid-range speakers, two up-firing units, three tweeters, and two miniature built-in subwoofers deliver this output. It’s a setup not dissimilar to that of Sennheiser’s Ambeo soundbar – a far more expensive proposition that costs two-and-a-half times as much as the Panorama 3.

The Bower & Wilkins Panorama 3 is nothing if not feature-packed. Among the highlights are:

Elsewhere, it’s certainly not a small unit, measuring just shy of 48 inches across, nearly six inches deep, and weighing in at almost 15lbs. However, the soundbar’s much more modest 2.5-inch height serves the Bower & Wilkins Panorama 3 well in helping to minimize the impact of its other dimensions. The Panorama 3’s hidden-till-lit user interface, meanwhile, then further helps it to blend into its surroundings.

The Panorama 3 also promises easy network setup via the Bower & Wilkins app, which is available for iOS and Android smartphones and tablets. It’s the same app that allows users to stream music from services like Deezer and Tidal, in addition to its built-in support for Spotify.

The Panorama 3 costs just a dollar under $1,000. While that’s far from inexpensive, it’s important to remember that Bower & Wilkins’ latest all-in-one soundbar was never intended to be a budget option. Similarly well-equipped models are also invariably more expensive. Take Sony’s comparable HT-A7000 soundbar, for example, which costs an extra 40 percent.

The subwoofer-less Ambeo from Sennheiser costs even more, priced at just a few pennies short of $2,500. So, while there are cheaper soundbars out there, considering what it offers, the Panorama 3 from Bower & Wilkins isn’t overly expensive, especially when viewed alongside its closest competitors.

For the money, it’s hard to find a much better soundbar than the Panorama 3. As Bower & Wilkins’ first Dolby Atmos-equipped solution in this market, it certainly raises the bar in terms of the manufacturer’s existing offering.

It can’t necessarily compete with significantly costlier examples like the $2,500 Sennheiser Ambeo, which is a more impressive package overall. Yet, at $999, it’s a well-rounded and feature-packed soundbar option for the money. Accordingly, it’s potentially ideal for anyone looking to shell out on a new soundbar, but without blowing the bank completely.

All Bower & Wilkins products come with a limited warranty, including the Panorama 3 soundbar. Such warranties are restricted exclusively to coverage in the event of faults caused by defective materials. Unfortunately, the limited protection leaves the soundbar vulnerable to damage. Thankfully, upgrading this limited warranty coverage is both affordable and straightforward with Upsie.

Upsie’s extended home theater warranties offer comprehensive protection against manufacturing defects, mechanical faults, and other failures for up to five years. That includes everything from issues with sound volume, quality, and microphones to broken and malfunctioning buttons and other controls.

Furthermore, all Upsie home theater warranties include a variety of in-home and local repair and replacement options, with no service fees and a $0 deductible. In addition, customers can make unlimited claims up to the purchase price of the device. Parts and labor are included, too, and Upsie’s Bower & Wilkins Panorama 3 warranties are fully transferable if customers choose to gift or sell their soundbars at a later date. Find out more at Upsie.com or via the Upsie smartphone app.