Customer Ratings & Reviews

Very good sound quality. I like my new B&W sound bar

I used with soundbar with the companion bass unit and the system was terrible. Sound was weak, music would play in 3.0 and not 2.0 and the sound would drop out constantly. If you want a good soundbar for music and movies check out the B&O Stage; far superior.

Good sound bar. Initial hiccup in setting up. But overall, good sound bar.

Bar stopped being recognized by app, after firmware update.

Had issues syncing this up and didn’t have the connection ports that I needed. Great if it works for you but didn’t for me.

I held off investing in Sonos, waiting rather for one of the premium brands to improve on the concept particularly in sound quality and design. Now admittedly, I’m more of a wannabe audiophile than true connoisseur. Having heard a full wired B&W system I’m not so delusional as to believe wireless can compete, but wow is it close to my amateur ears. The massive gap between full wired systems and WiFi now doesn’t seem quite so big. The highs and mids are incredibly clear with lots of depth that fills the room in a way that makes my Homepods sound like the original echos. I can hear things on this bar that I can’t on any of my headphones or HomePod stereo pair. The design is striking too a big plus in the world of ugly bars. Now the bad. I’ve noticed a crackle at the beginning of some songs played over airplay. It seems random but is definitely noticeable. Not sure what this is. If it persists I’ll exchange it assuming I got a defective unit. The bar will not recognize either my Samsung universe rap remote or Apple TV remote (downside of no HDMI?). I’m going to try a new universal remote, but this was admittedly very frustrating. Currently the only way to adjust tv volume is through the B&W app. Bass is just acceptable. This bar definitely wants for a subwoofer which unfortunately wasn’t in stock yet. I’ve heard better sounding bars for movies. This speaker really shines with music. It’s still exceptional with movies, but I would recommend this for someone who is building a music system first and tv system second.

Amazing sound. I doubt the quality of build though, if its long lasting. Its been 9 months since I have had the formation bar and bass. The bar is starting to heat up and distorted sound from one side of the speaker. My main problem is with the B&W company itself which has the worst customer service I have seen EVER. My thoughts as below to B&W were mentioned in an email and i got no response. Firstly, with a product like Bowers & Wilkins the product should not fail performing its primary function "High Quality Sound" within the first year. B&W is considered to be elite in sound technology and should last a lifetime with respect to sound. Secondly, If your product fails to perform its primary function, It should be replaced and the company should not be opening it up to fix and repair within the first year AT LEAST. This leads to customers having less faith in the product itself. If secondary functions like the bluetooth or WIFI fail to function, I understand sending it in to repair or replace, but not the Sound. I totally understand if you would like to verify if the problem exists or not and the need to send the sound bar in. Third, I would like to address my disappointment in servicing policies as I was not happy about the process of shipping the sound bar on my expense to your facilities, considering it's still under manufacturing warranty. This process should be covered under the customer service quality gate of the company with a quick turnaround time for customer satisfaction. The lead time that was given to me was 30 days for servicing + shipping back and forth, honestly I am looking at approximately a month and a half, which is kind of ridiculous considering how new the sound bar is. All in all I was immensely impressed with the B&W sound but I am deeply dissatisfied with customer service with the company standing by its product.

I have been eyeing this product for my TV. I was finally able to purchase it when it went on sale at $700 off. I was very satisfied with my purchase. It looked and sounded great. I just wished it came with its own remote (I was unable to pair it with my TV’s remote) and wifi 5.

If a speaker sounds great as I claim, how can I give the product a one-star review? Because the app loses my system's components randomly, and this leads to the system being available less than 10 percent of the time. $1300 is a lot of money to spend to look at a speaker. That's right. Most of the time you can only look at the speaker because the app that you must use to configure the Formation bar (and subwoofer in my case) keeps losing my configuration for no apparent reason. This app is one of, no, wait, it is THE most horrible piece of software I've ever had the displeasure of using. I sure hope B&W fired every single engineer who looked at this buggy app and then said, "Looks good to me! Approved!!"

The connectivity is horrrible. It "supports" bluetooth but doesn't even let you play anything unless you use a few compatible platforms under their app (which is laggy). So expensive and you can't even play media straight out your device like any other speaker. Also does not support hdmi to connect to other devices who don't have optical.

Connectivity only works half the time. Had it once replaced and again sent for warranty (you pay shipping) sounds good when it works but aggravated every time I turn it on.

Sound quality isn’t noticeably better than other soundbars much cheaper. Bought this years ago. Many issues since then. App has bad functionality. The “learn remote” feature doesn’t and hasn’t worked on mine or my girlfriends phone since purchased. With that being said… it doesn’t come with a remote?! Stupid. I was young and stupid when the magnolia guy sold me this “superior” product. What a joke! Must’ve been for the comission. If I had to redo, would’ve never bought it. I urge you to do some research. And I’m sure you will not find this speaker on any article reviewing good to great soundbars. Boo Bowers & Wilkins. Overpriced crap

This is the most overpriced and under-engineered speaker I have ever owned. Cannot pair an AppleTV remote for volume control, as AppleTV remotes work via Bluetooth not IR. Constant connectivity issues with Apple TV. Ultimately, after four months, it developed a static "pop" sound. The unit was ultimately replaced under warranty after many phone calls. The replacement unit developed the same problem after 4 months again. This issue is widely circulated online. B&W are clearly aware of it yet unable to address it. Now I'm stuck with a $1200 dollar speaker that doesn't work and is out of warranty. Stay away from this. It's a complete waste of money.

The app is supposed to make it easy to connect music to your Formation soundbar. However, the soundbar itself is horribly designed because it requires the app and is completely intertwined with it. The tv remote can turn the volume up and down but if the tv is turned down to zero, the soundbar is still playing sound! You must use the app to turn the master volume up and down. This has caused roughly 4 million headaches in my house - from sound playing when no one wants it to the speaker being SUPER LOUD when the tv volume shows 25%. I hate this soundbar. It would be 75% better if they could fix the software on it so it did not require the app. That extra 25% would be to provide an HMDI input instead of solely optical. What is this, 2003? I’d return it if I could but instead I’ll be forced to sell it. The sound is no better out of this soundbar and bass combo than Bose or even Sony or JBL. Does the new app connect to play music? Maybe. But the downfalls of the soundbar are worse than you could imagine.

Product worked for a few months. It then started cutting out and making loud static noises. We were asked to return it to Bowers & Wilkins to be "serviced." They sportingly offered to provide us with a shipping label, only after some back and forth. Then we asked for a box to ship it in. Fools that we were, we had gotten rid of the packaging, assuming the product would work. Several weeks later, we received a box. We shipped the sound bar back to B&W. Several more weeks later, we received the bar back. No explanation was offered as to what was done to fix it. It worked again for about six or seven months. Then it started making a loud static noise again. We asked for a refund. Sorry, no refunds. Only service. B&W can send you a prepaid shipping label. This time, B&W promised to replace the faulty one with a "new" sound bar. They insist on receiving the faulty one back first, however. Hmm....

Fantastic sound! I know the price may be a little off putting for some, but after using the bar for about a month now I can attest that it's worth it. I got this to replace a smaller Yamaha sound bar and what an upgrade in sound quality and clarity!

Probably the most disappointing product I’ve ever had. The soundbar and subwoofer constantly disconnects from the system. You have to control the volume vis app and it’s terrible. Stay away. Go for Sonos.

The speaker system is very poor. Do not recommend I have contacted the company no luck, contacted Best Buy which they don't support and had to pay someone to come out. The speakers do not stay connected and all speakers will quit working for no reason. Not even a year old would gladly return to BestBuy.

Totally disappointed after 2 years and 1 month the formation bar Starts crackling sounds and fading in and out with my Flatscreen, Payed $75 to ship out to B&W and they would’nt honor any type of warranty, on top of that They asked for my credit card To pay to have it shipped back. For the money I paid for the formation bar and subwoofer $2500 you would think a prestiges Company like B&W would be reasonable. I wouldnt recomend Their speakers particularly the formation line.

hardware is good, but app is the worst I've used, only way to control volume is through the app and most of the time you cannot even connect to devices from app.