Customer Ratings & Reviews

Dont use airplay because it has a lot of connectivity issues. If you have apple music and you are using airplay and the song wont stop than go to the B&W app and pause it through the app. The speaker sounds really well balanced and well rounded. If your looking for high resolution audio than be aware that air play is buggy. If your looking for a good bluetooth speaker that has really good vocals this speaker is amazing in bluetooth mode still. For loseless audio on apple music I woild recomend going with a different speaker because of the air play bugs. Another mention is the spread angle pf the music isn’t as wide as the formation edge and you cant tilt the speaker pointing up or down some because its just a fixed base.

I really want to love the Zeppelin speaker. It has a really unique design that makes it quite the statement piece in my home. It's well built as well well and the hardware feels like it justifies the high price tag well. It also sounds amazing. But I think the feature set leans more towards an iPhone user and I wish it also incorporated Google Cast audio. Overall I would say if you're an iPhone user I don't think there's anything missing from having a great experience there, but on Android you may have to settle for Bluetooth or hope your music service is built into the Bowers & Wilkins app. At least the Bluetooth support incorporates aptX Adaptive for the best possible experience in that regard though. Unboxing is about as simple as it can get. You get the speaker, the power cord, and the manuals. The sheer heft of the speaker was apparent pulling it out of the box. The design is going to be polarizing for sure and it makes statement right out the gate. I myself love it. The materials all blend with each other really well and it feels extremely well constructed. For ports it's just the power connection and a USB port, but the USB is only for service. I do wish for a speaker this expensive that some kind of wired option was incorporated. There are 5 buttons across the upper back - volume up/down, play/pause, Alexa, and a multifunction button. At the bottom of the speaker there's an LED that provides some subtle illumination. It's a nice touch, but can be turned off in the app if it's not preferred. Setting up the speaker through the Bowers & Wilkins app was very straightforward when it came to detecting the speaker, connecting it to the network, and applying updates. You can use the app to adjust the bass and treble on the speaker, setup Amazon Alexa, and link some music services. At the time I'm writing this (Feb. 2022) there aren't many services available to link directly in the app, at least compared to the Sonos app. You can play music to the Zeppelin in a variety of ways. The first is via the Bowers & Wilkins app if your service is supported. It also supports Spotify Connect and AirPlay 2. The last (and in my opinion least ideal) method is via Bluetooth. Streaming lossless audio on Apple Music via AirPlay 2 worked great and I was able to try Tidal via the Bowers & Wilkins app and that worked well too. Bluetooth support is for 5.0 with aptX Adaptive codec, so at least Bluetooth is as good as it could possibly be here, though the bitrate still fall short of streaming via WiFi and you also have to contend with your phone being within range and device alerts potentially disrupting the listening experience. I was initially able to get my device (Pixel 6) to connect via aptX HD (it does not support Adaptive), but subsequently have only been able to connect via AAC. I’m going to chalk that up to an issue with my phone though. I do wish a Google Cast option was offered with the Zeppelin; maybe as part of some kind of future update, but I’m not holding my breath. I did find the sound of the Zeppelin to be excellent no matter how I listened to it or what I was listening to. It doesn’t struggle at all at high volumes and the bass is powerful. The sound is very detailed and I could pick out all the individual elements of the tracks. I definitely prefer it to the Sonos Move and Sony HT-Z9F soundbar that we typically listen to music through. Overall I’m happy with the Zeppelin speaker. I remember the original iPod dock version that came out in the 2000’s and this new version carries forward that legacy well. I do wish Bowers & Wilkins would add Google Cast support and some more music services to their app. Those are both things that can be fixed with software updates, so I’m hopeful.

There are so many Bluetooth speakers in the market today. Most differentiate themselves as being portable, powerful, and offer some sort of sound dispersion. Bowers and Wilkins is so far beyond 99% of those speakers from enhanced sound reproduction to exclusive and unique styling. This unit is meant to be seen, it's meant to be as much a conversation piece as a speaker. Like many speakers in the Magnolia collection, this unit excels by offering not only the most well designed cabinet and speaker locations, but also WiFi streaming with a 24 bit DAC sound processor and BT APTX adaptive enhanced sound. So yes, it's a Bluetooth speaker, but also a wifi speaker. The Zeppelin doesn't disappoint once you set it up by downloading the B&W app and setting up an account. It connects to a handful of wifi music apps like Deezer and Spotify that you can access right thru the app. Music reproduction blows you away and actually sounds better 20-30ft back! There are no equalizer settings on the app, just treble/bass. I think with this type of speaker, less is more, the DSP takes care of it all. The highs are crisp and clear, the midrange is effective and explosive, the bass tone is only noticeable over 100hz. That would be the only place it faulters a bit in the lower frequencies where you should hear and feel a thump of radiating bass, you get a hum and tap. The important thing is the sound is very clear and no discernable distortion even at annoyingly high volume. Genres of music like BPM, Dance, Dubstep, Classical, all sounded clear and true to tone. I'm a little surprised at this price point that it doesn't connect with 5ghz wifi. My phone automatically connected to the 5ghz network at home and then I wondered why it didn't recognize the speaker after I was sure to have connected it. Alexa only works if my phone is connected. I'm not a big fan of Alexa, but I assumed Google Assistant would also be available. The app is updatable, so as they will be adding new services, they may add support for Google. I think this speaker has a lot going for it, from it's amazingly clear sound, to it's unique Zeppelin (blimp) aesthetic, coupled with the app's support for adaptive music service and updatable features, I highly recommend it.

Sound quality is normal B&W greatness. App isn't great though. Connectivity is weird to deal with coming from other speakers app integration with music platforms works great though.

Great sound quality and modern design. Not very easy to set up over the internet. Requires install of B&W application.

Fills up the room with unbelievably quality sound. Girlfriend loves it.

The best sounding Bluetooth speaker, but it lost a star as the direction on how to operate this without a network connection is intuitive and required a web search it fo it.

Excellent deep sound, however not very easy to use with app's limited features

This speaker is definitely a head turner, both with its visual appearance and its sound fidelity. From unboxing to listening takes about 5 mins. It’s incredibly simple to get up and running. The first thing you’ll notice is how heavy the speaker is. Over 16 lbs. The build quality is apparent right away, something you would expect from Bowers & Wilkins. The entire speaker feels super dense and rigid, which translates into superb sound quality. The front of the speaker is clad in a nice cloth, while it sits on a metal pedestal stand that has a large foam rubber pad on the bottom, helping to eliminate any sound or vibration transfer. The Zeppelin pulls its speakers designs from its full size speaker lineup, scaled to match the size and performance of the Zeppelin. You get two 1” dome tweeters, two 3.5” midrange drivers and one 6” subwoofer. Once you plug it in and access the B&W app, you can setup the speaker in just a couple minutes. You even have the ability to add Alexa voice assistant and with just a couple quick taps, she’s ready for you. Mine performed a firmware update right away and I was up and running in no more than 5 mins. It can channel a total of 240W of power, which is insane. And what that power delivers is crystal clear sound at ridiculously loud or quiet volumes with no distortion. It truly does fill a room, even a floor of your house and then some. I cannot get past about 40% volume, it’s just too loud. The highs are crystal clear, and depending on what type of music you listen too, might be too clear. The bass is nice and tight, not muddy or flat, and amazingly the speaker can get down to 35Hz, so the bass always sounds full and present. If I had one drawback to the overall sound, it would be the mids. Again, depending on what you listen too, I found that the midrange can be overbearing. The app allows you to adjust some minor Bass and Treble settings, but that’s it. No EQ or further customization can be done right now. I would love to see more EQ possibilities in a future update for sure. So if you’re looking for any sort of mid scooped sound, you need to do that outboard of the speaker. I’m mainly a Metal and Hard Rock listener, and don’t get me wrong, the sound is amazing. I’m hearing notes in songs that I haven’t ever heard a speaker replicate before. But based on the source music, the placement and distance away from the speaker, the mids can be very pronounced. If you listen to acoustic, jazz, singer/songwriter, classic rock, etc. then the speaker is just perfect! Again, this speaker is producing sounds I’ve only heard in high end headphones. This speaker truly lets you hear the wide array of differences in audio recording quality and production of your favorite music. For both good and bad, the Zeppelin will enhance the best production, and show limitations of not so good production, that to me is a sign of a true high end speaker. If everything sounds the same, your speaker hardware is not doing you any favors. The Zeppelin brings audio fidelity to a new level for a speaker like this. And if you use TIDAL, Qobbuz or Deezer, you can stream HD audio at 24bit. I’m an iOS user, so I’ve been using Airplay 2 and its been amazing. If you use other source platforms, you can stream using AAC, SBC or aptX Adaptive Bluetooth codecs. The one drawback I have heard in my listening, is using Bluetooth. Using Airplay has been amazing, but using Bluetooth, not so much. When I try to stream using BT, the audio seems to modulate up and down, like someone is flipping a loudness/compression switch every few seconds. Now at first I thought this might be due to me using Apple Music Lossless, which can’t stream over Bluetooth, but maybe using the ALAC codec might have been the culprit. But even just setting my music to standard AAC format, I still get this modulating effect that just won’t go away. Right now, I have to use Airplay because after a song or so on BT, I just can’t stand it anymore. And using Airplay is fine, it sounds amazing, just bummed and confused about the BT and what that might be. All in all, this is one of the most amazing all in one speakers I’ve ever listened too, whether that be wired or wireless. The sound and clarity of the Zeppelin is simply amazing. It has such a full and clear sound, so full of presence at any volume. And they plan to add multi room support in a future update, so using other compatible B&W speakers, you can have a truly incredible whole home audio solution.