Bowers & Wilkins debuts Panorama 3 Atmos soundbar

Bowers & Wilkins has launched its first Dolby Atmos soundbar, and in the process is laying claim to the higher-end of the mid-range market.

The £899 Panorama 3 is (unsurprisingly) the third in the brand’s Panorama series, building on previous iterations released in 2009 and 2013.

Like its predecessors, it’s an all-in-one design, with no accompanying subwoofer, which should win it fans with interior designers.

Suitable for larger screens only, it measures 1210 x 65 x140mm (w/h/d) and accommodates 13 individual drive units, arranged in a 3.1.2 configuration. There’s a forward-firing array arranged in standard left, centre, right (L/C/R) deployments, each with twin 50mm midrange drivers partnered by fully decoupled 19mm titanium-dome tweeters.

Height content is delivered via a pair of up-firing, angled 50mm drive units. For bass, there’s twin 100mm subwoofers; these take advantage of the acoustic volume that forms the majority of the enclosure.

Bowers & Wilkins says the bar is suitable for movies, music and gaming, which makes it a strong media room contender. It comes with a dedicated bracket for wall-mounting.

Total power output is rated at 400W, with 40W going to each drive unit, be it mid-range or tweeter.

Connectivity is stripped back. There’s a single HDMI with ARC/eARC, and an optical digital input for back-up use. The soundbar zapper can also learn TV remote control commands.

Wireless support covers aptX Adaptive Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. There’s also AirPlay 2 compliance and Spotify Connect. For hi-res audio, users can turn to the Bowers & Wilkins Music App, which lists Tidal, Deezer, Last.fm, Qobuz, Soundcloud, and TuneIn.

Adding a premium design flourish are capacitive-touch buttons on its top surface, which stay hidden until lit. Amazon Alexa voice control is also built-in.

At launch there’s no multiroom support, but that is coming via a firmware upgrade says the brand. This will allow the Panorama 3 to integrate with the latest Zeppelin speaker or Bowers & Wilkins Formation range of wireless speakers.