Bowers & Wilkins Formation Bar

12 reviews

Nov, 2024

Positive
sound (7)
design (7)
bass quality (3)
usability (2)
reliability (1)

Negative

General overview
Price comparison

alaTest has collected and analyzed 12 reviews of Bowers & Wilkins Formation Bar. The average rating for this product is 3.8/5, compared to an average rating of 4.3/5 for other products in the same category for all reviews. Views about the treble quality and usability are on the whole positive. The bass quality and design are also mentioned favorably, but reviews are divided on the mids quality.

sound, design, bass quality, usability, treble quality

We analyzed user and expert ratings, product age and more factors. Compared to other products in the same category the Bowers & Wilkins Formation Bar is awarded an overall alaScore™ of 93/100 = Excellent quality.

Review analysis

(Based on 12 reviews)

Expert Reviews

User Reviews

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Showing 8 review(s)

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Showing 1 - 8 of 8 Show Reviews: in English | in other languages (3)

Expert review by : Steve Withers (pocket-lint.com)

Bowers & Wilkins Formation Bar review: Style over substance?

An attractively designed and well-crafted 'bar and sub combo - but it suffers from limited features for its asking price.

Impressive sonic performance ; Excellent multi-room platform ; Can be expanded to 5.1 ; Eye-catching and well made

Expensive ; No HDMI connections ; No remote control ; Limited to lossy audio

An attractively designed, well-crafted and accomplished soundbar – but it suffers from limited features (no HDMI connections, no remote control in the box), limited bass, and a high price all considered.

Jun, 2020

Partner Source

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Expert review by : Tyler Stripko (hometheaterhifi.com)

Bowers and Wilkins Formation Bar and Bass Review

Breaking from their audiophile traditions, Bowers and Wilkins have released Formation, a slate of products aimed squarely at the burgeoning market for...

Beautiful modern design with solid build quality ; Incredibly simple setup and operation ; Excellent treble clarity without excessive brightness ; Surprisingly deep bass from the Formation Bar ; Excellent performance from the Formation Bass ; Good...

Fuller-bodied midrange ; HDMI (or HDMI-ARC) inputs ; Decoding for movie audio formats beyond Dolby Digital ; Support for physical surround channels ; Defeatable center channel for two-channel stereo playback ; Support for Google Chromecast and MQA ;...

B&W’S FORMATION BAR AND BASS deliver great sound and easy setup but at $2200 for the system, they should also include support for the latest movie audio formats.

Oct, 2019

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Expert review by : Jake Thauvette (rtings.com)

Bowers & Wilkins Formation Bar Review

The Bowers & Wilkins Formation Bar is a 3.0 setup. This premium soundbar has a very stylish design, and you can upgrade it down the line with a Formation subwoof...

Stylish design. Bass and treble adjustments. Gets loud.

No HDMI connections. Lacks low-bass. Limited selection of sound enhancement features.

The Bowers & Wilkins Formation Bar is fair for mixed usage. Its sound profile out-of-the-box is fairly neutral, with some extra muddiness in the high-bass that can slightly thin out vocals and lead instruments and a touch of extra brightness in the...

Nov, 2021

Partner Source

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Expert review by : Tim Huber (HI CONSUMPTION)

The Wishlist: 20 Best Gifts for the Media Junkie

Modern soundbars can be a fantastic alternative to traditional surround sound speaker setups, and when it comes to this segment it really doesn't get much better than Bowers & Wilkin's top-of-the-line Formation Bar, with its Dolby Digital decoder, trio...

Modern soundbars can be a fantastic alternative to traditional surround sound speaker setups, and when it comes to this segment it really doesn’t get much better than Bowers & Wilkin’s top-of-the-line Formation Bar.

Nov, 2021

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Expert review by : Amy Poole (thegadgetflow.com)

Bowers & Wilkins Formation Bar elegant soundbar makes it feel like you’re center stage

Feel like you're always in the heart of the action with the Bowers & Wilkins Formation Bar elegant soundbar. Equipped with 9 high-quality drivers and a 3-driver center channel, it delivers fine details. Moreover, this elegant soundbar packs 240 watts...

The Bowers & Wilkins Formation Bar is perfect for watching movies or hosting parties. And, with the phone app, you can organize your speakers into groups, integrate your preferred streaming services, and more. In fact, you can sync this soundbar with...

Nov, 2021

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Consumer review (richersounds.com)

I expect the sound is very good,

If only the bar would work consistently enough for me to find out. I paired the formation Bar with the subwoofer, bought especially to go with my neew LG TV. The Bowers & Wilkins app is frankly awful. The set up part was fine and went without a hitch...

Dec, 2020

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Consumer review (richersounds.com)

What a great set of kit!

We have just bought and set up the Bowers & Wilkins Formation speaker set and they work like magic, very easy to set up via the tv and for music - considering they are wireless they are the best I have heard so far! The sound quality is like no other...

Dec, 2019

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Consumer review (richersounds.com)

B&W formation - 5.1 set up bar, sub and flex

Lovely sound from the bar, sub and speaker. Sub is excellent and easy to set up - a joy with no crossover to sort. However, connectivity is a nightmare and the sound balance varies with input. The system has very few controls through the B&W app so you...

Dec, 2019

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