Bowers & Wilkins Panorama 3

This neat all-in-one soundbar excels with music and big movie audio, says Steve May

- Steve May

BOWERS & WILKINS' Panorama 3 soundbar may not come with a subwoofer, but it still drops deep. I've got Bad Guy booming out, and the bass beat on this Billie Eilish 'banger' is brutal. The instrumentation is minimal, but the 'bar still spreads it wide, musical flourishes placed far apart. It's a reassuringly raunchy musical performance from what is ostensibly a home cinema product aimed at the no-fuss streaming movie market.

Self evidently the third iteration of B&W's flagship soundbar, it's unquestionably the best. The first Panorama launched in 2009, the second model some four years later, blessed with an HDMI connection for the first time. This latest addition is the first to embrace Dolby Atmos (but not DTS:X), and it's a game-changing refinement. Spatial audio, be it straight Atmos, or an upscale of 5.1 or stereo source material, allows this speaker to sound larger and more impressive.

Build quality and finish are excellent. There are pleasing angles to the chassis that help it appear sleeker than it actually is, and the soundbar's forward-facing driver array is hidden behind an acoustic fabric wrap. The top plate is perforated metal - you can just about see the upfiring height drivers if you squint and at its centre is a capacitive touchpanel with proximity sensor that causes the display to light up when your digits approach. A quick wave reveals volume controls, a multifunction source select button, and power.