Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air

The basics

The original Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin was an icon, standing out from the hundreds of other iPod docks on the market, with stunning styling and sound quality to match. This version carries the same stunning looks but brings with it Apple’s AirPlay music streaming technology.

What’s more you’ll find updated drivers, better amplification and beefed up Digital Signal Processing (DSP) to make this one of the best all-round sound units on the market today.

The good

The stunning looks of the original Zepplin are in place, but you’ll find it’s now a whole lot lighter, weighing in at an almost portable 6.2kg. To differentiate the look, you’ll find a black piano lacquer backplate is now in place, rather than the metallic backing of yore but it’s still a striking look.

Never before has an iPod dock looked so good, with the Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air iPod dock looking even slimmer and more streamlined than the original. Connections for the B&W Zeppelin Air iPod dock include Ethernet – for wired connections to your home network, aux-in and USB.

Thanks to the inclusion of AirPlay, you can also stream music straight from your Apple MacBook via iTunes to the Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air, without the need for wires. It’s not limited to your laptop either, as you can also stream music from your Apple iPad or Apple iPhone.

As before, there’s a regular dock for portable devices, so you can also charge your handset at the same time as listening to music.

When it comes to playback you’ll that with twin 25W tweeters, twin 25W midrange and a pounding 50W subwoofer, there is plenty of oomph to be had. More powerful than its predecessor, this unit goes up to 11 and beyond but still manages to maintain a clear and precise sound quality.

The bad

You’d think with its looks and great sound the Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air would be a clear winner. Sadly, it’s not all plain sailing as actually setting up the beast in the first place can be something of a chore.

Not only is it a laborious process, once you’ve got it up and running with your iTunes account, you’ll find that it doesn’t really want to stray too far away from it. Then there is the rather limited format support, which purists will hate.

The bottom line

Looks can thrill but with a sound quality to match, the Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air is the king of the roost for those who need an audio boost for their iPod or iPhone. In fact, we can’t praise the overall gadget quality of this system enough, it’s simply that good!