2021 marks fifteen years since the debut of the original Zeppelin speaker, which was essentially a giant iPod dock, but boy did it sound good. Bowers & Wilkins has released a number of new Zeppelins since then, retaining the iconic design while dropping the dock and adding support for wireless audio. At $799, the 2021 edition of the Zeppelin is the priciest yet, but it’s also the most versatile, with support for 24-bit streaming via Apple AirPlay 2, Bluetooth, and Spotify Connect, as well as from more streaming services than before. Sound quality remains exemplary, and we like the addition of a companion app that lets you make EQ tweaks to bass and treble levels. It even has built-in Alexa voice control, making it the most aurally impressive smart speaker we’ve heard to date. It certainly requires a big budget, but the 2021 Zeppelin remains the best-looking and best-sounding all-in-one wireless speaker we’ve tested, earning it our Editors’ Choice award.
Inspired by Airships
Measuring 8.3 by 25.6 by 7.6 inches (HWD) and weighing in at a substantial 14.3 pounds, the Zeppelin is aptly named—both its rounded contour and overall size evoke the cylindrical airships of yesteryear. The speaker is available in a dark, nearly black gray or a lighter, more metallic gray.
As with previous models, a cloth grille covers the front of the speaker. Behind the grille, the new Zeppelin houses dual 1-inch, double-dome 40-watt tweeters; dual 3.5-inch, FST 40-watt midrange drivers; and a single 6-inch, 80-watt subwoofer. A 240-watt amplifier powers those components, which together deliver a frequency range of 35Hz to 24kHz.
A smooth plastic material covers the back, and a control strip sits just below the top ridge of the speaker (and out of sight when viewing it from the front). The back panel houses buttons for adjusting the volume, accessing Alexa, controlling playback, and for multi-room audio control once that function is enabled next year (you’ll be able to press the button to pull music that is playing from your B&W Formation Bar, for example, to the Zeppelin). Alexa works just like it does on any Echo speaker—you can press the Alexa button to summon the voice assitant, or just give voice commands beginning with the “Alexa” phrase. If you’re concerned about privacy, you can turn the always-on Alexa mic off—just press the Alexa button for five seconds.
The speaker enclosure rests on a wide metallic stand that’s hard to see from all angles and can make the Zeppelin appear to hover. When powered up, a pale, blueish-white light illuminates the stand—it’s a handsome detail you can dim or turn off in the app. A rubber pad covers the underside of the stand—that material and the Zeppelin’s substantial weight keep it firmly planted on flat surfaces.
Recessed into the back of the built-in stand, there’s a panel with a USB-C port for service, the connection for the included power supply cable, and a reset button.
The Zeppelin is compatible with Bluetooth 5.0 and supports the AAC, AptX Adaptive, and SBC codecs. The speaker supports up to 24-bit/96kHz audio from various streaming services including Deezer, Qobuz, Tidal, and others, assuming you pay for a subscription that lets you stream at that quality. The Zeppelin also works with Apple AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect.
Zeppelin App Controls and Smart Features
The Bowers & Wilkins Music App for Android and iOS is well-designed and helps you properly set up the Zeppelin. After that, it’s not essential to the speaker’s operation, but it does have some useful adjustable features. One thing to note is that you have to create an account with your email to use the app, which seems like an unnecessary hoop to jump through for a product that costs $800.
Once you create an account, you can pair the Zeppelin, download any necessary software updates, and link any music streaming services you want to use within the app. Of course, you can also just stream audio directly to the speaker from your app or connection method of choice.
The app has several useful controls, including a bass and treble fader, a dimmer for the LED that lights the speaker’s base, and Alexa-specific settings. The app can also function as a multi-room controller if you connect multiple Bower & Wilkins speakers.
After you link your Amazon account to the app, you can use Alexa to play music—the mic is always on by default, but as mentioned, you can mute it via the Alexa button on the speaker. When you press the Alexa button on the Zeppelin’s control panel, the LED at the speaker’s base turns blue while Alexa listens. The Alexa setup process is relatively seamless, and the speaker’s mic had no trouble picking up voice commands, even from a distance
For the price, we would like to see more connectivity options—there’s no aux input or any other way to physically connect a sound source because the USB-C port doesn’t support audio playback. And although the app lets you adjust bass and treble, we would prefer a 5-band EQ. That said, for a speaker that already sounds excellent, bass and treble faders are mostly sufficient.
A Loud and Dynamic Sound Signature
The Zeppelin gets loud and is capable of driving an impressive amount of firepower, despite its all-in-one design. At top volume levels, expect the digital signal processing (DSP) to kick in and dial back the low frequencies and peaks to a degree. And we hoped for a better sense of stereo separation given the speaker’s long build—although you still get all of the left and right channel content, it sounds like a mono speaker from a normal listening distance.
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On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” the Zeppelin delivers thunderous low-frequency response. At top volumes, it doesn’t distort, and at slightly lower (but still quite loud) levels, the bass sounds seriously robust and the DSP does a good job of not letting things sound too dynamically squashed. At low volumes, the speaker conveys a solid sense of bass depth and the balance with the highs at all volumes is ideal.
Bill Callahan’s “Drover,” a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a better sense of the Zeppelin’s sound signature. The drums on this track sound excellent through the Zeppelin’s drivers—the subwoofer adds some thump, but the drums never seem overly boosted or unnatural. The speaker dutifully presents the midrange and highs, so Callahan’s baritone vocals get both ideal low-mid richness and high-mid crispness. The acoustic strums and higher-frequency percussive hits are bright, airy, and clear—this is a balanced, beautiful sound signature.
On Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “No Church in the Wild,” the kick drum loop receives enough high-mid presence for its attack to retain its punchiness. We hear a bit more of the DSP on this track at higher volumes, however. The kick drum hits can sometimes sound as if they lower the overall volume for a short moment, an effect that causes the background vinyl crackle and hiss to sound as if it’s coming in waves. In this case, the DSP can be a tad heavy-handed, but it’s typically more transparent. The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat arrive with solid power, though we hear less of their truly deep lows than we would with a larger, more powerful subwoofer. In other words, while the Zeppelin has no trouble reproducing powerful lows, it does suffer from a bit of drop-off before delivering the deepest subwoofer rumble. The Zeppelin presents vocals on this track cleanly and clearly, without much added sibilance. At high volumes when the DSP is heavily engaged, the lows can sometimes sound as if they interfere with the vocals, but you can combat that effect by dialing back the lows in the app or lowering the volume.
Orchestral tracks, like the opening scene from John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary, sound wonderful through the Zeppelin. The lower-register instrumentation has body, depth, and life—it doesn’t sound overly boosted and leaves plenty of room for the higher-register brass, strings, and vocals to shine brightly at the forefront of the mix. Classical and jazz music, like Miles Davis’s “Pharaoh’s Dance,” sound full and lifelike through the Zeppelin.
Elegant Design Meets Impressive Sound
Much like its predecessors, the 2021 edition of the Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin stands out for its bold visual design and top-notch audio performance. The addition of Amazon Alexa makes this the most impressive smart speaker we’ve tested, and multiple connectivity options allow for high-fidelity streaming no matter what service or playback method you use. If you’re looking for a purer sound, consider a 2.1 soundbar system or some bookshelf speakers with less noticeable DSP, like the similarly priced Sonos Arc or The Fives from Klipsch. But for the ultimate all-in-one sound system, the Zeppelin is once again the speaker to beat, and our Editors’ Choice.
