The B&W Formation Flex wireless speaker promises incredible audio quality for its size

wireless speaker
(Image credit: Bowers & Wilkins)

Audio brand Bowers & Wilkins has revealed the latest product in its popular Formation range, the Formation Flex wireless speaker, which it says has "the highest quality sound ever found in a standalone wireless speaker of its size". 

Using the same tweeter technology as seen in Bowers & Wilkins' 600 series, this wireless speaker promises to deliver the same audio quality as a wired speaker – an attractive proposition for any audiophile.

The Formation Flex can be used on its own, or paired with another Formation Flex for true stereo sound – or, if you already have a Formation speaker at home, such as the Formation Bar, it can form part of an "immersive 5.1 surround sound experience", making it a good addition to your home cinema setup.

If you do this, you shouldn't experience any synchronization issues between the different speakers, with Bowers & Wilkins claiming an "in-room 1 microsecond sync between speakers".

wireless speaker

The Bowers & Wilkins Formation Wedge (Image credit: Bowers & Wilkins)

Sculptural design

The Formation runs on the brand's patented Robust Mesh Network, which works alongside your home's Wi-Fi. This means you can have a multi-room setup, with speakers streaming music in every room of your house without taking up precious bandwidth on your network. 

Despite Bowers & Wilkins telling us in April 2019 that Formation speakers would be getting voice control in the future, the Flex doesn't seem to have support for voice assistants like Alexa or Google Assistant. 

Nevertheless, the wireless speaker should sound fantastic, with support for "high resolution streaming with twice the fidelity of the leading wireless speaker brand for the purest and clearest audio experience". 

As well as support for 96/24 bit audio resolution, the Formation Flex packs a decoupled double dome tweeter for a wide, powerful soundstage. 

Like other speakers in the range, it sports an sculptural design that should look great in your living room. It will be available from the end of September, and will cost £399. We're still waiting on global pricing, but that works out at around $495 / AU$720. 

Olivia Tambini

Olivia was previously TechRadar's Senior Editor - Home Entertainment, covering everything from headphones to TVs. Based in London, she's a popular music graduate who worked in the music industry before finding her calling in journalism. She's previously been interviewed on BBC Radio 5 Live on the subject of multi-room audio, chaired panel discussions on diversity in music festival lineups, and her bylines include T3, Stereoboard, What to Watch, Top Ten Reviews, Creative Bloq, and Croco Magazine. Olivia now has a career in PR.