The Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 is hands-free. The best wireless headphones I've listened to it this year, and if it's $400 it's worth listening to. These premium earbuds are compact and durable. along with the good looks and conveniences expected of a flagship product. The companion app is easy to use, and the buds have strong ANC.
But the Pi8's claim to fame definitely lives up to its reference-level sound quality. No matter what you're listening to The sound will be great. Even for podcasts, the highs, mids, and lows are well balanced with a wide soundstage. Earbuds are a must have for any audiophile in your life.
That's not to say the Pi8 is without its flaws. Call quality could be better And the battery life isn't as long as its competitors. But if you're looking for earbuds designed to let you listen to music the way music producers and audio engineers do, the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 earbuds will make it happen.
Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 headphones
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 headphones offer great sound at a premium price.
strength
- Excellent sound quality
- Compact, comfortable and durable design
- Easy-to-use controls and apps
- Solid battery life
weakness
- Call quality is substandard
- Missing Find My Eyes feature
Bowers & Wilkins Pi8: Design and fit
Even with a charging case (1.6 ounces, 2.6 x 1.1 x 2 inches), which is slightly larger than other premium headphones, the Pi8 headphones are still tiny. At 0.24 ounces, they're nearly as light as my all-time favorite lenses are thin. model Sony WF-1000XM5 (0.21 ounces) and is nearly compact.
The Pi8 is a pretty pair of earbuds that are a mix of glossy and matte plastic, with a thin vent separating the two. The top of the Pi8 is shiny and has Bowers & Wilkins in the middle, while the rest of the The unit is matte black with four gold connectors, sensors, and microphone vents. To top it all off with the tiniest silicone ear tips I've ever seen, Bowers & Wilkins has come up with three additional tips to ensure a perfect fit. My review pair of the Pi8s came in Anthracite Black, which is cute, but I wish I could get the Jade Green or Midnight Blue version because they look amazing. And for those who like white devices The earbuds are also available in Dove White.
The Pi8 is not only beautiful. But there's also a bit of durability built in, with an IP54 rating, which means the headphones are protected against dust and water, and by water, I mean a little bit of water spray or maybe some sweat. Do not submerge these items in water. You'll be $400 sadder and poorer. The Pi8 is more durable than the XM5, which is only rated IP4 (light water spray).
Return to the charging box Like the earbuds, the Pi8's case is made from matte anthracite black plastic. Complete with a thick cable stamped with Bowers & Wilkins, the status indicator sits right on the bottom. The USB-C charging port sits directly on the bottom of the case. The case dwarfs the XM5, which weighs 1.4 ounces and measures 2.5 x 1.8 x 1.04 inches.
With my weird little ears, I never thought I'd see the day when I'd have to replace my ear tips with bigger ones. But here we are, the Pi8 comes with extra-small ear tips by default. It's too small Made me switch to a little trick and then I was golden. The seal was tight enough to handle the beast that was my elliptical. And they still exist. I ended up wearing the Pi8 comfortably for six straight hours.
Bowers & Wilkins Pi8: Controls
Unlike other flagship headphones, the Pi8 has controls that take just a few taps to learn. Play/Pause And answering calls is done with just one quick tap while skipping forward on a track. And ending a call requires double tapping. You have to press and hold the right button to access the voice assistant. To switch between Passthrough and ANC, press and hold the left button.
My only gripe is that you have to use the app for the first pairing. Once you've installed the free Music|Bowers & Wilkins app, you'll need to press and hold either eye for three seconds. It's a small thing, but sometimes people just want to dive into listening instead of dealing with a companion app. But as far as companion apps go, This is not a bad app.
Clean interface with adjustable equalizer with Passthrough mode and active noise cancellation mode. The app also lets you integrate multiple streaming services including Tidal, Deezer, Pandora, TuneIn, NTS, and Soundcloud, so you can access and control the services through the app. You can also try Qobuz for free for two months. While it would be nice to find out that my headphones have such a feature for such expensive earbuds, Bowers & Wilkins will replace them if they go missing.
Photo: “Bowers & Wilkins”
Regarding connection Headphones that support Bluetooth 5.4 also have multi-point capabilities and can connect to two separate devices.
Bowers & Wilkins Pi8: ANC
Bowers & Wilkins includes three microphones in each earbud. Two microphones are designed to cancel out background noise. while the remaining microphone is for amplifying sound for conversation. Combined with good sealing The microphone provides powerful active noise cancellation. It's as good as. Bose QuietComfort Buds Or Sony WF-1000XM5? No, but the Pi8's ANC still does a good job of keeping the noise of New York City at bay.
I walk around Around the neighborhood with ANC enabled, I could hear most of the conversations around me without turning on the music. Just turn up the volume. And when the train passes overhead I heard every commotion, crack, and crash. The opening of the song immediately drowns out anyone outside of New York. Back home, the Pi8's ANC only drowned my television when the volume was set to four. Compare to XM5 (Volume 6) and QC Ultra (Volume 7) Overall, you can use the Pi8's ANC to reduce noise. Instead of completely muting surrounding sounds, however, there are very few headphones that can claim this feat.
The Pi8 has a pass-through mode to let the outside world in. This is useful when exercising outdoors or when you want to stay on top of your surroundings.
Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 review: Performance
Reference earbuds? Wow Bowers & Wilkins, that's a big claim. The company says that while studio engineers are unlikely to pick up wireless headphones for their primary work, these earbuds do, however, provide the most accurate performance that Bowers & Wilkins can squeeze from a wireless device. That means fans of enhanced bass and treble don't need it. I like simple customization. Because it allows you to cross genres as you please. And since I keep my playlists random So these headphones look like they were made for me.
How does Bowers & Wilkins do it? The answer lies in the cone drive. The company has created a smaller version of the carbon cone driver. This is typically in speakers or headphones. The carbon cone drive unit is more rigid. Therefore, it works more accurately at higher frequencies. Because they don't flex as much as traditional cones, and because they're lighter, cone drivers can respond faster to dynamic changes in your music. This makes for a more powerful and realistic sound. I quickly learned that the resulting 12mm carbon cone driver was impressive. It provides a warm and balanced performance regardless of the type. As with all of my testing, I used Tidal with Hi-Fi and Master quality tracks.
to start things off I started with Jamirquoi's “Time Won't Wait” and tuned in with some solid bass. lively guitar soft horn and percussion that are immediately perky. Spacious sound stage where everything has its own space There's even an expansive sound effect that pops up from time to time. above all else Depending on the environment, I don't need to increase the volume above 50-60%. To have New York City completely shut down
Doechii’s vocals on “ALLIGATOR BITES NEVER HEAL” sound completely ethereal. The beautiful soprano is balanced by a daring alto and a fiery tenor. And I have to say, I was so amazed by Snoh Aalegra's DO 4 LOVE that I listened to the song four times before giving it a go. The strings sound full. It becomes a beautiful stepping sound that gives way to a forward-facing keyboard. and the strong, melancholy vocals with a beautiful choral background. These are one of the best wireless headphones I've listened to this year.
Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 review: Call quality
Although the Pi8 headphones excel in music and podcast quality, But call quality still needs to be improved. I called several people and joined them on a video conference. However, out of three calls and two video conferences, Only one call gave a good result. My caller was quick to say that my voice was muffled in all other calls and meetings.
This is my major complaint. Because sometimes I have to strain to hear people clearly. However, after updating the software, I got better results. But not much
Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 review: Battery life
Bowers & Wilkins estimates the Pi8 will last 6.5 hours with ANC enabled. The company doesn't provide estimates for using earbuds without ANC, however, I got 8 hours without active noise cancellation. The charging case gives the battery an additional 13.5 hours of battery life, bringing total battery life to 19.5 hours with ANC and 21.5 hours without ANC. As a staunch noise cancellation advocate, I squeezed out 6 hours and 35 minutes. From streaming music on the Pi8, watch episodes of “Invincible Fight Girl” and answer calls before I get a low-battery warning.
That's not too shabby. But it can't match the staying power of the WF-1000XM5, which lasted 8 hours with ANC enabled and 12 hours without it. The charging case adds another 24 hours, for a total of 32 hours with ANC and 36 hours without noise cancellation.
Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 review: Verdict
Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 has a flaw – poor call quality Missing Find My Eyes feature And noise cancellation is good, but not great, but the Pi8 has few competitors with reference-grade drivers for stellar music quality. It's also as durable, compact and stylish as you'd expect from a music player. A pair of flagship earbuds As a reviewer, I can say that these will be my main headphones for at least the first quarter of 2025, depending on what other flagships will let me put them down.