Bowers & Wilkins Pi8

One of the Bowers & Wilkins best features: The charging case can be used as a wireless audio adapter via USB-C, and when you’re on a plane, they can transmit in-flight programmes to the in-ears without loss. The case can also be used as an audio interface with a computer, tablet or mobile phone. In addition, a revised DSP and D/A signal converter should give the audio quality a further boost. When they launched these headphones, the Pi6 with fewer features was also announced. We will review this model as soon as it becomes available.

The recommended retail price of €399 is pretty steep. If you’re willing to pay almost €400 for TWS in-ears, then you have every right to expect the best the market has to offer. Find out whether they measure up by reading our review.

Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 – Quick Facts:

• Adaptive Noise Cancellation (ANC) with pass-through (transparency mode)
• Wireless 24-bit signal transmission
• 12mm carbon dome driver
• Bluetooth version: 5.4
• Bluetooth codecs: SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX Lossless, aptX Adaptive
• Touch control for music and calls, personalised user settings and music streaming via app (iOS/Android)
• supports MFi (Made for iPhone)
• 5-band EQ / TrueSound mode via app
• 3 x 2 integrated microphones for ANC and calls
• Multipoint (can be paired with two Bluetooth devices simultaneously)
• Playtime: up to 6.5 hours (with ANC) + 13.5 hours via charging case
• Charging time: approx. 2 hours (full, depending on the charger used), 15 minutes charging gives 2 hours additional playing time
• Wireless charging in the case via standard Qi charger (optional)
• Includes charging case, 60cm USB-C charging cable, 80cm mini-jack to USB-C audio cable and 4 sets of earphones (XS/S/M/L)
• IP54 certification (for the in-ears, not the case)
• Dimensions of charging case: 6.5 x 5.2 x 2.9cm (WxHxD)

Package and appearance of the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8

The Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 arrived in a sturdy, plastic-free cardboard box with four pairs of silicone ear tips as well as a 60cm charging cable (USB-C to USB-C) and an (analogue) 80cm mini jack to USB-C cable.

The somewhat ‘knobbly’ shape of the Pi7 S2 has given way to a more elongated one. This simplifies insertion in the ear, with the almost horizontal fit, making it easier to achieve a perfect fit. When looking in the mirror, the Pi8 appear slimmer than the Pi7, they look more stylish, and the earpieces don’t protrude as far, meaning you can wear them at the same time as a hat or cap.

The case is also quite slim. It is flat enough that it does not create a bulge in your trouser pocket, and it is held closed with a handy magnetic fastener: this allows the case to be opened and closed with one hand.

Bowers & Wilkins offer this model in four colours: In addition to black, blue and white, there is also a green version, with the metal highlights variously in gold, silver and blue. Not only are the Pi8s stylish, but they are also very well made. Everything about them created an impression of sturdiness.

Bluetooth: connection established quickly

Thanks to the latest Bluetooth version 5.4, the pairing was quick and with the SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless codecs, there is nothing left to be desired for use with suitably equipped smartphones. Thanks to Multipoint, you can pair the Pi8 with two devices simultaneously, although, of course, it was not possible to play two streams at the same time. However, if you are connected to a tablet, the call will be passed through to your mobile phone, the playback will pause and then it will be resumed automatically when the call is over.

However, Auracast (see our guide) is not offered by Bowers & Wilkins for the Pi8.

The Bluetooth range corresponded to the usual standard of 10 to 12 metres indoors, while we achieved a good 30 metres in an open space.

Battery: How long do the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 last?

In practice, the battery life lived up to the manufacturer’s promises. The Pi8s lasted up to 6.5 hours (with ANC) on a single charge, with the charging case providing an additional 13.5 hours. These in-ears were fully charged after approx. 2 hours, and thanks to the quick-charging option, 15 minutes of charging resulted in 2 hours of additional playing time. You can recharge the case via USB-C or wirelessly via a standard Qi charger.

Bowers & Wilkins Music App

The stylishly designed app for iOS and Android offered some tuning options, but they were not exactly a configuration chameleon. The app shows the battery status of the in-ears and the case, you can switch between ANC, transparency mode and off and can call up a 5-band equaliser. This provided the five frequency ranges ‘Lo’, ‘Lo-MID’, ‘MID’, ‘Hi-MID’ and ‘HI’, each with a slider to edit the corresponding ranges in +/-12 steps. You can effectively correct the sound with a 6 dB boost or cut. It was a shame that you could not save any pre-sets. So, if you frequently switch back and forth between music and spoken word content and have boosted the mids for better speech intelligibility, especially for podcasts, you will have to do it yourself each time. Of course, the app remembers the last setting, and as the Pi8s do not have their own calibration technologies or listening tests, the EQ can be a useful tool. If you activate ‘True Sound’, which is the neutral position for these headphones, the equaliser is deactivated.

In addition, the Bowers & Wilkins Music app supports direct music streaming for Qobuz, TIDAL, Deezer and a variety of radio stations from TuneIn. If you have an account with these providers, you can start their services directly from the app.

However, we felt that the control options on the in-ears themselves were somewhat limited as you can’t make many adjustments. For example, you can’t change the volume and switch the ANC and transparency mode at the same time.

How to control the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8

The surfaces of the two earpieces are capacitive and respond to touch commands. They are not sensitive to swipe gestures, so you can only use tapping and holding, and each command is confirmed by a status tone. You cannot switch this off, but it is not excessively loud. However, during our tests, we noticed that this confirmation sound was sometimes ‘swallowed up’ making it almost inaudible.

A single tap starts or stops playback, a double tap switches to the next track, and a triple tap switches back. If the phone rings, you can answer the call with one touch, and you can reject the incoming call with a double tap and hold.

In addition, you can switch between ANC and transparency mode by holding the left earpiece with a longer touch. The right side can be used to call up the voice assistant (Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant). With the exception of that last one, the tap gestures were the same on both sides. As limited as this may seem, the learning curve was extremely flat and soon, you don’t need to think about which side controls which function. This reduced operating errors.

How good are the ANC and transparency mode of the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8?

The Bowers & Wilkins Pi8’s adaptive noise cancelling did its job very well. Moderate background noise was attenuated very well over a wide listening area. Voices and birdsong, as well as monotonous noise (train, keyboard clatter, etc.), faded into the background and reached the ears as quiet sounds. Our test scenario with white noise showed that there was greater permeability, particularly in the upper mid-range, than was the case with the Apple AirPods Pro 2 or the Bose QuietComfort Ultra earbuds, for example. These two models were slightly ahead in this area.

The Pi8’s transparency mode also worked at a high level. The signal captured via the microphones was passed through to the ears as somewhat quieter and more ‘telephonic’. If you value a particularly high naturalness from pass-through mode, then you should take a closer look at the AirPods Pro 2.

This meant that I was able to follow every conversation with the Pi8 in my ears, and I never had the feeling that I had to take the earphones out of my ears.

It should be emphasised that the ANC produced hardly any perceptible self-noise, and the transparency mode was also impressive. The sound of the useful signal also only changed marginally as a result.

How do the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 sound?

Whether Hi-Res Audio via aptX Lossless via Android or via AAC via iPhone – the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 always sounded very good! This also applied when I connected the charging case via cable to my stereo system; for example – the signal that was passed on was virtually lossless.

In addition to our (lossy) Spotify playlist, I naturally also listened to the Pi8 via Apple Music (Lossless) and Qobuz streams and I also streamed Hi-Res Audio FLACs from computers or transferred them via USB audio using the charging case.

The 12mm drivers are made of carbon fibre cones and specially developed DSPs allow the Pi8 to play in the luxury league: Classical music impressed with its fidelity and depth of detail. In one of our test tracks, an accompanying harpsichord was clearly audible and the violins were reproduced with a radiant glow.

In terms of bass, the Pi8 showed how low tones can sound without robbing the mids of energy. The slightly distorted low bass in ‘WAP’ by Cardy B was very defined yet still tangible. The Pi8s produced a similar sound on ‘WTF’ by Missy Elliott or at the beginning of the track ‘Piano Smasher’ by the Blue Man Group.

The hi-fi sound texture of the Pi8 also emphasised tracks such as ‘Strobe’ by deadmau5, a pushing groove with a lot happening in the mid-range, from rhythmic snare arpeggios to reverberated noise cascades, and all these were reproduced in a very defined way. Madonna’s ‘Jump’ is a track that tends to overdo the treble in listening tests and dominate the overall picture too much. Here, as in the classical music test, the fine-resolution of the Pi8s showed that fatigue-free listening was possible with in-ears of this kind of quality. When there was a lot going on in the stereo image on tracks such as ‘Goto 10’ by Amon Tobin, the listening pleasure increased significantly with the Pi8s. Noises and sounds could be localised in both width and depth, cleanly, clearly and precisely.

As already mentioned, the Bowers & Wilkins do not support Dolby Atmos streams (and also no head tracking), so these were played as pure stereo files. As we are in the upper price range of just under 400 euros, we would have to criticise the Pi8 for this. Here, too, the motto is: ‘Better no Dolby Atmos at all than a poorly implemented one.’

The sound texture was similar to that provided by the previous model, and we found the Pi8 to have the best sound quality in the TWS segment. Phone calls worked just as smoothly with convincing audio quality.

Conclusion

The Bowers & Wilkins offer great-sounding True Wireless in-ears, but at 399 euros, they come at a hefty price. If you can make do without Dolby Atmos, head tracking and in-depth configuration options but are looking for effective noise cancelling paired with strong hi-fi sound, you can’t go wrong with the new Bowers & Wilkins Pi8.