There was a time when headphones and earbuds were all about audio quality. We judged them on how good each one sounded compared to the next. These days, tech is as much a part of what we look at when choosing audio gear, from the active noise cancellation and codec support to battery life and intelligent features. That’s why the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 pairs the audio specialist’s premium sound with a whole host of advanced tech.
The successor to the outfit’s Pi7 S2, the new B&W flagship true wireless earbuds offer a fresh redesign from the ground up, taking a lighter, more ergonomic form compared to the chunkier builds of its predecessors. It’s not just the housing, either, as it upgrades everything, from the the drivers and the acoustics to the tech inside, which should make it a worthy player in the increasingly crowded category.
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 is equipped with all-new 12mm drivers, a big upgrade from the 9.2mm drivers in the last-gen flagship. The drivers actually use the outfit’s proprietary Carbon Cone technology, which it borrows from the brand’s award-winning Px8 headphones. According to the outfit, these Carbon Cone drive units reduces distortion and improves high-frequency detail, allowing it to reproduce nuances in the music other drivers are likely to miss. Inside, it gets all-new DAC, amp, and DSP systems from ADI, so the sound goes through some additional processing before it’s delivered straight to your ears, with support for aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless audio codecs, so you can enjoy true high-res audio over Bluetooth.
As with its predecessor, it uses the charging case as a Bluetooth transmitter, so you can plug the case onto any music source’s 3.5mm slot (or USB-C port) and stream its audio wirelessly. This is not just a frivolous feature, though, as using the charging case as a transmitter actually allows the earbuds to stream in 24-bit/96kHz, making it a truly interesting proposition for more discerning audiophiles.
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 is equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Sound Platform, which doesn’t just allow it to support the aptX Lossless codec, but also enable spatial audio with dynamic head tracking, more stable connectivity, and low-latency sound, which makes it viable for gaming. It also brings an upgraded noise cancellation system that can automatically adapt to its surroundings to ensure even levels of noise cancellation even as you move from quieter to noisier areas, along with improved transparency mode over the last generation.
At full charge, the TWS earbuds can last 6.5 hours between trips to the charging case, with the case able to dole out 13.5 hours more, so you should be covered for most of the day. The case, by the way, supports both wired (USB-C) and wireless charging, complete with a fast charging option. Other features include multipoint Bluetooth, IP54 water resistance, three microphones on each earbud (used for both voice calls and ANC), four sizes of ear tips, four available finishes, and a new five-band customizable equalizer on the companion app.
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 is available now, priced at $399.