The Breaker Times

Bowers & Wilkins Pi8

MSRP $399.00

“The B&W Pi8 earbuds are a great upgrade from their predecessors, boasting a refined design, improved comfort, and exceptional sound quality.”

Pros

• Full-body sound
• Relaxing fit
• Good touch controls
• Bluetooth Multipoint
• Retransmission feature

Cons

• Pricey
• Lower than average battery life
• Some sound crackling during calls

The Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 are among the best sets of earbuds I’ve worn.

Founded in 1966, B&W has released many successful audio products, including speakers, headphones, and, more recently, earbuds. The company’s new Pi8 earbuds go beyond their predecessors — the Pi7 S2 — in terms of looks and features. They are strikingly similar in other areas, which isn’t necessarily bad.The PI7 and Pi7 S2 were B&W’s previous top-tier true wireless earbuds. The earlier models were sleek and beautifully designed, with metallic top plates.

Bowers & Wilkins has taken a “less is more” approach with its design for the Pi8, resulting in a sophisticated aesthetic that exudes understated elegance. Gone are the flashy tops, replaced by a refined combination of high-quality matte plastic and subtle metallic accents. This design shift gives them a more timeless appeal.

The Pi8’s available color options — Anthracite Black, Dove White, Jade Green, and Midnight Blue — further emphasize this refined aesthetic. These muted tones, complemented by delicate accents, perfectly capture the essence of premium simplicity.

The redesign extends beyond a new look — these earbuds are plenty functional, too. Like the Pi7 S2 before it, the Pi8 earbuds incorporate a touch-sensitive multifunction area on the top face of each earbud. However, B&W repositioned the microphones and sensors, tucking them away in a subtle indentation around each earpiece.

As someone who finds the standard AirPods uncomfortable and can only tolerate the fit of the AirPods Pro, I wanted to see how they compare to the Pi8. I was pleasantly surprised by the exceptional comfort of the Pi8. After hours of rigorous testing in various scenarios — walking, working, even exercising — I can confidently say that the Pi8 ranks among the most comfortable earbuds I’ve ever worn.

The earbud’s silicone eartips account for a lot of that comfort. Along with those that ship already on the earbuds, the Pi8 comes with three additional sizes of tips, making it more likely that you will find one that gives you a secure fit.

The specs

Battery life

Each Pi8 bud offers 6.5 hours of listening time with ANC on a single charge. The wireless charging case can fully recharge the earbuds slightly more than twice, providing a total of 20 hours of playtime. This surpasses the battery life of the Pi7 S2, which offered five hours per charge and 21 hours of total time, but those numbers assumed ANC wasn’t in use.

The case isn’t just for charging. It also has an audio retransmission feature, letting you connect the case via a cable to audio sources that lack Bluetooth, effectively transforming wired devices into wireless ones.

Imagine experiencing hi-fi from in-flight entertainment systems, gym equipment, or even newer iPhones without dealing with wires. This feature is so seamless that testing it almost feels unnecessary — it just works. Connect the two included cables, and the case will handle the rest, effortlessly streaming audio to your Pi8 earbuds.

The feature isn’t new — the PI7 and Pi7 S2 could do this, too. But B&W upped its game with the Pi8 by providing a USB-C cable for digital sources, in addition to the previous 3.5mm cable for analog sources. Plus, the case now transmits using the aptX Adaptive codec, which brings a big bump in quality compared to the PI7’s aptX Low Latency codec.

Functionality

The capacitive buttons let you control playback and track skipping, plus call accept/reject. However, the B&W Music app for iOS and Android lets you customize the tap-and-hold gesture with your choice of volume up/down or a combo of ANC and access to your phone’s voice assistant.

Unfortunately, you have to pick. There’s no way to get volume and ANC control at the same time, like you can on other earbuds, such as the AirPods Pro, which can perform all of these tasks without having to customize one of the gestures.

Still, the Pi8 are an improvement over the previous model. With the Pi7 S2 earbuds, volume control wasn’t an option at all.

Despite the limitations, the touch controls on the Pi8 earbuds worked very well. I was able to move back and forth between settings with ease. I was especially impressed that even during a run, the earbuds responded precisely as I wanted with a single tap.

The B&W Music app lets you turn ANC off entirely (to save a bit of battery life), adjust the EQ (see below), install firmware updates, and more.

The Pi8’s best features its sound quality, as it should be. One reason for this is B&W’s Carbon Cone driver, which is debuting on a pair of the company’s earbuds for the first time. This technology is also featured in the company’s Px8 headphones and 700 Series speakers.

Carbon fiber composite is significantly stiffer and lighter than traditional materials like paper or plastic. The carbon fiber cones are designed to reduce sound distortion and produce more accurate audio reproduction.

You will love the way the audio unfolds on these earbuds. I could detect subtle nuances on my favorite tracks and a clear separation between instruments.

The Pi8 truly excels in the midrange. The vocals are warm and intimate, capturing the emotion and texture of the notes. Depending on your preference, the bass is deep, but certainly not overpowering.

Codecs

The Pi8 earbuds support high-quality Bluetooth codecs to provide audio. Leading the pack is aptX Adaptive, which many consider the most advanced codec currently available. It adjusts the bit rate on the fly, adapting to your connection quality to deliver audio fidelity and balance.

You need a supported device to utilize aptX Adaptive. Unfortunately, neither of my new phones, the iPhone 16 Pro Max or Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, supports aptX Adaptive. Neither do Samsung phones. However, select phones from Motorola, ASUS, Xiaomi, Vivo, and Nothing do.

To test aptX Adaptive, I used the case’s retransmission feature and then compared the sound to the same music when listened to through Bluetooth on my iPhone in AAC format.

Indeed, the sound using aptX Adaptive was slightly more robust than through AAC. It also seemed to have a slightly lower latency, which I noticed the most when playing a game on my MacBook Air.

Overall, however, I can honestly say the sound I got when using the earbuds were crystal clear, no matter the codec. Others might hear a huge difference, but I did not.

Besides AAC and aptX Adaptive, the Pi8 earbuds support aptX Lossless, aptX Classic, and SBC.

The B&W Music app has a five-band equalizer. This allows minor adjustments across the frequency spectrum, letting you to tailor the sound signature to your preferences or specific music genres.

You can customize the tone of your earbuds using the app’s advanced EQ option, which allows you to use sliders to make subtle tweaks. Alternatively, you can set your Pi8 earbuds to “True Sound” mode, which delivers the audio as the artist and B&W intended without any tonal customization. I didn’t notice significant changes as I adjusted these settings in various ways. Instead, I used the default “True Sound” setting, which B&W offers so everyday audio listeners can enjoy balanced sounds.

It should also be noted that the Pi8 do not support spatial audio like other true wireless earbuds, such as the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4.

With the Pi8, there are three available Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) modes: ANC on, Pass-Through, or ANC Off. The ANC on the Pi8 is truly impressive. During my tests, it effectively silenced most environmental noise, creating a peaceful sonic bubble even when I was walking near a somewhat crowded city street. While some low-frequency sounds like truck engines were faintly audible, the Pi8 did an exceptional job of neutralizing the distracting hum of passing cars and other everyday noises.

B&W’s implementation of Pass-Through, its version of transparency mode, is equally remarkable. Unlike some earbuds that introduce an unnatural “sucking” sound when transitioning to transparency, the Pi8 maintains a smooth and natural audio profile. The ambient sound is seamlessly blended with the music, providing just the right awareness of what’s happening around you without compromising audio quality.

In use

For testing, I tried the Pi8 with various songs to see how well they performed in different scenarios.

At the front of the queue was Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. This incredible piece of music, with its changing dynamics and rich harmonies, challenged the Pi8s to demonstrate their capabilities. But the earphones managed to navigate the intricacies of the song with elegance. They produced an excellent sound field where Freddie Mercury’s voice stood out amid the detailed musical arrangement. Every guitar melody, piano note, and opera-like climax came through distinctly. I was genuinely amazed by the performance.

I then headed over to Hotel California with the Eagles. I listened to this rock song to test how well the Pi8s could handle powerful guitar solos, harmonies, and a robust rhythm section. The sound quality was good overall. However, I noticed that the bass didn’t have as much depth as I thought it would.

Digging deeper into the frequency range, I played Teardrop by Massive Attack. Its captivating bassline and detailed sound arrangement make it a standout in the trip hop genre. The earphones accurately portrayed the song’s layered bass without overpowering or drowning out the other music components. This experience demonstrated the earbuds’ attention to detail and commitment to faithfully reproducing music.

I decided to switch things up and listen to Miles Davis’ album Kind of Blue next. This iconic jazz piece is known for its dynamics and beautiful harmony among the instruments. Thanks to how well the earphones captured the intimate essence of it all, I could immerse myself in the intricate interplay between the trumpet, saxophone, and piano.

I turned up the volume one last time with White Stripes‘ Seven Nation Army. The catchy bassline and lively vibe of this rock classic put the Pi8 earbuds to the test when it came to handling frequencies. I was impressed by how these earbuds produced a bass performance that was clear and powerful enough to drive the song without making the overall sound muddy or distorted.

I didn’t have the opportunity to compare the sounds between the Pi8 and Pi7 S2. However, I did compare how well B&W’s earbuds performed against the AirPods Pro 2.

During my brief test, I listened to the same song (Miles Davis’ Freddie Freeloader) on Qobuz via Bluetooth with both earbuds and ANC turned on. The Pi8 earbuds sounded fuller and more punchy than the AirPods, providing a more immersive experience. This surprised me, so I tested again with Billie Eilish’s bad guy, which has a prominent bass line. Once again, there was no comparison. The Pi8 earbuds sounded more robust, hands down.

I used the voice memo app on my iPhone to test how well the Pi8 earbuds performed when making calls. Doing this, as opposed to making an actual call, gives you a better idea of how good the earbuds are by removing factors like cell connection quality from the equation.

Unfortunately, I heard some occasional crackling noises, especially when I was outside. Those noises occurred whether I was using ANC or transparency and when neither option was active.

Although the earbuds and the charging case didn’t require it, I charged them to 100% to see if that would improve the call quality. It did, actually, so take that for what it’s worth. During further testing, I didn’t hear anything significant, so go figure.

By the way, when making actual calls, my teenage daughter said the sound was nearly perfect with barely any background noise.

You can pair your Pi8 earbuds with up to eight devices via Bluetooth, including phones, tablets, smart home devices, computers, smart televisions, and more. The easiest way to do this is through the B&W Music app, which keeps track of all those devices so you don’t have to. Depending on the device, you can also pair the earbuds using your device’s Bluetooth settings.

With Bluetooth Multipoint, you can connect to two of these devices simultaneously. This convenient feature automatically switches between devices in certain scenarios. For example, I use multipoint when I’m listening to music on my Mac with my phone nearby. When I receive a call, the earbuds automatically switch to the phone so I can take the call. At that time, the music on the computer automatically pauses. Once the call is completed, the music resumes playing on the computer. It works really well.

The bottom line

The B&W Pi8 earbuds boast a refined design, great comfort, and exceptional sound quality. Thanks to the innovative Carbon Cone drivers and high-quality Bluetooth codec support, they deliver a truly immersive listening experience, regardless of the type of music you enjoy. While the price is higher than that of many alternatives, the Pi8’s combination of audio excellence, sophisticated aesthetics, and smart features like retransmission and Multipoint make them a compelling choice for those who love music.

If I had a magic wand, I would want the Pi8 earbuds to have a longer battery life, more customization options for its capacitive buttons, and to be available in a range of brighter colors.

However, the B&W Pi8 are still among the best wireless earbuds on the market.