Bowers & Wilkins PI7 S2 Earbuds Review: Same Fantastic Sound, But Only Slight Improvements

When Bowers & Wilkins unveiled its first true wireless earbuds in April 2021, they were among the best-sounding models in the highly competitive headphone space. Now we have the next generation of these buds, the PI7 S2 ($399, £349, AU$700) and PI5 S2 ($299, £249, AU$450). simultaneous. (The names are “pi 7” and “pi 5”, not “P Seventeen” and “P fifteen”, all caps and no spaces. Got it?)

Let’s start with the underwhelming part. For better or worse, the PI7 and PI5 have new color options, but the design remains largely unchanged and remains very similar to its predecessor. If you look closely, the grille above the mic is slightly larger, and there’s a previously absent sensor just below his one on the mic. Bowers and Wilkins didn’t mention anything about the new driver, so I’ve confirmed that it’s probably the same and that these new models use the same legacy Qualcomm QCC5126 chipset (which uses Bluetooth 5.0) as the original. . (The latest 5 series chips are his QCC5141 and QCC5144).

So what has been upgraded? Bowers & Wilkins says the new model has better battery life and a Bluetooth range of up to 25 meters, double his previous range. Additionally, Tsubomi has been integrated into the new Bowers & Wilkins Music app for iOS and Android, greatly improving the setup experience (I can attest to that).

With the original PI7 earbuds, you’ll only get about 4 hours of battery life on a single charge, and the case will give you 4 more charges (20 hours total). The PI7 S2 has a battery life of up to 5 hours for the bud and an additional 16 hours for the case (21 hours total). The PI5, on the other hand, can go from 4.5 hours up to 5 hours on a single charge, which drops from 20 hours to 19 hours extra from the case.

Bowers & Wilkins say the Bud’s battery life improvements were achieved through hardware changes rather than software updates. The bud has a new battery and a new antenna design. A Bowers & Wilkins representative said, “The cap on the end of the earbud (the part with the logo) has been redesigned to improve antenna performance.” “Introduced a new antenna design and repositioned it inside the earpiece end caps. At the same time, we switched to using plastic instead of aluminum for the trim on each end cap, resulting in better Bluetooth signal strength. , improved. Range of 25 meters.”

Sure, we appreciate the improved battery life and improved Bluetooth range with a more reliable wireless connection, but the update felt relatively understated. Of course, Bowers and Wilkins could add functionality later. This has been seen before in premium earbuds that use Qualcomm chipsets (such as Jabra and Bose). However, Bowers & Wilkins never updated the original earbuds’ firmware. So don’t expect these to get multipoint Bluetooth pairing. This allows the earbuds to be paired to two devices (such as a computer and a smartphone) at the same time and automatically switch the audio to the smartphone when a call comes in (instead of having to manually switch between paired devices). there is). Also, don’t expect support for Qualcomm’s upcoming spatial audio or his Bluetooth LE audio with Auracast capabilities.

The app also lacks an equalizer to tweak the sound. Personally, I don’t mind a fixed EQ that sticks to the company’s signature sound, but many people prefer to customize their headphone’s sound settings.

That said, the touch controls work very well, as does the automatic ear detection feature.And the PI7 S2’s wireless charging case, like its predecessor, converts into a walkie-talkie, so you can turn the case into an airplane. Connect to the headphone port on your inflight entertainment system and wirelessly stream audio from the case to your earbuds. Alternatively, you can connect the case to your laptop’s audio port and use it to wirelessly stream high-definition audio to the buds.

Note that PI5 is very much a step-down model. Instead of the dual drivers found on the PI7, there’s a single driver, and he’s got one less mic on each earpiece (two instead of three). In that case, you also don’t have the aforementioned “wireless audio retransmission” feature.

About sound

Simply put, the PI7 S2 will sound great as long as they have a good seal from one of the three sizes of included eartips. I’m a fan of the Bowers & Wilkins eartips, which are similar in design to the Sennheiser eartips, and the larger tips fit my ears better. These are big earbuds that protrude out of my ears quite a bit, but they fit comfortably and fairly well in my ears. Provides IPX54 water resistance. That said, they’re splash and dust resistant so you can run, but there are better earbud options with sport fins that are better suited for sporting activities (I’m not sure you want to). $399 earbuds risk falling out of your ears). However, using it in the gym is fine.

Like its predecessor, the PI7 supports Qualcomm aptX Adaptive wireless transmission (including the aptX HD codec) from compatible mobile devices, enabling “high-definition music transmission from suitable streaming services such as Qobuz.” . The list of Android devices (and dedicated music players) that support aptX Adaptive has grown over the last few years, and ideally you should connect your earbuds to devices that support aptX Adaptive (and streaming services that offer high-definition streaming). ) must be paired. ). That said, the buds work just fine, and sound very good on Apple’s iPhones, which support the AAC codec. (Both the PI5 and PI7 support AAC streaming, but the PI5 only supports standard aptX, not aptX Adaptive.) Unfortunately, Sony’s LDAC Hi-Res audio codec is not supported. No, but headphones usually support either aptX or LDAC, but not both.

iPhone 14 Pro and Asus ROG 6 An Android smartphone powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 mobile platform. As I said in the original his PI7, the PI7 S2 has exactly what I was looking for in a good headphone: precise and articulate sound, deep and defined bass, natural mids and great detail. A wide sound stage with a high frequency range. It has some big impact on the overall sound.

On iPhone, I tested Bud with Spotify, Apple Music, and Qobuz. The PI7 S2 can go toe-to-toe and, in some cases, sound slightly better than many of the leading mainstream earphones. Sony WF-1000XM4, Apple’s AirPods Pro 2, QuietComfort Earbuds 2 from Bose, Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 When Bang & Olufsen Beoplay EXwhich also costs $400.

But when I switched to my Asus and streamed a hi-res track from my Qobuz (using aptX Adaptive), I went from saying to myself, “That sounds really good,” to “Wow, that sounds great.” became. Bowers & Wilkins tells Qobuz he has a playlist of PX8 full-size headphones, so I tried a lot of those tracks. Some of them included Taylor Swift’s Vigilante Shit, Athletes of God’s Don’t Wanna Be Normal, Anna B Savage’s Since We Broke up, Orbital’s Dirty Rat, and Pixies’ Vault of Heaven. The bass quality leveled up, adding girth and punch to make it more visceral, and there was a little more sparkle, depth and nuance throughout the music. I felt the need to upgrade Spotify.

Good noise cancellation, but not best in class

As with sound, a good seal is required for optimal noise-cancelling performance. You can set it to on, off, or an ‘auto’ mode that adapts the noise cancellation according to the sounds around you. You can also adjust the amount of “pass-through” sound you put in the buds. This is commonly referred to as awareness or transparency mode.

The Bud transparency mode doesn’t sound as natural as some others I’ve used (the AirPods Pro 2 transparency mode is the gold standard at this point). We settled on a midpoint slider setting between ‘minimum’ and ‘maximum’ that we felt was the best transparency experience.

Noise-cancelling is very effective, especially at low frequencies, and it does a good job of reducing ambient sound by just the right amount. It works (higher frequencies are less muffled in noise-cancelling headphones). The PI7’s noise-cancelling is clearly respectable, but it’s not in the same class as earbuds sound.

The PI7’s voice capabilities are on a similar level, very good, but not the best in class. Tsubomi did a great job of reducing background noise on the streets of New York, the caller said he could hear a little background noise, but it was greatly reduced and my voice trembled. He said he could hear it clearly. I could hear them well, and there’s a little sidetone so I can hear you in the bud when you’re talking.

Bowers & Wilkins PI7 S2 Final Thoughts

Yes, the PI7 S2 is technically a 2nd generation product, but it feels like a 1.5th generation product. Bowers & Wilkins essentially smoothed (metaphorically, not literally) some of the rough edges of the original buds. Battery life has increased by an hour for him, and the extended Bluetooth range (which seems to make the wireless connection slightly more reliable) are welcome changes. Also, the setup and integration with the Bowers & Wilkins Music app improves the overall user experience despite its minimal quality (compared to Sony’s headphone app).

When comparing the PI7 S2 and the PI5 S2, the PI5 S2 also sounds great, but not as good as the PI7. . of Original Pi5 It’s on sale for as low as $150 or $100 off the list price of $250, so we’ll see how it all goes. Unfortunately, Bowers & Wilkins added $50 to the list price.

Needless to say, spending $400 on a set of earbuds is a lot. And spending this much money would ideally require the latest technology and features (aptX Lossless, for example). But if great sound is your priority, the PI7 S2 delivers. And when you pair your buds to the right devices and streaming services, you get some really special sounds.