Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 review: Comfy fit, incredible sound

The Bowers & Wilkins Pi8s take over from the Pi7 S2 as the flagship true wireless earbuds from the famed British brand, combining improved fit and comfort with superior sound and excellent noise cancellation into a stylish package designed to appeal to audiophiles. The buds take their cue from the company's over-ear Px8 headphones and feature the exact same Carbon Cone drive units, albeit shrunk to 12mm, as well as aptX Lossless and aptX Adaptive codec support. 

The £349 / $399 asking price means you won't find the Pi8s sitting among the best cheap wireless earbuds anytime soon, but as you'd expect for that kind of price, you're going to get a product that lasts. B&W has made a number of improvements around the fit and finish of the buds as well as increasing the battery life. The charging case also doubles as a wireless adapter that you can plug into a compatible analog audio output (like an airplane jack).

Make no mistake, these earbuds are intended for those who want the pinnacle audio experience in a stylish package. And B&W has pulled out all the stops to tempt you away from some of the best wireless earbuds like the AirPods Pro 2 or the Bose QuietComfort Ultra. 

Read on for my full B&W Pi8 In-Ear True Wireless headphones review. 

Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A luxury pair of earbuds with all-day comfort and great sound
• Who is it for? For audiophiles willing to spend big for the best experience 
• How much does it cost? $399 / £349
• What do we like? The sound quality is crystal clear, supported by advanced codecs and a new design that improves comfort and minimizes sound bleed.
• What don’t we like? The case is a little bulkier compared to rivals and the accompanying app is a little sparse on features

Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 review: Specs

Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 review: Price & availability

Bowers & Wilkins launched the Pi8 in August 2024 for $399 / £349 with availability directly from the company or via Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart and other online retailers. The launch of the Pi8 signals the end of the Pi7 S2 which will no longer be produced although some retailers may continue to sell off remaining supplies while stocks last.

The pricing remains the same as the Pi7 S2 which launched at $399 and puts the Pi8 squarely in the premium price bracket the likes of the AirPods Pro 2 ($249), Sony WF-1000XM5 ($299) and the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 ($299).

Given the Pi8s have just been released, it's unlikely we'll see any price drops or deals for a little while yet. But keep an eye on our best headphone deals for August 2024 list if you're trying to save money. 

Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 review: Design & comfort

For the design of the Pi8, Bowers & Wilkins turned to London-based industrial design consultancy Goodwin Hartshorn, the same firm that worked on the Px8. The resulting partnership has turned out a pair of earbuds that B&W says is more comfortable to wear, fit better in the ear and produce a better performance than ever before.

The Pi8 eschews the stem design of the AirPods or Samsung's recent Galaxy Buds 3 Pro in favor of a compact oval shape that sits snugly inside your ear. It's a very different design from the Pi7 S2 and, to my mind, all the better for it. The look is more svelte and compact while the slot containing the mics and antennas has been pushed further to the outside of the bud. This means it's less likely to be obscured by your ear when it comes to picking up outside noise for the ANC to do its work.

Each earbud weighs just 0.24 ounces and B&W has included a fourth size (XS) silicone ear tip in the box for those who need an even tighter fit. I found the earbuds sat comfortably in my ears and even with an enthusiastic head shake, they stayed in place. As you'd expect, the premium build means there's no flex to the casing or noticeable fingerprint smudging (at least on my black review unit) when you're handling them. Alongside the standard white and black variants, there's also "Jade Green" and "Midnight Blue", the latter looking especially luxe in the marketing images I've seen.

That same design ethos extends to the charging case. My review sample is matte black with the Bowers & Wilkins branding front and center above the single LED that denotes pairing and battery life. Unfortunately, unlike the buds themselves, I found this case did attract a few annoying fingerprint smudges and, at 65mm x 52mm x 29mm, is a little on the chunky side when you compare it to the 60mm x 45mm x 21mm AirPods Pro 2 case. That being said, the hinge is solid and I can still open and shut it with one hand. 

There's a single USB-C charging port on the bottom of the case but no pairing button at all. Instead, the earbuds are paired either via the B&W app or by long pressing on both buds capacitive surfaces simultaneously. The Pi8s can pair to two devices and switch seamlessly (even if they're on your head) so you can quickly swap between your phone and PC if needed.

Although the B&W Pi8s aren't intended to be sports headphones, they are IP54-rated for dust- and water-resistance. They'll repel a smattering of dust and water (think running along a dusty trail or getting caught in light rain) but aren't going to survive anything stronger. You wouldn't be able to wear them in the shower, for instance.

If hardiness is what you're after then the Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 feature an IP68 rating and are a better bet if you want a pair of the best sports headphones. The Pi8s are all about enjoying the nuances of music, perhaps with a bourbon or cognac in hand, as opposed to thumping bass down your ears as you tackle a demanding trail run. 

Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 review: Connectivity

Connectivity and sound quality are the name of the game here. The Pi8s use Bluetooth 5.4 to quickly connect to (and switch between) two devices simultaneously. As well as supporting the standard AAC and SBC codecs, the Pi8s support aptX Lossless for 24-bit/48kHz resolution streams where available. I found Bluetooth pairing and streaming to be seamless when I connected the Pi8s to my Android device via the B&W Music app (also available on iPhone) and the connection never dropped during my weeks of testing.

The case can be charged either directly through the USB-C port on the bottom or wirelessly via any standard wireless charging pad. Fast charge is supported when connected via cable and B&W says that just 15 minutes connected to the mains will get you two hours of audio, something that seemed to stand up to scrutiny during my testing. 

The Pi8 also have a cool party trick courtesy of the case, which doubles up as a wireless audio retransmitter. You can connect it to any source that doesn't support Bluetooth via the supplied USB-C-to-3.5mm cable or a USB-C-to-USB-C cable and it will transmit the audio through to the buds. For things like in-flight entertainment systems, this could be a really handy feature.

Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 review: Controls & app

I have to admit that I'm not a fan of capacitive touch on earbuds, preferring instead to have a physical button I can click with gloves on during the U.K.'s winter months. Putting that prejudice aside, the controls on the B&W Pi8s are fine. A quick tap on the left or right handles play or pause while double and triple taps skip forwards and backwards through your song queue. You can customize tap and hold to either raise and lower volume or enable your voice assistant and toggle between ANC and Pass-Through.

During my time with the Pi8 I found the inputs all responded exactly as they should (even while wearing a pair of touchscreen gloves) and I only occasionally had a problem with mis-taps when I jabbed at them too quickly while in a hurry. The Pi8 include wear detection to pause your music or podcast during playback if you remove one or both buds.

The accompanying app is serviceable without being stuffed full of features. For example, you've got an advanced equaliser to tweak the lo, lo-mid, mid, hi-mid and hi elements but no ability to create and save custom presets for different scenarios. Other than that you can see your paired devices, alter your touch controls and enable/disable the wear sensor.

There's a standard ANC toggle between on, off and Pass-Through inside the app but no extra ANC modes on offer. You also won't find any kind of sound-emitting Find my Headphones feature here — which is a bit of a drawback considering nobody wants to mislay a pair of buds this costly.

Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 review: Sound, performance & ANC

Here's where the rubber meets the road: the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 sound as good as any earbuds I've ever tried — across both spoken word and a range of music genres. I fired up a bunch of different songs using both Spotify and Soundcloud, my music streaming services of choice and kept the EQ locked to neutral and the ANC on. As expected, the Pi8 offer aptX Adaptive for 24-bit higher audio handling from services such as Qobuz, Tidal, and Apple Music.

Tucked inside the B&W Pi8 are two 12mm Carbon Cone drive units powered by a Qualcomm QCC5181 chipset alongside a discrete DAC and amp combo. The connection between the two buds is powered by TrueWireless Bluetooth mirroring that replaces the NFMI tech from the Pi7 for a more robust connection.

Right out of the gate, I can hear the quality of the Pi8 shine through. A go-to test track for me is the Red Hot Chili Peppers' seminal "Under The Bridge" and, when I compared the Pi8s against the AirPods Pro 2, the opening guitar notes were richer and more vibrant than on Apple's buds. I felt like I could hear the slight fuzz on the fretboard as each note was stuck and when Anthony Keides' vocals came in, they blended with the guitar in a rounder way than with the AirPods which sounded flatter and simply layered on top in comparison.

Taking something a little bit more modern — "360" by Charli XCX — there was a noticeably wide soundstage that gave the electronic/dance vibes a deep resonance with the vocals layered beautifully on top. Even though I wasn't listening at 24-bit quality, it felt uncompressed and involving to my ears. That immersive feeling was complimented by the snug fit of the earbuds and, as I confirmed with others in the room at the time, there wasn't any sound leakage — even when I amped up the volume.  

I mentioned it before but the lack of EQ presets might be an annoyance for some who, for example, want to quickly dial up the treble while listening to vocalists like Adele or Lana Del Ray but for me, it wasn't an issue.

When it comes to noise cancellation, the Pi8 use three mics per earbud to keep outside noise from entering the soundscape. As noted earlier, the mics have been repositioned to make them more accurate and the on-board technology automatically adapts to your surroundings. During my testing, the typical irritants of the everyday — traffic, wind conditions and office co-workers — were almost completely blocked. Particularly piercing noises, like a crying baby, still managed to bleed through but overall I was really happy with the ANC on the Pi8. You can enable the Pass-Through mode which, like transparency mode on other headsets, blends with the noise cancellation to make those ambient noises more distinguishable but easier on your ears.

Finally, call quality and clarity was rock solid when I used the Pi8s for talking on my phone and the person on the other end of the line reported that I came through loud and clear.

Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 review: Battery life

The B&W Pi8 have a longer battery life than their predecessors, due in part to less power consumption required from that new Qualcomm chip. As advertised, I got around six-and-a-half hours of playback from these buds with the ANC turned on. The case bumps that lifespan up to 20 hours before you need to plug the Pi8 back in. For comparison, the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II and the AirPods Pro 2 both offer just six hours of battery life from a single charge.  

It's great to see the Pi8 have wireless charging on board (a feature not afforded to the lower-cost Pi6s) as I frequently drop my tech onto a Qi pad. However, for those days you need a fast top-up, the Pi8 will get two hours of playback from a 15-minute charge through a compatible charger.

Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 review: Verdict

Are the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8s worth buying? Absolutely. These earbuds are beautifully designed, sound great and have a few neat features like the wireless retransmission option from the case. Whether or not you should buy them totally comes down to your use case. I frequently use wireless earbuds for running — and these would be a terrible option for exercising due to the lower waterproofing standard and the fact there's no Find My option for if you happen to lose one.

Of course, there's also the price. If you're less concerned with audio quality as you are about saving money, then you perhaps want to steer clear and check out something like the recent EarFun Air Pro 4 instead.

Where it gets tricky is whether or not you want to justify the extra expense of the B&W Pi8 over something like the Sony WF-1000XM5. I'm inclined to say Sony has the edge here in terms of a price-to-performance ratio (the battery life, for example, is higher with Sony), but I feel the Pi8s are more attractive and offer greater comfort.

If you're critical of your music, then the Pi8 are certainly going to appeal to you and I'd have no problem recommending them as your next audio upgrade.