Bowers & Wilkins – PI7 True Wireless Noise Cancelling In-Ear Headphones – Charcoal
$399.98
Last updated on June 3, 2024 4:20 am Details
Photos: Bowers & Wilkins – PI7 True Wireless Noise Cancelling In-Ear Headphones – Charcoal
8 reviews for Bowers & Wilkins – PI7 True Wireless Noise Cancelling In-Ear Headphones – Charcoal
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Bowers & Wilkins – PI7 True Wireless Noise Cancelling In-Ear Headphones – Charcoal
$399.98
veritech13 –
The design is very elegant and classy. I thought the white design would be a little cheap looking as white is not my choice for cases. I was pleasantly surprised by the feel of the case and headphones, very well designed with the placement of the mic down to the design of the case.
The sound is very full and rich, I have other headphones by quality brands and i do have to say as far full(ness) of sound these are very good. At high levels of volume the sound does not distort but i also believe that is due in part to the speakers reaching a set max volume that does not push the speakers to it’s distorted levels. What i mean to say is i have other in-ear speakers that might be a little louder but the sound distorts at those max levels. These speakers maintain the quality of sound thruout all volume levels!
The mic placement or mic quality must be pretty good because every phone call i have made with them sound amazing. I have gone out of my way to ask the person on the other end of the call about the voice quality. They always find it hard to believe that i am using earbuds to talk because my voice sounds so clear and loud. AMAZING PHONE QUALITY!
I love the , now standard auto connect to your phone when removed from the case…once they have already been paired.
The touch controls are very responsive, it takes a solid tap to activate the command. I have had other headphones where it would register too many taps because the touch pad was too sensitive, these are near perfect.
The size of the earbuds seemed a bit big at first glance but when they are inserted they have a nice feel, they do not hurt your ears with extended listening sessions. There is hardly any sound leakage due to the design and the seal it forms when in use.
The battery life was just as advertised so they don’t die out at in-opportune moments.
A nice plus which i am not too sure how to use yet is the ability of plugging in an audio source that does not have bluetooth to your earbud case and it will transmit the sound to your earbuds…a neat trick. How do you connect to an audio source thru the case you ask? THEY INCLUDE A USB-C to AUX CABLE!
The app is pretty basic it does not offer much more control that activating the ambient sound or noise cancellation mode. I wish it had more options to adjust sound to your individual taste but the sound is already very good as it is out of the box.
The noise cancelling mode is on par with most other noise cancellation, if the earbud fits properly and you have chosen the proper size earbud size (it comes w 3 sizes) the outside sounds fade away. The AUTO feature adjusts the level of noise cancellation depending on your outside ambient noise. I have tried using this feature and to be honest i can not tell the difference between AUTO and NC.
Great headphones that elevate your sounds and elevates the design!
stevo1352 –
I come from VERY high end iems like the se846 and W40gen2/UE custom.
I found both the Beoplay EQ and the Devialet Gemini to sound much more “audiophile” these these. These just sound cheap to my ears with bloated bass and boosted treble. No balance.
I expected more refined audio….Especially with 2 drivers (1 balanced armature for the treble and one dynamic for bass/mids)… tuning issue???????
They are VERY hot in the bass and sound VERY “V” shaped with a nasally tone to the vocals.
**average at best**
******The USB c port was also “nicked” or missing some of its plastic out of box. Bowers & Wilkins has very a very condescending support tone in getting my case issue resolved. ********
The case feels like the cheapest plastic ever and shows a ton of finger prints.
This products is and feels and sounds like a repackaged ODM set like from “merry electronics” with Bowers & Wilkins name slapped on it!
The Devialet Gemini had a rough start with major bugs etc. They fixed them and lowered the price to $240. They sound WAAAAAAAAY better then these.
Also they should not classify these as noise cancelling as that feature is worthless.
The gemini has the BEST NC I have ever heard in a earbud!
The gemini gets 9/10
The B&O EQ gets 9.5/10 totally worth 400$ speechless
The PI7 gets a 6.5/10
LOOK ELSEWHERE these are 250$ at BEST for their performance and build not 400!!!$
cinsteadofak –
I own many earbuds and am always trying to find the Holy Grail. My ideal earbuds have active noise cancellation, and many manufacturers have started perfecting this technology. Thus, I was curious about the performance of these Bowers & Wilkins PI7 earbuds.
I was surprised that both the case and earbuds were larger than another pair I have. The PI7s have a cylinder shape that extends the length of each bud, causing them to protrude from the ears considerably more than a competitor’s pair. However, I quickly saw the benefit of this design because it made the buds easier to grab onto and remove from their case.
Initially setup was cumbersome. I followed the directions yet repeatedly failed to pair the earbuds correctly with my Pixel 3. Once I finally paired them, I tried to connect the earbuds with the app, and that also repeatedly failed. After multiple attempts I finally realized that my Galaxy smartwatch was interfering with the pairing.
Pros:
– case acts as Bluetooth transmitter (allows you to use non-Bluetooth devices)
– sound quality is awesome – deep basses and clear highs
– decent battery life
– voice quality is crystal clear
Cons:
– active noise cancellation not as good as competitors
– faint din in background
– may be too large for smaller ears
– Bluetooth interference with pairing
– No equalizer
– Expensive
In conclusion, once I troubleshot the Bluetooth interference, I found these earbuds to perform very well, comparable to competitors, or even better. However, you will be paying for this performance. I would highly recommend these for people who wish to listen to record players and other non-Bluetooth devices seamlessly.
SlowMN –
The Bowers & Wilkins PI7 Wireless Noise Cancelling In-Ear Headphones are beautifully designed providing audiophile quality sound and extreme comfort.
Pros:
* Comfort – Anyone who uses wireless in-ear headphones know they can really start to hurt your ears, especially after prolonged use; however, the Bowers & Wilkins PI7 headphones are the most comfortable headphones I have ever owned. I have been wearing them up to 4 hours at a time, most days of the week, and my ears feel great with no fatigue. These are the first Bowers & Wilkins product I have owned and if this is the comfort I can expect then they have earned a lifetime customer. They come with different size ear tips for a more customized fit.
* Sound – These headphones offer premium performance using Bluetooth 5.0 with AptX Adaptive. This allows for a reliable and stable connection with perfect synchronization between audio and video. Additionally, these headphones use a 24-bit connection to help overcome the quality issues caused by limited bandwidth in the Bluetooth codec. The combination of this technology allows for a quality listening experience. Of the many premium wireless headphones I have used, I prefer the sound of the Bowers & Wilkins PI7.
*Multi-Point connect – These can be simultaneously connected to two devices at the same time (ie: phone and laptop). Pairing the headphones with new devices is easy and quick. Simply hold the button until it flashes blue and pair with the device.
* Re-transmitting Case – This is a cool feature that allows you to use the PI7 wireless headphones with non-wireless devices as long as it has a 3.5mm audio port. You connect the case to the device using the provided 3.5mm cable. The case subsequently acts as a re-transmitter to the wireless headphones. I tried this out on my desktop computer and it worked great. I look forward to using this on my next flight when I want to watch a movie on the inflight entertainment system.
* Adaptive Noise Cancellation – The noise cancellation of the PI7 headphones is pretty impressive, especially given the amount of technology packed into these small headphones. It can be activated by pushing the left earbud for 1 second and cycled through the different modes with additional 1 second presses. It has an auto mode which adapts the noise cancellation based on the sound environment you are in, an on mode, and an off mode. While it doesn’t completely cancel out background sound it definitely reduces it.
Indeterminate:
* Battery life – The onboard battery life for the headphones is about 4 hours which is lackluster compared to several competitors which offer 8-30+ hours. The charging case holds 4 additional charges allowing for a total of 20 hours of playback. The case can quickly charge the headphones adding around 2 hours of charge in about 15 minutes. The case can be recharged using the provided USB-C cable or a Qi-certified wireless charging pad.
Cons:
* Volume control – There is no direct way to control the volume from the wireless headphones. Instead, you either have to use a voice command or adjust the volume from the device they are connected to.
* No charging brick – While I appreciate the provided USB-C to USB-C cable, no charging brick is included. For the price point and the “nonstandard” USB-C cable, it is something I would expect to be included.
Overall, I really like the Bowers & Wilkins PI7 Wireless Noise Cancelling In-Ear Headphones. If you want a premium listening experience on a wireless platform then the PI7 are for you.
Hmirza –
Sound Amazing, But!!!!!!
The sound quality on these earbuds are truly second to none. The clarity, treble and bass are right on point and makes the music come alive, which should come as no surprise because as you may know Bower & Wilkins are known name in the audio industry. But, the Bower & Wilkins In-ear True Wireless Headphones are far from perfect. These headphones are feature packed and well some of the features in these headphones don’t work the way they should. So, lets go over the features, Pros and Cons of the Bower & Wilkins PI7 True Wireless Headphones.
Features-
***Best Feature*** – Retransmitting Case- So, you no longer have to carry wired earbuds or headphones with you on a flight. The case for these earbuds can be connected via audio jack to any audio device which turns the case into a Bluetooth transmitter case for the earbuds to connect to and even then, they sound amazing.
Qualcomm aptX – High resolution sound
Adaptive Noise Cancellation
Wireless and Wired charging for the case
4 Built-in microphones for amazing call quality
Connect to multiple devices to listen to music on your laptop and answer calls on your phone
Fast Charging – 15-minute charge for 2 hours of battery life
Touch Controls
Voice Assistant – Google or Alexa
Pros-
Amazing Sound Quality – High Resolution Sound
Amazing Voice Calls
Wireless Charging Case
Retransmitting case – My personal favorite feature
Premium build quality
IP54 Rated
Touch Controls
Cons-
Adaptive Noise Cancellation – The adaptive noise cancellation was not as strong. I could still clearly hear everything around me.
Battery life – The batter life on these headphones is not the greatest
Overall, these are some amazing headphones that are truly an audiophile’s dream. They sound great, they look great but they do have a few kinks that could be worked out with some updates. I would definitely recommend these headphones.
nhtechie –
I love earbuds, earphones, headphones and everything audio. When I got the Bowers & Wilkins PI7 “True” Wireless Headphone I wasn’t too sure what to expect, as features aren’t always consistent and sometimes focus goes to features over sound.
Simple packaging that utilizes a cover over a magnetic flap box is nice and the earbud case + some extra ear caps & cables (usb-c to usb-c && usb-c to 3.5mm) are included (see pic!).
I have a half-dozen Bluetooth earbuds and the setup for these was a pain. Initial pairing shows a case & earbuds to pair to — and errors on the case. I had to hard-reset these and start over when the App couldn’t talk to the earbuds, but I could hear music through them.
After the reset, I took my time & followed the insert step-by-step and it all worked; I’ve never had to read instructions before for earbuds so it came as a surprise to me.
Overall, the App is pretty robust, even letting you use the active noise cancellation (ANC) feature and even allow you to combine it with nature soundscapes – to help relax.
ANC has two settings – Auto and “not Auto.” When activating it in either setting, it takes away any and moderate sounds, which includes all click sounds, say, from the sounds of a Red Linear keyboard typing. I mean completely. Taking them off and then continuing to type this sentence really shows the difference they make. From another perspective of how the ANC portion works amazingly, taking them on a walk and feeling the wind hit you from all sides, while hearing the music – uninterrupted – is something out of the movies. The hear-through / Ambient Pass-Through is fantastic; cars coming up behind you are made pretty obvious while walking.
Controlling the amount of Pass-Through you prefer is great because walking outside & going to the grocery store have different level needs. Additionally, the App keeps track of battery levels and I haven’t seen that before in the other buds I use, so it was interesting to look at. I found that when looking at the Left, Right or case, Right bud wears out faster than the left leaving it in a bit of an imbalance (see pic!).
The case allows for wireless charging, so take advantage of all the Qi devices around the house and charge away; it even works with the angled Samsung Fast charger without issue (see pic!). The case size is smaller than the Sony 1000XM3s but bigger than the Jabra Elite 65T and Sennheiser CX400s (see pic!).
Onto the sound: FANTASTIC. There’s enough bass to be meaningfully noticeable but there’s no way to change the EQ – take it the way it is.
I found the preinstalled earpiece size to be perfect for me. I used them for about 10 miles of brisk walks and only ever found myself touching them to pause/skip/invoke the Google assistant.
A start-remover is the fact that the earbuds had too much cutting in/out when the phone was in my pocket on walks. If I held it close to my chest, it was fine, dropping it into my pocket made it cut in and out. It seemed, as the battery ran down (not by much), the jitter increased. Making the connection more stable would keep it at 5 stars, but the further the phone moved from the earbuds, the more the jitter happened.
Overall:
Pros:
Fantastic ANC
Fantastic pass-through
Case nicely sized
Great sound / bass
Great App for battery level / feature use
Cons:
Lots of jitter while moving as the battery wears down
No EQ
SamG –
The PI7’s are hands down the best wireless earbuds I’ve ever heard and for $400 they better be. The sound they put out is great, the noise cancelling is good, and the ability to use them as ‘wired’ headphones via the case is a pretty innovative feature. I don’t know if they’re $150-$200 better than some of the other options out there, but like with the PX5’s that I still use almost every day sound quality is king here and if that’s what you’re after this is it.
The box contents are pretty straightforward. You get the buds, charging case, a USB-C cable for charging and wired audio, and a USB-C to 3.5mm cable for wired audio. There are 3 different sizes of silicone eartips to choose from; I went with the largest of them and that formed a good seal in my ear. I do wish there were some more options at this price though; foam tips would have been appreciated. The case is small enough to fit in most pockets and is a bit bigger than my Pixel Buds case and a bit smaller than my Sony WF-1000XM3 case. The case is also lighter than I expected, but feels sturdy enough. I really like the look of the buds with the circular brushed metal caps and the white/pale gold scheme conveys the premium look well.
Getting the buds setup for me on my Pixel 4 was not as straightforward as I had hoped. These are supposed to have the Android Fast Pair feature (similar to what AirPods do on the iPhone), but I wasn’t able to get that working on my initial setup and ended up pairing in the Bluetooth menu instead. No big deal and maybe just an issue in my specific scenario, but something I noticed. Once paired I didn’t have to worry about it again. I was able to get into the settings using the same Bowers & Wilkins app I used for my PX5’s and the app is clean, if a little spartan. You have options to adjust the noise cancelling and transparency modes, manage device connections, listen to some soundscapes, update the firmware, and that’s about it. It didn’t leave me wanting for more, but I imagine some would prefer some EQ settings here. The buds support Bluetooth 5.0 and, more importantly, AptX Adaptive for hi-res audio. My Pixel 4 doesn’t support AptX Adaptive, but it is backwards compatible with AptX HD, which it does.
Getting into the sound – it’s just stupid good. Whether I was listening to standard quality stuff in YouTube Music or hi-res tracks on Amazon Music HD. I’ve never listened to earbuds that sound this good. Every song I listened to had so much detail coming through that I never really picked up with other buds. The bass is also surprisingly strong without overwhelming the rest of the audio. Everything I listened to also sounded more like it was ‘around’ me rather than being piped directly into my ears, if that makes sense. The connection for me has been solid 95% of the time, but there are some scenarios where I get a lot of interference coming in. I’m not sure what the issue is there, but it seems like popping the earbuds into the case and then reconnecting them fixes it. The noise cancelling is solid and did a good job blocking out a fan and a TV running across the room from me (the TV was still audible with nothing playing, but never when I was listening to anything). There is a transparency mode you can turn on as well if you need to let some outside noise through; it’s no worse than I’ve heard on other earbuds, but still feels a bit artificial to me.
One really unique feature of the PI7’s is the ability to use them ‘wired’ with the case. You can do this with either the USB-C or 3.5mm cables included in the box. The headphones will automatically detect that the cables have been plugged in and switch to communicating with the case. I found it worked as advertised, though using the USB-C cable to connect to my PC there is a noticeable audio-sync issue with video content. This was not as much of an issue with the 3.5mm cable for some reason, though I believe audio quality with the 3.5mm cable is slightly worse as it also has to get audio via whatever DAC is running the 3.5mm jack. Still, it’s a super unique feature that I could definitely see using in situations where Bluetooth isn’t available or I don’t want to bother pairing my buds to a new device.
Miscellaneous:
Microphone quality was okay, but a little disappointing at this price point. I don’t take a lot of phone calls, so this is a minor issue for me.
Battery life is 4 hours and the case will provide 4 additional charges (up to 20 hours total). On the low side to be sure compared to other options, but not an issue for me as I rarely wear headphones or earbuds that long.
Comfortable in my ears.
These can only be paired with one device at a time. Disappointing omission for me since I used multiple devices at the same time and the PX5’s I own support this.
I’ve read these are water/sweat resistant at IP54, but can’t find much official mention of this, so I would probably stay away from those types of activities with these.
Overall I’m really stoked on these earbuds. I have some issues, but none that break the entire experience for me (and hopefully ones that can be fixed with firmware updates). The question of whether it’s worth it to pay $400 for earbuds is one you’ll have to answer for yourself. These sound great, but I didn’t go to my other wireless earbuds and suddenly hate how they sounded, so you do need to really value that sound quality.
Cupra –
These Bowers & Wilkins PI7 adaptive noise canceling earbuds are sleek, comfortable and well made.
Opening the very nice packaging, you get the earbuds (white with what appears to be an aluminum cap that houses the touch areas for the controls of the ear buds), the charging case, a charging cable (USB-C to USB-C), a data connection cable (USB-C to 3.5mm) and a selection of different sized earbud tips (3 pairs total).
They arrived with somewhat of a charge so I was able to check them out right away. When charging, they have a green flashing strip light on the front. To pair them, there is a small button on the inside of the case that when pressed for a couple of seconds, the strip light on the front changes blue to show they are in pairing mode. Charging is recommended for 3 hours, and then they last for about 4 hours or so on that one charge, and then the case carries another 4 charges, so you should be able to get close 20 hours out of them before having to do a full recharge of the case.
The earbuds paired and sync’d with my iMac flawlessly, and continue to do so every time I pick them up out of the case. They have a fast pair function that works with Android, but on Apple products I found them to pair perfectly quickly. I’ve used them for several Teams meetings this week, the sounds has been incredibly clear, precise, and didn’t waiver at any time at all. The adaptive noise canceling worked really well (I chose to keep it ‘ON’ rather than opting for ‘AUTO’ as I didn’t like when it would adapt and make the people I was talking to sound out of place, amongst the ambient sound). I prefer to have the noise canceling active when wearing them. Watching YouTube videos, the sound has been clear, defined and warm, with strong mid and highs, but not a huge amount of bass. It’s there, but I prefer a little more. The adaptive noise canceling definitely helps in that area, as it seems to isolate the earbuds, offering more bass as a result.
When you take them out of your ears, they pause whatever you are listening to, and when you place them back in your ears, the sensor resumes playing whatever your source was. I’ve worn them for a couple of hours at a time in meetings. They fit well in my ears, although after an hour or so, the earbud did begin to make my left ear ache. I would however suggest this is more than likely due to the shape of my ear, rather than the earbud, as my right ear had no such issue.
The case! This is the party piece. It can be charged wirelessly, I did that no problem at all with a Samsung Wireless charger I have, you can charge it via the included USB-C cable, and you can also tether the charger/case to a computer, which in turn changes the charger in to a bluetooth dongle and transmits the sound to the ear buds. So if you have a product that uses a 3.5mm jack for headphones, you can transmit from your device to these earbuds. Pretty neat, and not something I’ve seen before.
Ergonomically, the case is small, smooth and will fit in a pocket nicely. It will not stand up on it’s own, unless you place it on it’s lid. Or you can lay it on it’s side, to show the charging light. I expected that lid panel to be made from aluminum, especially at the price point, but it is silver plastic.
One thing I noticed, I don’t see a mention of it in the instructions, and I don’t see anything in the app either, but among the usual controls of play, next track, previous track, answer calls etc, there are NO VOLUME CONTROLS at all. That surprised me, there is no way to adjust the volume with the earbuds, only the device you have them connected to. They are not the loudest earbuds, I felt like I had to turn them up louder than other earbuds I own in order to get to the desired volume I wanted.
If you download the Bowers & Wilkins app you can also control the headphones settings, turn on and off the adaptive noice canceling and perform software updates. It’s a simple app with not too many features added to it, but it works, and pairs with the earbuds quickly. I have other Bower & Wilkins headphones and the app differentiates between the two when they are near.
Overall, these earbuds are expensive, but they are well designed, they are comfortable for the most part, lightweight, and high performing. Are they worth $400, the jury is still out on that one. I like them. I like them a lot, but it’s a lot to invest in them as well. Great around sound from a small package, with a Macgyver of a case that charges them, wirelessly charges itself, and acts as a transmitter. Pretty smart stuff!