The Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 are an audiophiles dream earbuds

I’ve been quite outspoken before about the build and audio quality you can expect from Bowers & Wilkins. The English audio company has been producing high quality speakers since 1966, later entering the headphone market in 2010 with the P5s. Since then, Bowers & Wilkins has released a number of over-ear and in-ear headphones, with the latest being the Pi8 noise-cancelling in-ear wireless earbuds.

As a self-ascribed audiophile, I was thrilled to test out the Pi8 and see what Bowers & Wilkins have brought to the table since the Pi7 in 2020.

Editor’s Choice

Bowers & Wilkins Pi8

Bowers & Wilkins’ updated Pi8 in-ear earbuds are the most sonically impressive earbuds I’ve ever tested. The Pi8 is what happens when one of the most respected audiophile brands in the world sets their sights on noise-cancelling, travel-friendly, and superbly engineered high-fidelity in-ear wireless earbuds.

Pros

• Impeccable sound quality
• Excellect noise cancellation
• Comfortable fit

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Price, availability, and specs

The Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 are available from Amazon, Best Buy, and directly from Bowers & Wilkins online. They retail for the hefty price of $400, and so far I have not come across any sales.

What I liked about the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8

Mind-blowing sound quality for earbuds

I’ll admit I came into testing these with fairly high expectations. I’m quite familiar with Bowers & Wilkins on their speaker side, and they haven’t disappointed me yet. As I started setting them up, which featured a fairly simple pairing process, I found myself thinking, “How good could they actualy be?” and pondering how best to extract the best sound from such small drivers. Well, whatever the secret sauce is, Bowers & Wilkins have it.

I opened up Tidal and started listening to Rush’s 1981 classic, Red Barchetta. Immediately, the slowly building guitar opening had wormed its way into my ears, and as the song crescendoed and Neil Peart’s drums started filling the space, I was met with a full and rich soundstage. While the Bowers & Wilkins app has an equalizer for customization, it was completely unnecessary. The sound was balanced, the instrument separation was excellent, and the lows, mids, and highs all had proper representation, which is hard to pull off in earbuds.

As I went about my day listening to all sorts of ’80s rock and pop, I became increasingly impressed by the Pi8’s active noise cancellation. The heavy synths and drum beats on Phil Collins’ album No Jacket Required combined with the Pi8’s built-in noise cancellation thoroughly shielded me from the hum of passing cars on a walk and the constant chatter and buzz of a busy Costco.

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While testing and exploring the Pi8 earbuds, it wasn’t lost on me that these were a $400 pair of buds. So, keeping that in mind, I really appreciated some of the extra-mile touches that Bowers & Wilkins included here, like the fact that the Pi8 case supports wireless charging and that the light on the case changes colors to indicate battery status and Bluetooth connectivity. I’m pretty picky about earbud fit, so I was happy to see the Pi8 included four different sizes of earbud tips, making it much more likely for users to find the perfect fit.

There are various other little details, like wear sensors that pause your music when you remove an earbud, touch controls on the earbuds for easier control over your media, and an ambient pass-through mode to better hear the world around you while still enjoying whatever it is you’re listening to.

What I didn’t like about the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8

Paying a premium for the name

The sound quality and overall performance of the Pi8 are undeniable, but at $400, its price point is a tough pill to swallow for a set of headphones. While the Pi8’s fidelity and acoustic performance are far superior to a $130 pair of Apple AirPods, whether it performs more than three times as well is debatable. In short, the only thing I don’t like about the Pi8 earbuds is their price. Some of this is due to Bowers & Wilkins’ excellent reputation for luxury, high-quality audio equipment, and some of it is perhaps that $400 just isn’t what it used to be.

Earbuds these days come in all shapes and sizes, and the Pi8 are somewhat blocky and large. They aren’t at all cumbersome or uncomfortable when worn at the office, on public transportation, or while walking at a normal pace when out and about, but their larger footprint doesn’t lend itself to exercise or very heavy activity.

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Verdict: Should you buy the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8?

Look, I try my best to stay away from overly broad or gushing platitudes when reviewing tech products. I put a lot of time, thought, and background into reviews for our readers, and I take it quite seriously. But in this case, I truly do mean that these are the best-sounding earbuds I’ve ever used. If the Pi8 are comfortably within your budget, and audio quality is important to you when enjoying your tunes, then I’d encourage you to pick up a pair and give them a listen.

If you are looking for earbuds for exercise or more active use, or simply are not interested in dropping this kind of dough, then there are plenty of other options on the market today, just none that I’m aware of that sound quite as good.

Editor’s Choice

Bowers & Wilkins Pi8

Battery Life

Up to 6.5 hours with ANC, Additional 13.5 hours from Charging Case

Charging Case Included?

Yes

Microphones

3 per earbud

Brand

Bowers & Wilkins

Supported codecs

aptX Lossless/Adaptive/Classic, AAC, SBC

Bluetooth

Bluetooth 5.4 with aptX Lossless

IP Rating

IP54

Driver Size

12 mm Carbon Cone

Charging type

Wireless and USB-C Charging

Case battery

Li-Ion

Charging Port

USB-C

Noise Cancellation

Active Noise Cancellation

Earbud weight

7g

Charging case weight

46g

Maximum play time (overall)

20 hours

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