Bowers & Wilkins is a name that gamers might not recognize, but for audiophiles, they are in the upper echelon. I’ve heard nothing but good things about the company’s Pi8 earbuds, from sound quality to design, and so I had to give them a look. Earbuds don’t get as much attention as headphones and headsets where gaming is concerned, but they can sound just as great, if not better, while eliminating concerns about clamping force.
Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 Earbuds Design
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 earbuds come in a nice, compact, and elegant package. They are magnetically nestled into a discrete wireless charging case, which can also receive power via USB-C. The case itself is of the top-loading variety, letting you quickly pop the lid and remove the earbuds.
Battery life on the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 earbuds is solid, comparable to most of the high-end options on the market. You can get roughly 6.5 hours of use on a single charge with ANC toggled on, and an additional 13 hours from the charging case. Wireless charging is becoming ubiquitous for earbuds these days, but it’s always appreciated. And the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 earbuds case has a quick charge feature that will give you about 2 hours of use after 15 minutes.
The earbuds themselves are available in four different colors (Anthracite Black, Midnight Blue, Dove White, and Jade Green) with a smooth finish on the touch portion and a nice brushed metal feel surrounding it. Each earbud has a touch sensor for controlling media (pause, play, toggle ANC) with an audible click to confirm a press. Bowers & Wilkins has clearly put a lot of thought into the Pi8 earbuds’ design and there’s no denying that these earbuds look nice, but looks will only get you so far.
Sound is Top Notch on the Pi8 Earbuds
Luckily, the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 earbuds sound incredible – not just for earbuds, but full stop. The 12mm carbon cone drivers in the earbuds recreate sound with impeccable clarity, with a full rich sound that is packed with detail. Any game comes alive with the Pi8 earbuds, allowing you to pick up distinct sound effects like the pitter-patter of rain intermixed with character footsteps. Listening to music or watching a movie is equally impressive, without any washed-out elements or distortion. These are the real deal if you are looking for high quality ear buds, and I can’t speak more highly of them.
Active Noise Cancellation is equally great on the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 earbuds, blocking out enough background noise to keep the focus on your media. The earbuds also include a pass-through mode in case you need to keep aware of your surroundings. Immersion is crucial when gaming, so having good ANC is a major plus on the Pi8 earbuds.
4:51
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If you want to customize your sound profile, the Bowers & Wilkins Music app offers EQ tweaking and customization for touch actions on each earbud. I found that the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 earbuds sound exceptional right out of the box, but those who might like a little extra bass in their sound profile can dig into the app and make any changes they like.
With a goal of leading the charge on audio experiences, Bowers & Wilkins have outfitted the Pi8 earbuds with support for aptX adaptive and aptX lossless connectivity. On supported devices, you will get low latency and compression-less audio, further pushing the excellent sound quality into the upper tier. Not every device has aptX support, mind you, but for those devices that do (like the OnePlus 13 smartphone), it’s a huge boon.
In addition to sounding and looking great, the Pi8 earbuds include a killer feature for traveling. By using either a USB-C connection or the included USB-C to 3.5mm cable, you can connect the charging case to an audio source, like the headphone jack on an airplane, and use it as a wireless transmitter. So rather than using the low-quality headphones that airlines provide, you can take advantage of the Pi8 earbuds in situations where Bluetooth might not be available.
Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 Earbuds Review: Final Thoughts
Ultimately, it’s the price that will determine how enticing the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 earbuds are to each person. At $399, these are some of the most expensive earbuds around. The exceptional sound quality and features do support a high price point, but how high each person will pay varies. The wireless transmission is a nice touch, but it’s not the type of use-case that everyone will benefit from. If you are looking for top-tier earbuds that sound great and look great, the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 earbuds are some of the best earbuds around. There is nothing about these earbuds that did not impress me.
Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 Earbuds
- Battery Life
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20 hours
- Charging Case Included?
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Yes
- Microphones
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3 per earbud
- Brand
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Bowers & Wilkins
- Supported codecs
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AAC, aptX, aptX Adaptive, aptX LL, SBC
- Bluetooth
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5.4
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 earbuds are available now for $399. Game Rant was provided a unit for this review.