Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 Review - PCMag

At $399, Bowers & Wilkins' flagship Pi7 S2 noise-cancelling existent wireless earphones outgo $100 much than the already costly Pi5 S2, placing them among the priciest models we've tested. For the other money, you get top-notch tuning and an further balanced armature successful each earpiece that enables superior dependable quality. An fantabulous default audio signature, a coagulated array of codec support, and a charging lawsuit with the quality to transmit audio are each marks successful the Pi7 S2's favor, but the deficiency of an EQ successful the companion app and uncompetitive progressive sound cancellation (ANC) are disappointing astatine this precocious price. We yet similar the Apple AirPods Pro ($249) and the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II ($299) due to the fact that they're substantially much effectual astatine blocking sound and connection much customization options.

Impressive Internals

Available successful black, blue, oregon white, the charismatic Pi7 S2 earpieces person circular outer panels with a metallic finish. They acceptable securely and consciousness comfy adjacent implicit agelong listening sessions. You get 3 pairs of silicone eartips (small, medium, and large) successful the package.

Internally, each earpiece houses a 9.2mm dynamic operator and a balanced armature that covers the higher frequencies—each operator besides gets a abstracted amplifier. Unfortunately, Bowers & Wilkins doesn’t stock frequence scope specs.

(Credit: Tim Gideon)

The earphones enactment the somewhat outdated Bluetooth 5.0 standard. That's a notable regulation due to the fact that we sometimes encountered problems erstwhile trying to link the earbuds to the companion app. That aside, they enactment with the AAC, AptX, AptX Adaptive, AptX HD, and SBC Bluetooth codecs. If you person a compatible Android phone, AptX Adaptive and AptX HD enactment means you tin watercourse astatine up to 24-bit/48KHz quality. But the much affordable Sony WF-1000XM4 earbuds ($279.99) person the vantage of LDAC support, which allows for an adjacent higher streaming bitrate.

The outer panels of each earbud diagnostic capacitive interaction controls. Tap erstwhile connected either broadside to grip playback and calls. Tap doubly to skip to the adjacent way oregon 3 times to spell to the erstwhile one. A press-and-hold motion connected the near and close earpieces respectively toggles the ANC mode oregon summons your device's dependable assistant. The controls are responsive and intuitive, but it's inactive casual to accidentally trigger a relation erstwhile you simply mean to set the fit.

An IP54 rating is modest, but emblematic for noise-cancelling earbuds. The archetypal digit (5) means they are astir dustproof, portion the 2nd digit (4) means they tin withstand lone airy h2o splashes from immoderate direction. They should beryllium good for sweaty workouts oregon successful airy rain, but don't effort submerging them oregon exposing them to the unit of a faucet.

The bulky charging lawsuit isn't astatine each waterproof, truthful marque definite to adust the earpieces earlier you spot them inside. It sports a metallic lid that flips unfastened to uncover the charging docks and a manual pairing button. The beforehand has a presumption LED and an further fastener that enables an innovative audio transmission feature. In essence, you tin link the lawsuit (with the included USB-C-to-3.5mm cable) to an outer root (such arsenic a touch-screen console connected a plane) to watercourse audio to your earbuds. In practice, we had to crook disconnected Bluetooth connected the archetypal instrumentality we paired the earphones with to get this diagnostic to work.

Bowers & Wilkins estimates the earbuds tin past astir 5 hours per complaint with ANC disconnected and that the lawsuit holds an further 16 hours of charge. Of course, your results volition alteration based connected your measurement levels and usage of ANC. These numbers aren't precise impressive, but we're not amazed that it takes truthful overmuch powerfulness to thrust a full of 4 drivers, each with a dedicated amp. The institution claims that you get astir 2 hours of playback from 15 minutes of charging, which should astatine slightest instrumentality the borderline disconnected of your artillery beingness concerns.

Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 App Experience

The Bowers & Wilkins Music app (available for Android and iOS) is the weakest portion of the experience. For starters, we often had occupation trying to link the earbuds to the app, contempt a reliable transportation to our trial phone. We had to repetition the process respective times to get them to appear.

Once you get past that hurdle, the main surface shows an representation of the product, on with artillery beingness readouts for some earpieces and the case. Below this, there’s a Noise Cancellation section—you tin power betwixt ANC On, Auto (the ANC adapts automatically to the ambient sound levels successful your environment), and Off settings. Further down, you tin toggle the ambient (Passthrough) mode and set its strength with a fader.

(Credit: Bowers & Wilkins)

Additionally, you tin negociate instrumentality connections, set the Wear Sensor settings, and alteration the audio prime (standard, medium, high, oregon highest) for some cellular and Wi-Fi streaming scenarios. For radical who don't request to interest astir information limits oregon are connected Wi-Fi astir of the time, we urge sticking with the top-level quality. If you subscribe to music streaming services specified arsenic Qobuz, Tidal, oregon Deezer, you tin further acceptable up integrations that alteration in-app streaming controls.

Otherwise, the app lets you instal firmware updates and interaction support. You don't get an EQ anywhere, which is severely disappointing successful airy of the precocious price. Many companion apps for acold much affordable models person that feature.

Underwhelming Noise Cancellation

The six-mic array present produced simply decent results successful our sound cancellation tests. The earbuds dial backmost almighty low-frequency rumble (like from an airplane) to a degree, but those sounds stay mostly audible. The earphones were somewhat effectual astatine cutting backmost little frequencies from a signaling of a engaged edifice with clanging dishes and boisterous conversation, but astir of the highs passed done cleanly.

We didn’t announcement overmuch of a quality betwixt the regular and adaptive ANC modes successful testing. But much concerning is the magnitude of hiss these modes adhd to the signal—they efficaciously amplify the sound level of a quiescent country and marque it dependable louder than if they were inactive. This is simply a communal flaw of little costly noise-cancelling earbuds, but not thing we expect astatine this price.

Bowers & Wilkins simply doesn't vie with Apple and Bose here. The aforementioned models from those companies astir wholly cancel retired large low-frequency rumble and different ambient noises.

Vibrant, Balanced Sound

On tracks with aggravated sub-bass content, similar The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” the earbuds present a almighty low-frequency effect that's robust astatine mean volumes and escaped of distortion astatine maximum levels. They besides person nary issues reproducing the sub-bass astatine the 34-second people of Kendrick Lamar’s “Loyalty.” The synth enactment gets progressively deeper, but the dynamic drivers don't conflict to output immoderate of this low-end rumble. The balanced armatures further guarantee a coagulated clarity successful the vocals here.

(Credit: Tim Gideon)

Bill Callahan’s “Drover,” a way with acold little heavy bass successful the mix, amended reveals the dependable signature. The drums and Callahan’s baritone vocals payment from a full, robust transportation with low-mid richness and high-mid clarity. The balanced armatures alteration further explanation successful everything from the vocals to the acoustic strums to the higher-register percussive hits. The dependable signature has immoderate sculpting, but the balanced presumption works wonderfully for astir genres. For instance, we rather enjoyed the higher-frequency item connected fantabulous recordings similar Broadcast’s “Pendulum” and Miles Davis’ “Pharaoh's Dance.”

Orchestral tracks, similar the opening country from John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary, person a somewhat bass-forward delivery. However, the crisp attraction of the precocious frequencies means that the higher-register brass, strings, and vocals inactive dependable wide and afloat of detail.

We're precise blessed with the Bowers & Wilkins signature, adjacent if it isn't clinically accurate. Most listeners are apt to similar this benignant of dependable to a flatter response. The deficiency of an EQ remains a shortcoming, however, due to the fact that it prevents you from adjusting the signature to taste.

The mic array offers beardown intelligibility. We didn't person immoderate occupation knowing each connection from a trial signaling connected an iPhone and the awesome sounded comparatively strong. You shouldn't acquisition immoderate telephone clarity issues implicit a reliable signal.

Style and Sound Above All Else

The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 earphones excel successful the audio department—their dual-driver attack results successful fantastic dependable and enactment for hi-res streaming should entreaty to audiophiles. We're not thrilled astir the lack of an in-app EQ, but the default dependable signature is simply top-notch. The substandard progressive sound cancellation is little forgivable, however, particularly for $399. The aforementioned Apple AirPods Pro and Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II stay much well-rounded options, peculiarly due to the fact that they connection acold greater customization options and sound cancellation. And if you privation to walk less, you mightiness privation to see the dual-driver Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 earphones ($149.99), which besides enactment the LDAC codec.