Hot off our review of the Pi6 earbuds, we bring you their big brother, the more refined and feature rich Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 in-ear True Wireless earbuds. Featuring the same sleek external design as the Pi6s, the PI8s earbuds have pretty big boots to fill, in the outgoing Pi7 S2s, which we also took a look at in 2023.
First Impressions
Like the Pi6 earbuds we reviewed previously, the Pi8 True Wireless earbuds come packed in a neat package with everything you would expect.
Included in the small box are small, extra-small, medium (fitted) and large tips, a thick 60cm USB-C charging cable and an 80cm USB-C to 3.5mm cable. Along with the buds and charging case, Bowers & Wilkins also includes a handy quick start guide and of course, the near ubiquitous safety and warranty booklet.
Other than colour, the charging case is identical to it’s less expensive counterpart. The case measures roughly 50mm high, 64mm wide and has a depth of 25mm. Like the Pi6 case, the case feels wonderful in hand, like an elongated and very smooth pebble.
The jade green is punctuated with gold lettering and metal hinges which provide an ever so satisfying *snap* upon closing.
There aren’t many obvious features to see on the exterior of the case, although the LED remains front and centre under the Bowers & Wilkins branding and the USB-C charging port remains on the bottom, along with a tiny reset button off to the right hand side of it.
We’re not entirely sold on the pastel green and gold motif but the case and ear buds do look neat and the choice of gold does add that extra bit of flare to differentiate them from the Pi6s. If green isn’t your thing, the Pi8s are available in Midnight Blue, Anthracite Black, Dove White and also a very cool McLaren Edition.
Beyond colour, the earbuds are physically near indistinguishable from the Pi6s. The only real point of difference is that the gold ring and mesh appears to be metallic, where the entire Pi6 ear bud shell look to be all plastic. Also worth noting is that the exterior of the Pi8 ear buds is a matte finish with the section that rests against your ear being made up of a colour matched rubber material.
Beyond colour, the exterior of both the case and earbuds is essentially the same for both the Pi6 and Pi8s.
Setup and Usage
Setting up the Pi8s was a relatively simple affair. As we already had the Bowers & Wilkins Music app installed, we simply opened the case with the ear buds installed and waited for the LED to begin flashing blue.
In the app, a pop-up window announced that the Pi8s were discovered and off we went. Easy.
To pair additional devices (the Pi8s can be paired to two devices at any one time), one needs to just tap and hold both buds for three seconds to re-engage the Bluetooth pairing mode.
I started my listening tests with Soffi Tukker’s infectious Good Time Girl and the bass immediately took me straight to the writhing nuns in the New Pope opening credits. As the crisp hi-hats kicked in and Sophie Hawley-Weld’s nonchalant vocals took over, I knew I was in for a treat.
Here comes the Sun by the Beatles was next on my play list and again that crispness of the Pi8s shone through. Harrison’s sharp acoustic guitar beautifully complementing the bass and smooth vocals. The ability of these earbuds to maintain crispness amongst deep and enjoyable bass was looking like a hallmark.
Over the next few hours I sampled a variety of music, from Manowar’s metal anthem, Metal Warriors, right through to Sting’s gentle Shape of My Heart and the Pi8s didn’t, err.. miss a beat. Instruments were faithful represented, with vocals sounding natural. The sound was consistently crisp and clear, be it the screech of Eric Adam’s vocals or the beautiful guitar licks of Sting.
While the sound was crisp, it never felt harsh or artificial. No matter how deep the bass was in any given track, the highs maintained an element of sharpness, like mountainous peaks above lush forests, it all worked in concert to produce genuinely fantastic sound.
Symphonic music maintained this crispness too, with the military drums of the 60 year old Great Escape Main Title marching along tightly with its moody brass and strings. John William’s classics also sounded wonderful: The Theme from Superman was airy, while the range of John William’s Duel of The Fates showed off the Pi8’s ability to contrast loud and soft interludes with perfect clarity.
I usually start each audio review by saying that sound quality is wholly subjective and until you have auditioned speakers or ear buds for yourself, a reviewer’s opinion can at best be a guide. While I do think this obviously still holds, I can tell you, from one music lover to another, the Pi8 True Wireless earbuds are really something special.
While some may consider them a little bright, I found the sound to be just about perfect, reminding me of my favourite wired earbuds, Focal’s Sphear S’s.
Like the Pi6’s reviewed late last year, the Pi8s have active noise cancelling and built in support for invoking your phone’s virtual assistant. In our tests, the noise cancelling worked well. In a two hour flight, the Pi8s performed very well at keeping the jet noise at bay. With a quick hold on the left ear bud, pass-through mode worked well also, allowing us to hear announcements and hold conversations with ease.
Like all in ear buds these days, the Pi8s can also be used for telephony. Those we spoke to on our iPhone reported the audio quality to be quite good, with when we were in relatively noisy environments.
Like the Pi7S2’s they replace, the Pi8 case can retransmit sound in a neat party trick. Plugging in the Pi8 case with the included 3.5mm to USB-C cable, allows you to retransmit analogue audio via Bluetooth to the Pi8’s. While this is a welcome addition, it is relatively niche. In testing, we found that it worked well, without any interruption or obvious degradation of sound quality.
Another feature that is exclusive to the Pi8s (compared to the Pi6’s) is the ability to apply 5 step custom EQ settings via The Bowers and Wilkins app. In testing, the EQ adjustments worked as expected, although truth be told, we found the non adjusted “True Sound” setting to be best for the music we tested.
Selected Specs
Drivers: 2x 12mm Carbon Cone
Earbud weight: 7g (each)
Dimensions (Case):
Battery Life: Up to 6.5h (with ANC); Additional 13.5 hours from charging case
Wireless Charging: Yes
Bluetooth Codecs: aptX Lossless; aptX Adaptive; aptX Classic; AAC; SBC.
Microphones: 3 per earbud
Water Resistance: IP54 (earbuds)
For a full list of technical specifications of the PI8 True Wireless Earbuds, please visit Bowers & Wilkins’ PI8 product page.
Conclusion
After spending a few weeks with the Pi8s, we can honestly say these are by far the best earbuds we have used to date. Building on both the previous generations and producing a very crisp and enveloping sound, Bowers and Wilkins as got it just about right.
So having reviewed both earbuds, should you buy the Pi6s or dig a little deeper for the Pi8s? While sonically, the Pi8s are clearly better, they are nearly double the price. Are the Pi6’s good? Well, yes.. but from a pure sonic standpoint, I think the purity of the Pi8’s sound is worth the added expense. Add to this the inclusion of audio retransmission, wireless charging and EQ adjustment, the case for the Pi8s is hard to beat.
For more information about the Pi8 earbuds, you can visit the Bowers & Wilkins product page or visit select A/V retailers, where you grab yourself a pair for around $600AUD.
DRN would like to thank Bowers & Wilkins for providing the review unit. It’s so good we are giving it the Pulse Award. Congratulations!
