Bowers&Wilkins is an audio brand known for their premium audio offerings, such as the B&W Pi7 S2 earphones we reviewed last year. Today, they seem to have revealed two more new earphones that are upgrades from the models introduced last year.
The two earphones are Bowers&Wilkins Pi8 and Bowers&Wilkins Pi6. The Pi8 model is the successor to the Pi7 S2 sold last year, while the Pi6 is the successor to the Pi5 S2.
The Pi6 S2 uses audio drivers made from the same bio-cellulose material used in the B&W Px7 S2e headphones launched last year. The Pi8 audio driver uses the Carbon Cone material shown on the PX8 headphones.
These two earphones also feature a new design that looks more compact than the previous model, but with a longer surface that makes it easier for users to access the touch features on these earphones.
The Pi6 earphones are seen to come with 8 hours of battery life which can be extended by another 16 hours, giving these earphones a combined 24 hours of battery life. As for the Pi8 earphones, it comes with a battery life of 6.5 hours with an additional 13.5 hours from the frame, giving it a total life of 20 hours.
This is because the Pi8 now comes with support for aptX Lossless audio codec technology and comes with components such as DSP and DAC chips built into these earphones that require more battery power.
Pi8 also still maintains the retransmission feature that allows users to use the charging frame as a means of transmitting audio to these earphones that was introduced on Pi7 and Pi7 S2.
In the meantime, both of these earphones support Bluetooth 5.4 wireless connection technology that allows users to connect these earphones to two devices at once. The Pi8 features ANC that uses the same technology on the Px8, while the Pi6 uses the same ANC technology featured on the Pi7 S2.
Moving on to the software, as expected, updates are showing up for both these earphones. The Pi8 now finally comes with a 5-band audio equalizer, while the Pi6 comes with the ability to adjust the treble and bass levels of their earphones.
This is a welcome upgrade, because as we previously commented, the Pi7 S2 doesn't come with the ability to tweak the audio settings on their earphones.
For now, the B&W Pi8 and Pi6 earphones are only available in select markets in advance at a price of $399 (Pi8) and $249 (Pi6). Another new thing about these earphones is the new color offering, including Anthracite Black, Dove White, Jade Green and Midnight Blue for the Pi8, and Cloud Grey, Storm Grey, Forest Green and Glacier Blue for the Pi6 model.