The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 True Wireless are high-end in-ears that are jam-packed with extra features. They support a variety of codecs including aptX HD and aptX-LL, and have a premium, well-built design. Unlike most other truly wireless headphones on the market, their carrying case can also be used as a wireless transmitter. However, while this feature can be used to connect the headphones to devices such as a gaming console, they lack mic support and have high non-Bluetooth wireless latency. Unfortunately, their 2.4-hour continuous battery life is also quite disappointing, even though their carrying case holds roughly four additional charges, and their companion app is fairly limited in additional features.
Our Verdict
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 are passable for neutral sound. While vocals and lead instruments are present and detailed, their sound profile is still very bass-heavy, which adds extra thump, rumble, and boom to your mixes. Some users may find this to sound muddy. Their passive soundstage also seems closed-off and as if coming from inside your head, rather than from speakers placed around the room around you, which is to be expected from their in-ear design.
- Very well-built.
- Supports many codecs including aptX HD.
- 2.4-hour battery life.
- Bad passive soundstage.
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 are good for commute and travel. They have a lightweight, portable design and are able to block out a decent amount of background noise like the low rumble of bus or plane engines. They're also well-built and don't trap in heat around your ears. Unfortunately, their 2.4-hour battery life probably won't last through long trips on the road without pausing to recharge them up again.
- Great active noise isolation performance.
- Very well-built.
- 2.4-hour battery life.
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 are very good for sports and fitness. These headphones have a stable fit and don't trap in heat around your ears. They're also well-built and are rated IP54 for dust and water resistance. We don't currently test for this though. That said, while the headphones are fairly comfortable, they're bulky and stick out of your ear, so they could snag on something like your clothes, pulling them out of your ears.
- Very well-built.
- IP54 rating for dust and water resistance.
- 2.4-hour battery life.
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 are fair for office use. They have a fairly comfortable fit and don't leak much audio at high volumes. Their ANC is also able to block out ambient noise like office chatter around you. On the downside, their continuous battery life is very short, and you may need to recharge them a couple of times throughout your shift. They also lack multi-device pairing, which is disappointing if you want to stay connected to your smartphone and computer at the same time.
- Great active noise isolation performance.
- Very well-built.
- 2.4-hour battery life.
- No multi-device pairing.
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 are passable for wireless gaming. While you can use them wirelessly on Bluetooth-enabled PCs, their latency is likely too high to be suitable for wireless gaming. That said, you can use them via non-Bluetooth wireless by connecting the wireless transmitter case to your PlayStation console or PC using their USB-C to USB-C or USB-C to 3.5mm cable. If you have an Xbox console, you can only use the USB-C to 3.5mm cable. However, the latency via either connection is quite high across all consoles, and your audio and visuals may be out of sync. They also have a very short continuous battery life.
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 can't be used wired and aren't suitable for wired gaming.
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 are alright for phone calls. Their integrated mic has an alright recording quality, so your voice sounds clear, although thin and lacking in depth. However, the mic has a bit of trouble separating speech from ambient noise, and your voice may be drowned out in noisy environments like a busy street. On the upside, their ANC is able to block out a great amount of ambient noise around you.
- Great active noise isolation performance.
- Very well-built.
- Fair recording quality.
- 2.4-hour battery life.
- No multi-device pairing.
- Your voice may be lost in noisy environments.
Changelog
- Updated Sep 19, 2023: Compared their controls with the Denon PerL Pro True Wireless'.
- Updated May 18, 2023: Added a comparison to the Sony WF-C700N Truly Wireless in the Battery box.
- Updated Feb 28, 2023: We've added a comparison between these headphones and the Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 True Wireless in Compared To Other Headphones.
- Updated Jan 31, 2023: We've clarified the text in Bluetooth to distinguish aptX-LL (PC) vs iOS and Android latency.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 come in two color variants: 'White' and 'Charcoal'. We tested the charcoal variant and you can see our model's label here. If you come across another variant of these headphones, please let us know in the discussion section below and we'll update our review.
Popular Headphones Comparisons
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 are premium in-ears with a hybrid balanced armature and dynamic transducer to help their audio reproduction. They have a great active noise cancelling system, support lots of codecs including aptX HD and aptX-LL, and their charging case can be used as a wireless transmitter. However, they have high latency via most codecs and connections, which isn't ideal if you like to stream video. They also have a very short battery life of 2.4 hours, which is shorter than their successor, the Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 True Wireless, and won't last through long listening sessions.
Check out our recommendations for the best true wireless earbuds, the best wireless Bluetooth earbuds, and the best noise cancelling earbuds and in-ear headphones.
The Sony WF-1000XM4 Truly Wireless are slightly better in-ears than the Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 True Wireless. The Sony are more comfortable, have a significantly better battery performance, and their companion app offers a graphic EQ and presets to allow you to adjust their sound to your liking. However, the Bowers & Wilkins support more codecs and their carrying case can be used as a wireless transmitter. They're also able to block out more background noise, and the integrated mic also does a better job of recording your voice.
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 True Wireless are the next generation of the Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 True Wireless. Both buds have a premium design, bass-heavy sound profiles, and great noise isolation performances. Just like their predecessor, the S2's carrying case also acts as a wireless transmitter, so you can connect them to devices that otherwise don't support Bluetooth. That said, the S2 have an improved battery performance and now support aptX Adaptive, which allows you to stream high-quality audio or keep lower latency, depending on your content. However, the first gen support aptX-LL, which is designed primarily to lower latency for streaming video.
The Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro are better in-ears than the Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 True Wireless. The Samsung are more comfortable, have a more neutral default sound profile, and their continuous battery life is longer. Their companion app also offers EQ presets. The Bowers & Wilkins are better built, and their ANC does a better job of blocking out background sound.
The Apple AirPods Pro are better in-ears than the Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 True Wireless. The Apple are more comfortable and have a more neutral default sound profile, which some users may prefer, and they're able to isolate you from more ambient noise. They also have a better battery performance, and their H1 chip allows you to seamlessly pair them with your Apple devices. However, the Bowers & Wilkins have a carrying case that you can use as a wireless transmitter. They also support more codecs such as aptX HD and aptX-LL.
We've upgraded our Headphones Test Bench to 2.0! This update brings several key changes to our tests and usages, making it easier than ever to interpret our sound results based on your personal preferences. You'll also find a brand-new interactive graph tool featuring multiple targets (including our own!) for you to explore and compare.
For a full breakdown, check out our changelog, which includes detailed commentary from our test designer explaining the rationale behind our update.
We'd also love to hear your thoughts: your feedback helps us keep improving, so join us in the comments!
Test Results
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 have a sleek, high-end look. Each earbud has a circular accent in brushed gold and the manufacturer's name printed along the side. They come in two color variants: 'White' and 'Charcoal'.
Update 02/22/2022: We originally reported the headphones' weight as '0.3 lbs'. However, their correct weight is '0.03 lbs'. We have corrected our results and updated our review.
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 have a fairly comfortable fit. Like the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2, they have a bulky design that can put pressure on the inside of your ears over time, especially if you have small ears. That said, they're lightweight, and registering controls shouldn't push them deeper into your ear. They also come with three differently-sized ear tips to help you get the best fit.
These headphones have middling controls. Unfortunately, they lack volume controls, which is a little disappointing. That said, the touch-sensitive controls are easy to use, and all the call and music-related controls can be done on either bud. One tap plays or pauses audio as well as answers calls. Tapping twice skips a track forward and hangs up or declines a call. Three taps skips a track backward. You can also press and hold for one second on the left bud to turn ANC on and off. You can also do the same command on the right bud to activate voice assistant. While there aren't voice prompts, there are audio beeps to let you know when you've registered a command. The Denon PerL Pro True Wireless are audiophile earbuds with a better, more customizable control scheme.
The breathability of the Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 is outstanding. They have an in-ear design, which doesn't cover your ears, so they don't trap in much heat. You can wear them for long periods of time without feeling too much of a difference in temperature.
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 are very portable. They can easily fit into most pockets or bags. They also come with a small carrying case that should also fit into most pockets.
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7's carrying case is good. It's mostly made of plastic and feels solid. There's a button inside the case to pair the buds to a device. Another button on the outside of the case puts the case in 'Receiving Mode'. This allows the case to act as a wireless transmitter for other Bowers & Wilkins headphones like the Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Wireless. There's also an LED light in the front of the case that lets you know the status of the case's battery and pairing mode. It's also the same light for the buds' battery life.
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 have a great build quality. They're mostly made of plastic with silicone ear tips and brushed metal accents. Overall, they feel well-built and should survive accidental impacts without taking too much damage. They're also rated IP54 for water resistance, although we don't currently test for it. On the downside, the ear tips feel like they could rip over time.
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 have good stability. Although they don't have stability fins, they should stay in your ears during light physical activity. However, they stick out of your ears a bit and may get caught on your clothing if you're changing. On the upside, they lack audio cables so you don't need to worry about a cable snagging and pulling them out of your ears.
- Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 headphones
- 3x ear tip options
- Charging case
- USB-C to USB-C audio and charging cable
- USB-C to 3.5mm audio cable
- Manuals
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 have a bass-heavy sound profile. They deliver extra boom and thump to your mixes, which fans of EDM and hip-hop should enjoy. However, sibilants like cymbals are dull. Unfortunately, the headphones' companion app lacks an EQ, so you won't be able to adjust their sound to your liking.
The frequency response consistency of these headphones is outstanding. Like most in-ears, once you achieve the proper fit using the included ear tips, you should experience consistent bass and treble delivery each time you use these headphones.
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 have fair bass accuracy. It's overemphasized but very balanced across the range, so your mixes have extra thump, rumble, and boom, which should please fans of EDM and hip-hop. However, some users may find they sound muddy.
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 have great mid accuracy. There's an overemphasis in the low-mid, which can make mixes sound cluttered and muddy. However, the rest of the mid-range is fairly flat and neutral, so vocals and lead instruments are present and detailed.
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 have acceptable treble accuracy. The low-treble is pretty flat and neutral, so the upper harmonics of vocals and lead instruments are clear. However, the mid-treble is really underemphasized so sibilants like S and T sounds are dull and lispy.
The peaks and dips performance of the Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 is good. There's a peak between the high-bass and low-mid which adds extra boom to your mixes. A dip in the mid-mid nudges vocals and lead instruments to the back of the mix while a small bump in the low-treble helps brighten the upper harmonics of these sounds. The mid-treble is really uneven, so sibilants like cymbals are alternately dull and piercing.
The imaging performance of these headphones is excellent. The weighted group delay falls below the audibility threshold, resulting in tight bass and transparent treble reproduction. While there's a small peak in the phase response's mid-range, it shouldn't be audible in real-life content. As a result, the L/R drivers are well-balanced in phase response as well as in amplitude and frequency response. This is important for the accurate reproduction of objects like footsteps in the stereo image. However, these results are only valid for our unit and yours may perform differently.
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 have a bad passive soundstage performance, which is to be expected from most in-ears. They completely bypass your outer ear, so sound is perceived as coming from inside your head rather than from speakers placed in the room around you. Since they also have a closed-back design, their soundstage also seems less open and spacious compared to most open-back headphones.
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 have a decent weighted harmonic distortion performance. There's some distortion in the treble range at normal volumes, but it can be hard to hear with real-life content.
These are the settings used to test the Bowers & Wilkins Pi7. Our results are only valid using this configuration.
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 have a great noise isolation performance. They have active noise cancelling (ANC) and do a better job of blocking out bass-range noise like the rumble of bus and plane engines than the Klipsch T5 II True Wireless ANC. In contrast, the ANC performs similarly to their passive noise capabilities in the mid to treble range. However, they're still able to reduce a significant amount of office chatter as well as the high-pitched hum of an AC unit.
The leakage performance of these headphones is outstanding. If you're listening to audio at high volumes in a moderately noisy environment like an office, people around you shouldn't be able to hear it.
The mic has an okay recording quality. Your voice sounds natural but somewhat thin and lacking in body. However, you should have no problems being understood.
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7's microphone has an okay noise handling performance. It has some trouble separating your voice from moderate ambient noise like a busy street. If you're taking an important call, it's best to do so from a quieter space.
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 have a disappointing battery performance. Although they're advertised to last up to four hours continuously, we measured less than that at 2.4 hours, which may not be enough to last through your day without a recharge. Cheaper earbuds, like the Sony WF-C700N Truly Wireless, have a longer continuous battery life but fewer extra charges in the case. Our unit's right earbud died much faster during our tests than the left earbud. Once it died, it disconnected from our device. Although the left earbud stayed connected, we couldn't get it to play any audio. Battery life can vary depending on usage, so your real-life experience may vary.
These headphones have a wear sensor that you can turn on and off, which puts them into standby mode and pauses your audio as soon as you remove them from your ear. They also turn on again and resume playing your audio once you put them back into your ear. The carrying case holds roughly four additional charges, which is handy if needed.
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 have an okay app. Unfortunately, they lack an EQ or presets to help adjust their sound. However, there are soundscapes with a timer to help you sleep, or you can turn the wear sensor on and off. You can also turn the ANC on, off, or to 'Auto' mode, which allows the ANC to adjust itself depending on the noise around you. The app stays connected to the headphones, even if the earbuds aren't connected to the device. However, this isn't considered multi-device pairing.
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 have okay Bluetooth connectivity. Unfortunately, they don't support multi-device or NFC pairing. While they support a variety of codecs, including aptX HD, their latency is usually still quite high, which can result in your audio and visuals falling slightly out of sync. That said, their latency using aptX-LL codec on PC is much lower and falls within good values. Audio lag is also low on Android and iOS devices, which minimizes lip-synching issues. However, some devices and apps compensate for latency differently, so your real-life experience may vary.
You can also connect to Android smartphones by using the case as a wireless transmitter. The case needs to be wired to the device using the included USB-C to USB-C or USB-C to 3.5mm cable, but then you can use the earbuds wirelessly. Using the USB-C to USB-C cable, they have 266ms of latency. Their latency using the USB-C to 3.5mm cable is much lower at 111ms.
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 support non-Bluetooth wireless when you've connected their carrying case to a device using their USB-C to USB-C or USB-C to 3.5mm cable. Either connection has a fairly limited line of sight range, so you need to be near the case when using the earbuds this way. Using the USB-C to USB-C cable with a USB-A adapter, they have a latency of 233mm, which is quite high. Their latency using the USB-C to 3.5mm cable is much lower at 142ms.
These headphones are Bluetooth-only headphones and can't be used wired. However, they come with a couple of cables that you can use to turn the carrying case into a wireless transmitter. They have a USB-C to USB-C cable that's 78.5 cm long. They also come with a USB-C to 3.5mm cable that's 80 cm long.
These headphones are fully compatible with Bluetooth-enabled PCs. If your PC isn't Bluetooth-compatible, you can also use the carrying case as a wireless transmitter by using either the USB-C to USB-C or USB-C to 3.5mm cable, which are both included in the box, to connect to your PC. However, you can only receive audio and won't be able to use their mic.
The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 are only compatible with PS4 and PS5 consoles when using their carrying case as a wireless transmitter. However, you can only receive audio and won't be able to use their mic. When connected via the USB-C to USB-C cable, they have 241ms of latency and 235ms of latency when using a USB-A adapter. They have 141ms of latency when using the USB-C to 3.5mm cable.
These headphones can only receive audio on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S consoles when their carrying case is used as a wireless transmitter. Only the USB-C to 3.5mm cable works with these consoles and it has 239 ms of latency, which is quite high.
The Bowers & Wikins Pi7 come with a carrying case that also acts as a wireless transmitter. The case can only transmit audio via its USB-C port using either its USB-C to USB-C or USB-C to 3.5mm cables, which are both included in the box. The case also supports wireless charging and it holds roughly four additional charges.