Bowers & Wilkins PI7 True Wireless In-Ear Earphone Review & Comments

Great review as always, Ed. Just four questions:

(i) Did you get the chance to test the microphone call quality from the buds? Being able to use an earbud or headphone to listen to music and seamlessly switch to a voice chat can be a lifesaver, but too often call quality is poor.

(iii) Is it possible to connect these buds to more than one source simultaneously or are they, like most competitors, locked to a single device at a time?

(iii) Do these earbuds have any water resistance rating - e.g. are they splash proof?

(iv) Did you have a chance to try connecting another B&W headphone (e.g. the PX7) to the case? This is an intriguing aspect of the wireless function. Those of us who use a Galaxy phone are denied access to APTX-HD, so that could be a genuinely useful feature.

Thanks
Warren
 
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Thanks for yet another excellent review Ed. These do look beautiful even from photos so can only imagine they look even better in the flesh. As much as I love B&W though I just can’t justify them to myself at this price (and my wife would probably kill me!), especially as an Apple user where I wouldn’t get the full benefit.

Interesting comments from B&W regarding wireless stability. Especially given all the bad reviews all their previous wireless earphones have got. They were also slated for reliability but as most of that seemed to be the wires hopefully that won‘t be an issue here.

I’ll keep an eye out for any heavy discounts (often seen on previous B&W wireless earbuds) and maybe then I could fool myself that I “need“ them!
 
I ordered a pair of these last month and had numerous connection issues, but the biggest bugbear personally was the severely limited volume output. A replacement set were exactly the same, and there are posts in various forums about this potentially being a firmware issue.

I really wanted to get on with them, as they have great sound at the limited volume (this may get fixed with a firmware update), and they look a real quality item, but I'm sticking to my trusty old Jabra Elite Active 75t for now. I have also just ordered a pair of Devialet Gemini, as they have apparently fixed their connection issues.
 
Not specific to these buds , but Bluetooth wireless iems , in the last 2 weeks both my pairs have packed in my Sennheiser Momentum TW mk 1 , the Left Bud packed in managed to pick up a replacement from EBAY , then the right one did the same , so I bought again rather than pay the extra £150 for mk2

Then my Technics right bud packed in after only 7 months of use , Amazon have replaced with new , conclusion regardless of price the lifespan of Bluetooth iems seem to be limited.
 
How do they compare with the Sennheiser Momentum TW2?
 
How do they compare with the Sennheiser Momentum TW2?

I was never a big fan of the Sennheisers, and I ran the first version for a while (before growing tired of the discharge issues). I bought a pair of the TW2s and the 75ts at the same time, and ended up returning the Sennheisers after a few days, despite them apparently being a more audiophile product. Anecdotally (without having had the opportunity to try them back to back), I much prefer the sound signature of the B&Ws. They produce a deeper sound than the Sennheisers, without bleeding into the rest of the frequencies, and are more refined overall.
 
I was never a big fan of the Sennheisers, and I ran the first version for a while (before growing tired of the discharge issues). I bought a pair of the TW2s and the 75ts at the same time, and ended up returning the Sennheisers after a few days, despite them apparently being a more audiophile product. Anecdotally (without having had the opportunity to try them back to back), I much prefer the sound signature of the B&Ws. They produce a deeper sound than the Sennheisers, without bleeding into the rest of the frequencies, and are more refined overall.
Thanks for that, might have to try a pair of the B&Ws...
 
I was never a big fan of the Sennheisers, and I ran the first version for a while (before growing tired of the discharge issues). I bought a pair of the TW2s and the 75ts at the same time, and ended up returning the Sennheisers after a few days, despite them apparently being a more audiophile product. Anecdotally (without having had the opportunity to try them back to back), I much prefer the sound signature of the B&Ws. They produce a deeper sound than the Sennheisers, without bleeding into the rest of the frequencies, and are more refined overall.
If they beat the Sennheiser on SQ they must be sensational?
 
They're certainly very, very good, but again, I didn't rate the Sennheisers as amazing.
 
Thanks for that, might have to try a pair of the B&Ws...
It's all about opinions, but i have tried many IEMS and the Sennheiser TW1 and most likely MK2 are very good for SQ.. not great at Battery life and life expectancy is not great either.
 
They're certainly very, very good, but again, I didn't rate the Sennheisers as amazing.
All about opinions, obviously as you own the Bowers, you would be better placed to compare, just saying the Sennheiser are good ...
 
Yep, just my opinion, but as I also said, I've returned the PI7 too.
 
So, I would like to hear from someone a comparison between the Devialet Gemini and Bowers & Wilkins pi7. I ordered the PI7s and returned them. I just could not justify the price for the short battery life. A lot of true wireless earbuds from high-end players like ( Sennheiser (Momentum TW2, Master and Dynamic (MW08s), have released earbuds with longer battery life. I was impressed with the sound quality of the PI7s even with poor audio sources. However, I heard nothing but great things about the Devialet Gemini's sound. They just needed to get their act together with regard to the software issues. Lastly, I know they got pulled from the market and are being released later this month. One reviewer said it was overkill to own both sets. What are the thoughts from this group?
 
So, I would like to hear from someone a comparison between the Devialet Gemini and Bowers & Wilkins pi7. I ordered the PI7s and returned them. I just could not justify the price for the short battery life. A lot of true wireless earbuds from high-end players like ( Sennheiser (Momentum TW2, Master and Dynamic (MW08s), have released earbuds with longer battery life. I was impressed with the sound quality of the PI7s even with poor audio sources. However, I heard nothing but great things about the Devialet Gemini's sound. They just needed to get their act together with regard to the software issues. Lastly, I know they got pulled from the market and are being released later this month. One reviewer said it was overkill to own both sets. What are the thoughts from this group?
I had the Devialet Gemini’s sounded great, good tonal balance with rich deep base, the fit was perfect however they have serious software & connectivity issue’s, I had 3 sets all had the same bug so in the got a refund. Hence they were pulled from the market as Devialet are aware about the issues and are frantically trying to resolve it.

I was also looking at M&D MW08 and B&W Pi7‘s but agree the short battery life on the Pi7’s has put me off, while MW08 got good reviews its sounds great with decent battery life but their Noise Cancelling is ok to average and the companion app is minimal.

There is the new Bang & Olufsen EQ that’s on paper looking good which will be releasing next month, so I might wait for that one and hopefully by then Devialet should have sorted the Gemini and be back in market.
 
Just to add my 2 cents :

First, I am not 100% sure but i never got aptx-hd from the PI7 case, the B&W app only showed aptx-ll (audio jack) and aptx classic (usb-c).Since my android devices only support aptx classic and ldac but not aptx-hd or aptx adaptive
For some reason,aptx-hd was not available either on my fiio m11 pro player (very difficult to connect)
But even with "only"aptx classic they sounded very very good,

Noise cancelling was also quite good and confort wise ( specific to each person, they were almost perfect)

The issue with Devialet Geminis has been fixed and they are on sale again finally.
Pi7 sound slightly better, but devialet are not far behind if you can manage a good fit with the geminis

(french test with added english subtitles).

Also, PI7 really sounded better than my MTW2 with a wider soundstage, power, more volume and more clarity, however the MTW2 more muted still sounds good too and are mostly hassle free with better overall controls and battery life.

I did not try the MW08...might be tempted by à solution like fiio btr5 some day.

Battery life : they did not discharge when no music is playing which is good, so i think got around 4 hours with standard aptx
 
My 2 cents also,

I have the MTW2 headphones and have had them since launch, I really love the sound quality I got the PI7's a week ago and have been playing them back to back I actually found the PI7 to have a more muddy sound for me, although definitely louder and more bass but the mids were really lacking. I have returned the PI7 now as I don' think they're worth the extra sound quality wise, I do really like the wireless charging though and also the ability to connect via the 3.5mm headphone jack.
 
How much better are these over the airpod Pro
 

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