BOWERS & WILKINS’ new True Wireless ear buds are here! The flagship Pi8 and the affordable Pi6.
Dear reader, you may have noticed recently that a good-looking David Beckam is promoting some new gear from Bowers & Wilkins. In the marketing pictures the focus was on the English stars’ hands and ears. He is promoting the new Pi8 and Pi6 True Wireless earbuds announced by Bowers & Wilkins.
In the press release, B&W are telling us that the new Pi6 should match the performance of the previous flagship Pi7 S2, whereas the new Pi8 should surpass it. Both models have a sleeker design and a revised charging case, now smaller than before. The team that designed the new earbuds are the same who designed the top Px7 and Px8 headphones.
Both Pi6 and Pi8 are True Wireless earbuds with Active Noise Cancelling technology. Connected to an Android device, the Pi6 supports Qualcomm’s aptX Adaptive, but the Pi8 has also aptX Lossless. Both models are multipoint Bluetooth capable. Only the case of Pi8 supports wireless charging and adds Wireless Audio Retransmitter technology that uses the charging case to retransmit an audio signal to the headphones in a high-resolution stream. This is very useful for iPhone users that can hook up their phone via USB-C or 3.5mm audio cable to the charging case of the Pi8, this way enabling a high-resolution transmission between the buds and the iPhone. Clever, isn’t it?
On both models, under the hood there is a very good DAC and amplifier from ADI, but also a great DSP and many available settings in the dedicated headphones app. As I said before, Pi8 adds support for aptX Adaptive codec at 24-bit/96kHz and for aptX Lossless.
The Pi8 has 12mm drive units that are made with the company’s known Carbon Cone technology, that we can find, for instance, on B&W’s 700 series speakers. The more affordable Pi6 has 12mm bio-cellulose drivers very similar to the ones used in Px7 S2e.
Both Pi6 and Pi8 have greater battery life than previous models, Pi6 offers 8 hours of battery life, while the Pi8 has 6 hours of battery life. These numbers are measured by B&W with ANC turned on.
Here is the Pi6:
And here is the Pi8:
Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 will be available to buy starting this 28th of August 2024 for around $400, whilst the Pi6 will be available from the 15th of September 2024 and will cost around $250. The Pi8 comes in Anthracite Black, Dove White, Jade Green and Midnight Blue, while the Pi6 comes in Storm Grey, Cloud Grey, Forest Green and Glacier Blue colors.
In Romania you can purchase the Pi6 and Pi8 from our local Bowers & Wilkins retailer, AVstore.ro, for the rest of the world please consult bowerswilkins.com directly.
