Bowers & WilkinsPi7 S2 True Wireless Earbuds - Active Noise Cancellation, Qualcomm aptX Technology, Bluetooth, Crystal-Clear Calls, Wireless & 15-Minute Quick Charging, Satin Black

The sound quality is far superior to any other product on the market. No other earbud at this pricepoint even comes close. To realize how amazing these really are, I recommend you subscribe to hi-res music services like Qobuz or Tidal. These services offer hi-res music in 96/24 formats. With these hi-res formats (compared to CD quality or MP3) the music is equivalent to being in the studio in a live performance. Even the smallest details are reproduced with stunning detail and accuracy. You may hear the musician tapping his foot to the beat, of fingers sliding on the strings of a guitar. Vocals are seductive and luxurious. The bass is thunderous, and at the same time tight and detailed. The fit of the earbuds is excellent and critically important to get the deep bass these are capable of. Take your time to select the earbur tip which best fits your ear canal. The HD codec aptx is amazing and works flawlessly. LDAC is supposedly superior (not supported in these buds) but those differences in technology don't matter if the amplifiers and drivers can't reproduce all that goodness. Make sure your phone supports these hi-res formats. The Pi7 S2 meticulously reproduces the magic of hi-res music. If you are an audiophile, where the quality of music trumps every other consideration, the Pi7 S2 is a a good buy at $399. Note that you need to play these buds for at least a week before they reach their full potential. Like most any speaker driver - a mechanical component - they need some time to burn in, figuratively.The app doesn't have an equalizer or other frills you typically see at this pricepoint. A well designed earbud doesn't need an equalizer to force it to do something it can't do natively. That's the case here. The Pi7 is already perfect, and doesn't need artificial EQ tweaks. The app has a built in music player that connects to Tidal or Qobuz.In initially purchased this as a renewed product. Big mistake. The case was defective and caused connectivity issues. I recommend you purchase new, and get the 2 year BW warranty.Hi res music is more demanding of a good and fast bluetooth connection. So keep the phone close by for best results.The various other purchaser comments about the app are true. It's overly complicated and unreliable for installing and accessing the product. Problems installing and connecting get annoying fast. Easily installed on one phone, but same buds refuse to install on a secondary phone. I've also observed that the replacement for the defective buds does not have the pristine sound of the original ones.Highlights:1. beyond spectacular music reproduction2. considering audio quality only, worth every penny even at $3993. subscribe to Tidal of Qobuz. you can easily transfer your playlists from other music services.4. Expect some challenges with the app. Customer has been very helpful so far. Easy to reach on the phone and responsive to email.I initially tried 2 renewed products and often these are fully capable products. With these buds, I strongly suggest not. Spend a few extra bucks to buy new and avoid some of the issues reported by other buyers. For example, the buds are matched to the case. they are not interchangeable. products look identical, so used you may get Pi5 in a Pi7 case, or buds and case that are incompatible.So what about the BUT...1. While the app integrates nicely with Qobuz and TIDAL, during playback via the app, it decides that a non B&W bud is connected and stops working. Only solution I've found is back in the case for awhile despite that the battery is still charged.2. Without fail, after 1-2 hours the right buds stops working. Back in the case for awhile despite that the battery is still 50% charged. The app doesen't differentiate between left and right battery level, so it's almost like the right uses twice the power of the left.3. ANC feature is generally poor. If ANC is at the top of your priority list, and you are willing to sacrifice audio quality, then the Bose QC may be the better choice. Bose QC II does not support hi-res codecs so the music reproduction is worse in a quiet environment but better in a noisy environment.4. No firmware update since release, so not sure if these issues will be resolved by some future update.5. The buds fit tight initially, but after a few minutes they lose the seal and sound quality degrades. The Bose QCII stay tight in the canal. This problem contributes to the poor ANC of the B&W.Everything considered, despite the stellar sound engineering, the problems are just too annoying. Back in the case every hour to charge or reset or whatever. No...

I wanted to try these because they're apparently for "audiophiles". Sound quality for music is good but not good enough to justify the price.The connectivity and app is worst.About 1 in every 5 times either one earphones will stop working or audio will have gaps and you'll have to turn it off and on by putting them back in the case.Call quality is just terrible, I'm not even talking about the ANC - the other side can barely understand you. So maybe instead of 2 or 3 microphones they can work on positioning one efficiently.No equalizer in the app, so you will have to you use the streaming app or a 3rd party to adapt different genres.I was looking forward to trying these, very disappointing experience.

Bass is very clear and powerful, not much sub bass, but not expected with aptx adaptive regardless. Would be cool if it had ldac. Treble a little too bright, responds really well to dampening by external eq (app doesn't have eq), or foam tips. Amazing soundstage, only tws I heard that has a broader soundstage is noble prestige with wide bore tips, but it's on another price bracket/product category. Nozzle on the larger side, does not fit standard tips really well. Transperancy is very natural, no hiss even at highest level. ANC subpar for 2024. Infrequent connection issues, especially if you're trying monobud.In short, out of all mainstream buds, one of the most versatile that also has high fidelity sound quality. I would expect the future versions to support aptx lossless, ditch master/slave connection method, upgrade to BT5.4 at least, and improve on ANC, and add multi connect. If they can fix the shrill treble, that would be the perfect TWS at any price

Pros:-High quality detailed Sound that matches sound signature of B&W 700 series speakers.-Can discern between HiRes lossless sources, and compressed MP3/AAC streaming sources as higher grade over-the-ear headphones can.-Wireless Transmitter Case (if you want to hook up to a turntable headphone jack for example)-Aptx Adaptive-Multipoint (sort of) Connection for up to 4 devices-Has Transparency Mode-Has ANC ModeCons:-Bass is lacking. No EQ in companion app, third party app is required for EQ correction. Bass needs boosting at 50hz by about 6dB, with a wide Q factor. (Maybe a seal issue)-Treble is overemphasized above 10Khz. No EQ in companion app, third party app is required for EQ correction, reducing 10.5Khz through 14Khz by -3db-Multipoint connection does not switch smartly like Sennheiser earbuds (ie listening to Computer, and then accept a call on phone), needs to be taken over by the Bluetooth enabled device.-Short battery life, drains ~40% per hour with Passthrough Mode or ANC enabled.-Passthrough mode is a bit of a fishbowl sound, inferior to Sennheiser TWS 3 transparency.-Passtrhough mode can only be enabled/disabled through the companion phone app. Needs button control.-ANC Mode isn't more effective than passive noise cancellation with a good seal, and changes eq curve for the worst.-No volume control!!!-No Companion app for desktop computerThe B&W Pi7 S2 is a great earbud for stationary usage, such as at a work computer, particularly when using a keyboard for controls earbuds are lacking such as Volume. Not so great for traveling and workouts (the Sennheiser TWS 3 has the upper hand in this regard). Battery life won't last long enough for a long flight.The earbuds pair very well with the USB Sennheiser BTD 600 dongle and uses AptX Adaptive codec as hoped. Overall, I find the sound quality to be significantly better than any other earbud I've used, especially in terms of detail, resolution, and natural soundstage. The sound signature matches B&W Speaker: B&W Bookshelf Speakers have Great mids, airy highs, but definitely need a good subwoofer to provide the slam missing in the bottom; overall neutral-warm sound (I really like B&W Speakers, bested by Dynaudio and Focal). These earbuds mids from low mids to high mids are very balanced, not scooped, not blooming and loose, never honky, bloated or quacky--Just right!Treble is somewhat overemphasized from 10.5Khz-14Khz (that I reduce by 3db in the Peace EQ app for Windows, or PowerAmp for Android). I also find the mid bass to be strong and good, along with the mids. However, I find the sub-bass below 100hz to be lacking (contrary to reviews I've read). The bass is mildly present, but very recessed, especially for aggressive music, like Hardcore, Death Metal, Hardcore, Progressive Metal, Skate Punk, etc. I boost the sub-bass around 50hz by 3-6dB, depending on the mix to get that kick drum oompf. Some of the lack of bass could be an ear-tip seal issue (the medium sized ear tips work substantially better for me, but I feel like I could still get a better seal and may order some Comply ear-tips to try).Enabling ANC skews the EQ curve for a less desirable sound. Transparency mode works for further away sounds, like a car driving by, doorbell, etc, but sounds like underwater A.M. radio for conversations.Compared to Sennheiser TWS 3, the Sennheiser is an all-around better value to price point product in terms of ANC, Transparency, Multipoint Connection, and Companion App. However, the sheer sound quality of the B&W Pi 7 S2 is substantially better--its not even close, with a bigger, more refined "in the room" feel. Sennheiser TWS 3 however has better Bass and Treble control through the 5 band EQ (though everything at 0 sounds nice and neutral). B&W has that "audiophile" sound, and Sennheiser have that really good consumer grade sound (which is still much better than Apple, Sony, and Bose). It all depends on your needs: tech features vs pure sound quality. I like the B&W Pi7 S2 while stationary at my desk (to be honest, a good pair of over-the-ear cans would be more practical and beneficial in this scenario), and the Sennheiser TWS 3 for on-the-go needs, phone calls, and situations where I need to frequently hear my surroundings.