Bowers & Wilkins PI5 Review: Elegant Style, Big Bass Sound
"The PI5 is sleek and stylish and offers an alternative to white plastic earphones."
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Simple, elegant design
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Comfortable
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Wireless charging
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Effective ANC
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Wear sensors
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Full, rich sound
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Cumbersome transparency controls
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No EQ settings
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No adjustment of the control
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Some bluetooth connection problems
It took Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) longer than expected to launch its first true wireless earbuds, but they're finally here: the $ 400 flagship PI7 and the downward model PI5, which costs $ 250. The sleek looking earbuds came out at a crucial time when most brands are already working on their second, third, or even fourth generation products after years of learning and making improvements. Can B&W get in with a first-gen product at a great price and compete with established companies like Sony, Bose, Jabra and JBL?
I put the B&W PI5 through its paces.
What's in the box?
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
Not only is B&W a little late for the real wireless party, but it also seems to have missed the memo on sustainable packaging. Although the box is relatively small, it has embedded magnets, foam pads, and fully coated surfaces that make recycling difficult, if not impossible.
Inside you will find the PI5 already in its charging case, two additional sizes of earplugs, some paper documents and a generously long USB-C to USB-C charging cable. Unfortunately, B&W failed to add a USB-A to USB-C adapter for those of us who don't have a readily available USB-C port or charger.
The earbuds manage to look smaller in your ear than other earbuds thanks to their terraced shape.
design
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B&W has a flair for sophisticated designs. Whether it's the company's PX7 full-size headphones or the Formation wireless speakers, it's all about sleek elegance. The PI5 shares this design language with smooth lines and subtle accents such as the spiral texture on the outer touch control surface and an aluminum ring with the B&W brand.
Thanks to their terraced shape, the earbuds look smaller in your ear than on the Sony WF-1000XM4, Jabra Elite 85t and JBL Tour Pro +.
They can be easily removed from their wireless charging case and the case's magnets are just the right strength to hold the earphones precisely in place – don't worry about incorrectly aligned charging contacts.
The lid of the case can be opened and closed easily and easily and the large LED display on the front allows you to quickly check the charging status as well as the status of the buds when docked.
The case is just small enough to put in your pocket. The only catch with the otherwise beautiful design is the plastic selection chosen by B&W for the case: Even after unpacking the case, the case was covered with fingerprints and the factory condition could not be restored even by careful polishing with a soft cloth.
They don't look like that, but the PI5 are IP54 certified for good dust resistance and moderate water resistance. However, the case is not protected against dust or water, so you should clean the earbuds before replacing them.
Comfort, controls and connections
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
The PI5's sleek lines don't suggest a lot of comfort, but I found them very comfortable. The inner part of the earplugs is gently curved, while the outer part sits in the concha, where it, together with the silicone earplugs, holds the earplugs in position.
You want to move quickly from hearing nothing to hearing as much as possible. But there is simply no way to do that.
They may not be entirely safe for high energy workouts, but I think most people will find them suitable for their daily treadmill or treadmill routine.
As with most touch controls, there are times when typing on the PI5 has not been registered, but B&W includes a feedback tone so you know when you typed correctly. There's no way to change the gestures – you get play / pause, answer / end call, skip forward / back tracks, and access to the voice assistant. The volume control needs to be done on the phone (or you can ask Siri / Google Assistant to do it).
There's also the option to toggle active noise cancellation with a tap-and-hold gesture on the left earbud, but I'm not crazy about it. In my opinion, the opposite of ANC on is not ANC off, but transparency mode on. You want to move quickly from not hearing the outside world to hearing as much as possible. But there is simply no way to do that. To switch from ANC (on or off) to transparency you need to use a control buried in the B&W Headphones app.
Oddly enough, it is possible to have both ANC and Transparency mode enabled at the same time, which makes no sense at all. This is a major oversight that the company will hopefully fix with a firmware update as soon as possible.
The PI5 are equipped with wear sensors (which can be disabled in the app) and they are very accurate, pausing and resuming the music almost immediately when you remove or replace an earbud.
When testing the B&W PI7, we noticed some pretty flaky Bluetooth connections, but the PI5 were mostly reliable. Your wireless range is perfectly acceptable when you have your phone with you: 35 feet outside and 6 feet or so inside, but if you need to roam more, you're likely to experience dropouts.
I had a couple of glitches getting the PI5 to reconnect after putting it back in its case. It often took a few moments for the earbuds to turn on and then another five to 10 seconds to reconnect to my phone.
Once the earphones switched off the microphone part of the connection without warning. About halfway through a recording, they just stopped working and I had no idea until I played the recording.
On some tracks, the lower mid-range may sound a little distorted.
On the plus side, the PI5 can remember the last four paired devices, and the app lets you choose which of them to try first when you pull the earbuds out of their cases (or you can choose "last paired" as the default). You can also use each earbud independently.
Sound quality
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The PI5 has a very forward-looking sound signature that gives the music a warm, rich, and full reproduction. That bass really lets you feel the dark sounds of a track like Hans Zimmer's Time, but it lacks the subtlety of Sony's WF-1000XM4 that can better bring out the little nuances.
The challenge here is that B&W does not offer any EQ adjustments within the app. On some tracks, like Dominique Fils-Aimés Home, where deep acoustic bass and drums are accompanied by sultry vocals, the lower mids can sound a bit distorted. This becomes more noticeable as you turn up the volume. It's not a deal breaker, and despite the lack of low-end precision, there is excellent clarity in the upper mids and highs, which makes the vocal performance really enjoyable.
The PI5 are equipped with Qualcomm's aptX Bluetooth codec, which is said to offer slightly better performance than AAC, but I couldn't make out any difference when switching back and forth between an iPhone 11 (AAC) and a Google Pixel 5 (aptX). .
For less expensive earbuds, I'd probably overlook this, but at $ 250, the PI5 stands up against great audio performers like the $ 200 Sennheiser CX 400BT, $ 230 Jabra Elite 85t, and $ 230 KEF MU3, the all have excellent frequency separation.
Noise cancellation and transparency
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The PI5's active noise cancellation is very good. It was able to completely block the noise from my loud bathroom fan from six feet away, and it also adapted well to traffic and construction site noise as I walked through my neighborhood. It's actually a remarkable feat considering the earbuds only have two microphones. Most of the ANC earbuds that do this good require three microphones.
When melodies are not playing you can only make out a tiny hiss, but it's insignificant and easily ignored.
The transparency mode, which you can fine-tune to let in more or less sound, is very good too, but doesn't quite match the AirPods Pro's creepy ability to make it seem like you're not wearing any earbuds at all.
As I said above, the big problem is not being able to switch between ANC and transparency quickly and easily.
Battery life
B&W states a battery life of 4.5 hours per charge for the earphones with the ANC switched on, which can be extended by another 20 hours with the charging case for about 24.5 hours of use before a cord or wireless charger is required. The PI5 is on par with the AirPods Pro, but is still at the lower end of the range of current true wireless earbuds.
In testing, I found these numbers a bit optimistic. With the ANC switched on and the volume set to 50%, I only have a little more than four hours of playing time.
However, there is a quick charge function that could help with range anxiety: 15 minutes in the sockets gives two hours of additional gaming time.
Call quality
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
I found the PI5 did a good job of canceling out background noise during a call. Some wind noise wasn't a problem either. But B&W may need to increase the gain on the microphones – my voice sometimes sounded a bit far away.
You can switch to transparency mode (from within the app) during a call, which really helps you hear your own voice more clearly.
I'm just not sure what to make of the microphone dropout issue mentioned above. If that happened all the time during phone calls, it would become a major nuisance.
Extras
In the B&W Headphones app you will find a number of six “soundscapes” such as waves or forest noises, all of which can be set with a timer to help you fall asleep. These might be helpful for getting 40 winks while flying, but I doubt most people will want to wear these earbuds to bed.
Our opinion
The PI5 brings B & W's famous elegance and sophistication to the true world of wireless earbuds, but a few weaknesses keep them from usurping the ruling brands at this price point.
Is there a better alternative?
At the same price as the PI5, Apple's AirPods Pro provide a better overall experience for everything but sound quality. They are smaller, more comfortable, and have better ANC and transparency modes.
For a non-Apple alternative, that's $ 230 Jabra Elite 85t are superb, with better sound quality, better battery life, lots of customization options, and more useful and effective ANC and transparency modes.
For even more savings, try the $ 199 JBL Tour Pro + – their bass isn't as powerful, but just as good or better than the PI5 in every other way.
How long will they last?
B&W backs the PI5 with a two-year warranty that's twice the average for true wireless earbuds. They look very well made and with their IP54 protection class should withstand most activities unscathed. My only concern is the battery. All batteries lose capacity over time, so it's not ideal for your earbuds to last for 4.5 hours or less – this can easily drop to just two hours after a year or two of regular use.
Should you buy it?
Yes. If you can overcome your cumbersome ANC / transparency controls, the B&W PI5 offers a very stylish and sonorous alternative to the current noise-canceling true wireless earbuds.
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