New Products

British hi-fi titan Bowers & Wilkins (a.k.a. B&W) has expanded its small but growing line of headphones with two sets of wireless earbuds, one of which provides a “true 24-bit” audio connection, adaptive noise cancellation, and Bluetooth 5.0 featuring aptX HD and aptX Adaptive audio processing.

Developed by the same team behind the famous 800 Diamond Series speakers used in London’s Abbey Road Studios, the new PI7 (left) and PI5 earbuds are intended to bring B&W’s signature sound to on-the-go listeners at $400 and $250, respectively.

Each of the PI7’s 0.36-inch two-way, balanced-armature drivers are designed to work like high-performance speakers and incoming audio signals pass through a 24-bit audio processor to ensure a high level of performance. In addition, adaptive noise cancellation uses six microphones — three per earbud — to automatically adjust the level of processing in real-time to deliver the “best possible listening experience,” including clear phone calls.

Rated battery life is up to 4 hours with an additional 16 hours from a Smartcase charger that doubles as a “wireless-audio retransmission” device that connects to audio sources, such as an in-flight entertainment system, and transmits sound wirelessly to the earbuds.

At a price of $150 less than the PI7, the PI5 is equipped with standard aptX-enabled Bluetooth 5.0, lacks 24-bit audio processing, and uses active noise cancellation with two microphones instead of the more powerful adaptive processing. On the plus side, it uses the same drivers as the PI7 and boosts play time to 4.5 hours with an additional 20 hours from its charge case.

Both models include a 15-minute quick charge feature that provides 2 hours of playtime, one-button control, and multi-source playback. The PI7 and PI5 are available in charcoal or white and can be configured via the Bowers & Wilkins companion app with voice control support via Google Assistant or Apple’s Siri.

For more information, visit bowerswilkins.com.