Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 True Wireless Earbuds with Active Noise Cancelling, Bluetooth aptX HD, 24-bit Wireless Audio, 6 Mics for Clear Calls - Anthracite Black | Perfect for Travel, Workouts & Commuting

My Bowers & Wilkins Pi8’s are in the anthracite black; and B&W have spent some time making them look good. Some of their design decisions I’m not sure about; like the charging case doesn’t stand up on a table and lies flat. The charging case does charge by usb-c or wireless qi charging which is convenient; and retains the wireless resending of audio when connected to an audio device – and B&W include a usb-c to 3.5mm jack for connecting to audio outputs.You can setup the headphones using the B&W Music app, which is easy to use, though does require registration to use. In a first for a while the headphones arrived and didn’t need a software update on first connection. The app offers a 5 band EQ settings; as well as a pure flat mode toggle. To test the earbuds, I used the pure flat mode. The app lets you set the ANC mode from noise cancelling, transparent and off. You can’t tune the ANC; but you can assign transparent mode to one of the touch buttons on the side of the headphones.The touch buttons are a little slow to respond for me; when they do the headphones make a low click sound so you know it’s been done. It doesn’t have movement touch, but you can setup multi-clicks to cause actions.Ear fit I have struggled with a lot of in ear headphones that they fall out as I walk around. You can mitigate some of that with a good cleaning of them; but B&W’s headphones have always done well in my ears; and the Pi8 stuck inside my ears even walking around on a hot day. You get 3 sets of tips to swap out; but the medium size tips worked best for me.Sound quality support in the Pi8 is headlined by offering lossless aptx playback. Most of us won’t be able to use it; very few phones or tablets support it. B&W missed a trick with the case; it supports the aptx adaptive standard rather than lossless; adding lossless support would have given a route to higher quality music. That said to my ears plugging in the dock to my iPhone over the usb-c socket does sound better than the apple native audio. It’s a bit weird carrying the case docked to my phone but it’s what I’m doing now on a 10cm usb-c cable.In both connection modes the Pi8’s has the B&Ws traditionally attacking punchy sound. These are in ear headphones; they don’t sound as good as over the ear headphones; and testing them with my iPhone or using the charging case as a transmitter isn’t going to get them the highest quality music they deserve. They sound excellent; far battery than their sister Pi7’s there is must more detail in the mid and treble which is great for vocal tracks; and they have made the bass punchier. They can handle the very delicate harps mixed with bass pads in my favourite test headphone track The Girl in Byakkoya. The Pi8’s kept the brittle sounding harps whilst delivering the pumping bass at the same time. The electronic voice sounded crystal clear over the instruments. Choirs delivered what sounded like huge air moving around you, along with clear breathing sounds. In Electronic music all the textures come through. They are a huge step up from the Pi7’s I have been using and very happy with for a few years. They don’t sound like over the ear headphones. If you want them to these headphones go very loud, I have been listening to them at my desk on 30% volume; and when I went out along busy roads bumped it up to 40%. If you want to go deaf or mimic your favourite concert you can get a lot of volume.Noise cancellation is good for in ear headphones though it’s not as good as the very best in ear headphones at removing the outside world. It retains the excellent music quality whilst it is in use though which is a big advantage. It’s not going to beat the best over the ear headphones as they have a mass advantage, but it quietens traffic as you walk around; and does a reasonable job stopping the clanking and diesel engine roar of British trains.The microphones are great; I could make calls in noisy rooms and the noise cancellation on the microphones didn’t dim my voice to silence in taking out fans or washing machine sounds.Battery life was about 6 hours on my first two recharges which could be longer; the case will give you 3 more charges. 15 minutes in the case adds about 2 hours of playtime.