Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2: Really good earbuds with an ingenious trick

In addition, the Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 understand the very good transmission codec aptX Adaptive and their charging case can be plugged into computers or game consoles via a cable, for example, in order to then transmit the sound to the earbuds via Bluetooth.

One snag of the Pi7 S2: typically for Bowers & Wilkins, they are expensive. In the test report, we will show whether they are still worthwhile despite the rather high price.

In-ear headphones are usually rather inconspicuous plastic parts. Bowers & Wilkins, on the other hand, has given its models a chic metal cap. The earbuds still only weigh 6 g. There are no large logos, only an inconspicuous lettering adorns the cap. The rest looks good too, the Pi7 S2 is available in the tested color variant Satin Blackbesides are Canvas White and Midnight Blue accessible.

In addition to the two earbuds, matching silicone ear pads in three sizes, the transport and charging box and two cables are included. Both cables can be connected to the USB-C port of the charging box. One is equipped with two identical plugs for charging via USB-C, the other is used to connect analogue sources via 3.5 mm jack plugs.

However, an ingenious solution is that the charging box can also serve as a Bluetooth transmitter. This means that the in-ears can also be used with devices without Bluetooth, such as a desktop PC. For this purpose, when connected to the PC with a suitable USB-C to USB-A cable, the signal is tapped digitally there – the headphones or the charging box register as their own 24-bit sound card. At the same time, the charging box is also charged in this way. Although this is not the case with analogue sources, these can also be connected wirelessly in this way.

However, other Bluetooth headphones cannot be paired – only the Pi7 S2. However, this saves you having to procure a separate Bluetooth transmitter with aptX if you want to pair something other than a smartphone or tablet. However, if you want, you can also use external solutions. Find out more in our Top 10 Bluetooth list: Audio adapters for cars, home cinemas and PCs from 9 euros.

By touching the metal caps, ANC can be switched on and off on the left and a voice assistant can be operated on the smartphone on the right. You can do even more with swipe gestures, like answering calls and skipping or repeating tracks. However, louder/quieter or transparency on/off are not possible.

Bluetooth pairing is possible via the smartphone settings menu as well as with the Bowers & Wilkins Music app. This also runs on older Android devices such as the Onkyo DP-X1 MP3 player. Unfortunately, it is not possible to establish a Bluetooth audio connection with this. Only the app can reach the Pi7 S2 via Bluetooth, but not transmit the sound itself. Multipoint – the simultaneous coupling of a music player and a telephone or PC and telephone – is not intended.

The music app offers more for the Bowers & Wilkins headphones than for the Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin multi-room speaker (test report), but less for the in-ears than for the over-ears: there is an equalizer function Not here, only the control of ANC and transparency mode, a display of the charging status of the headphones and case in percent and streaming directly from the app.

At Tune-In However, if this does not work yet – if you call up the saved shortcuts for your favorite stations here in the app, you will get an error message. For whatever reason, you can only use Tune-In via the app on B&W speakers, but not B&W headphones. However, Tune-In for headphones might not be the best solution, at least at home on the WLAN, because the service is designed for the low data rates that are audible on the Pi7 S2. However, it is possible to call up Tune-In normally and record the headphones with it without any problems.

Since the two in-ears connect to each other, they reliably dock together in stereo. Unlike some other earbuds, you don’t have the problem that only the left or the right one wants to connect without an app. However, this also means that a desired single mode in mono is not possible in one ear, for example to only listen with one earphone and to recharge the second one in the charging case and thus not having to completely interrupt to recharge.

The Pi7 S2 should run for five hours on one battery charge. In the test, the ANC was active after just four hours. After 15 minutes of charging, another two hours are needed, and the charging case should allow up to 16 hours of operation before it has to be recharged.

The two earbuds are quite inconspicuous, just printed with a white L and R on the inside. You have to look closely here – they won’t fit if you swap them around. You can feel this quite quickly, as they slide very well into the ear when used correctly and then sit firmly with the right silicone pad.

In contrast to the over-ear models from Bowers & Wilkins, the in-ears don’t get annoying even after four hours of continuous use. They are a sensible alternative, especially for hours of use.

There are also no problems when going for a walk, the earbuds sit firmly in the ear and, in contrast to the cheaper Pi5 S2, there are no footfall problems either. The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 are suitable for small and large ears and are not inconspicuous, but chic.

While the cheaper Bowers & Wilkins Pi5 S2 only offer one driver per ear and the basic aptX, the Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 is a two-way system with 9.2mm drivers, a balanced armature tweeter and two separate amplifier branches per earphone. You can hear that. The sound is balanced and intense – from bass to treble with clear mids and no boom or hiss. Thanks to aptX Adaptive, high-quality 24-bit transmission is also possible with a suitable smartphone – you can hardly hear the difference to a cable connection.

The sound quality is not affected by these switches. Three microphones per headphone ensure efficient ANC and good reproduction of your own voice in conversations. So you can not only listen to music with the Pi7 S2, but also use it for phone calls and video conferences. The ambient noise is efficiently reduced when traveling by train, in the office and on the street, although not at the level of the Bose QC Earbuds II (test report).

With a list price of just under 400 euros, the Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 is one of the most expensive in-ear headphones. Since the in-ears have only been available for a short time, the street price is currently just below the manufacturer’s recommended price.

The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 are high-quality and stylish in-ear headphones that you could wear all day without a break if they didn’t have to be recharged after four hours. With the supplied Bluetooth transmitter powered by the charging case battery, it saves the purchase and supply of a separate, aptX-compatible Bluetooth transmitter. However, we miss an even longer operating time, volume or transparency mode control on the earphones as well as single mode.

So before you buy it, you should be clear about whether you want to have an earbud system and use it regularly and whether it has to be such a high expense. But then you’ve come to the right place: The Pi7 S2 is even suitable for webinars and video conferences on the desktop PC in the office. The 100 euros more compared to the Pi5 S2 are well spent for better sound and the own Bluetooth transmitter, which also allows the headphones to be used on sources without Bluetooth.