Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 guide

B&W's updated true wireless buds bring a handful of new changes, but how do they compare in a more competitive market than ever?

Bowers & Wilkins don't exactly do things on the cheap, so the fact the Pi7 S2 are considerably more expensive than all of their nearest competition might not come as much of a surprise - particularly when the Pi7 predecessors they replace launched at the same price two years ago.

However, the best true wireless headphones market is changing, and fast. Charging (at least) $100 more than some of your closest competition - which aren't exactly cheap themselves - is a bold move in such a competitive marketplace.

To make it make sense, you really need to back it up with a performance and feature set that blows the competition out of the water. Do the B&W Pi7 S2 succeed? Here's our full review.

The B&W Pi7 S2 are gorgeous looking earbuds that offer a rich and refined sound. However, they are very expensive and we're not sure the offering here, when compared to the competition, makes that price tag make sense.

Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 review: Excellent sound only goes so far

The company’s stellar audio isn’t enough to overcome key deficiencies.

Bowers & Wilkins is on a bit of a roll. The company debuted two stellar-sounding sets of headphones in 2022: the Px7 S2 and the Px8. To kick off 2023, it revealed revamped versions of its true wireless earbuds. The more premium Pi7 S2 sits above the Pi5 S2 in the company’s lineup, offering support for aptX Adaptive and 24-bit/48kHz streaming from compatible devices and services. The retooled Pi7 also packs in adaptive active noise cancellation (ANC) and a case capable audio retransmission to set itself apart from the new Pi5. However, the S2 variants of the company’s high-end model are considerably more expensive than the best wireless earbuds we’ve reviewed and they lack polish in several key areas.

B&W may have fixed some of the issues we had with the original Pi7 buds, but the sequel still falls behind fiercely talented rivals – and is still incredibly expensive.

How do you decide the value-for-money of a product? That’s a question we ask ourselves every time we test a new product at What Hi-Fi?. Does the combination of audio performance, feature set and build quality all add up to an experience that’s worth shelling out a couple of hundreds (or thousands) of your hard-earned cash? Are these the features and level of sound quality we’d expect at this price? How can we recommend a high-end pair of earbuds when a perfectly great pair at a cheaper price exists?

These are questions we ask ourselves repeatedly over the course of testing Bowers & Wilkins’ Pi7 S2 premium wireless earbuds.

We reviewed the original B&W Pi7 two years ago and were impressed with their “wonderfully detailed and clear” sound. But connectivity issues, low battery life and ‘basic’ noise-cancelling left us wanting more, especially at the high asking price. Can the sequel deliver a more promising performance?

Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 True Wireless Headphones Review

The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 True Wireless are the next generation of the Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 True Wireless and are premium truly wireless headphones. Like their predecessor, their carrying case acts as a wireless transmitter when connected to a device via one of the two cables included in the box. This is a pretty unique and uncommon feature, as it allows you to connect them to devices like a gaming console or in-flight entertainment, which otherwise don't support Bluetooth. They also support aptX Adaptive codec, which is nice if you want to stream high-quality audio, and they have a noise cancelling system (ANC) to help block out background noise around you. Unfortunately, their continuous battery life falls short of other high-end buds like the Apple AirPods Pro (2nd generation) Truly Wireless, and they aren't very customizable.