Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds (Midnight Blue), in-Ear Bluetooth Earphones with Qualcomm & aptX Lossless, Active Noise Cancelling Earbuds, 3 Built-in Mics, 15-Min Quick Charging

Very nice and high quality feeling earbuds! They feel very nice, they are light, they connect easily, and they sound really good. The in app EQ helps adjust it to your personal liking as well.Sound quality is definitely quite good, low end is good, high ends as well.Decent passive noise cancelation from the hollow ear tips it comes with.Active noise canceling on the other hand is laughable. It does actually rather well at removing LOW frequency noise however wind noise or anything in the mid to high range it does almost nothing to. If active noise cancelation is at the top of your list these are NOT the earbuds for you.Pass through works pretty well, and sounds decently good actually.These are definitely oriented towards audio quality and fit rather than having the best ANC. I still find I can go on bike ride with them and the wind not be too much of an issue. I usually keep ANC and Passthrough OFF however for that since the passive noise dampening works decently well.Get Memory foam tips for really good passive noise dampening if needed.Fit is good though, can be worn for hours without it hurting your ears.Just a FYI: IF you have a earbud stop working or the ANC or passthrough doesn’t work on one of the earbuds after taking it out of the case usually taking it out of your ear for 5 seconds then putting it back in fixes it. Only a minor quirk if you take the earbuds out of the case really quickly and don’t give them time to boot up. If issues persist put them back in the case for a minute then remove. This has fixed any nuance issues I’ve had with them.Last thing, one issue I have noticed is that while no music is playing or right after a track stops you may notice a higher pitched noise in one or both of the earbuds, it’s very faint but in quiet environments you can hear it. It’s NOT an issue when listening to audio however even at the lowest volume. It does appear to be another quirk of these buds. Though not everyone experiences this.I don’t find any of those things mentioned to be issues however as they do not interrupt functionality or cause further problems or disturbance. Merely quirks. Going on a few months with no issues. I will say as with any wireless earbud, don’t get them in water or drop them very often if you want it to last a while and have no issues. Every wireless earbud brand seems to have problems however it tends to be from neglect or mishandling. Take care of them and they should last quite a while.Overall 9/10, good Quality Earbuds!

Having tried several high end earbuds, I can honestly say that these are the best sounding earbuds I have ever used. the sound is rich, deep, clear and loud. For comfort, I would rate these as on par with the wf-1000xm5, Quietcomfort QC and AZ100. That is to say comfortable, but you never forget you're wearing them. One huge advantage is the retransmission case. Plug the included 3.5mm to USB cable into a device with a 3.5mm port and you are connected to your earbuds. This means you can listen to music on your earbuds using any device that has a 3.5mm port. THis is especially useful on flights. Where these earbuds fall short is, well, everything but sound and the case. The app is okay, but often can't find the earbuds, the controls are limited and the ANC is not impressive. Also, there is no spacial sound support which I use on other earbuds to add depth. Overall, there are other earbuds that offer everything these do (including the retransmission case) that have more options for less money and with a bit of EQ adjustment can sound nearly as good as the Pi8s.

I was truly looking forward to purchasing the B+W Pi8s. Reviews across the internet have been very positive. Having previously purchased the Px8 headphones I had high expectations.No question they sound first class. The earphones seem well made and with the right size ear tip you can get a good seal. The absence of a fit test such those on the Apple AirPods Pro 2 is a surprising omission. The associated app is very basic but functional. Noise reduction falls short of many competitors such as Apple, Sony, and Bose.The reason for the one star rating is because of what I consider a serious flaw that renders the Pi8s unusable. From my experience, all the earphones I’ve owned (including Apple, Beats, Cambridge, Campfire Audio, among others) all had infrequent and brief moments of dropped sound. From the first use, the B+Ws dropped frequently (at least once per track?) and continuously for various lengths of time (10 seconds plus).I since contacted customer service who listened carefully taking down the information. They offered a possible solution and promised a tech would contact me within day or so. I’m still waiting. I’ve done my research and found that I am not the only one experiencing this problem. B+W never heard anyone complaint. Really?If the dropped sound of the Pi8s is resolved, they would undoubtedly be worthy of Five Stars.Edit: 19 Oct 2024. The earphones were paired to an iPhone Pro Max 15. The drop was consistent over several pairs of the Pi8’s purchased over the course of several months. The “solution” offered was to turn off the ear detection. Still hope the issue is resolved.