Bowers & Wilkins PI5 VS PI7: Better Than AirPods? (In-Ear Headphones Comparison)

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In this video, we review the new Bowers & Wilkins PI5 & PI7 Wireless In-Ear headphones. We cover the key features, differences & compare with Apple Airpods to help you decide which are right for you!
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:05 Key Features
01:50 Design
04:39 Comfort
05:36 Weatherproof rating
06:19 Sound Quality
08:36 Connectivity & Setup
08:53 Noise Cancellation
09:56 Battery Life & Charging
10:53 Key Differences
11:45 Comparison with Apple Airpods
13:12 Verdict
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[@pdg1877]

Flossy Carter sent me. Those are a major major major major go!! QUAD MAJOR👌👍

[@510maddog]

🤣🤣🤣🤣 Love when he says that!

[@junkyarddogjyd347]

Whiteshoes approved

[@leadershippush3808]

Flossy!!

[@knowbodyyouno6484]

Flossy GOAT reviewer.

[@1234530250]

I love my white shoes 👟

[@bb57365]

I had the 5’s and liked them. I saw an amazing price on the 7’s gen 1 model. Decided to go for them. They are absolutely amazing and you can definitely hear the difference the dual drivers offer. Based on pure sound they have to be one of the best on the market.

[@jasonlamson5545]

Your reviews are always really great. Detailed, informative and explains for both the layman and the audio freak.

[@iikatinggangsengii2471]

just order immediately they on sight better to sell than not knowing lul

[@simontalloen7454]

Really loved this review. Thanks! If your store wasn't located in the UK I would have bought them through you immediately. Keep on coming with these great reviews!

[@spiritg802]

.... more of a rhetorical question .... B&W is pure perfection !

[@cognacbrown]

Very useful review of the B&W especially on the point of IP rating. I was wondering if it’s safe to take them out for sports eg running and cycling. I do wonder how you compare with the Devialet Gemini. I found both have super Low ends but I recall PI7 having slightly more recessed mids. So the vocals don’t shine through as much. Happy to hear your thoughts

[@spiritg802]

The PI7 is a masterpiece for my ears, the new reference class in terms of earbuds ...! the best that could happen to my ears!

[@smarthomesounds]

We totally agree 👍🏻

[@spiritg802]

.. am now testing the PI7 in the second week. From classical to pop to fusion and classical jazz a perfect listening experience. Rich bass, clear mids and balanced highs make the guitar solos an experience and not perforate the eardrum like needles .. Overall, a very open clan picture differentiates. Simply a new experience. No, I'm not an advertising ambassador for Bowers & Wilkens! I think something special should get attention ok in relation to its I have to be able to expect it. no more but no less high sounds have never been cheap ..!

[@lnlsun]

I'm wondering how they compare to the master and dynamic mw08

[@Gun828]

How do these compare to the senheiser 2 I have the 1st generation senheiser earbuds and are incredible in sound. I'm trying to decide on the senheiser 2 or b&w PI7.

[@stevel4329]

Could not agree more. They are simply WOW! Everything is great. Detail is awesome, soundstage, mid bass and deep bass, vocals are sweet! They are upfront but not in face! These things just seem perfect for in ear!

[@MrDerya94]

I just bought the IP5 for 115€ from Amazon and must really say that I’m gladly surprised. I really like the sound of these and how crystal clear they deliver voices from different genres. My last on the go headphones were the normal Air Pods so this was a huge upgrade. I had never connection or app problems on iPhone. I give them 4/5, for under 150 these are totaly worth it.

[@TRD_Nate]

I lost my sennheiser momentum 2 case at work, (left it in a customer car) and havnt had anyone say they found them in a week) so I’m upgrading from those to the Pi7’s! Went through 2 pairs of airpod pros and will never buy them again. They are amazing earbuds but after a year they get a crackling/ rattling sound that always happens.. I’m so hyped to get my Pi7s in! My sennheiser M2s were unbelievable but the case was biggg!

[@David-wd8mt]

Same here. Had my Airpods Pro replaced 3 times. I have the same crackling/rattling problem now for the 4th time, but the warranty had expired. Just ordered the Pi7's and they should arrive tomorrow! How are you working out for you?

[@alphazock4983]

do the b&w pi7 tolerate sweat? Because I'm interested in whether you can do sports with them

[@dannyw9314]

Really great, in-depth review 👏

[@smarthomesounds]

Thanks Danny, glad it helped.

[@Voidward]

You briefly mentioned the balanced armature driver in the vocals section, but it's not mentioned when you're explicitly talking about drivers in each units, or in the chart at the end. You get more audio hardware with the PI7, which is why they sound different.

[@TheOwnHero]

Great review. Thanks. I'm in the apple eco system but i was considering IP7. Charging time killed them for me. Going with the Airpods Pro.

[@mikestevens273]

AirPods Pro are absolute garbage. Mine lasted only 6 months then got the infamous crackle static that all of them get.

[@TRD_Nate]

@@mikestevens273 been through 2 pairs of them and gave up on them after my 2nd set got the crackle.

[@marekkowalski3814]

Hi, Are the Bose QuietComfort earbuds of Bowers & Wilkins PI7 Which headphones are better in your opinion ?

[@user-eb5ri3nf9d]

Which music player works well with the Wilkins Pi7 bowers?

[@marshalljames2044]

Can you compare these to XM4's

[@AllahMerciful1030]

For audio quality alone, how do these stack up against Between Pro from Status? i have Between Pro and i'm happy with them but would like to upgrade if B&W are the better audio quality earbuds. Thank you.

[@brendanlucero8585]

I'm in the same situation. I want them compared as well.

[@justsaying993]

Can you compare these with the new Sony WF-1000XM4s? Thanks!

[@goldfinga786able]

These sound better than the m4s but when it comes to battery these suck .. for the price these ain’t worth it due to the battery … I’d rather buy the m4s

[@fpvoutside]

PI7s are multipoint, the Sony's aren't

[@aaronwarrington9139]

Hey guys. Has anyone tried these with audio retransmission using a dac?

[@seanjoe1704]

Better than airpods ???? Do you think airpods that good ?????????

[@kfash5198]

I have a question. Can you install an "in wall speaker" in a concrete wall?

[@victormourana]

Technically you can, just alot more work with cement, box shaping to achieve the perfect it and in wall wiring. Also, its a more permanent solution!

[@therealdan101]

How big of the difference in sound quality from AirPods Pro to pi7 ?

[@nathanhassani5366]

How is the bass compared between the two?

[@jonathanrogers611]

Will the IP7 charge off the battery share mode on my Google Pixel 6

[@innocento8643]

For £349 the battery life is a dealbreaker

[@XNDivinity]

I purchase the PI7 on 6/24/21. I have a question concerning the case Lid. Does your case Lid lock into place when it is open? Because my lid does not. There is no locking mechanism when you open the lid of the case. I have also seen another youtube reviewer with this issue.

[@mrfrosty3]

These look really great but, in this type of product that is intended for on the go use is 24bit music really necessary and is that how they ended up with such a low battery runtime? Would you rather have 24bit music or the battery power when you're on an important call? I was unaware that Apple buds have a similar battery life, this is almost retro performance.

[@Voidward]

You can select a lower quality codec and turn off noise cancelling if you really need more battery life. I've personally never used in-ears for over 4 hours straight, probably not even more than 2.5 hours without putting them back in the case. Putting them in the case charges an extra 2 hours over 15 min. If your concern is battery life, then these aren't for you. There's so much selection out there, and these are the ones that potentially have the best sound quality out of all of them. Choose literally anything else if your #1 concern is not sound quality and you'll likely get better battery life. Leave these alone for people like me who just want sound quality and are willing to pay for it. Not literally everything under the sound needs to be tailored specifically for your personal use case.

[@RoMusic2011]

Those earbuds dont have volume control option on buds?

[@clchu527]

Good review. Note: Pi7 have dual 9.2mm drivers in ear each bud opposed to single 9.2mm driver in Pi5

[@piotrosinski-petestradamus6204]

Dual drivers as in a single 9.2mm dynamic driver and one balanced armature per side.

[@mard192837]

Can Pi7 be used individually for phone calls? Or only right one can be used individually?

[@MrCostasera]

for me the top 3 important feature so anyone knows the answer for Pi5 as well?

[@FBudo]

How you control the volume??

[@otoshi1010]

You can't, there is no volume touch control.

[@ManweDurValinor]

the pi7 have 2 drivers and what about the connection problems? the connection between the pi7 and a galaxy s21 isn't stable!

[@jnr301]

Are the PI7’s worth the money if you are using Spotify?

[@Just-Nico]

Depends on what quality can offer Spotify but also what is the most important is the device that play that music, phone or hi res Mp4 or a phone with and external dac..

[@Elfin4]

Do the PI5 have dual connectivity?

[@bobcat0217]

Great review. Do they have seamless multi device switching? Also the airpods pro have been £189 on Amazon for a while now. Would you still take the pi5 at this price point?

[@davidinda5922]

I have the PI5 and believe me that the audio quality and manufacture are above the Airpodspro (in America they cost the same which is 250 USD) so for me was a no brainer .

[@smarthomesounds]

Musically we would choose the PI5's so all depends how much you want to the end to end Apple ecosystem.

[@fabi0312]

How does it compare to the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro?

[@tysonboy1980]

Excellent job

[@D_Dubs00]

Is this sound better then Fiil t1 pro?

[@stormrunnercore]

Here from Flossy Carter’s video.

[@ShadowCaster3214]

Apple Music is getting Hi-Res audio up to 24bit in June. All for no extra cost 😎

[@stevel4329]

Do not waste your money on anything else in ear if you simply want the best sounding in ear regardless of battery life, price or any other stupid bells and whistles. For simply the best sound these are by far the best I have ever heard! I have had the Sony XM -3's. Liberty Pro 2 (really good), Klipsch T5 ii, 1More, Devialet Gemini, and a few more that don't really matter any longer! These are it for me for in ear!

[@smarthomesounds]

We agree, fantastic headphones and we are looking to put these against the new Sony WF1000XM4B

[@stevel4329]

@@smarthomesounds Sony has more bells and whistles but I bet they do not sound as good. I found the XM-3's sound to be recessed and the XM 4 would have to completely change that to sound like the B&W. For pure sound I am curious to what you find!

[@joeyortiz484]

Can u review the Samsung Galaxy buds pro please!! 👍

[@cooluser23]

How do these compare to the new Sony WF-XM4's?

[@SpiritofPoison]

There’s a good vs video on some channel. if you search it it should come up.

[@lazzar1903]

Would you consider these big in your ears ?

[@VeryVocalPro]

I tried a set of Plantronics noise canceling earbuds prior to buying the AirPods Pro. A deal breaker for me was the audio lag when watching KZbin and other videos. Any issue with the P7s?

[@smarthomesounds]

Hi Mark, in testing we've had no lag, we tested them with Mac & PC computers, plus iPhone & Android phones too. Hope this helps.

[@VeryVocalPro]

@@smarthomesounds it does, thanks very much!

[@Voidward]

Other reviews said lag was minimal, and if you use the retransmission feature from the case they use a low latency codec so it's even better latency.

[@dewit7]

chancing batteries possible

[@bill3117]

What kind of wireless charging does the case use?

[@richmck007]

Curious to know why your title says better than Airpods? Surely Bose, Sennheiser and the Sony ...X3 earbuds are also contenders for clarity, ANC and design where size and weight are concerned? One thing for sure, B&W are as expensive as the rest. Until testing them, one cannot actually be sure they will be in the same league as Bose QC earbuds for ANC. Your testing on paper sounds great with the PX 7 I own their PX range of headsets and and more than satisfied. I also own the QC, again satisfied except for size... Duration of battery is not an issue for me. flexibility of usage in ear. I feel sure the sound quality will be warm with what you are testing, but will they be as practical for ANC. The down side I see here is the case. Enormous! Bose weakness is that you cannot flip back to the track played previously. Silly mistake by Bose which they will get right next time I am sure... Another fine review...Tempting indeed!

[@Just-Nico]

Responding to the first question, is far away better probably than aipods. Bowers & Wilkins are just dedicated to audio, I owned some speakers from them and audio quality is just amazing.

[@dymeezeey]

Floss sent me🙌🏾

[@smarthomesounds]

🙌 Flossy

[@dhanoa53]

I am pleased to stay they stay in my ear

[@levil4012]

Not really hard to find ear buds better than airpod pros bcuz to me the sound is meh..bass is non existent and their more focused on clarity as opposed to overall sound..I got a pair when they first came out and returned them for the Sony xm3's and they sounded MILES better...

[@21_APRIL]

It is for running and cycling??????????????

[@N-ggus-T]

I heard of them from touch of modern

[@xcxNelsonxcx]

So far, I haven’t found any in ear buds that still keep up w my galaxy buds + hard to beat 11hrs of battery and pretty great sound!

[@Wyjadaczogorkow]

Battery is great but the sound is a plastic shit. Wash Your ears :d

[@kausarrafique1643]

@@Wyjadaczogorkow they are not shit. They are good for what they are and their price point and their time of release, but yes now there is better sounding headphones on the market

[@MarvinFrancis]

Will these work with either of the upcoming hi-res audio from Spotify or Apple Music?

[@alexanderulv3886]

Actually yes, the pi5 can support 16 bit(cd quality) and the pi7 support 24 bit high res audio (FLAC). So they do support substantially higher resolution audio than say the AirPods Pro. I would say the Pi7 can indeed support high-res audio.

[@bgielink]

No, at least not in the near future when using an IPhone as IOS does not support APTX (HD), which is the protocol you need with these earphones to transfer 24 bit audio

[@alchemistTi]

@@bgielink you can always stream Apple Music from a computer or use an external DAC.

[@brianlevandowski3167]

Flossy also sent me!

[@shmevanriceballz2857]

There are tons of wireless ieh that outperform air pods

[@danilobaca6529]

does pi7 support apple lossless?

[@Gilbertstwn]

I also want to know 😁

[@erice5964]

No Bluetooth does yet

[@krisztianpapp1150]

I will wait for the new Sony tws with 8, yes 8 hours of battery life anc on. Probably 279 and with LDAC. 4 hours on IP7? Really?

[@thomasferrarojr.9772]

Ok

[@raifordkenneth15]

why compare anything to airpods they aren't nowhere near the best earbuds I can name like 20 earbuds that will trash airpods

[@kjoey76]

Why even compare PI5 or 7 to the AirPods which the sound quality is crap!

[@rolins3279]

Can we at least make phone calls with them? 🤔

[@tech4life884]

Bespoke means " Made for a specific person". This word is being used to glarify products to make it sound fancy but in reality it just proves that the companies who use the word " Bespoke" are just full of horse shit.

[@kamikazi5144]

Lol Bowers and Wilkins is a dope brand, they're not full of horse shit

[@jarvracing8452]

Im not too much of a fan on reviews on something people are a dealer for. Kinda makes it bias. Just my opinion.

[@tech4life884]

Wireless charging in the case of wireless earbuds isn't common?. Bullshit bro. You obviously are trying too hard to push this product because you have them in stock at your own personal business. There are hundreds of wireless earbuds on Amazon less than $100 with a wireless charging case. Wireless charging is really common. It's basically expected in every wireless earbuds case now.

[@Voidward]

It's only become common in the last year or so. There are people alive now to whom 1 year is not a substantial amount of time relative to the rest of their lives, and the preceding decade of wireless charging basically not existing is the accepted standard.

[@Anonym-kd5wf]

I always unterstand BMW lol

[@innocento8643]

AirPod pros are £195 in John Lewis

[@Ipuffyy]

I don't understand how you can disrespect a respectable audio brand by comparing their best to airpods.

[@jheinerhernandez7836]

Hey, subtitles in Spanish please!

[@MrDennis052]

Subtitles in Chinese, French, Germany and Italian please

[@chrisli7260]

@@MrDennis052 You forgot American. Lol.

[@Displays.1234.]

Sound of the airpods pro is nothing special atall, they are just good at noise cancelling.

[@freddymendoza4802]

They aren’t even good at that compared to the Sony wh1000xm3’s which you can get for less than the AirPods Pro.

[@dmitryb6873]

facepalm! pi7 has 2 drivers

[@ZRay507]

4 hours taking into consideration their price is such a turn off... pass

[@stevel4329]

Not if you hear them! They are beyond good!

[@starboy5888]

I’ve tried these on. In terms of pure sound quality alone, they make the Sennhesiser MW2 and Sony WFXM3 sound like cheap generic earphones in comparison. There are levels to sound quality. Sennhesiser and Sony are well behind these elite level PI7’s.

[@sayemak99]

@@starboy5888 how loud are they?

[@Isaac-bk4we]

Any audio review that uses AirPods as a standard/benchmark has lost all credibility.

[@smarthomesounds]

Thanks for the comment, irrelevant to what we or you think AirPods are the worlds biggest selling in-ear headphones by a very very large margin so statically we have to reference these headphones. Hope this helps.

[@Voidward]

They're the reference in terms of what consumers know as a standard reference. There is no better default comparison that people would understand. Using them as a standard isn't saying they're the best, it's saying that's what everyone knows and expects. You need to tone down the arrogance and smugness, it's unattractive to pretty much everyone.

[@Isaac-bk4we]

@@Voidward Was that stated? No. And no, I don’t.

[@Voidward]

@@Isaac-bk4we What was stated was that the PI7's are better than airpods and are comparable to full sized over ears in terms of sound quality. And I knew you wouldn't. The worst part of interacting with a dumb person is the fact that don't have the capacity to realized how dumb they are.

[@thomasferrarojr.9772]

@@Voidward 😉

[@cchan6858]

Amateur compare with airpods

[@saninaghi8813]

Apple made allway the worst ie oh headphones from any mark

[@sbacon92]

is that andrew tate?

[@klopt772]

Bad earbuds, dont buy! Thank me later.

[@goldfinga786able]

4 hr battery … sucks

[@thomasferrarojr.9772]

Cool. Don't get them. What good does bitching do? Honestly.

[@westcoast8506]

I zoned out sorry 👎🏻

[@CC-yw7of]

Worst Headphones ever..