Bowers & Wilkins - B&W PI5 True Wireless Headphones with Adaptive Noise Cancellation, Bluetooth 5.0 with Qualcomm aptX - Charcoal

These units feel good in the ear and they sound excellent. Great sounding audio, great call quality and the ambient mode works well. ANC was fine but not amazing. It works. The problem is that the connection is often buggy and it frequently took several tries (place in-and-out of the case) to get both ear buds to connect. The B&W app to fine tune the functions was also hit and miss, often failing to connect to or even recognize the units. Eventually I just quit using the app but it is necessary to adjust certain settings within the ear buds. As usual, tech support's standard answer for these issues was the classic, "...do a factory reset." Otherwise, these are fine units but for this much money they should be better.

The first impression out to the box was that the PI5’s case is quite light, has a nice plastic “feel” to it, and an interesting shape as the top is completely flat, with subtle brand text, as well as a smooth and round bottom. There, you’ll find the USB-C port. An LED display can be found in the “front”. While not as small as other cases, I actually like it. It can fit in my pocket flat without making a bulge or being uncomfortable. The cap opens easily and stays closed magnetically. I shook the case vigorously and the top never opened. The buds never fell off when I did open the case and shook it. Nice job. The buds also have a very peculiar design. The two-tier casing is made of a sort of “charcoal” plastic/metal that looks sleek in my opinion. There’s some branding on the earpieces and L-R markings. The touchpads feel exceptionally smooth as well. While very cool in design, I wondered how they’d fit my smallish ears. Well, I am happy to report that my worries were in vain. The extended casing allows for the earpiece to fit into the entire ear concha by inserting it with a slight twist, making it very stable. After just a few minutes, I was over the initial adjustment. I was able to walk, run, and even do cartwheels and the buds never fell out. Yes, they stick out a bit, but I am OK with that. However, connectivity was a bit of a letdown. I had some trouble connecting them to an iOS tablet and my android phone. They would not be recognized at first, then identified as two separate BT devices (one did not work) and dropping in/out constantly. This happened on both devices. Even when using the B&W app, they were not always recognized. I would think having 5.0BT would help, but that was not the case. Once paired, I experienced some HiFi apps that I use would not recognize the buds. I had to tinker consistently by disconnecting and reconnecting the buds. Even when watching YT, I had to do this a couple of times. I am not sure if this is a bug or an issue with the buds as the firmware is up to date. Hopefully, this will be addressed in the future. Featuring AptX tech, I never perceived any lag or distortion when watching videos or playing games. When the connection was stabilized, I was able to walk away for a significant distance and the buds kept the connection. The call quality was exceptional. I was heard loud and clearly -even outside on a noisy, windy street. The control touchpads work well enough. There were a few miss-taps but remained consistent. My only gripe is that there is no volume control from the buds. Sure, you can use the device’s sound rocker or voice assistant, but when I leave it on the counter to do chores that can be annoying. Same with ambient sound mode, you would need to change that on the app. I do like that the PI5s feature smart wear detection and the sound is paused when taking the buds out. The Active Noise Cancellation is outstanding -almost on par with much pricier offerings. It basically omitted low noises like traffic and a lawnmower right outside my window. Battery life is average. On my first run, they lasted for about 3 hrs. 45 min. This is with 70% volume and full ANC. The case provides an additional 20 hours. I am pleased that the PI5s feature quick charge, where 15 minutes in the case add 2 hrs. of playback. I also love that these are Qi wireless charging compatible. But how do they sound? In this department, I was extremely pleased. I would describe the sound signature as cinematic, and certainly more “urban”. The bass was impactful and clear, with enough depth that adds body to whatever you may be listening to. The midrange was slightly recessed in my opinion, but not enough to suppress any instruments or vocals. The treble was high and distinctively responsive, adding clarity overall, without being overly bright. The soundstage is not super wide, but still noticeable and channel separation is well implemented. I thoroughly enjoyed all the music genres I threw at them, as well as movies and games. I must point out that the sound changes slightly when ANC is on/off, or when ambient sound mode is active -ANC being the better. I was a bit disappointed by the lack of EQ on the app -maybe later? Considering that the PI5 are premium buds, they were almost there -perhaps a 3.75 out of 5. Personally, I would’ve liked a more consistent connection and pairing process, a more robust companion app, and full control options. However, the looks, comfort, portability, amazing ANC, and exciting sound signature make a compelling case for at least considering the B&W PI5 buds.

Pros - Bowers & Wilkins earphones design look stylish and slick. - case is light weight mine came in a darkish grey color, while each earphones have prints of bowers & wilkins on it to add that extra details - each earphone fit perfectly i felt that these will not fall off and they delivered, ive had them on the whole time while at was at work, and it never let go no matter how much movement i was doing - these also support touch features like most wirelss earbuds, from pressing next/ pause to your music all the way on picking up upcoming phone calls. - PI5 also have an active noise canceling feature, i think all feature wireless earphone should come as standard - charge for 15 minute and you can get up to 2 hrs of listening time, with up 25hrs of battery life from the case. great enough to last you all day - the biggest thing i notice after listening to higher bit rate of music was how good the bass on these little things, its so good that i fully notice that, it made me pay attention to the type of beat i was listening to, even after switching back my audio stream quality bass on PI5 delivers, i honestly havent experience a cleaner bass on earphone as good as this one, very impressive. not even airpod or my other wireless earphone can top the quality of PI5 Cons - Bowers & Willkins app is simplistic i love the design choice, but connecting your PI5 to see the options is pain sometimes, for some reason it wont recognize the device, it require me to test it multiple time but i finally manage to get in the app, the app is also disappointing that its just bare bone, doesnt offer much either, you have the battery life of each earphone display on the top of the app, a Noise cancellation option to toggle On/Off and Ambient pass through for Low and High - speaking of noise cancellation, its a bit disappointing, it need a step up. Anker own earphone support a much better noise cancelling than this, and i expect more for $250 B&W - i wish the app have an option for an equalizer, another feature that could improve how you want to listen to your own music and justify your purchase. - tested making calls with PI5 as well, and the result is not very great, talking to my fiance was a bit of a mess, she was having a hard time understanding what im saying, she mention that my quality sounded muffled, yikes so that defeat the purpose of making calls with this earphone, made phone calls to the office and they end up hanged up the phone because im guessing they couldn't hear me, got annoyed so took it off the Bluetooth and just made a regular call without thought PI5 instead An ok wireless earphone, noise cancellation could have been better, making calls could have been better, and app supports need major supports for more option, for me i wouldnt spend the asking price, maybe hit during a sale