Customer Ratings & Reviews

Don't waste your money with B&W. I have had mine for less than a year and already had one pair replaced due to issues with the bluetooth dropping randomly (like every 30 minutes or so it drops after listening at my desk). The first replacement worked well but I have messaged B&W twice now with no response.

I received the PI5 headphones complimentary through the best buy tech insider network to provide my unbiased opinion. to start off with, set up was easy. There is a quick connect guide and it connects easily. The application syncs quickly and toggling options such as noise cancellation and ambient sound is easy. The firmware is reading up to date, so I did not get to test that. The app also shows charge on the individual buds by percent. The fit and comfort are good, I changed to a smaller tip and it ceded nicely into my ear and felt secure. The touch controls work well and are fairly sensitive. Answering phone calls and clarity of voice with the mic are all very good. All is good up to this part, but now here is the downfall in the useage of these, they do not control volume. You have press and hold functions for noise cancellation and "assistant of choice", then 1 tap pause/play, double tap skip forward, triple tap skip back. Another brand I have that has touch let's me program the hold button, and I chose volume. I personally could care less about assistants and noise cancellation being able to be on my buds, I'd rather use my phone for those than volume especially if I'm working out. This defeats wireless purpose if you have to be tethered to the phone. Now, for sound, the quality is excellent, crisp bass and highs at the same time, noise cancellation is impeccable, and clears out interference well. Music sounds as it should, well balanced and centered. It really depends on what you listen to and how the music is mixed, not these headphones. They reproduce what is given to them. Tom Petty Wildflowers is always my gold standard on excellent mix and sound. I'm generally a metal and hard rock guy, and there are some notable albums that sound good on nothing because of poor mixing (st. anger by metallica or death magnetic are ones many people know). Sound quality is very similar to Samsung Bud Pro's and Yamaha. I would rate music and sound at an easy 5 of 5, but the functionality at this price, pulls the whole thing to 3 of 5. If I would have paid for these, I would likely have returned these for another brand that controls the volume. I'm hoping this can be fixed by a firmware update, and have an email into the company asking about this function. I sent 2 messages 3 days apart, and have no response, last one sent 48 hours ago. I wanted to try and get the answer before I posted this, but I see I'm not the only one that noted this issue. I do recommend these for great sound, with a big caveat of knowing you'll still have to use your device for volume control.

1st things first, these ear buds sound great. They're pretty comfortable too right out of the box. They come with 2 other size rubber ear piece covers for people with different size ear holes. Now to the things I didn't like. Right away to even be able to use these you have to download their App... which would be fine because I wanted to use them with my phone anyways, but it's something to consider if you plan on using them with a stand alone music player because blue tooth won't connect to these without the app. Also the app needs to know your location or these won't work. So after I paired the earbuds to my phone I started trying out the features. And every few seconds or so the sound would cut off and then back on. It turned out the buds were pausing my music, and un-pausing all by their selves. I rebooted my phone and they kept doing it. I unpaired the buds and repaired them, same issue. Then the app stopped recognising the buds and wouldn't play. For a while only the right bud would play but not the left. I kept unpairing, restarting my phone, uninstalling the app, reinstalling the app, repairing and still kept having the pause un pause issue. It turns out there is a setting in the menu that will pause and re start playback based on when you take off the ear buds and when you put them back in. I turned that feature to off, and finally got the buds to play without stopping and starting the music. After I got them working correctly they sound great. I poked around in the app looking for an equalizer but there isn't one. So I played around with the noise canceling features. To my ears I barely noticed much of a difference with noise canceling turned on so I just left it turned off. I wasn't very impressed with the pass through feature either... They could have left those features out, and the noise canceling, and given us an EQ instead and these would be a better deal. But my phone has an EQ so I just used it instead. I messed around with the touch controls on the ear pieces for pause, play, next, and previous and they seemed to work, but it's kinda clunky and it didn't seam to register all my taps, and sometimes it would register a light touch as a tap and do stuff I didn't want, so I just use my controls on my phone instead. So to wrap it all up, these sound great, they're well built, and they fit comfortably. They include a lot of extra features that don't seem to work as well as intended, and the app is very privacy intrusive but you can't use these without it. But you do get some quality sound for the price.

Bought it for my husband and he loves it!! They fit well and the quality is satisfactory.

Just a complete sound very useful product. Recall, quality great. Sound great connectivity.

Love these things. Excellent sound quality and noise reducing. Very happy I purchased them.

Very good quality just can’t work out in them. Great for low impact activities.

I LOVE IT ........ Perfect to use , fantastic , sound quality is very good !

I am a fan of B&W products, unfortunately this time I was very disappointed. The music sounds incredible, but the reason I returned them was the calls sound is terrible terrible terrible, while on a call the voice jumps from ear to ear, all while having my phone in my pocket, so not due to the Bluetooth not being within reach. I was hoping it was just a defective product so I returned them and tried purchasing again unfortunately there aren’t anymore for purchase. So my search for a good pair of earbuds continues

Love Bower and Wilkins. Sound crystal clear and strong construction.

The sound quality for phone calls is great; crisp, clear, and I only experienced one call drop-out. Initiating the digital assistant is seamless, easy, and the sound quality / word comprehension is good. These look great, feel great, and stay in my ears without moving much. The battery life is a bit better than advertised even with the noise-canselling feature on (maybe 45-60 minutes), and the earbuds / case charge very fast, whether on a USB-C or on a wireless charging pad. The case lid is well-designed, has an average magnet to keep the lid shut if they are in your pocket; that said, you need a bit stronger magnet. For me, at the end of the day, these were all about the music. B&W stereo systems are offered by some of the world's most prestigious car manufacturers. They make $15k floor speakers, and receive accolades for innovations in sound technology. But they missed the mark here for sound. The app has an equilizer. My iPhone has an equilizer. It handles songs with a lot of heavy base very well. 50% of the time, the songs I listen to sounded rich and clear with the lows, mids, and highs spot-on. However, the remaining 50% of the songs I listened to sounded horrible. It was almost as if someone were actively adjusting the equilizer. There was no difference regarding genre. Some of the songs sounded like I was listening to it in a long hallway or cave; very tinny and even some slight reverberation. Some songs, there was large overcompensations in equilizer mids and highs, and other times it was as if someone had turned off the equilizer altogether. There are changes in volume in many songs, but those changes were artificially 'dramatic'. I will say that the noise cancellation was very impressive; I stood on my balcony 1-2' from a window a/c unit, and could barely hear it. I will say that the product pairs easily and quickly to my phone; it just does not stay paired; it sometimes just randomly disconnets, and a few times I had to delete the product from the app and re-pair. I used the product with an iPhone 11 PRO using iOS 14.5.1. I think that a comprehensive firmware update can fix these issues, but that update should have been installed on this product before the product was released to the market. Given the caliber of company B&W is, and their products, the IP5's are inferior, compared to what B&W is known for, as well as the IP5's current competition.

Review is based on pairing with Samsung Galaxy Note 20 The B&W PI5 delivers a really great sound experience with nice low bass, mids, and highs without distortion at all volume levels. It has one of the best Ambient-Pass Through modes I have tested. Also the capacitive buttons are extremely responsive and easy to use, sometimes to a fault. I have known only one other brand to have this same level of response. If you purchase these, know you are only purchasing for sound quality alone as there are limited software features that most other brands have. YouTube Music “Allow external devices to start playback”. If you have this setting turned on, as soon as the headphones are connected, they will begin playing whatever playlist was last playing. Not all a bluetooth devices will utilize this feature (vehicle head unit does not nor most BT headphones from different manufactures I have used0, but the B&W PI5 do and I have noticed that “most” times the audio stream results in stuttering effect which carries over to watching video too in a different app. Disconnecting the headset and reconnecting will fix this...only if the last audio source was actually a video source. I am heavily using YouTube Music and YouTube in these scenarios, so the bug could be between these two apps. If YouTube was the last source of audio played, the auto-play feature of B&W PI5 will not load a video to play and will not begin playing audio upon connection from YouTube Music. I don't use Spotify, Pandora, etc so cannot comment if this also happens when using these services. I do use Google Podcasts, but cannot recall it ever auto-playing that. Warranty I feel I have to highlight this at top of my review as a 2 year warranty is great for making a purchase such as this! Companion App The companion B&W headphones app does not have any way to turn this feature off. While I applaud the level of capacitive feedback the side buttons have, one huge lacking feature is volume control on the headphones themselves. Volume is only controlled via the connected device! The positive there isn’t a deep list of taps to memorize and the majority of the time you will have your device nearby. Given the purpose of these and not being marketed as “Sport” with just IP54 rating, I see the manufacturers choice to limit the app and just focus on sound quality...there are also no reprogramming features, but again they are not needed with so few little command options. App Settings -has two settings that directly control the headset...Noise Cancel ON/OFF and Ambient Sound Pass-Through ON/OFF and level control. The app serves further as a conduit for: firmware updates -a set of Soundscapes that I can only imagine are meant to showcase the sound capabilities of the set as the length of time is in seconds and will continue to loop with a noticeable “skip” when restarting, -Wear Sensor-when removing a bud from the ear, audio playback immediately stops. Just be careful not hit the capacitive button as it will then start playing audio again. I did this a few times before I understood what was happening. -Connections-when paired to multiple devices it can be configured to either connect to the last device used or only to a specific one each time the buds are powered on. Rename the headset, Software Info, and MAC Info -Battery Level-the left shows a faster discharge than the right for the first 25% or so. Around 75% they seem to balance out to the same battery level. -There is also a secondary menu to access Personal B&W Account, App Settings, and Legal Info Fitment As typical there are three different gel size tips to achieve proper fitment. The medium size comes installed by default and proved to be the best fitment for my ear. I had hoped that the B&W PI5 would be different from other similar designs of Wireless Ear-buds, but unfortunately (with my ear design) I cannot use these while being any sort of active and by that I mean bending over to tie my shoe or walking as the right bud will slip out of my ear. The weighting of the bud is high (as that is the only place for everything to fit in the ear) so gravity comes into play here. Ear Clip style is the most effective for me to remedy this. I don’t feel like I can fault B&W here as it is my ear, but it is an industry standard issue I continue to find with this particular design style and I find it is because the design limits the bud from going deep enough to seat in my ear canal fully. Going back to a wired headset with the earbud design I have never had these issues and actually preferred to the earclip design or over-the-head. Call Quality They advertise the 4 Mics, but there may need to be some software tweaks in this department as calls sounded fine to me, but those on the other end said I was distant and hollow sounding like having the call on speaker phone and sometimes there was an echo. Battery Life & Charging This is the first headset I have ever reviewed that the manufacturer does not give a suggested run time. They easily last through anyone of my audio or video sessions. So a 2-hour length movie is no issue and I am bad about checking where the level was at after that. The charging case shows there are 2 x 350mAh batteries so I am assuming that is referring to the buds themselves. I don’t know what battery capacity is in the charging case or how long to expect charging to take place. There is the wireless option and USB-C port (praises there). Wireless will definitely be slower and usually on these devices is around 4.5w. But again no way to know this or the charging capacity of the case via wired, again industry standard with USB-C would suggest 10w or 15w. I do not see these as replacing a dedicated bluetooth mic. While audio will be superior to those, they also are designed for longevity. The charging case will charge buds between use to definitely make it through a day, but don’t plan on using these for more than 3 or 4 hours of continued use. I am on the fence if the audio quality justifies the limitations, personal issues I have during use, and lack of information. Bowers & Wilkins are known for audio quality and superiority, they do not disappoint there! Out of the other brands I have laying around, these definitely will be used the most. Your determined use will have to weigh on your decision. Because of the audio quality I can definitely recommend them for uses I have mentioned most applying to me.

The Best of the Best, High End Sound, Comfortables.

Not a fan. Compared to other headphones clarity is not great, too much bass, just overall no way to resolve this using the EQ. Strange as I thought this brand was well known for audio.

Sound and feel of these earbuds are amazing. The case is almost perfect, but still not as compact as their fruit-labeled competitor. The earbuds are lightweight and can be worn comfortably for hours. The materials feel high-quality and the knob-like structure of the earbuds make them easy to take out of your ear and put back in their case. In fairness, B&W aren't selling these for phone calls- they're focused on sound quality and that's where these earbuds excel. The bass and clarity are top-notch. The noise cancelling is probably the best I've experienced yet from any ANC wireless earbuds. However, call quality is trash. Sound and call clarity will be great on your end, but whoever you're talking to will struggle to hear you, deal with an echo, choppiness, or they'll think you've fallen down a rabbit hole. It's possible that I'm not positioning the earbuds for optimal call quality or I'm using the wrong size ear tips and they're interfering with the mics -- but every time I've tried to use them on calls, the person/people on the other end of the line complained about audio quality. I still use them for music, audiobooks, YouTube, Netflix and they sound fantastic. Battery life is solid and pairing is a cinch. I prefer the sound of these over any of my other wireless earbuds, including my fruit-labeled pros. If you're getting these for music or travel (whenever traveling resumes) -- then you'll love these earbuds. If you're hoping to use them for phone/conference calls -- you'll be sorely disappointed.

The Bowers & Wilkins PI5 earbuds offer easy pairing on android, it auto downloads the app on pairing, which also introduces the touch controls. Listening to master quality music on Tidal HiFi is incredible with these. I prefer a high volume settings, but it sounded good on lower volume too. Music and voice were crisp and bass is impressive. Noise cancelling blocked almost all background noise. I missed the house phone ringing as a result, but still like the feature. The voice quality on phone calls was very good, though perhaps due to the remote phone or voice connection, voice calls rarely sound as clear as music. The remote party reported that my voice was clear sounding on the call. It is also usable for audiobooks and podcasts and was fine for that purpose. If i pulled off one earbud to talk to someone, the PI5 paused the audio, then resumed on reinsert. For my ears, the default size (out of 3) fit and gave me the impression they will not fall out during exercise or other activities. Overall, these seem to be the best sound quality true wireless earbuds i have tried thus far. I would easily recommend them.

what an expensive piece of crap they fall out of your ears and the sound is horrible. I get constant complains when I'm on the phone from the person on the other end they can't hear me or that the noise is not cancelling. Disappointed too bad I disposed of the box or they would've been returned a long time ago. Now I just use them in my helmet but even then, you have to catch them because they fall out. Truly a new design should be in order for such a luxury.

I needed a new pair of wireless earphones since the pair I had for nearly three years started having minor issues. I decided to opt for the Bowers & Wilkins PI5. And I regret that decision. Full disclosure, the earphones had no issue for the first couple of days of me using them. When they work, they sound fantastic with the deep bass and sharp audio delivery. My only issue at the time was the delayed response when interacting with the touch controls which is tapping the appropriate earphone to perform said action (skipping a track, pausing, or activating the noise-canceling feature). I would touch the control and there isn’t an immediate response which had me second-guessing whether or not my finger connected to the surface of the earphone. The earphones fit and stay in the ears (they come with different-sized ear fittings). They stay in your ears whether you’re running or, in my case, skateboarding. I work up a solid sweat and the earbuds remained in my ears without the threat of falling out. Sadly, my disdain for the PI5 earphones took root when they started to randomly pause. I thought that this was happening because the earphones weren’t properly fitted into my ears. I followed the instructions to the letter and the pausing still occurred. My patience reached its limit when the music was pausing every ten seconds. When the music plays a big part in your exercises, the last thing you want to experience is being pulled out of your zone several times in a row. Earphones should be easy access. You push them into your ears properly and you go forward with your activities. As I stated earlier, when the PI5 work, they deliver a fantastic sound that allows you to shut out the noise of the real world. When you download the Bowers & Wilkins app, it comes with calming white noise sounds for the user to enjoy. However, you shouldn’t have to worry about the audio randomly pausing at any moment because you turned your head. My frustrating experience with these earphones might’ve been unique whereas other users won’t have to experience what I did. Unfortunately, this review is based on my current interactions with the PI5 earphones.

I was looking forward to trying the Bowers & Wilkins PI5, and the sound did not disappoint. But for a premium brand at a premium price, it falls short of a 5-star rating. PROs • First off, these are the best fitting in-ear buds I’ve ever had. They are comfortable and form a snug seal, so as to keep noise out even without adaptive noise cancelling (ANC) turned on. Earbud fit is especially non-universal, so YMMV. The box contains 3 different sized ear tips, so hopefully one of them will work for you. • They have great sound with just the right amount of natural but emphatic bass – not overpowering like other brands. Highs could be slightly punchier, but nothing to really complain about. Key thing is you need to turn ANC on to get the great sound; when ANC is off, sound is flat. • Besides improving the soundstage, the ANC does a good job of canceling what outside noise does get through the good seal. • Earbuds are easy to grasp and remove from the case without slipping out of my hands. I have other buds that I’m always dropping because of their shape and slippery finish. • Charging case supports wireless charging or USB-C. • Their free app allows for ambient pass-through to let you hear your surroundings. CONs • By far the biggest flaw is the wear sensors. When the wear sensors detect you’ve removed the buds from your ears, they enter a power saving mode. Then they automatically connect to the last connected device when you wear them again. Unfortunately the sensors have a lot of false positives and enter standby even though you’re wearing them. That means the buds randomly stop and start playback after about 10 to 15 minutes of use. Sometimes music starts playing again immediately after a stop, but sometimes it takes a few minutes or longer. It’s incredibly annoying and a deal breaker if you like having this feature turned on. If you disable the wear sensor (via the app), playback is not interrupted. • No multi-point Bluetooth. Can only pair to one device at a time. Also, in order to pair to a new device, you need the case, unlike many other earbuds which can enter pairing mode by a long press on the earbud or headphone. • Lid on case closes very easily, especially when you’re trying to push the pair button. • App experience is average at best, as there is no EQ or sound profile adjustments. • Ambient pass-through can be set on/off only via the app only instead of by buttons. So if you need to listen for ambient sounds momentarily (like crossing a street or talking to a someone), you have to whip out your phone to enter ambient mode. Frankly, it’s just easier to remove one of the earbuds. Despite these flaws, I still recommend considering these simply for their comfort and sound. Just realize other earbuds may give you a few more features for the money.

Setup: Very easy, click the case and pair. Nice, made it quick and easy to add them to my phone. The app included is simple, to turn on and off noise cancelling and ambient noise. Nothing fancy and saves a lot of hassle. Use: These are great. Have good noise cancelling, but the feature that I appericated was ambient noise while noise cancelling was on. It is the best I've seen. It blocks out the white noise, which noise canelling is great at, but allows voices and other non-white noise through which is perfect me for. I loved that. Soundstage for BW was great music was clear and sounded fine to me. Battery life for ear buds was on par and works fine. Comfort they are like every other pair of ear buds I've used. They are fine, and have a decent fit. Overall these are great if you want a wonderful ear bugs with great noise cancelling and top of class for me Ambient Noise feature. Highly recommended.