B&W’s Pi7 S2 looks great, but can’t beat Apple and Sony in one regard

Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) has announced upgraded versions of its true wireless earbuds, but the Pi7 S2 will be hard to sell to many thanks to one key element.

There’s a lot to like about these headphones, and they outperform the AirPods Pro 2 in terms of Hi-Res Audio offering, but the $399 asking price might be too high in our Lord’s year 2023, when the cost of living crisis shows no signs of easing. .

That’s $150/£100 more than Apple’s top-tier wireless earbuds, and now Sony has reduced the price of the WF-1000XM4 to $279/£199, the Pi7 S2 $120/£150 more.

B&W will have a hard time competing with Apple and Sony when the price is so high.

If you have the money, the Pi7 S2 are very beautiful headphones, and I don’t just mean the new Satin Black, Canvas White and Midnight Blue colorways. They also come with impressive specs, including 9.2mm Bowers & Wilkins speakers, extended Bluetooth range up to 25m, extended five-hour battery life, six microphones, and Automatic Active Noise Cancellation (ANC).

There’s also support for Qualcomm’s aptX Adaptive with a codec that enables 24-bit/48kHz Hi-Res streaming from compatible services and wireless audio relay, meaning you can connect to things like in-flight entertainment systems via the charging case.

Bowers and Wilkins

While this may be enough to tempt some, the premium price will put many off. The savings here is that the Pi5 S2 retails for a more reasonably priced $299/£249.

While they lose out on Qualcomm aptX Adaptive and Wireless Audio Retransmission, the charging case delivers 19 hours of juice, three more than the Pi7 S2.

They will be available in Cloud Grey, Storm Grey, Spring Lilac and Sage Green and both new models will go on sale starting January 25th. If you’re looking for affordable Hi-Res Audio wireless headphones, the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro 2 might be of interest to you.