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  1. Table of Contents
  2. Top
  3. Main Differences
  4. Design
    1. Style
    2. Comfort
    3. Controls
    4. Breathability
    5. Portability
    6. Case
    7. Build Quality
    8. Stability
    9. Headshots 1
    10. Headshots 2
    11. Top
    12. In The Box
  5. Sound
    1. Sound Profile
    2. Frequency Response Consistency
    3. Raw Frequency Response
    4. Bass Accuracy
    5. Mid Accuracy
    6. Treble Accuracy
    7. Peaks/Dips
    8. Imaging
    9. Passive Soundstage
    10. Virtual Soundstage
    11. Weighted Harmonic Distortion
    12. Test Settings
  6. Isolation
    1. Noise Isolation
    2. Leakage
  7. Microphone
    1. Microphone Style
    2. Recording Quality
    3. Noise Handling
  8. Active Features
    1. Battery
    2. App Support
  9. Connectivity
    1. Wired Connection
    2. Bluetooth Connection
    3. Wireless Connection (Dongle)
    4. PC Compatibility
    5. PlayStation Compatibility
    6. Xbox Compatibility
    7. Base/Dock
  10. Comments

Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 True Wireless vs Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 True Wireless

Side-by-Side Comparison

Products

Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 True Wireless
Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 True Wireless

Tested using Methodology v1.5

Updated Mar 18, 2024 04:57 PM

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Tested using Methodology v1.6

Updated Sep 05, 2024 04:19 PM

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Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 True Wireless Picture
Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 True Wireless Picture

Variants

  • Pi7 (Charcoal)
  • Pi7 (Midnight Blue)
  • Pi7 (White)
  • Pi7 S2 (Canvas White)
  • Pi7 S2 (Midnight Blue)
  • Pi7 S2 (Satin Black)

Our Verdict

Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 True Wireless

Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 True Wireless

The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 True Wireless are the next generation of the Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 True Wireless. Both buds have a premium design, bass-heavy sound profiles, and great noise isolation performances. Just like their predecessor, the S2's carrying case also acts as a wireless transmitter, so you can connect them to devices that otherwise don't support Bluetooth. That said, the S2 have an improved battery performance and now support aptX Adaptive, which allows you to stream high-quality audio or keep lower latency, depending on your content. However, the first gen support aptX-LL, which is designed primarily to lower latency for streaming video.

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Midnight Blue
Pi7
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Midnight Blue
Pi7 S2
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Notice: Two or more of the products selected have been tested with different test methodologies, so some of the results below aren't directly comparable. Learn how our test benches and scoring system work, and read more about the latest changes to our headphones test methodology.

Main Differences for

Threshold 

0.10

Neutral Sound 

6.4
6.6

Treble Accuracy 
 

6.2
7.1

Full Comparison

Design

Style  

Design Picture 2  

Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 True Wireless Design Picture 2
Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 True Wireless Design Picture 2

Type  

In-ear
In-ear

Enclosure  

Closed-Back
Closed-Back

Wireless  

Truly Wireless
Truly Wireless

Transducer  

Hybrid
Hybrid

Show text

Comfort 
 

6.5
7.0

Comfort Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 True Wireless Comfort Picture
Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 True Wireless Comfort Picture

Weight  

0.03 lbs
0.03 lbs

Clamping Force 
 

0 lbs
0 lbs

Show text

Controls 
 

5.8
5.8

Controls Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 True Wireless Controls Picture
Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 True Wireless Controls Picture

OS Compatibility 
 

Not OS specific
Not OS specific

Ease Of Use  

Good
Good

Feedback  

Good
Good

Call/Music Control  

Yes
Yes

Volume Control  

No
No

Microphone Control  

No
No

Channel Mixing 
 

No
No

Noise Cancelling Control  

On/Off
On/Off

Talk-Through 
 

No
No

Additional Controls  

Voice Assistant
Multi function + Voice Assistant

Show text

Breathability 
 

9.2

Breathability After Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 True Wireless Breathability After Picture

Avg.Temp.Difference  

0.8 °C

Show text

Portability 
 

9.5
9.5

Portability Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 True Wireless Portability Picture
Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 True Wireless Portability Picture

 

0.7" (1.7 cm)
1.2" (3.0 cm)

 

2.2" (5.5 cm)
1.6" (4.0 cm)

 

1.0" (2.5 cm)
0.8" (2.0 cm)

Volume  

1.43 in³ (23.40 cm³)
1.17 in³ (19.10 cm³)

Transmitter Required  

No
No

Show text

Case 
 

7.5
7.5

Case Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 True Wireless Case Picture
Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 True Wireless Case Picture

Type  

Hard case
Hard case

 

2.2" (5.6 cm)
2.2" (5.5 cm)

 

2.4" (6.1 cm)
2.4" (6.0 cm)

 

1.1" (2.8 cm)
1.1" (2.8 cm)

Volume  

5.83 in³ (95.60 cm³)
5.71 in³ (93.50 cm³)

Show text

Build Quality 
 

8.0
8.0

Build Quality Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 True Wireless Build Quality Picture
Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 True Wireless Build Quality Picture

Show text

Stability 
 

7.5
7.5

Stability Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 True Wireless Stability Picture
Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 True Wireless Stability Picture

Show text

Headshots 1  

Angled Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 True Wireless Angled Picture
Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 True Wireless Angled Picture

Side Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 True Wireless Side Picture
Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 True Wireless Side Picture

Headshots 2  

Front Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 True Wireless Front Picture
Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 True Wireless Front Picture

Rear Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 True Wireless Rear Picture
Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 True Wireless Rear Picture

Top  

Top Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 True Wireless Top Picture
Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 True Wireless Top Picture

In The Box  

In The Box Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 True Wireless In The Box Picture
Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 True Wireless In The Box Picture

Show text

Sound

Sound Profile 
 

Frequency Response  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Bass Amount 
 

3.58 dB
2.99 dB

Treble Amount 
 

-3.06 dB
-2.29 dB

Show text

Frequency Response Consistency 
 

9.7
9.3

Consistency L  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Consistency R  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Avg. Std. Deviation 
 

0.07 dB
0.15 dB

Show text

Raw Frequency Response 
 

Raw FR L  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Raw FR R  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Bass Accuracy 
 

6.9
7.1

Bass  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Std. Err. 
 

5.05 dB
4.64 dB

Low-Frequency Extension 
 

10 Hz
10 Hz

Low-Bass 
 

4.81 dB
4.25 dB

Mid-Bass 
 

5.32 dB
4.86 dB

High-Bass 
 

6.52 dB
6.1 dB

Show text

Mid Accuracy 
 

8.0
8.3

Mid  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Std. Err. 
 

2.73 dB
2.26 dB

Low-Mid 
 

4.25 dB
3.23 dB

Mid-Mid 
 

-0.59 dB
-0.68 dB

High-Mid 
 

-0.08 dB
-0.01 dB

Show text

Treble Accuracy 
 

6.2
7.1

Treble  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Std. Err. 
 

5.55 dB
4.37 dB

Low-Treble 
 

-0.53 dB
0.11 dB

Mid-Treble 
 

-4.64 dB
-3.88 dB

High-Treble 
 

0.52 dB
-0.39 dB

Show text

Peaks/Dips 
 

7.6
7.8

Peaks/Dips Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Peaks 
 

1.22 dB
1.15 dB

Dips 
 

2.29 dB
1.91 dB

Show text

Imaging 
 

8.5
8.2

Group Delay  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Phase Response Mismatch  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Weighted Group Delay 
 

0.12
0.14

Weighted Phase Mismatch 
 

8.13
3.64

Weighted Amplitude Mismatch 
 

1.26
2.03

Weighted Frequency Mismatch 
 

1.06
1.52

Show text

Passive Soundstage 
 

0.6
0.6

PRTF  

Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 True Wireless PRTF
Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 True Wireless PRTF

PRTF Accuracy (Std. Dev.) 
 

N/A
N/A

PRTF Size (Avg.) 
 

N/A
N/A

PRTF Distance 
 

N/A
N/A

Openness 
 

1.7
1.6

Acoustic Space Excitation 
 

1.0
0.8

Show text

Virtual Soundstage 
 

0.0
0.0

Virtual Soundstage  

Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 True Wireless Virtual Soundstage
Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 True Wireless Virtual Soundstage

Head Modeling 
 

No
No

Speaker Modeling 
 

No
No

Room Ambience 
 

No
No

Head Tracking 
 

No
No

Virtual Surround 
 

No
No

Weighted Harmonic Distortion 
 

7.5
7.2

Weighted Harmonic Distortion  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

WHD @ 90 
 

0.359
0.457

WHD @ 100 
 

0.153
0.174

Show text

Test Settings 
 

Firmware 
 

1.0.9
1.0.0

Power 
 

On
On

Connection 
 

Bluetooth 5.0
Bluetooth 5.0

Codec 
 

aptX HD, 24-bit, 48kHz
aptX HD, 24-bit, 48kHz

EQ 
 

No EQ
No EQ

ANC 
 

On
On

Tip/Pad 
 

Silicone (small)
Silicone (small)

Microphone 
 

Integrated
Integrated

Show text

Isolation

Noise Isolation 
 

8.3
8.4

Noise Isolation  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Isolation Audio 
 

Overall Attenuation 
 

-23.63 dB
-23.85 dB

Noise Cancelling  

Yes
Yes

Bass 
 

-16.86 dB
-16.21 dB

Mid 
 

-19.37 dB
-25.67 dB

Treble 
 

-34.7 dB
-30.68 dB

Show text

Leakage 
 

9.1
9.3

Leakage  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Leakage Audio 
 

Overall Leakage @ 1ft 
 

26.35 dB
25.33 dB

Show text

Microphone

Microphone Style 
 

Integrated 
 

Yes
Yes

In-Line 
 

No
No

Boom 
 

No
No

Detachable Boom 
 

No
No

Mic  

Yes
Yes

Recording Quality 
 

6.9
6.1

Microphone Frequency Response  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Recorded Speech 
 

LFE 
 

201.59 Hz
403.18 Hz

FR Std. Dev. 
 

2.43 dB
2.73 dB

HFE 
 

4,832.64 Hz
4,763.35 Hz

Weighted THD 
 

1.184
2.624

Gain 
 

-0.7 dB
-3.32 dB

Show text

Noise Handling 
 

6.7
6.2

SpNR  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

SpNR 
 

15.33 dB
9.66 dB

Noise Gate 
 

Always On
Always On

Speech + Pink Noise Handling 
 

6.5
6.0

Speech + Pink Noise Audio Sample  

Speech + Subway Noise Handling 
 

7.0
6.5

Speech + Subway Noise Audio Sample  

Show text

Active Features

Battery 
 

5.2
5.8

Battery Type 
 

Rechargable
Rechargable

Continuous Battery Life 
 

2.4 hrs
3.9 hrs

Additional Charges 
 

4.0
3.0

Total Battery Life 
 

12 hrs
15.6 hrs

Charge Time 
 

0.7 hrs
1.6 hrs

Power-Saving Feature 
 

Standby mode
Standby mode

Audio While Charging 
 

No
No

Passive Playback 
 

No
No

Charging Port  

USB-C
USB-C

Show text

App Support 
 

6.5
7.0

App Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 True Wireless App Picture
Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 True Wireless App Picture

App Name  

Bowers & Wilkins Headphones
Bowers & Wilkins Music

iOS  

Yes
Yes

Android  

Yes
Yes

macOS  

No
No

Windows  

No
No

Equalizer 
 

No
No

ANC Control 
 

On/Off
On/Off

Mic Control  

No
No

Room Effects 
 

No
No

Playback Control 
 

No
Yes

Button Mapping  

No
No

Surround Support 
 

No
No

Show text

Connectivity

Wired Connection 
 

0.0
1.4

Cable Picture  

Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 True Wireless Cable Picture
Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 True Wireless Cable Picture

Analog Audio 
 

No
Yes

USB Audio 
 

No
USB-C

Detachable 
 

No
No

Length 
 

N/A
N/A

Connector 
 

No Wired Option
USB-C

Latency - Analog 
 

123.9 ms

Latency - USB 
 

N/A
265.8 ms

Recorded Latency 
 

Recorded Latency Connection  

Analog

Show text

Bluetooth Connection 
 

6.6
6.7

Bluetooth Version 
 

5.0
5.010

Multi-Device Pairing 
 

No
No

NFC Pairing 
 

No

Quick Pair (Android) 
 

No

Quick Pair (iOS) 
 

No

Line Of Sight Range 
 

113.19 ft (34.50 m)
273.29 ft (83.30 m)

Latency - SBC 
 

276 ms
287 ms

Latency - aptX 
 

243 ms
279 ms

Latency - aptX Adaptive (High Quality) 
 

328 ms

Latency - aptX Adaptive (Low Latency) 
 

123 ms

Latency - LDAC 
 

N/A

Recorded Latency 
 

Recorded Latency Codec  

aptX Adaptive (Low Latency)

AAC Support 
 

Yes

PC Latency (aptX HD) 
 

236 ms

PC Latency (aptX-LL) 
 

115 ms

iOS Latency 
 

85 ms

Android Latency 
 

96 ms

Show text

Wireless Connection (Dongle) 
 

6.1
0.0

Line Of Sight Range 
 

44.29 ft (13.50 m)
N/A

Latency - Dongle 
 

142 ms
N/A

Recorded Latency 
 

N/A

Show text

PC Compatibility 
 

Analog 
 

No
No

Wired USB 
 

No
No

Non-BT Wireless 
 

Audio Only
Audio Only

Show text

PlayStation Compatibility 
 

PS4 Analog 
 

No
No

PS4 Wired USB 
 

No
No

PS4 Non-BT Wireless 
 

Audio Only
Audio Only

PS5 Analog 
 

No
No

PS5 Wired USB 
 

No
No

PS5 Non-BT Wireless 
 

Audio Only
Audio Only

Show text

Xbox Compatibility 
 

Xbox One Analog 
 

No
No

Xbox One Wired USB 
 

No
No

Xbox One Non-BT Wireless 
 

Audio Only
Audio Only

Xbox Series X|S Analog 
 

No
No

Xbox Series X|S Wired USB 
 

No
No

Xbox Series X|S Non-BT Wireless 
 

Audio Only
Audio Only

Show text

Base/Dock 
 

5.2
5.2

Type 
 

Charging Case
Charging Case

USB Input 
 

Yes
Yes

Line In 
 

No
No

Line Out 
 

No
No

Optical Input 
 

No
No

RCA Input 
 

No
No

Dock Charging 
 

Yes
Yes

Power Supply 
 

USB-C
USB-C

Show text

Check Price

Midnight Blue
Pi7
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Midnight Blue
Pi7 S2
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Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 True Wireless

Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 True Wireless

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