If you’re a fan of Bowers & Wilkins (B&W), you may be happy to know that the Abbey Road partner has chosen a new distributor to help spread its gospel, and it’s a company we’re familiar with: TCAcoustic. To celebrate the new partnership, the Singapore-based company held a showcase for all of its audio partner’s latest range of “next-generation” personal audio products.
The B&W product line we saw were its new Pi5 S2 and Pi7 S2 TWS earbuds, with the latter being the hero product of the range. Both earbuds models were launched earlier this year and serve as a replacement to the first generation Pi5 and Pi7 models that first released back in 2021. Internally, they share similar specifications; both SKUs use a 9.2mm dynamic drive unit in each earbud, and both connect to device via Bluetooth 5.0, which is a little dated but on the plus side, they do support Qualcomm’s AptX technology and codec, along with AAC and SBC, but only the Pi7 S2 supports AptX Adaptive. Although, it should be noted that this technology is a little old, and Spatial Audio is already becoming the norm at this point.
There is one party trick that sets the B&W Pi7 S2 apart from the Pi5 S2, and it lies within its casing, literally. Unlike the latter model, the Pi7 S2’s casing offers a feature called Wireless Audio Retransmission, which is basically a fancy way of saying that the accessory is capable of serving as an external wireless connector to the earbuds and can be used to tune into an in-flight entertainment system. All you need to do is to plug the casing into the audio port via the provided USB-C-to-3.5mm adapter. Likewise, the connectivity function can also be performed on PCs and laptops; just use a USB-C to USB-C cable, connect the charging case to your desired machine or device, and it will directly pair it to the selected device.
In terms of battery life, both the B&W Pi5 S2 and Pi7 S2 have been improved to run for five hours with the onboard ANC turned off, with an additional 19 hours and 16 hours provided from their respective charging cases. As for pricing, the B&W Pi5 S2 retails at RM1699 and is available in four colours, Cloud Grey, Storm Grey, Spring Lilac, and Sage Green. Meanwhile, the Pi7 S2 retails at RM2499 and is available in three colourways, Satin Black, Canvas White, and Midnight Blue.
Another flagship product that we had the chance to briefly play around with was the B&W Px8 over-ear headphones, and not only did TCAcoustic have the standard edition models, it also had two special edition SKUs on the show floor. Specifically, the 007 Edition and McLaren Edition. Price-wise, the two special editions currently retail at an SRP of RM4299 each, while the standard edition sells for RM1000 less, at RM3299.
Specs-wise, the B&W Px8 are the brand’s most premium over-ear wireless headphones to date, with each earcup fitted with a special 40mm, full-range carbon driver to drive what I feel are a slightly bass-heavy but otherwise balanced experience with the other two pitches. I did have a chance to ask one of the product specialists there if this was normal, to which he said that that is a typical out-of-the-box experience and that ideally, you would have to do a burn-in of 200 hours for the headphones. That being said, we look forward to the day we get these headphones in our labs to test.
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