Bowers & Wilkins PI4 Noise Cancelling Wireless Headphones, With Magnetic In-Ear Earbuds, Bluetooth 5.0 - Gold

I had been looking to replace my Bowers & Wilkins C5 series 1 after they began to fail after 7 years of use (a trip through the washing machine probably didn’t help). I was really looking for a truly wireless solution so as much as I wanted to replace them with another set from B&W, I chose to purchase the AirPods Pro instead - what a mistake! They sounded terrible, thin and mid-forward. I also found that the truly wireless buds to give a sense of freedom from wires but became a nuisance if you quickly wanted to remove one as you have do something with it, put it somewhere safe or back in the case. I had to return them.I toyed with purchasing the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 but decided to go to the PI4’s instead. For fans of the B&W sound, these don’t disappoint! Bass is thick and substantial but without overwhelming the mids like my old C5’s did. To my ears they sound lovely and clear and the highs are just right. Compared to the AirPods, these completely annihilated them for quality. They are also much louder.Comfort and convenience - I actually really like the neckband, it’s so much more convenient than truly wireless in everyday use. Yes the form is bigger, but if you ever need to take one out, it just hangs round your neck. I also prefer the position of the control buttons. Comfort-wise, these feel way more secure than AirPods and certainly improve on the comfort of the C5’s. They strike a good balance but I’ll need to wear them for longer to really test their comfort.The connection has been absolutely rock solid so far, no drop-outs at all. I’m not one to leave my phone in one room and wander round the house though.If you’re looking for noise cancelling then I would say that this is the area where the PI4’s fall short as they don’t really cancel much noise at all. I don’t have a lot of experience with ANC headphones but the AirPods Pro were certainly better. But we also need to put this into context as although the AirPods were better they didn’t create complete silence and only removed more of the low frequencies. If you really want to block out lots of noise you should be looking at a pair of over-ears.As far as battery life goes, I charged them a week ago and use them for 30-40 mins everyday and they still have 40% left so I don’t have any complaints here.In conclusion, I am really happy with these. If sound quality is your priority then in my opinion they are very good. What I would say though is that if you don’t need as much battery life, then as the PI3’s are supposed to sound very similar, they might be the better buy given that they are £100 cheaper.Update December 2021 - these headphones have been brilliant and I have managed to use them on a train and on a flight. Using noise cancelling, they were able to quiet-down a decent amount of background noise which meant I could keep the volume down to about 60%. I have had no issues with drop-outs and can wear them for hours without any comfort issues. Still very happy with them.

Bought these on cyber Monday when were half price.I am hard of hearing so use them predominantly for watching TV so don't annoy the family with having the volume too loud. They work very well sO I can ejoy clear dound and dialog while my family can watch at a TV volume comfortable to them,There is of course a little lag so voice can be a fraction of a second out of sync, but I'd exepct that will all.They are easy to pair and havent dropped out at all.I do find however that the volume is not as loud as it could be. Most shows i have on max, or just below but somme shows (especially on virgin) even on max are not quite loud enough for me.I sought support from manufacturer and said the volume limit is controlled by the source and nothing they can do. I still find this a little hard to understand as the headphones have their own little amplifiers so in theory should be able to amplify sound to what ever level they wish. Then there was a comment that their is a max set so people don't damage their hearing. Nah!I like the neck cord style as its easier to not lose and can take one/both out hang aroudn your neck without having to find somewhere to put them.Battery life has been good.The fit to the ears is OK, but I'm sure everyone is different. I;ve tried using without the little winglets but neither of the 3 size ear tips stay in, so need to use the winglets. Have no problem with that though I did think with these it would be a rock solid fit. Its a good fit but still have occassions where they fall out. Again have tried all 3 size winglets too.I may be due to the actual ear piece not being cicular cross section but more oval. I dont know.The connectin to 2 devices at once hasnt been working out so far as switching between the two is not possible back and forth (eg from TV to mobile phone and back when the ads have finished).So they may not be perfect, but nothing ever really is. Overall I am happy with the buy, and that could be part due to the fact I got £250 headphones for just over £100.

I had the P13 earphones and loved them. For what they were.However at MSRP of £100 more the P14 seem to not fit as well as the P13, which is where I struggle. The better fitting P13 I felt didn’t need noise cancellation, yet the P14 that has noise cancellation definitely needs it due to the reduced fit quality. Fortunately the ANC is actually pretty blooming good!The sound quality is superb though, and the battery is reasonable with ANC yet respectable without.But the Bluetooth connectivity is sometimes questionable, I can’t imagine it’s too difficult to implement, especially with the ubiquity of Bluetooth headphones that have no issues like their original PX over-ear headphones. The Bowers headphones app leaves something to be desired, for the convenience of being able to use it to pair different devices on the fly it makes it more difficult to forget devices when you have a connection issue.Overall a decent set of headphones but with some drawback I would not expect from a company like Bowers. Let alone at MSRP of £370