Expert's Rating
Pros
- Strong sound quality
- Good battery life
- Comfortable design
Cons
- No wireless charging option
- Noise-cancellation could be stronger
Our Verdict
B&W’s Pi6 earbuds provide high-end sound at a mid-range price.
Price When Reviewed
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Best Pricing Today
Best Prices Today: Bowers & Wilkins Pi6
We were really impressed by the Pi8 earbuds (read our review) that Bowers & Wilkins launched earlier in 2024, but the Pi8 is the company’s flagship model, with a higher price than Apple’s AirPods Pro and an innovative smart-case that doubles up as an aptX transmitter. If you want the high-quality sound associated with B&W at a more competitive price then you could opt for the new Pi6 instead, which the company says are its “most affordable earbuds ever”.
Priced at $249/£219 and available in a variety of colours, the Pi6 is about the same price as Apple’s AirPods Pro (read our review). The earbuds look very similar to the Pi8, with both models housing relatively large 12mm drivers that are based on the same driver design used in B&W’s over-ear headphones that are very much aimed at audiophile users. They do look a little chunky, but – like the Pi8 – the earbuds are more streamlined than previous models, and we found that they fit well and are comfortable to wear for long periods of time.
See how the Pi6 and Pi8 compare to other earbuds in our round up of the best wireless earbuds for iPhone.
The earbuds are rated IP54 for water and dust-resistance, so you can wear them outdoors or when working up a sweat at the gym. There are four sizes of ear-tips included to give a good fit, and there’s also a rubber ring moulded onto the body of the earpieces that fits into your outer ear and helps to hold them firmly in place.
Like the Pi8, the Pi6 uses the latest energy-efficient Bluetooth 5.4, with support for Apple’s AAC codec for wireless audio (it also supports aptX Adaptive, although that will be more useful for Android users). By default, you can turn noise-cancellation on and off with a quick tap on the left earbud, or by using the Music app. However, the app also lets you change the controls so that the buttons on the earbuds adjust the volume instead. It also lets you pair the earbuds with two devices and switch between them as required, and provides bass and treble controls for adjusting the sound (although it’s a shame that there’s no full EQ controls or presets).
The earbuds certainly sound good as I fire up the Hi-Res Lossless version of Sturgill Simpson’s Sing Along on Apple Music. The track is a noisy mashup of grinding rock guitar and EDM keyboards, but the Pi6 balances the sound really well. It lays down a gritty bedrock of sound with Simpson’s fuzz-drenched guitar, while the keyboards go fizzing through the air like fireworks. It pulls out the crisp, ticking percussion that holds the song together, and the bass drop towards the end wouldn’t be out of place on a dancefloor at a New Year’s Eve party. The bass also works really well on Leonard Cohen’s You Want It Darker, capturing the smooth, rhythmic bass riff and the even deeper rumble of Cohen’s own voice.
There are some compromises needed to keep the price down, though. The Pi6 does without the smart-case that is included with the Pi8, opting for a more conventional case that uses USB-C for charging (with no support for Qi wireless charging, either). Battery life is good, though, lasting for eight hours when using noise-cancellation – compared to six hours for the AirPods Pro – while the case lets you recharge two more times for a total of 24 hours of listening time.
The team at B&W also point out that neither the Pi6 or Pi8 supports spatial audio, although that’s because they don’t feel that the technology adds very much to the sound quality rather than any attempt at cost-cutting. They do acknowledge, though, that the noise-cancellation on the Pi6 isn’t quite as effective as that of the Pi8. The earbuds do a good job of blocking out low frequency sounds, such as the rumble of an aircraft engine, but they let in quite a bit of the voices and higher frequency sounds in our second test that simulates the noise of a busy airport.
Should you buy the B&W Pi6?
If noise-cancellation is your top priority then there are other earbuds and headphones that have the edge on that score. However, the Pi6 earbuds do provide strong sound quality and respectable battery life at a price that can compete with rivals such as the AirPods Pro.
Best Prices Today: Bowers & Wilkins Pi6
Author: Cliff Joseph, Contributor, Macworld
Cliff Joseph is a former editor of MacUser magazine and a freelance editor with 30(ish) years experience of Mac and PC technology. He first used a Mac working as a magazine sub-editor and found it so much better than using scissors and a pot of glue to make the words fit on the page that he become a convert to the Mac overnight. He has spent the rest of his career following the ups and downs of Apple (and is old enough to remember the time Apple came close to going bust). Cliff writes many of MacWorld’s games reviews - and is currently exploring options for getting Diablo IV to run on a Mac…