Technologies

Bowers & Wilkins PI7 S2 Earbuds Review: Same Fantastic Sound, But Only Slight Improvements

The company’s flagship earbuds have the same design but offer better battery life and double the Bluetooth range.

When Bowers & Wilkins introduced its first true-wireless earbuds in April 2021, they were among the very best-sounding models in that highly competitive headphone space. Now we get the next generation of those buds, the PI7 S2 ($399, 349, AU$700) and PI5 S2 ($299, 249, AU$450) — and they manage to be both quite impressive and a tad disappointing at the same time. (For what it’s worth, the names are «pi 7» and «pi 5», styled in all caps and no spaces, not «P seventeen» and «P fifteen.» Got it?)

8.2

Bowers & Wilkins PI7 S2

Like

Great sound
Improved battery life and Bluetooth range
Very good noise-canceling and voice-calling capabilities
Wireless charging case turns into a Bluetooth transceiver, enabling you to connect to an external audio source such as an in-flight entertainment system

Don’t Like

Pricey
Same Qualcomm chipset as in the previous model
Missing some features typically found on premium buds

Let’s start with the underwhelming part. For better or worse, although the PI7 and PI5 now come in new color options, their design has barely changed, and they look very similar to their predecessors. If you look closely, the grilles over the microphones appear to be slightly larger, and there’s a sensor just below one of the microphones that wasn’t there previously. Bowers and Wilkins didn’t mention anything about new drivers, so presumably they’re the same, and I’ve confirmed that these new models use the same legacy Qualcomm QCC5126 chipset (with Bluetooth 5.0) as the originals. (The latest 5 series chips are the QCC5141 and QCC5144).

So what’s upgraded? According to Bowers & Wilkins, the new models have better battery life and Bluetooth range, now up to 25 meters, which is double the previous range. Additionally, the buds now integrate into the new Bowers & Wilkins Music app for iOS and Android and have a much improved set-up experience (I can attest to that).

With the original PI7 buds, you only got about four hours of battery life on a single charge with an additional four charges in the case (20 hours total). The battery life on the PI7 S2 is up to five hours for the buds with 16 hours more from the case (21 hours total). Meanwhile, the PI5 goes from 4.5 hours on a single charge to up to five hours but dips from 20 hours additional from the case to 19 hours.

Bowers & Wilkins says the battery life gains in the buds have been achieved through hardware changes, not software updates. The batteries in the buds are new and the antenna design has also changed. «The caps at the end of the earbuds — the sections that carry the logo — have been re-engineered to improve antenna performance,» a Bowers & Wilkins rep informed me. «We’ve introduced a new design of antenna and repositioned it within the earbud endcaps. At the same time, we have switched to use plastic, rather than aluminum to trim each endcap. The result is stronger Bluetooth signal strength, giving us our improved 25-meter range.»

While I certainly appreciate better battery life and improved Bluetooth range with a more reliable wireless connection, the updates struck me as relatively modest. Of course, Bowers and Wilkins could add features later, which we’ve seen before with premium buds that use Qualcomm chipsets (Jabra and Bose, for example). However, Bowers & Wilkins has never updated the firmware of its original buds. So don’t expect these to get multipoint Bluetooth pairing, which allows you to pair the buds with two devices simultaneously — say, a computer and smartphone — and have the audio automatically switch to your smartphone when a call comes in (instead, you have to manually switch between paired devices). Nor can you expect to see support for Qualcomm’s upcoming spatial audio or Bluetooth LE Audio with Auracast capabilities.

The app is also missing an equalizer to tweak your sound. I personally don’t mind a fixed EQ that sticks to a company’s signature sound, but a lot of people like to customize the sound settings of their headphones.

All that said, the touch controls work very well, as does the automatic ear-detection feature. And the PI7 S2’s wireless charging case, like its predecessor, converts into a transceiver, so you can plug the case into the headphone port on an airplane’s inflight entertainment system and wirelessly stream audio from the case to the earbuds. Alternately, you could also connect the case to a laptop audio port and use it to wirelessly stream high-resolution audio to the buds.

Note that the PI5 is very much a step-down model. It’s got a single driver instead of the dual drivers found in the PI7 and one less microphone on each earbud (two instead of three). The aforementioned «wireless audio retransmission» feature in its case is also absent.

All about the sound

Simply put, the PI7 S2 sound great so long as you get a tight seal from one of the three sizes of included ear tips. I’m a fan of Bowers & Wilkins ear tips, which have a similar design to Sennheiser ear tips, and the large tips fit my ears well. These are large ear buds that will stick out of your ears a fair amount, but they did fit my ears comfortably and fairly securely. They offer IPX54 water-resistance, which means they’re splashproof and dust-resistant, so you can run with them, though there are better earbuds options with sport fins that are more suitable for sporting activities (I’m not sure you want to risk a $399 earbud dropping out of your ear). However, I would have no problem using them at the gym.

Like its predecessor, the PI7 supports Qualcomm aptX Adaptive wireless transmission (which includes the aptX HD codec) from compatible mobile devices, allowing for «high-resolution music transmission from suitable streaming services, such as Qobuz.» The list of Android devices — and dedicated music players — that support aptX Adaptive has grown over the last few years and you should ideally pair the buds with a device that supports aptX Adaptive (along with a streaming service that offers high-resolution streaming). That said, the buds also work just fine and sound very good with Apple’s iPhones, which support the AAC codec. (Both the PI5 and PI7 support AAC streaming but the PI5 only supports standard aptX, not aptX Adaptive.) Alas, Sony’s LDAC hi-res audio codec is not supported, but typically headphones support either aptX or LDAC, not both.

I listened to the buds using an iPhone 14 Pro and an Asus ROG 6 Android smartphone that’s powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 mobile platform. As I said with the original PI7, the PI7 S2 has exactly what I’m looking for in a good set of headphones: Accurate and articulate sounding with deep, well-defined bass, natural sounding mids, nicely detailed treble and a wide soundstage that gives the overall sound some largesse.

On my iPhone, I tested the buds with Spotify, Apple Music and Qobuz. The PI7 S2 can go toe-to-toe and, in some cases, slightly edge out many of the top mainstream earbuds out there for sound, including Sony’s WF-1000XM4, Apple’s AirPods Pro 2, Bose’s QuietComfort Earbuds 2, Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 and Bang and Olufsen Beoplay EX, which also cost $400.

However, when I switched to the Asus and streamed high-resolution tracks from Qobuz (with aptX Adaptive), I went from saying to myself, «That sounds really good» to «Wow, that sounds awesome.» Bowers & Wilkins has a playlist on Qobuz for its PX8 full-size headphones, so I ran through a bunch of those tracks. Some of them included Taylor Swift’s Vigilante Shit, Athletes of God’s Don’t Wanna Be Normal, Anna B Savage’s Since We Broke up, Orbital’s Dirty Rat and Pixies’ Vault of Heaven. The quality of the bass was a level up — more visceral with added girth and punch — and there was a little more sparkle, depth and nuance to the music all around. I came away feeling my Spotify needed an upgrade.

Good noise canceling but not best-in-class

As with the sound, you’ll need a tight seal to get optimal performance for noise canceling, which can be set to on, off or an «auto» mode that adapts the noise canceling according to the ambient sound in your environment. You can also adjust how much «passthrough» sound you want to let into the buds, which is typically referred to as an awareness or transparency mode.

The buds’ transparency mode isn’t quite as natural sounding as some of the others I’ve used (at the moment, the AirPods Pro 2’s transparency mode is the gold standard). I settled on a midway point for the slider setting in between «min» and «max» for what I felt was the best transparency experience.

The noise canceling is quite effective and does a nice job of reducing a decent amount of ambient sound, particularly in the lower frequencies. However, the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2 do a better job reducing noise across a broader range of frequencies (higher frequencies are more challenging for noise-canceling headphones to muffle). So while the PI7’s noise canceling is clearly respectable, it’s not in the same class as the earbuds’ sound.

The PI7’s voice-calling capabilities are at a similar level — very good but not best-in-class. The buds did a nice job of reducing background noise on the streets of New York. While callers said they could hear a bit of background noise, it was reduced considerably, and they said my voice came clearly without any warbling. I could also hear them quite well, and there’s a bit of sidetone so you can hear your voice in the buds as you speak.

Bowers & Wilkins PI7 S2 final thoughts

Yes, the PI7 S2s are technically a second-gen product, but they feel more like a generation 1.5 product. Bowers & Wilkins has essentially smoothed out some of the rough edges on the original buds (I mean that metaphorically, not literally). The extra hour of battery life and extended Bluetooth range (with seemingly a slightly more reliable wireless connection) are welcome changes. And the setup and integration with the Bowers & Wilkins Music app creates a better overall user experience, despite its somewhat bare-bones quality (compared to Sony’s Headphones app anyway).

If you’re comparing the PI7 S2 to the PI5 S2, which also sound excellent but not quite as good as the PI7, you’ll want to keep an eye on the PI5 S2’s price, which should dip more quickly than the PI7 S2’s price. The original Pi5s are selling for as low as $150, or $100 off their list price of $250, so we’ll see where everything shakes out. The PI5s could end up being the better value, though it’s unfortunate that Bowers & Wilkins added $50 to their list price.

Needless to say, $400 is a lot to spend on a set of earbuds. And when you spend this much, you ideally want the latest technology and features (aptX Lossless, for example). But if great sound is your priority, the PI7 S2s deliver it. And with the buds paired to the right device and streaming service, they can sound downright special.

Technologies

Invincible VS Is a Tag-Team Brawler Packed With Bloody Superhero Carnage

The Invincible franchise is heading to Xbox.

Microsoft’s Xbox Games Showcase had its share of surprises, including a new game from Pokemon developer Game Freak and the ROG Xbox Ally portable handheld. Another surprise is a fighting game featuring characters from the Invincible comic and show.

Invincible VS is a three-versus-three tag fighting game featuring characters from the Invincible universe. The trailer showed several characters from the show, including Invincible, Omni-Man, Atom Eve, Rex Splode, Bulletproof, and two Viltrumites — the powerful alien species Omni-Man and Invincible belong to.

The game itself has a comic book art style to it, but its action is more along the lines of Mortal Kombat. The fighting is very bloody, which is faithful to the comic and show, but no kind of fatalities were shown in the trailer. There are also a couple of familiar settings from the show. While we saw only a handful of characters in this first glimpse of Invincible VS, there is a wealth of heroes and villains that could be added to the game before it launches.

Robert Kirkman’s Invincible
started as a comic in 2003 and ended its run in 2018. In 2021, an animated series based on the comic made its debut on Amazon Prime Video. The show wrapped up its third season in March and has already been renewed for a fourth season.

Skybound Games is publishing Invincible VS with development handled by Quarter Up, an in-house studio led by members of the team that created 2013’s Killer Instinct.

Invincible VS will be released sometime in 2026 for PC and Xbox Series consoles.

Technologies

I Played With the ROG Xbox Ally, the Upcoming Xbox Handheld

The new handheld console was revealed during the Xbox Games Showcase, and I got to spend some time with my hands on it.

Microsoft revealed its long-rumored Xbox handheld console running Windows 11 during the Xbox Games Showcase — two models called the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X — and I spent a short time playing around with one soon after.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed to take any pictures or videos of the demo since the hardware we got to test wasn’t final. That became evident when our designated guide had HDMI connection issues with the unit. I was able to play around with the Xbox full-screen experience and the various settings menus and play the beginning minutes of Gears of War Reloaded, which comes out this summer.

The device is quite comfortable to hold, with slightly textured grips. The face buttons, triggers and analog sticks all felt familiar, very similar to what I’m used to on an Xbox controller.

What’s really exciting is that you can download your games, remote play from your Xbox or stream from the cloud, making this more useful than PlayStation’s Portal, which can only stream and play remotely. That’s one of the major benefits of being inside Xbox’s ecosystem: You can play a game on any of its devices, regardless of where you bought it, whether that be Xbox consoles, PC, cloud or this new handheld. This more open-platform approach makes the Xbox Ally closer in spirit to a Steam Deck compared with a Nintendo Switch, which can only run Nintendo games.

When it ships — expected in time for the winter holidays — you’ll be able to navigate via a full-screen Xbox app, which combines your Xbox game library with installed games from several other marketplaces into a single Xbox experience. The company specifically mentioned Xbox, Game Pass, battle.net (owned by Microsoft) and «other leading PC storefronts,» which I’m hoping includes Steam. Much like on an Xbox, each game has icons depicting which platform they’re from. In my demo, the only example of a different storefront was Hearthstone, which had a battle.net icon.

The Xbox Ally consoles use the Game Bar, and if you’ve used the Xbox app on PC, then you’ll find it familiar. In fact, pressing the new Xbox button opens an almost identical version of the guide when playing Xbox games on PC. However, there’s also a new Command Center tab on the far left to adjust settings for power consumption and performance, similar to what we’ve seen on Steam Deck.

In Game Bar, you can quickly jump to the home screen, your library, launch games, open apps, chat with friends, adjust settings and more. And this Game Bar works alongside Asus’s Armoury Crate overlay. This is a little worrisome, as Armoury Crate has usually felt more like unnecessary bloatware, but when we get to test the device later this year we’ll see if Asus has stripped it down to the relevant functions rather than just added more on top.

Since it’s a Windows 11 device, you’ll also be able to launch and use apps like Discord and Twitch and access game mods. The Xbox Ally boots directly into the «Xbox full screen experience» similar to how a Steam Deck launches into Big Picture mode. The full-screen experience is optimized specifically for handheld gaming, and Xbox told me the device minimizes background activity and allocates more system resources to gameplay like Game Mode does on Windows. This means more memory and potentially higher framerates for your games.

The ROG Ally and Ally X have been out for a bit now, but the Xbox models have some unique features. In addition to the Xbox button, the ROG Xbox Ally also has larger, contoured grips. The previous ROG Ally is more rectangular; the Xbox Ally is closer to the design of the PlayStation Portal, with dedicated, slightly separated hand grips that mimic the look and feel of a standard game controller. They also have upgraded components over the Asus versions.

The handheld comes in two options, a white Xbox Ally and the more powerful Xbox Ally X that comes in black. The lower-end Ally is powered by an AMD Ryzen Z2A processor, comes with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD storage, weighs 23.6 ounces (670 grams) and has a 60Wh battery. The Ally X has an AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme processor, 24GB of RAM, 1TB of SSD storage, weighs a bit more at 25.2 ounces (715 grams) and has an 80Wh battery.

Both models are equipped with a 7-inch,120Hz 1080p screen, the same as on the original Asus versions of the devices. They also have RGB lights surrounding the analog sticks, something I hope I’ll be able to turn off when I spend some real time playing on the device. The Ally X did feel on the heavier side, but then again, the recently released Switch 2 and my Steam Deck OLED are also pretty heavy, so I think that’s just what handhelds weigh these days.

Xbox hasn’t yet revealed the pricing or release date, aside from «this holiday.»

Technologies

Everything I Suspect Will Be Announced at WWDC 2025 Monday

We could see new iPhone, Mac and Apple Watch software called iOS 26, MacOS Tahoe and WatchOS 26. Apple is rumored to overhaul all of its OSes with a unifying visual interface.

Apple’s developer conference, WWDC 2025, kicks off Monday at 10 a.m. PT. At its last two WWDC events, Apple launched itself into new territories, jumping into both AR/VR and generative AI. There’s pressure on the company to match, if not top, what it’s done in the past. CNET has editors and writers attending in person to report on live WWDC 2025 developments as they break.

There was the Vision Pro in 2023, and then Apple Intelligence in 2024. What big announcement is coming in 2025? With both the Vision Pro and Apple Intelligence having faced slow and heavily criticized starts, the big message at this year’s WWDC doesn’t seem clear at all. Apple might focus on operating system redesigns and gradual improvements across the board.

WWDC is usually a showcase for Apple’s future-forward ideas. It’s also where the company discusses its developer tools, as you’d expect. And it’s where previews of all the new OS versions are revealed, giving an early look at what’s coming to the iPhone, iPad, Mac and other Apple devices.

It’s possible Apple will reveal a new home device — a display-enabled HomePod — or even a new Apple Pencil with a calligraphy mode. But the biggest rumors so far suggest a new cross-OS redesign and renaming that could be Apple’s way of deflecting some attention away from not having big new AI features to show off.

OS by year: Will it be iOS 26?

Recent reports from Bloomberg’s often-correct Mark Gurman say Apple is going to ditch the existing numbered OS convention it’s used for years and instead go with another approach to naming: labeling all annual OSes by year number. Instead of iOS 19, we’ll have iOS 26. And iPadOS 26, and MacOS 26, and WatchOS 26, TVOS 26, VisionOS 26. Samsung made a similar move in 2020, jumping from the Galaxy S10 in 2019 to the Galaxy S20 in 2020.

Apple’s numbering has felt pretty disjointed as the numbers have gone ever-higher across multiple device categories. A yearly number would at least help people know if they’re on the current version.

Glass as the new look

The WWDC invites, featuring a hazy transparent ring, hint at a reported redesign of all the company’s software to a new «glass» look. Bloomberg’s Gurman reported on a large incoming cross-OS design shift, calling it a dramatic redesign and one of the biggest Apple’s done in years. The design may mirror the Vision Pro’s VisionOS feel, which has lots of frosted glass panes, layers of transparency and circular app icons. Front Page Tech’s Jon Prosser showed a preview of the expected design based on information from his sources, and it definitely looks VisionOS-esque.

Beyond a coat of paint, will the OSes start to feel more similar in function too? I’m particularly curious about how iPadOS and MacOS start to close in on each other even more. Apple’s iPad has slowly inched toward acting like a computer, with features like Stage Manager for multitasking, and it’s felt inevitable that the tablet line would eventually provide a comparable experience to the MacBook.

WatchOS should get Apple Intelligence, and the Health app may be part of it

One of the devices that’s missed out on Apple Intelligence so far has been the Apple Watch, and that should be changing soon. Apple is expected to put more AI on the next Watch OS, which could help with message summaries, translation and maybe even composing messages. It could also bring overdue health and fitness upgrades. Reports say Apple could be working on adding generative AI insights to its Health app data and even using AI as a medical service, with a launch target of 2026. Health could possibly get a paid subscription tier, similar to Fitness and what many of Apple’s current services are adding. This could be like what Google is doing with Wear OS, which has long used Fitbit Premium as a health subscription (a broader Gemini rollout is on the way too).

I like AI coaching and insights on a watch, but I don’t like subscriptions. We’ll see what happens, and if Apple gets into any of these future plans at this WWDC.

Battery life boosts

Another recent report (again, Gurman) says AI will help Apple improve battery life on its devices. How many devices? The iPhone, but hopefully the Apple Watch, too — these are the products in the lineup that I find I need to charge more than I’d like. For me, at least, iPads and Macs are mostly fine on battery life as is, but I’ll never refuse longer battery life for anything.

Apple has made gradual boosts to its battery features over time, but maybe there will be more intelligently applied power modes this time.

Game news?

Apple may be pushing the importance of games again, just as the Nintendo Switch 2 debuts. Bloomberg reports that the company could release a new app to act as a hub for games and game services including Apple Arcade, becoming an overdue overhaul of Game Center.

A number of game controller accessories, like Backbone, already have app hubs that function as game launchers, but Apple has never done much to help organize games on its devices in a way that feels more like what you find on a console. A new app seems like a good fit for those types of controllers, too.

Apple just acquired its first game studio: RAC7, the developers of hit Apple Arcade game Sneaky Sasquatch.

Apple could also have VR gaming news, if older reports come true: PlayStation VR 2 controllers have been expected to work with Vision Pro headsets, in a push to expand gaming on Apple’s VR/AR headset. Maybe that’ll be part of a push to get more developers onboard, as Apple could be readying a less expensive version of the Vision Pro in the next year. Right now the headset can’t compete with Meta’s more affordable Quest headsets in the gaming department.

AI: Live translation, and maybe Vision camera advancements

Apple opened up camera access to enterprise developers last year, and now it’s time for AI tools to emerge for everyone else — tools that could help describe what you’re seeing, or help you remember things too. Apple has already added assistive support for some camera-enabled functions on the Vision Pro and other products, suggesting more to come.

Though Apple’s WWDC keynote presentation isn’t expected to include many announcements of AI strides, the company still needs to compete with Google, Open AI, Perplexity and many others who are making such strides. Reports say live translation will come to some AirPods models, which would mirror what Google and Meta have been doing on glasses and earbuds and on phones.

The biggest VisionOS move I’d expect to see is some introduction of camera-aware AI. Apple Intelligence debuted on Apple’s VR/AR spatial computer headset earlier this year, but none of the AI can take advantage of the system’s cameras to «see» what you’re seeing. At least not yet. Google’s use of Gemini to access the cameras on upcoming headsets and glasses, and Meta’s support of camera access for Quest developers (and its expanding AI tools on Ray-Bans), suggest Apple needs to move this way now to begin paving a way for camera-aware AI to work on future headsets and eventually glasses.

Apple Pencil

We could see either a brand-new Apple Pencil or updated features that make the current device feel new, according to a report from Bloomberg. Expect to see a new a digital reed calligraphy pen feature unveiled. It’s unclear whether this new software will be for both the original Apple Pencil and the Apple Pencil 2, or if we’ll actually see a brand-new version of the stylus.

A new HomePod-slash-iPad?

There could be a new product emerging at WWDC: a look at a long-expected screen-enabled HomePod that may be part of a bigger push into smarter smart home tech. Reports suggest it’ll be something like a HomePod now — speaker-enabled, with an array of mics — but with a touchscreen. Would it be a screen big enough to act as a photo frame, or something more like a control panel? Where would this thing live, exactly? And what would it cost? Originally, reports of this device even suggested a robotic arm that would allow the screen to follow your face, but those plans seem to be off the table for now.

Of all the wild-card product ideas Apple could announce at this show, this seems the most likely.

WWDC/Gurman potpourri

There are, of course, a number of other rumors from Gurman. Here are some that caught our attention:

Messages app: iOS could get the ability to add backgrounds to chats and group chats.
iPadOS: Apple may reveal an iPadOS version of the Preview app.
iPadOS: MacOS-like multitasking might come to the iPad.
iPhone Camera app: The interface could get an overhaul focused on making it simpler to use.

We’ll know more soon

WWDC is happening June 9, with the keynote video presentation streaming at 10 a.m. Pacific. We’ll be there at Apple Park, too, covering it in person. We’ll know more about how all this software could be hinting at new products, and get a check-in on where exactly Apple is with its AI strategies. And maybe we’ll get a bit of product news, too — you never know.