Credit: Bowers and Wilkins
True Wireless (TWS) headphones are immensely popular right now in Australia. But it’s no secret that wireless isn’t always kind to sound quality. Bowers and Wilkins said they have skirted around this problem by incorporating aptX streaming technologies into their newest headphones, the PI7 and PI5.
The more high-end model of the two headphones, the PI7, uses the latest version of aptX technology. It uses Qualcomm aptX Adaptive for wirelessly streaming sound from compatible devices. This technology compresses and then decompresses the sound signal as it travels from device to ear, preserving the original quality of the sound produced.
Credit: Bowers and Wilkins The PI7 produces high-resolution sound at 24-bit/48kHz, the company said. This is an exciting prospect since music streaming services like Spotify and Qobuz now support high-resolution audio streaming.
Bowers and Wilkins said sound quality in the PI7 is kept intact on playback. It said the headphones do this by using a unique drive unit configuration in the earbuds. This configuration is like what you’d expect to see in a loudspeaker. Each earbud has a 9.2mm drive unit paired with a high frequency, balanced armature drive unit.
Bowers and Wilkins have also added Adaptive Nosie Cancellation (ANC) technology to each model. This helps to control ambient noise levels so that your own audio is the sound you hear. The ANC technology also works in conjunction with six microphones, three in each ear, to help produce clearer audio during phone calls.
The lower priced model, the PI5, features aptX wireless audio transmission. Bowers and Wilkins said this model delivers CD-quality audio and playback streamed from aptX compatible devices. It has only a single 9.2mm driver in each earbud and two microphones instead of three. It features TWS+ technology that synchronises sound between earbuds so that sound is more uniform.
Credit: Bowers and Wilkins The PI5 runs for four and a half hours and the PI7 for four hours between recharges. Both models can be recharged wirelessly.
PI7 costs AUD$599.95 and PI5 AUD$369.95. Both models are available from May from selected stockists.
