So without beating a dead horse about how perfect of a sound the Pi8’s are, I’m going to trust you already know this part and know just how in love with the sound I am. This article is by no means a departure of this fact. There is nothing in bluetooth that can touch them in “Sound”.
So what’s the point of this article? Well, for me, the one thing that is a fact is that nothing is perfect at all things. The areas of problems with the PI8’s are their battery limits, charging times, and ANC/Hear thru. And these things only are a problem” When they are a problem”. For me, I’ve had way too many times in the last couple of days that I have truly needed ANC only to be let completely down by its inability to work effectively. After that, the 2nd thing I’ve had a problem with is its battery charging frequencies I have to go through and the amount of time it takes to do it. I hate waiting the crazy amount of time it takes to charge the earphones after only about 30 minutes-1 hour of use. While other earphones would be charged back up on a manner of a few minutes (less than 10 minutes)… the Pi8’s take 25 minutes or longer, at least.
The Bose has amazing fast charging ability on the earphones recharge. They have an amazing 10 hour+ battery life for media, and they have the best ANC of any other brand on the market along with very impressive hear-thru. They sound great with some EQ adjustment, have custom touch controls, and a way more useful app than the pi8’s. They basically do everything that the Pi8 don’t do well and for only $180, while still fitting well and looking good too like the Pi8’s.
As I’ve said before, one could easily make the case that the price tag and ability limits of the PI8s don’t check the boxes of the Bose and its price tag and offerings. I could not stand against this opinion because, on paper, it’s perfectly correct because despite my love affair with the pi8s sound, I still never agreed with the price tag of $400 for most people. They just don’t check the number of boxes most people need them for. The Pi8’s are only for audiophile lovers that absolutely need the best sound possible and willing to pay the $. It’s not for the people looking for the best all-rounder, best features, best anc or hear thru abilities, or best price to performance. And because of that, one could easily say ” NO Thanks” to the cost with the limits of offerings they deliver on. On top of this, as an owner and lover of the pi8’s sound, I can tell you without a doubt that putting the Bose Quietcomfort earbuds on, I remember nothing that I miss from the sound of pi8’s while using the Bose. I just get into the music, the freedom of battery life, and ability to use AnC and hear-thru when I need them .. effectively. I don’t ever think to myself…“Man, this track sounded better the last time I played it on my Pi8’s.” I only hear the difference once I put the Pi8’s back on. But the flip side is that I always miss things like battery life, AnC , and Hear thru with I use my Pi8’s when I need one of those abilities. So this is why I still have room in my life to use the Bose. It could easily be the reason, you might walk away and say to yourself…“I don’t think I need the PI8’s” if you were in the fence about buying them. Or you could end up buying the Bose because of the abilities it has over the Pi8’s that I’ve mentioned above. Either way, it’s subjective as with all things audio.
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