Bowers & Wilkins introduces, for the first time, completely wireless earplugs with noise reduction, and is entering an interesting market that has grown in popularity in recent years.
P15 and P17 are the names of the new models from Bowers & Wilkins that take up the fight with Apple, Samsung, Bose and Jabra, to name a few.
P17 True Wireless
The top model is P17 True Wireless and boasts support for, among other things, 24-bit high-quality sound, which among other things supports Tidal and soon Spotify, and will according to Bowers & Wilkins provide superior sound quality.
There is also support for aptX Adaptive, which will provide a more stable transmission of sound and at the same time less delay in the transmission, so that you avoid the sound hanging on to the image. The P17 also supports AAC, which Apple swears by on its iPhone models.
Like its competitors, the P17 also has active noise reduction, which, with the help of six microphones, three on each plug, will filter out noise from the surroundings.
One of the unique features of the P17 is Audio Retransmission Case, which means that the case can be used to forward sound from, for example, the entertainment screen on a plane to the earplugs, which means that you do not have to connect with a cord. This is done with a 3.5mm to USB-C transition that connects to the case, which then transmits the sound to the plugs, and can also be used on older equipment without Bluetooth capabilities.
The included charging case supports wireless charging and fast charging, and 15 minutes of charging should provide 2 hours of use time for P17. Fully charged, the earplugs last for 4 hours, in addition, the charging case provides an additional 4 charges, ie with 20 hours of total playing time.
P15
The main difference between P15 and P17 is that the former does not support 24-bit sound and neither aptX Adaptive, “only” aptX, but in return the P15 has better battery life with up to 4.5 hours of use and 24 hours from the charging case.
The P15 also has active noise reduction driven by two microphones