Bang & Olufsen (B&O) is an incredibly well established and well respected speaker manufacturer that are known for their high-class, high priced products. The last we saw of B&O here at EFTM was their announcement of the ‘Brozen Collection’ of speakers, which were beyond beautiful – they just looked fantastic. This time we’re taking a look at their portable devices, namely the Beoplay A1 Portable.
Let me make two things very clear early-on here – the Beoplay A1 is an INCREDIBLE sounding speaker, it’s also an incredibly expensive speaker.
B&O make great products that have an exceptional sound but also a really nice style. They don’t skimp on the design OR the price. The A1 retails for $380, so if this device is out of your price range (which is entirely fair) there’s no need to read on. You’ll just be teasing yourself.
The Beoplay A1 has this crisp aluminium ‘dome’ design that makes it really easy to carry around. It has a thin strap that can wrapped around a wrist, bag or just used as a carry handle.
On the aesthetic alone, I’d use the words “clean”, “smooth” and “elegant”. But that rings true for just about all B&O products. According to the manufacturer the A1 is dust and splash resistant, but I wasn’t game to put that to test.
As per being a portable speaker you might be wondering how long this thing would last – 24 hours on one charge. Huge. Unless you’re on an weekend camping trip and need constant music, you’ll get through just about any outing. For reference, competing devices last about 20 hours.
If you’ve got more than one Beoplay device, through their app you’re able to use ‘Wireless Stereo Pairing’ to sync them up like UE Boom’s and take the party with you. Wow that sounds lame… Is this how ad writers feel? Cool functionality nonetheless.
As far as ports are concerned, it has USB-C, 3.5mm jack and naturally Bluetooth capability.
For a big $380, you’re getting one hell of a speaker that not only sounds incredible, but looks phenomenal and will make a great companion when you’re out and about.
I’m not going to pretend that $380 is reasonable for a wireless speaker, but if you have the money to spend – it’s definitely the best I’ve had my hands on. You can pick one up from Harvey Norman today.
