Review: $399 Beosound A1 Portable Speaker Shows Why Bang & Olufsen Commands a Premium

Bang & Olufsen precocious released the 3rd procreation of its award-winning Beosound A1 portable Bluetooth speaker, and aft playing with it for a bully month, I'm scrambling to travel up with negatives.


Sure, astatine $399 it's pricey, and this ultraportable portion from B&O is unashamedly pitched astatine the premium extremity of the Bluetooth talker market, but the Danish high-end audio manufacturer's principled attraction to plan and craftsmanship astir justifies the terms alone. Fortunately, it sounds great, too.

Design

Taking the A1 retired of the box, the archetypal happening that strikes you is the compactness of the portion comparative to its weight, particularly fixed the materials utilized successful its construction. At astir 1.27 pounds (576 grams), it's not the lightest ultraportable talker I've held, but its beautifully minimalist 'hockey puck' plan is disarmingly slight, partially acknowledgment to decorator Cecilie Manz's determination to embed the power, volume, play/pause, and pairing controls astir the rim, with the attached waterproof leather strap adding a interaction of surfer appeal. There's besides a USB Type-C charging larboard connected the rim alongside a charging LED.


The talker features a pearl-blasted aluminum assemblage with implicit 2,100 precision-milled holes, 1 of which contains an LED powerfulness indicator. It's a distinctive benignant whichever mode you look astatine it, but thought has besides gone into keeping it portable. The polymer basal has a suede-like decorativeness that ensures the 1.81-inch (4.6cm) gangly A1 sits happily connected astir surfaces, and its 5.24-inch (13.3 cm) diameter means it's imaginable to grasp the grilled dome and prime it up with 1 hand. The portion sits snugly successful the larger pockets of a raincoat, though trying to acceptable it successful a airy overgarment pouch whitethorn contiguous much of a challenge.


The A1's coagulated aluminum casing surely feels similar it could instrumentality a fewer knocks, but its creaseless decorativeness is bound to pull scuffing and dents if you bash it astir oregon propulsion it successful a backpack with different hard objects. Many customers volition instrumentality pridefulness successful looking aft premium cogwheel they've paid apical dollar for, truthful the deficiency of a protective pouch astatine this terms constituent is the lone disappointing omission.

Ease of Use

Powering connected the Bluetooth 5.1 talker and holding the brace fastener saw it amusement up instantly successful some iOS and macOS. Pairing was established without a hitch – it's MFI (Made for iPhone) certified, aft each – and it didn't driblet retired arsenic agelong arsenic the talker remained wrong a tenable range. It besides happily hopped betwixt 2 paired devices depending connected which 1 was playing audio, acknowledgment to its Multipoint feature. Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair are besides supported, though I didn't person the hardware to trial these.


The B&O iOS app is simply a escaped download that works with each of the company's speakers and tin beryllium utilized to upgrade the device's firmware. You tin besides usage it to brace 2 A1 speakers with each different and bask existent stereo separation, conscionable carnivore successful caput there's nary installation to link the units to a larger multi-room setup. (AirPlay isn't supported, but B&O did yet adhd enactment successful erstwhile models, truthful I'm hopeful that's to travel successful the future.)


In addition, the app lets you power to a fistful of presets designed for the A1, titled "Ambient," "Party," "Speech," "Favorite," and "Optimal." You tin besides make your ain by adjusting a circular interface labeled "Bright," "Energetic," "Warm," and "Relaxed." They bash marque an audible difference, but successful the extremity I settled for the "Optimal" setting, preferring the A1's default dependable signature.

Sound Quality

The Beosound's three-microphone array provides fantabulous speakerphone quality, and had nary occupation picking up voices from crossed a room. But it's the sonics that genuinely impress. Hung aloft, placed connected a table oregon adjacent connected the floor, the A1 disperses dependable successful each directions with astonishing assurance and ease. Its wide space of projection is really somewhat disorienting astatine archetypal – 1 idiosyncratic entered the country wondering wherever the audio root was hidden, erstwhile the talker was sat successful plain sight.

According to B&O, the A1 features the largest woofer successful its D class, delivering deeper bass with a Bass SPL of 64dB (2dB much than its predecessor). At 60 watts of power, it effortlessly reproduced Jim Morrison's baritone wail and Krieger's expansive freeway riffs passim The Doors' "L.A. Woman," portion a fewer tracks from Django Django's eponymous medium soon had the java array rattling with a clarity and item that's uncommon successful a talker of this size.


Switching to immoderate dub techno and dialing up the interior amp utilizing the A1's onboard controls easy overrode the root device's maximum output, but it was astir intolerable to induce distortion astatine precocious volume, acknowledgment to the responsiveness of B&O's proprietary integer awesome processing.

That inevitably puts a bounds connected the output of the A1, but it tin easy transcend comfy listening levels successful a medium-sized surviving room, and it does dependable consistently lovely, particularly successful the midrange. It's besides compatible with SBC, AAC, and aptX Adaptive codecs.


Achieving decent audio separation astatine this standard is nary casual feat, but the A1 dealt with jazz and classical genres with sizeable aplomb, with lone a fistful of heavy treble bass notes going missing successful instrumental tracks from clip to time, which is wholly forgivable for a portion of this size, with a frequence effect of 54Hz - 20kHz.

I took the A1 retired to the plot during a kid's day enactment and its elaborate dependable remained conscionable arsenic assured erstwhile pumping retired Disney tunes and the like. It performed particularly good erstwhile hung from a adjacent obstruction via its leather strap, providing large projection crossed the lawn.


I utilized the A1 astatine mean measurement each day implicit the people of a week, investigating it successful a assortment of scenarios – betwixt the ablution (it has an IP67 waterproof rating), garden, the section park, and my bureau space. The unit's artillery beingness was easy up to the task, which is nary astonishment fixed that it extends up to 24 hours connected a azygous charge.

When the unit's LED airy yet flashed to bespeak the artillery was approaching its past 10 percent of power, it inactive lasted an full afternoon, and erstwhile I charged it via the supplied cable, the A1's artillery reached afloat capableness successful astir an hour. Given what I'd enactment it through, the advertised "up to 24 hours" complaint doesn't look acold fetched astatine all.

It's worthy noting that the A1 features modular architecture designed for a 10-year beingness and is the archetypal Bluetooth talker to person Cradle to Cradle certification. B&O says the certification "aims to enactment a serviceable, upgradeable, and repairable attack to merchandise design." The institution offers a replaceable artillery work and up to 5 years warranty with Beocare.

Bottom Line

Overall, the A1 is an highly impressive-sounding Bluetooth talker that lives up to its multi-generational reputation. Its thoughtful, stylish aesthetic easy places it supra different speakers successful the plan department, but its audio output is arsenic attention-grabbing, and beats astir premium rivals.

Achieving bass-rich clarity and sonic item from specified a tiny portion is simply a singular achievement, and coupled with its balanced dispersion and fantabulous artillery life, the A1 truly does unrecorded up to the bushed aged adage that you get what you wage for.

Where to Buy

The Beosound A1 is disposable successful earthy aluminum, pass granite, chromatic tone, and eucalyptus greenish colors for $399 from Bang & Olufsen's website and authorized resellers.
This article, "Review: $399 Beosound A1 Portable Speaker Shows Why Bang & Olufsen Commands a Premium" archetypal appeared connected MacRumors.com

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