Danish firm Bang & Olufsen has brought a new speaker to the market in the Beosound A5, and it’s as swish and stylish as you’d expect from the company.
The design of Beosound A5 takes inspiration from B&O’s Beolit radio series from the 1960s, but it isn’t a radio in its new guise but a portable wireless speaker the B&O says “blends nostalgia with state-of-the-art connectivity”.
Inside is made up of what B&O is calling its most powerful portable speaker so far, with a four-way driver set-up that uses four digital amplifiers to create a combined 280 watts of power that Bang & Olufsen claim can fill a large room with “dynamic 360-degree sound”.
Looking not unlike an handbag, it’ll come in two finishes with a Nordic Weave and Dark Oak version. The former uses natural aluminium with a woven paper fibre front that incorporates a light oak handle, the feeling the speaker wants to invoke is that of “laid-back Scandinavian summers spent at the beach”. The black anthracite aluminium version is paired with a dark oak wood speaker cover and handle to evoke the look of winter woodlands.
And as this is B&O, the Beosound A5 is designed to last for a very long time thanks to its modular design. It can be easily serviced and repaired to extend its lifetime, while B&O will continue to produce the exchangeable front covers in new materials and colourways so customers can upgrade the look of the speaker at a later date.
Other features include an IP65 water and dustproof rating, 12 hours of battery life plus an integrated wireless phone charger if you’re smartphone is running low on battery. Bluetooth 5.2 wireless support is expanded upon with Beolink Multiroom (for connection to other B&O devices), AirPlay 2, Chromecast, and Spotify Connect. The Beosound supports UWB connectivity as well, unlocking new features over time that includes Proximity Pairing which can automatically stereo pair two Beosound A5 speakers when they’re placed near each other.
How much does it cost we hear you ask? Quite a lot is our response. The Beosound A5 Nordic Weave version will retail for $1049 / £899 / €999 and the Dark Oak version will set customers back more with a price tag of $1149 / £999 / €1099. It goes on sale from April 27th, 2023.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.