Bang & Olufsen makes some of the best-looking and best-sounding speakers on the market, Bluetooth and otherwise. There are a couple of ranges within B&O Play’s lineup: BeoPlay and BeoLit, with the BeoLit name dating all the way back to 1939. Quite the heritage.
We’ve broken down each of the B&O Play speakers currently available to tell you all about each in turn, so that you can best decide which one you think fits your lifestyle, home or plans. Read on to find out more about the full range.
B&O Beosound A1 (2nd Gen)
1. Best overall
Perfect portable
$248.74 $279 Save $30.26
A great update to a superb speaker.
- Great design
- Amazing sound
- Weatherproofed
With a slightly awkward renaming of the excellent BeoPlay A1, the Beosound is B&O’s latest portable Bluetooth speaker, and it’s a real doozy. Bringing down the starting price of the speaker while cleverly and subtly updating its design, it offers a compelling package.
The one drawback to the speaker is that it really mainlines on the Bluetooth side of things – there’s no Wi-Fi here, or AirPlay, so you’re dependent on that Bluetooth for everything. That’s no different to the original, though, and you get the extremely useful additions of both Alexa support and waterproofing, the latter the real key to its upgraded success in our eyes. There’s also a bigger battery, giving 18 hours of use per charge.
With its sleek metal body and leather strap, the Beosound A1 2nd Gen is about as good-looking as a portable speaker can get, too, with superb build-quality matching its impressive oomph and balanced sound. It’s a high-quality speaker for those looking for something a little more distinctive.
B&O Play BeoPlay P2
2. Great sound
Slim speaker
A small and stylish Bluetooth speaker, the BeoPlay P2 will raise eyebrows at a beautiful design and great sound for its size.
- Slim looks
- Nice and light
- Amazing sound
One of the newer speakers in the BeoPlay 2 range, the P2 effectively replaces the older A2 speaker. It’s the result of some good iteration, shrinking the form-factor of the speakers without compromising on sound quality, and smoothing away some of the rough edges.
That iconic all-metal grille is still very much present and correct, along with a built-in loop for carrying, but the P2 could genuinely fit in a roomy pocket or handbag, rather than being slightly too big to carry around super easily, and as such is a real star for usability. It has a 10-hour battery to keep you going all day, and you can also use Siri from your iPhone straight through the speaker when you need to.
Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore
3. Great volume
Great portable audio
$165.13 $199 Save $33.87
A great portable speaker that has unique looks and a lovely strap, although we think the A1 might pip it to the post.
- Super portable
- Great 360-degree sound
- Nice strap
The Beosound Explore came out in mid-2021 and has a bit of a different design to the rest of B&O’s lineup, in a way that we think looks really great. Its nice and small, with an impressive 360-degree soundstage for its size.
The battery life is really impressive, as is its weatherproofing, making it a great option for a camping trip or outdoor party, but we do also think that for very similar money you’re probably better off picking up the A1 2nd Gen, which does most of the same things slightly better.
B&O Play BeoPlay P6
4. Portable excellence
Striking design
Simple but excellent, for portable sound.
- Unique design
- Sounds excellent
- Great battery life
Another one of B&O’s newer speakers is the BeoPlay P6. This uniquely designed speaker has a fairly science fiction-style look to it, and again prominently displays the metal grille that marks out a B&O portable. With an all-over design, the sound coverage is 360-degree and helps the P6 to be a genuine room-filler from a volume and quality standpoint.
A raft of buttons on the speaker’s top lets you control it as needed, although the companion app also lets you handle all of that from your smartphone if preferred. The P6 also has a battery that should last you for 16 full hours of playback, which is a really impressive life, and is made even better by the fact that it’ll fully charge in just 3 hours.
An onboard microphone also makes the P6 useful for taking calls or ordering about Siri or the Google Assistant to take care of tasks. Sound-wise, a 4-inch woofer and two 1.5-inch full-range drivers take care of pinpoint reproduction.
B&O Play BeoPlay M3
5. Bookshelf beauty
Sounds amazing
An excellent multi-room bookshelf speaker, with superb sound and a classy, understated design.
- Great for bookshelf use
- Nice and simple
- Solid power
The BeoPlay range may have a range of portable speakers, and also a fair amount of unconventional design, but the M3 is B&O Play’s potential answer to the traditional bookshelf speaker, and, as such, is a little more standard itself.
This is a gorgeous stationary speaker, mains-powered, with a small form-factor that doesn’t stop it putting out quality sound. It’s bigger sibling the M5 can be found further down this guide, but this smaller version is a powerful option. B&O says it’s designed to fill a “medium-sized” room, and the design means that it should melt into the background visually.
With a 3.75-inch woofer and 0.75-inch tweeter, the balance is great, and really comes into its own if you pair it with one or more other speakers (whether M3s or another type). The M3 is a great choice if you’re looking for a subtle, but exquisitely designed multi-room speaker that could work in a variety of home settings.
B&O Play BeoPlay A9
6. Crazy design
Statement piece
Maybe the most striking speaker of recent years, the A9 also happens to sound phenomenal. It’s the definition of a statement piece.
- Totally crazy design
- Sounds incredible
- Nothing else like it
- Frightening pricetag
- Obviously sizeable
The B&O Play BeoPlay A9 is very much an iconic B&O product, and is now in its fourth generation of internal specs. It looks just as much like a piece of furniture than it does a speaker. In fact, at first glance, you might not know it’s a speaker at all. Behind its round exterior you’ll find an 8-inch bass woofer, two 3-inch midrange drivers, two 1.5-inch full-range drivers, and two 0.75-inch, 80-watt tweeters.
The BeoPlay A9 has some cool tricks up its sleeve too. To turn the volume up or down you simply swipe your hand across the top of the speaker, or you can rest your hand on top for a few seconds to mute what’s playing. A tap of the right hand side will skip the track forward, while a tap on the left will skip it back. Finally, a short tap on the centre of the speaker will resume the last music source played.
With some modern upgrades, the A9 also now works with Google Assistant to provide smart assistant benefits, as well as packing AirPlay 2 for your connection needs. If you’re looking for a statement speaker that produces some delicious Danish sound – and have the money to back it up – the BeoPlay A9 is the speaker for you.
B&O Beosound Balance
7. Premium pick
Gorgeous design
A luxuriant, gorgeous bit of design.
- Looks so great
- Sound is superb
- Incredibly expensive for what it offers
Right at the top end of B&O’s scale (and that’s a scale that goes to some pretty extreme places), the Beosound Balance is a simply gorgeous home speaker that won’t necessarily work for many people’s budgets, but will provide a premium experience for those who go for it.
We love the look of the speaker, its wooden base contrasting nicely with the fabric of the main unit above it, and that construction hides a full range of drivers that’ll pump out stunning sound. It’s got solid connections, especially since Spotify Connect is coming in an update, and if you’re looking for a home speaker that really stands out, it could be a great choice.
B&O Play BeoLit 20
8. Party power
Handy handle
$435.01 $529 Save $93.99
A great speaker at a slightly less great price.
- Powerful portable
- Good battery life
- Wireless charging pad
The BeoLit 20 is the latest upgrade to a line that’s included the 17 and 15 before it, and makes some canny additions to an already lush design, including a wireless charging pad on its top-side to keep your phone topped up.
At this price, the lack of Wi-Fi connectivity is a bit of a drag, but for portable Bluetooth sound you won’t find much more high-fidelity options out there.
You can use the Beoplay app to configure the one-touch command button on top to carry out one of four different functions: Alarm, Connect, ToneTouch or Remote. Two BeoLit 20 speakers can be connected together to create a stereo pair and the battery once again provides up to 24 hours of playback.
B&O Play BeoPlay M5
9. Serious sound
Simple excellence
A beautiful fabric-covered speaker that delivers excellent sound, and can play a key part in a multi-room setup.
- Great for a modular system
- Good controls
- Imitators mean it now looks a bit standard
The BeoPlay M5 is a cylindrical speaker that fires sound out through a full 360-degrees. Inside it has a 5-inch woofer, a 1.5-inch midrange driver and three 0.75-inch tweeters, with each driver being given its own Class D amplification.
It can either be used on its own, where it is more than capable of filling a room with sound, or be used as part of a multi-room music system with other B&O speakers. You can connect them together via Google Cast or BeoLink Multiroom and there’s no limit to the number of speakers you can join together.
The top aluminium disc is used to control the source and volume levels and you can use the Beoplay app to calibrate the sound depending on where the speaker is positioned. This is a seriously nice-looking speaker, and it’s noteworthy that B&O were on the “all-fabric” look years before it went mainstream through the likes of Amazon.
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