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

Bang & Olufsen recently released the third generation of its award-winning Beosound A1 portable Bluetooth speaker, and after playing with it for a good month, I'm scrambling to come up with negatives.

Sure, at $399 it's pricey, and this ultraportable unit from B&O is unashamedly pitched at the premium end of the Bluetooth speaker market, but the Danish high-end audio manufacturer's principled attention to design and craftsmanship almost justifies the price alone. Fortunately, it sounds great, too.

Design

Taking the A1 out of the box, the first thing that strikes you is the compactness of the unit relative to its weight, especially given the materials used in its construction. At about 1.27 pounds (576 grams), it's not the lightest ultraportable speaker I've held, but its beautifully minimalist 'hockey puck' design is disarmingly slight, partly thanks to designer Cecilie Manz's decision to embed the power, volume, play/pause, and pairing controls around the rim, with the attached waterproof leather strap adding a touch of surfer appeal. There's also a USB Type-C charging port on the rim alongside a charging LED.

The speaker features a pearl-blasted aluminum body with over 2,100 precision-milled holes, one of which contains an LED power indicator. It's a distinctive style whichever way you look at it, but thought has also gone into keeping it portable. The polymer base has a suede-like finish that ensures the 1.81-inch (4.6cm) tall A1 sits happily on most surfaces, and its 5.24-inch (13.3 cm) diameter means it's possible to grasp the grilled dome and pick it up with one hand. The unit sits snugly in the larger pockets of a raincoat, although trying to fit it in a light jacket pocket may present more of a challenge.

The A1's solid aluminum casing certainly feels like it could take a few knocks, but its smooth finish is bound to attract scuffing and dents if you bash it about or throw it in a backpack with other hard objects. Many customers will take pride in looking after premium gear they've paid top dollar for, so the lack of a protective pouch at this price point is the only disappointing omission.

Ease of Use

Powering on the Bluetooth 5.1 speaker and holding the pair button saw it show up instantly in both iOS and macOS. Pairing was established without a hitch – it's MFI (Made for iPhone) certified, after all – and it didn't drop out as long as the speaker remained within a reasonable range. It also happily hopped between two paired devices depending on which one was playing audio, thanks to its Multipoint feature. Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair are also supported, though I didn't have the hardware to test these.

The B&O iOS app is a free download that works with all of the company's speakers and can be used to upgrade the device's firmware. You can also use it to pair two A1 speakers with each other and enjoy true stereo separation, just bear in mind there's no facility to connect the units to a larger multi-room setup. (AirPlay isn't supported, but B&O did eventually add support in previous models, so I'm hopeful that's to come in the future.)

In addition, the app lets you switch to a handful of presets designed for the A1, titled "Ambient," "Party," "Speech," "Favorite," and "Optimal." You can also create your own by adjusting a circular interface labeled "Bright," "Energetic," "Warm," and "Relaxed." They do make an audible difference, but in the end I settled for the "Optimal" setting, preferring the A1's default sound signature.

Sound Quality

The Beosound's three-microphone array provides excellent speakerphone quality, and had no problem picking up voices from across a room. But it's the sonics that truly impress. Hung aloft, placed on a desk or even on the floor, the A1 disperses sound in all directions with surprising confidence and ease. Its wide angle of projection is actually slightly disorienting at first – one person entered the room wondering where the audio source was hidden, when the speaker was sat in plain sight.

According to B&O, the A1 features the largest woofer in its D class, delivering deeper bass with a Bass SPL of 64dB (2dB more than its predecessor). At 60 watts of power, it effortlessly reproduced Jim Morrison's baritone wail and Krieger's expansive freeway riffs throughout The Doors' "L.A. Woman," while a few tracks from Django Django's eponymous album soon had the coffee table rattling with a clarity and detail that's rare in a speaker of this size.

Switching to some dub techno and dialing up the internal amp using the A1's onboard controls easily overrode the source device's maximum output, but it was almost impossible to induce distortion at high volume, thanks to the responsiveness of B&O's proprietary digital signal processing.

That inevitably puts a limit on the output of the A1, but it can easily exceed comfortable listening levels in a medium-sized living room, and it does sound consistently lovely, especially in the midrange. It's also compatible with SBC, AAC, and aptX Adaptive codecs.

Achieving decent audio separation at this scale is no easy feat, but the A1 dealt with jazz and classical genres with considerable aplomb, with only a handful of deep double bass notes going missing in instrumental tracks from time to time, which is totally forgivable for a unit of this size, with a frequency response of 54Hz - 20kHz.

I took the A1 out to the garden during a kid's birthday party and its detailed sound remained just as confident when pumping out Disney tunes and the like. It performed especially well when hung from a nearby fence via its leather strap, providing great projection across the lawn.

I used the A1 at average volume each afternoon over the course of a week, testing it in a variety of scenarios – between the shower (it has an IP67 waterproof rating), garden, the local park, and my office space. The unit's battery life was easily up to the task, which is no surprise given that it extends up to 24 hours on a single charge.

When the unit's LED light eventually flashed to indicate the battery was approaching its last 10 percent of power, it still lasted an entire afternoon, and when I charged it via the supplied cable, the A1's battery reached full capacity in around an hour. Given what I'd put it through, the advertised "up to 24 hours" charge doesn't seem far fetched at all.

It's worth noting that the A1 features modular architecture designed for a 10-year lifetime and is the first Bluetooth speaker to receive Cradle to Cradle certification. B&O says the certification "aims to support a serviceable, upgradeable, and repairable approach to product design." The company offers a replaceable battery service and up to 5 years warranty with Beocare.

Bottom Line

Overall, the A1 is an extremely impressive-sounding Bluetooth speaker that lives up to its multi-generational reputation. Its thoughtful, stylish aesthetic easily places it above other speakers in the design department, but its audio output is equally attention-grabbing, and beats most premium rivals.

Achieving bass-rich clarity and sonic detail from such a small unit is a remarkable achievement, and coupled with its balanced dispersion and excellent battery life, the A1 really does live up to the tired old adage that you get what you pay for.

Where to Buy

The Beosound A1 is available in natural aluminum, warn granite, honey tone, and eucalyptus green colors for $399 from Bang & Olufsen's website and authorized resellers.