This is what happens when Bang & Olufsen decides to make a portable Bluetooth speaker

By Caleb Denison November 1, 2014

Bang and Olufsen’s products rarely go unnoticed. The brand’s iconic designs have been featured in all kinds of movies and television shows because they are incredibly distinct and memorable. You might think, then, that something as commonplace as a Bluetooth speaker should come out looking pretty wild when taken on by the Danish audio and video specialist, but the recently introduced BeoPlay A2 isn’t as outlandish as we’d hoped … it’s actually pretty refined.

Don’t let the A2’s simple shape fool you, though. There’s plenty that’s remarkable about this $400 speaker (aside from the price), starting with a class-leading 24-hour battery life, which makes playing music for long periods while charging a device a much more realistic proposition. B&O also outfitted the A2 with active drivers and passive radiators on both sides of the book-ish looking speaker, so that you hear sound clearly no matter which direction it is facing. We’re also big fans of the leather strap, which makes toting the speaker around as easy as it should be (but often isn’t, with other Bluetooth speakers).

Take a look at the speaker up close in our video. It’s sleek, simple, but effective. And it sounds impressive as well. It’s a little on the bright side for our tastes, but its overall sound signature is the sort that will catch a lot of ears — and eyes — at social occasions.

Available at Amazon

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Speakers

Editor at Large

Digital Trends Editor at Large Caleb Denison is a sought-after writer, speaker, and television correspondent with unmatched…

Audio / Video

The best waterproof Bluetooth speakers for 2023: from JBL, Marshall, and more

The LBL Pulse 5 Bluetooth speaker sitting on a hot tub ledge.

The beautiful thing about Bluetooth speakers is that they allow you to bring music to almost any situation, almost anywhere. If anywhere for you happens to be next to a swimming pool, beach, or bathtub, however, then you're going to want a waterproof Bluetooth speaker for sure.

Now, we're not talking about speakers that can take a few drops of rain or a splash from your nephew's cannonball. Many Bluetooth speakers these days are going the distance and are able to withstand total submersion for several minutes in several feet of water and are sealed up tightly enough to keep pumping or are able to recover quickly without damage. Sand and dust are kept at bay, too.

Audio / Video

Bluetooth on Sonos’ new Era speakers isn’t what you think – it’s better

Sonos Era 300 close-up of Bluetooth button.

When Sonos recently debuted its two newest wireless speakers -- the Era 100 and Era 300 -- it broke with years of precedence by adding Bluetooth, a connection option that has never been offered on the company’s non-portable speakers. At the time, I thought Bluetooth on an Era speaker worked the same way as it does on the Sonos Move. I was wrong.

It turns out, the Era speakers use Bluetooth in tandem with their Wi-Fi connections, as opposed to the Move, which treats Bluetooth as a completely separate mode. That has some profound implications for what you can do with one of the new Era speakers within a Sonos system, as well as a few caveats about what you can’t do.

Audio / Video

Marshall’s latest Bluetooth speaker has four drivers for 360 sound

Marshall Middleton.

The Marshall Middleton ($299) is the company's latest addition to its lineup of guitar amp-inspired Bluetooth speakers, and it's available starting January 31 at marshallheadphones.com. The Middleton, as its name somewhat suggests, sits in the middle of the Marshall portable family -- it shares the same rectangular shape as the Emberton II but is heavier and more powerful than the Stockton II.

What makes the Middleton stand out is its unique quad-driver configuration, which places speakers on all four sides. There are two full-range drivers, each with its own 20-watt amplifier, and two tweeters, powered by a pair of 10-watt amps. The Middleton uses the same "true stereophonic" system as the Emberton II to achieve what the company calls multidirectional, 360-degree stereo sound.