Bang & Olufsen is specialized in hi-fi and high-end video. And it has specialized in a simple design and futuristic lines that leaves no one indifferent. Although unite excellence both in sound and appearance is not easy, the Danish company seems to have found the right key, offering both good audiovisual products such as televisions, telephones, speakers and audio systems to car design and own personality.
We have been lucky enough to try one of the latest additions to the brand. The BeoSound 1 of Bang & Olufsen is a beautiful sound system with Wi-Fi connectivity and Bluetooth and will fit in any room of the house due to its metallic appearance, offering 360 – degree sound and good work of the brand.
BeoSound 1 Bang & Olufsen, specifications
- Dimensions: 16.2 x 32.7 cm (width, height)
- Weight: 3.5 Kg
- Wireless networks Wi-Fi / WLAN 802.11 b / g / n (2.4GHz & 5GHz)
- Bluetooth 4.1
- Frequency range: 35 – 24.300 Hz
- Li-ion rechargeable battery with 4 or 16 hours of battery life depending on the listening volume.
- Amplifiers: 1 x 40 watt class D for main speaker, 1 x 20 watt class D for serious
- Speakers: 1 x 1 ½ “Main, 1 x 4” woofer
- Audio formats supported MP3, WMA, AAC, ALAC, FLAC, WAV, AIFF, and up to 192 kHz 24 bit. WMA lossless unsupported.
- Streaming formats: Apple AirPlay, Google Cast, Bluetooth audio streaming, DLNA – DMR, Spotify Connect, qplay 2.0 (China).
- Integrated music services Spotify, Deezer, TuneIn Internet radio, QQ Music (China).
BeoSound 1 touchdown and commissioning
In the box we find the simplicity that characterizes many of the products of B & O. Thus, the only elements are the BeoSound 1 and a power cable / charging the internal battery. You will not find anything else, so that our eyes go directly to the product. With a truncated cone and a height of 32.7 cm high and 16.2 cm in diameter at its widest part, the BeoSound 1 falls into the category of futuristic design but could be placed anywhere without clash as minimum.
Few clues have to know what makes BeoSound 1 if it is off. There is no speaker in sight, unless we look at it from below and see the main speaker near the top and the subwoofer located virtually at the base of the cone, where you will also find a button to set up the connection via Wi-Fi, a small reset button and an Ethernet connector if we want to use physically plugged into the network.
By design get distribute sound in 360 degrees and evenly around the speaker. The secret is to be found in a lens that delivers the sound of the main speaker making waves crashing into her and spread out on a horizontal plane. In addition to a spectacular design, the truth is that does the job outstandingly as we shall see.
As distinctive markings have the brand logo near the base and a black vertical band corresponding to the position detection sensors. Thanks to this, we can make gestures on the touch panel and to interpret them correctly, no matter where we are compared to BeoSound 1.
Surrounding the touchpad have the wheel with which we can raise and lower the volume. Two LEDs small, one in the center of the panel and one on the tip of the lens inform us of the different functions and state BeoSound 1. Do not expect more indicators, since the design of Torsten Valeur and David Lewis is totally minimalist. When BeoSound 1 does not need anything else to have a great personality.
If you’re wondering how the unit is configured we need a mobile or tablet with iOS or Android and upload the BeoPlay application from Google Play or the App Store. The device does not have more buttons or switches.
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BeoSound 1 software and functions
Once loaded BeoPlay on our mobile device, press the pairing button and we connect via Wi-Fi to the network that creates the Beosound 1. BeoPlay can now launch and configure the device; among other parameters, indicating the name of the network you must connect the audio system. Although it is not difficult to do, the software freckle some “minimalism”. It would not hurt any help or additional information. Once you have configured all the services that we enjoy in the BeoSound 1, we can do so by selecting them in the application.
The list of possibilities is not short, we have Apple AirPlay, Google Cast Streaming audio Bluetooth, DLNA – DMR, Spotify Connect and qplay 2.0 (China) to launch content from our mobile device to BeoSound 1 and Spotify, Deezer, TuneIn Internet Radio and Music QQ (China) directly from the BeoSound 1 itself, so it will connect to those services itself once configured in the application.
But it is not necessary to select the source from the application, to do as I said before we have the gestures on the touch panel superior player. Thus, horizontal linear movements can make jump the currently playing song or return to the previous and vertical movements change the service or source.
The volume control ring by turning the top of the unit. Everything works great, how could it be otherwise and it shows the good work in the “hardware” part of the BeoSound 1.
If we want to enjoy multiroom audio so you can play the same content (or different content) in different rooms or rooms of the house with other devices B & O can do it from within the application.
Sound test
Let’s talk audio BeoSound 1. The truncated cone aluminum Bang & Olufsen sounds really good as expected. Bass, middle and low, everything sounds like it should and if we close our eyes, no one would say we are talking about a speaker. The sound 360 degrees unit projects the audio in all directions, bouncing off walls and other elements of the home helps fill the room. Make no mistake, the sound is still monophonic, but despite this sounds really good.
Both acute and media have excellent presence and resolution, as well as serious, really powerful. The engineering work is more remarkable, we have a sound that clearly is powerful and controlled, but showing certain “homing instinct” to the lowest part of the sound spectrum. Come on, that if you want to lower those are going to have and in good quantities . I have not noticed distortion despite turningup the volume to maximum at any frequency, so besides beautiful sounds great.
We must also mention the good protection against unwanted vibrations. This is achieved thanks to the base having a rubber support and helps not transmit them to the surface where we place, and also a good design own speaker cone and perfect assembled inside the aluminum chassis.
The placement can make it anywhere we wish, although in the tests we have done and the distribution characteristics of sound in 360 degrees are best to place the BeoSound 1 in a central position in the room. As for the height, the closer the lens, which distributes the sound of the plane of our best, ears you are, but it is a totally decisive factor to enjoy.
The BeoSound 1 integrates with other sound systems distributed Bang & Olufsen home thanks to the BeoLink Multiroom technology, connecting Bang & Olufsen products in a single wireless system at home and controlled from the application.
