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 Bluetooth speakers for under $100

Two UE Wonderboom 3 speakers held side-by-side.

The best Bluetooth speakers come in all shapes and sizes and are suited for various listening preferences, from on-the-go pool parties to stay-at-home listening sessions. Some are big and some are incredibly tiny, and the same can be said for their prices, but if you're here, you're in the market for a Bluetooth speaker under $100 that sounds good, but won't empty your wallet.

Luckily, there are tons of choices out there, so we've put together a list of some of the speakers we think are the best in this price range. When choosing, we looked at things like battery life, size, ruggedness, water and dust resistance (or waterproofing), sound quality, bass, volume, and other fun things like voice assistants or an ability to pair them with other speakers for bigger sound.

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.