Bluetooth speakers review: Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay A2 versus Logitech X 300
There’s a tectonic shift underway in the home entertainment segment; BeoPlay A2, Bang and Olufsen’s first ever Bluetooth Speaker, confirms this trend. We carry our lifetime’s music repository on board our smartphones and an ever expanding list of diminutive powerhouses are threatening to make large music systems irrelevant. We put the spotlight on two Bluetooth speakers that sit at different ends of the price spectrum but are both compelling propositions.
There’s a tectonic shift underway in the home entertainment segment; BeoPlay A2, Bang and Olufsen’s first ever Bluetooth Speaker, confirms this trend. We carry our lifetime’s music repository on board our smartphones and an ever expanding list of diminutive powerhouses are threatening to make large music systems irrelevant. We put the spotlight on two Bluetooth speakers that sit at different ends of the price spectrum but are both compelling propositions. For the longest time Bang and Olufsen opted to sit out of the Bluetooth speaker game and watched aggressive players with a cool quotient, like Jawbone, make big strides. B&O’s gorgeous Beolit 12 wireless speaker hooked up with mobile devices either via Ethernet or WLAN. It might well be the emergence of aptX as the next big thing in Bluetooth audio, with claims of better audio output than the current SBC standard (Low Complexity Subband coding), that might have prompted B&O’s move. Design has always been B&O’s biggest differentiator and the A2 is another masterpiece, envisioned by celebrated industrial designer Cecilie Manz, who crafted the picnic basket-style Beolit 12. B&O opts for a flat, skinny form factor for the A2. At 1.1kg, it’s not lightweight, but should slip into that murse or slim backpack without a fight. At its core is a single piece of extruded aluminium that is encased in a polycarbonate shell; the controls are housed on the rim. There’s a full-grain leather strap that lends to the device’s purse-like form factor and also allows you to lug it around with minimal effort. Selected holes on the speaker grill are filled – this looks particularly pleasing to the eye in the lighter coloured versions. It doesn’t end with the trademark B&O aesthetic. Housed within the grills is a 180W package, with a set of speakers on either side, a full-range driver, 0.75” tweeter and a passive bass radiator. The twin directional sound creates a big impact in large rooms; the A2 doesn’t distort notes even at high volumes and boasts truly rich bass. If the DJ doesn’t show up at that beach house party, the A2 can more than fill in.