Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 3rd Gen Portable Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker with 3 Microphones, C2C Certified, Natural Aluminum

Astounding.
The TL;DR: If you love listening to music, buy it.The Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 (Gen 3) is mind-boggling. I come from an old-school hi-fi world. During college in Seattle, I sold high-end audio gear at Magnolia Hi-Fi before it went corporate, back when brands like Classe and Martin Logan defined what clean, accurate sound was supposed to be. I still own serious equipment: Primare amps, hand-built Sonus Faber speakers, and Musical Fidelity DACs, representing thousands of dollars in carefully chosen gear. And yet this little battery-powered speaker delivers a sound that’s so open, clean, involving, and wildly detailed that it’s often what I turn on first. It reminds me of the first time I heard A/D/S bookshelf speakers with a Velodyne sub run off a giant Adcom amp – it’s like 30 years of gear collapsed into something that fits in your hand. The dynamics and airy details are what really get you: the quiets are whisper-soft, then the guitar swells and it’s suddenly, right there in front of you — open and involved. It never gets harsh. It always sounds clean. It does quiet better than any other speaker, but once, while listening to Floyd’s Shine On You Crazy Diamond, I kept reaching, bit by bit, for the volume, just totally lost in the moment, until I realized it was maxed out. Zero distortion. It just blossoms. It’s actually VERY loud (like bother-the-neighbors loud), but sounds so good that, like an addict, you want just-a-little-more.Part of me feels almost sad realizing so much of this magic is driven by a computer and DSP. I’m a technologist, but I came of age loving the craftsmanship of truly great stereo gear: heavy amps, wood cabinets, real drivers moving air — physics doing the work. But the results are undeniable. The real joy of the A1though, and the true test of any speaker, is what it does to the people around it. My two-year-old sings along to Billy Joel, points out parts of Bob Marley tracks I’ve listened to thousands of times and never noticed, and can already distinguish instruments because they sound so real. My wife, who never listens to music, dances. Outdoors it sounds like a live show; indoors it fills a room effortlessly; and as a side benefit makes Zoom calls sound like people are sitting right next to you (with a great mic, too). There’s simply no price tag on that kind of experience. For a $400 Bluetooth speaker to push over a high-end system is wild, the A1 is really just playing a different game from others in its “class.”A few listening notes and some wishes: if the A1 could deliver this same fidelity over AirPlay, it would be an absolute category killer (think Porsche Macan). My Sonos system (Move + 100s), which has often won out for convenience, would be on Facebook Marketplace in a heartbeat. I also always use this small $30 stand from Amazon that dramatically improves staging and openness while staying portable (it feels like an $800 upgrade). A premium case would be a great option to offer as well. I eventually found a round leather one on eBay, but this feels like a missed opportunity for B&O to lean into craftsmanship and design and partner with a great leather maker. Positioned as a true category killer, I think the A1 would expand B&O’s audience, not cannibalize it.The final conclusion: The A1 is what happens when decades of hi-fi philosophy meet modern engineering — a tiny speaker that delivers huge, emotional, genuinely high-fidelity sound, and I love it.

Luxury!
I like this speaker because it’s easy to travel with and it also sounds really good (for its size) even though it uses Bluetooth, but via AAC, and not the horrible sounding SBC codec like most of its competitors do.The A1 is really well made and looks and “feels” really nice. It is so much nicer than the other crappy plastic BT speakers on the market.Yes, it’s expensive, but I feel it is pretty much worth it. It’s perfect for hotel room use. Etc.

The A1 series 3 arrive with the best driver, not functioning
The A1 series 3 arrived with the bass driver not functioning, only high frequencies could be heard. The Amazon return was seamless.

The absolute best
This is the best sounding speaker I’ve ever heard, by far. Clarity is astonishing. Worth the high price!

Nice product as advertised.

Range is ace ‼️

Für eine Bluetooth-Box dieser Größe kann ich die Ausnahmestellung des Sounds in dieser Klasse bestätigen. Ich habe Vergleiche mit dem Teufel Rockster Go 2 durchgeführt. Der klingt gut, Bang & Olufsen A1 3. Gen. jedoch besser. Saubere Bässe, transparente Höhen und nahezu perfekt abgestimmt. Hier punktet das 2-Wege-System. Wer natürlich den Sound einer Standbox erwartet wird enttäuscht sein, die Grenzen der Physik kann der “Kleine” nicht aushebeln. Die haptisch sehr angenehme kleine Box klingt aber erheblich erwachsener als die Größe erwarten lässt und liefert durchweg sehr sauberen Sound. Ob das fast 3 Teufelchen im Preis wert ist darf selbstverständlich jeder selbst entscheiden, mir ist es der Sound wert.Update:Ich habe einen zweiten Beosound beigestellt, Farbe rot. Der gekoppelte Stereosound steigert das Hörerlebnis. Saubere Kanaltrennung und einfache Kopplung über die B&O App (natürlich für alle Quellen nutzbar). Höhen und Mitten auf gleichbleibend hohem Niveau und mehr Volumen im Bass basierend auf den doppelten Tieftönern. Die Entscheidung ob das den doppelten Preis rechtfertigt bleibt natürlich eine persönliche. Auch zwei Beosound sind gut transportierbar. Kleiner Tipp noch: die Aufstellung ist, wie bei allen mobilen Soundsystemen, wichtig für den Klang. Für die Basswiedergabe wirkt die Aufstellung auf geschlossenen, holzumantelten Hohlräumen (Sideboard, Regal, Schrank) verstärkend. Mehr Volumen – besserer Sound.