Beosound Explore – Bang & Olufsen Portable Bluetooth Speaker Review.

Intro

If we are interested in a bluetooth speaker that can be used in any situation, one of the most interesting speakers out there for hiking is the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore, released in May 2021. The speaker in question was produced by Bang & Olufsen, a historic Danish company that mainly designs and manufactures hi-fi audio equipment and televisions. This company’s production is characterized by a distinctive and recognizable design, somewhere between minimal and futuristic elegant.

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The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore immediately stands out for its beautiful sleek, minimalist design, unmistakable style, and extremely high sound quality. The materials are of good quality, the construction is splendid, and the overall quality is also very high. This powerful and versatile portable speaker offers a high-end sound experience given the high sound quality. It is equipped with a sound system with a woofer and a tweeter, which allows any frequency of sound to be heard optimally. Its shape and size also makes it splendid in the eyes of lovers of the futuristic minimalist style that characterizes Bang & Olufsen products.

If you are looking for Bluetooth Speakers, we recommend our article: Best Bluetooth Speakers.

This speaker is in the high end of bluetooth speakers and therefore provides high sound output and good power output. In this article we will take an analytical look at the various characteristics of this product so that we can understand what are the major qualities that set it apart.

Size, Weight, Shape and Design

This beautiful case is about 8 x 8 x 12 cm in size and weighs about 600 g. It has an aluminum outer shell, also has a convenient fabric lace for carrying it and a metal hook for hanging it anywhere. Given its weight and size, it is very light and compact, showing itself to be very simple and elegant to carry around, and its design follows the brand’s style.

This crate is really very small; it is the size and dimensions of a tin can. This case behind the aluminum skeleton has a grid of synthetic mesh fabric to promote sound release. It is easy to grab, slip into a backpack or clip on to anything with the included carabiner.

The base and top plates are made of rubbery polymer, which contrasts well with the elegant metal case. The top plate also has a discreet LED power light and the usual power, pairing, play/pause, and volume adjustment controls. There is a USB-C port for charging located under the fabric strap, but there are no other inputs or outputs.

This model has a very simple power button, which creates a clean and essential look that we can call elegant and minimal. In fact, it is not only a portable bluetooth speaker for use at the beach or away from home but also a great piece of furniture for the rooms in a home.

Technical and Additional Features

We mentioned that this speaker has high sound quality thanks in part to the built-in woofer and tweeter. These are speakers dedicated to reproducing the low and high frequencies of the audio range. The output power is also very high, of 60 watts RMS (2x 30 watts), thus enabling powerful sound with good diffusion, it also enables 360° multidirectional sound with True 360 technology. The output response is also very good with a range from 56 Hz to 22.7 KHz.

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Regarding connectivity, the Kilburn II uses Bluetooth 5.2 , which allows us to connect up to about 12 meters away; however, it does not have aptX, 3.5mm AUX inputs or RCA inputs.

In terms of battery life, we are on a very good level as the battery life is about 25 hours of playback. Clearly this parameter is calculated with an average volume of music, if we use the speaker at maximum volume we should expect a few hours less playback. In any case, the charging time is not too long, and we will be able to reuse it after a charge of about 3 hours.

Beosound Explore is IP67 rated for dust and water intrusion, meaning it can survive a 30-minute immersion in fresh water up to one meter deep. We can also use the Bang & Olufsen app that allows us to customize the equalization and manage all streaming subscriptions in one location. This speaker also has a stereo pairing function with other Explore units.

It is usually priced between 170€ and 200€, but given its high quality it is still very good value for money even at the high end.

Let’s look at a brief summary on the Technical Characteristics:

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Power output:	60 watts RMS (2x 30 watts)
Outgoing response:	56 Hz – 22.7 KHz
Speakers	1 tweeter + 1 woofer
Autonomy:	About 25 h
Charging time:	3 h
Waterproof grade:	IPX67 resists water and dust
Size and weight:	123 x 81 x 81 mm, 635 g
Connectivity:	Bluetooth 5.2, no aptX, no 3.5mm aux input, no RCA input
Price:	Between 170€ and 200€
Additional features:	Does not have built-in microphone and voice assistant, has 360° multi-directional sound with True 360 technology

General Benefits

This model was created by Bang & Olufsen Beosound to create a product with 360-degree audio. In the same price range if we are not interested in 360-degree audio a viable alternative from the same company is the Beosund A1 2nd Gen, which forgoes multi-directional audio to focus on standard audio quality. Beosund Explore offers superior performance when it comes to 360-degree audio quality, thanks mainly to the tweeter, woofer, and True 360 technology. In terms of sound power these two products are very similar, this speaker has a power output of 60 watts and is therefore able to be heard even though it is small and compact. Therefore, we will hardly find ourselves using it with the volume at maximum since even at half power it can be heard very well.

Despite the amplitude of the output, the sound quality is not very wide, the bass is powerful but sometimes not well handled by the multidirectional sound. If you don’t care about all-around sound, the Beosound A1 2nd Gen, which costs almost the same price, sounds better because of the bass, which is slightly more powerful, but otherwise they are on the same level.Apart from the not-so-powerful bass, the Beosund Exploreis able to handle the entire range in a well-balanced way, so that voices are never lost and higher sounds are very crisp and bright.

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This speaker is really perfect for listening to almost any genre. Since this speaker excels in high tones it is very suitable for genres such as Pop, Rock and Metal. Performance drops slightly with genres such as hip-hop, psy-trance, and tekno, since the bass is not too powerful. This model is also perfect for those who are looking for a bluetooth speaker model with a lighter, hiking-friendly line , in fact, it adapts to all situations and can even be submerged in water.

Value for money and availability

The Beosund Explore can be ordered from Amazon for €193 in Italy at the moment, its price usually fluctuates with deals between 170 and 200. It is quite expensive for a Bluetooth speaker, particularly when compared with other models on the market. This is more than just a speaker, however, as it is produced primarily for outdoor environments with multi-directional sound and is very durable. For those looking for a similar listening experience but with more powerful bass, Beosound A1 2nd Gen costs about the same, does not have 360-degree audio but allows for better listening to genres where bass is important.

Thus, the price-performance ratio is very good for a high-end product, although very good products can also be found in the mid-range and budget range. As for availability, it is quite easy to find this case in Italy, especially online.

Conclusions and Final Judgment

Overall, the Beosund Explore is a fantastic speaker with a well-balanced sound, suitable mainly for hiking. The 360-degree multidirectional sound fills a room or a room of about 20 square meters with music. This speaker is mainly suited to pop and rock music, and that is where it excels most, but it does very well with most genres of music.

This one is economical for the high end compared to other Bluetooth speakers on the market, has a gorgeous design, and is therefore suitable for being indoors in addition to outdoor use. It also has great drop and dust resistance in addition to water resistance with IPX67, resisting immersion for up to 30 minutes in water. In the home because of its minimalist design it is very elegant and proves to be a splendid ornament, but if we are interested in hiking it is still a good choice. Also very interesting is its battery life, which allows us to use it up to even 27 hours of playback.

In the great competition from other speaker brands, the Beosund Explore stands out for its balance of durability, range, compactness, and multidirectional sound quality. A perfect speaker for listening to outdoor music, it achieves high levels of audio quality in songs with lots of high sounds.

Finaljudgments:

Design: 9/10

Sound Quality: 8.5/10

Sound power: 8.5/10

Resistance: 8/10

Autonomy: 10/10

Functionality: 7/10

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