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B&O has introduced a new version of its best headphones for gaming enthusiasts. The new version of the BeoPlay Portal gaming head sets not only offers compatibility with PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC but also other upgrades, including a significantly longer battery life.
With the Beoplay Portal, Bang & Olufsen presented an exciting gaming headset – last March, which was theoretically compatible with most devices thanks to Bluetooth 5.1, but the focus was on use with an Xbox Series X or a Series S (approx. 290 euros on Amazon) via Xbox Wireless. Finally, there is a new version that has been optimized for use with other devices.
Because Bang & Olufsen delivers the new version with a USB-C dongle, which enables the connection to a PC, Sony PlayStation 5, or any other device with a USB-C port, with comparatively low latency. For the on-the-go, the headphones also support Bluetooth 5.1 including Qualcomm aptX Adaptive.
The second major upgrade is the battery life, which has almost doubled from 24 hours to 42 hours, with noise-cancellation (ANC) and Bluetooth connectivity enabled. If the USB-C dongle is used, the runtime drops to 19 hours – still an increase of 7 hours compared to the older model.
B&O still promises first-class sound including support for virtual surround sound, noise cancellation is said to work even more effectively than the previous model, and users have the option of not suppressing their own voice, for example, to hear themselves during voice chat.
Price and availability
The Bang & Olufsen Beoplay Portal is available now from the Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk websites at $499.
Last year, Razer has introduced the Opus X Bluetooth wireless gaming head sets that are surprisingly inexpensive in terms of features, because the Opus X offers Active Noise Cancellation, extremely low latency, decent battery life, and is priced at $99.99.
