The design of the Beosound Balance still follows a very simple philosophy but the art of Bang and Olufsen exclusively. It has a circular cylindrical design, which is separated into two parts, the top is wrapped with a piece of high-grade fabric and the bottom is oak wood with two different colors, forming an overall weight of about 7kg. All control buttons, function buttons are located on the top and are fully touch-sensitive.
Inside, B&O arranges a total of 7 drivers and provides power to each driver A Class D amplifier. The layout of these drivers is very special and it works in the music listening mode. We will see two 5.25” bass drivers laying symmetrically, one below the oak part that sounds upwards. Two 2″ full range drivers, one tweeter and other two 3″ full range drivers placed in the back, where the Bang & Olufsen logo is located.
Thanks to the dispersed drivers placed in both front and rear. A smart speaker can play music in multiple directions, 360 degrees or a fixed direction. When first set up, Beosound Balance will play an audio clip to scan and evaluate the space in the room, thereby giving the most optimal setting suggestions. If you put this Bang and Olufsen speaker in the middle of the room, it will play music in all directions (360 degrees), but if it is close to the wall, it will only play in the front, then the 3″ full range speaker plays the direction towards walls and creates sound effects when reverberated. In a few days of listening, we found Balance wireless speaker ‘s sound quality was the best and most powerful when we put it close to the wall, select Optimal mode and play music to the front.
All of the Bang and Olufsen speakers we’ve heard or experienced have a very impressive and special sound quality and this is no exception to the Beosound Balance. B&O states that their external speakers are optimal for a room of up to 10-60 m² and with a capacity of 60 m² it is very impressive, perhaps no one can criticize B&O, both in terms of sound quality and their product design.
In terms of connectivity, Beosound Balance supports all popular connections including Bluetooth, AirPlay 2 and Chromecast. With Google Assistant and Spotify Connect available, you can use your voice to play music, or when connected to Google Home, it will turn into a smart speaker to control smart devices in the house.
The top surface is where the touch buttons are located, these buttons will turn off normally and when someone comes close, they will glow, very impressive. The outer ring is used to adjust the volume, swipe left/right to increase or decrease the volume. Dots 1 through 4 presets for Google Assistant, to quickly open a certain playlist, to make calls, to ask for weather information, without saying anything. Setting Balance to the wall as we see is most optimal. The sound still spread throughout the room, but still very strong and powerful. Under this base, there is a woofer and small holes for the sound to escape. The B&O logo is laser engraved on the oak surface. Of course, this is natural oak and very thick.
Connection ports are located on the base, including two Ethernet ports, if you require a wired network, power port, Line-in/Optical combi-jack, and USB-C port. The groove around the speaker is for you to hide a piece of cord if the power cord is too long. With up to six microphones, Beosound Balance ensures that you can call Google Assistant even while playing loud music. We tried to play music and calls remotely, it has received commands, truly very sensitive.
Final line
The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Balance wireless smart speaker is the complete package, as far as multiroom speakers for home. It offers the ideal combination of online connectivity and streaming, with traditional Bluetooth playback and portability. An interior benefits your home with natural wood design, and the flexibility of being in its element whether inside the one room or hall makes the Beosound Balance an excellent device.
The only significant drawback is the price. At $2,250 can be purchased through Amazon.com, this Bang and Olufsen speaker is much more expensive than most other wireless or multiroom smart speakers. Sure, the sound quality and feature set may make it worth this much for some, but this device is definitely a premium product and does lack connectivity options.