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Bang & Olufsen Beosound Level – Portable WiFi Speaker

Bang & Olufsen Beosound Level, this new so-called Portable WiFi Speaker, as the manufacturer himself puts it, is supposed to offer outstanding sound, noble Scandinavian design and flexible application possibilities. This new solution is part of the Bang & Olufsen Connected Speakers Series.


Bang & Olufsen Beosound Level, the latest addition to the Bang & Olufsen Connected Speakers Series, is another solution from the Danish company that makes music from a wide range of sources easily accessible wherever the user wants it.

The new Bang & Olufsen Beosound Level is described by Bang & Olufsen as a so-called Portable WiFi Speaker, emphasising that it is a solution that delivers “superior sound that’s made to move”. Strictly speaking, however, it is not really a classic portable speaker, but rather the new Bang & Olufsen Beosound Level is designed so that it can be used flexibly anywhere in the house as a stationary solution, so it is not a speaker that you can take with you when you travel, to emphasise this explicitly.

The new Bang & Olufsen Beosound Level measures 34.8 cm in length, 23 cm in height and only 5.6 cm in depth, so it has a very unusual form factor. Interestingly, the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Level is designed to be placed horizontally or vertically, so it can be placed flat on a sideboard or lowboard if you have more space, or vertically if space is limited. Wall mounting – portrait or landscape format, as desired – is also possible, whereby you do not have to worry about the load-bearing capacity of the wall due to the low weight of only 3.3 kg…

Only a separate wall mounting device has to be purchased for this, the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Level Wall Bracket is not part of the scope of delivery and also includes its own charging station, but more on that later.

Despite the comparatively low weight, the new Bang & Olufsen Beosound Level is supposed to present itself with noble materials. The frame is made of aluminium and plastic, essential design elements such as the front are made of oak wood, partly of special high-quality fabric.

Two finishes are offered: Gold Tone in combination with Light Oak, and Natural in combination with Dark Grey.

Inside the new Bang & Olufsen Beosound Level are two 4-inch woofers, a 2-inch full-range driver and two 0.8-inch tweeters. These are driven by amplifier modules in Class D, whereby the one for the woofers has an output of two times 30 watts, the one for the full-range driver also 30 watts, and the one for the tweeters two times 15 watts. According to the manufacturer, the new Bang & Olufsen Beosound Level can reproduce a frequency range between 39 Hz and 23 kHz and is designed for rooms between 10 and 50 m2 in size.

The new Bang & Olufsen Beosound Level is designed to be optimally integrated into the room using a series of DSP-based signal processing algorithms. The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Level recognises the position of the speaker – horizontal, vertical or wall-mounted – and adjusts the sound accordingly.

In addition to this so-called position-dependent sound staging, Active Room Compensation and Adaptive Bass Linearization are also available. An equaliser can also be activated, whereby this is done via the appropriate app, the Bang & Olufsen app.

Speaking of the app, the new Bang & Olufsen Beosound Level must of course be integrated into the network in order to fulfil its role as part of the Bang & Olufsen Connected Speaker Series and to exploit its full potential.

This is done either via the integrated WiFi module according to IEEE 802.11ac or a classic RJ45 Ethernet interface.

In the network, the new Bang & Olufsen Beosound Level functions first and foremost as a streaming device based on Google Chromecast, so that a very, very broad support for a wide range of streaming services is available right away, and your own content can also be played back without any problems. In addition, there is explicit support for Spotify via Spotify Connect, and Apple AirPlay 2 is also supported in the new Bang & Olufsen Beosound Level, so that the two dominant platforms Google and Apple are covered in the best possible way.

Apple AirPlay 2 also means that the new Bang & Olufsen Beosound Level can be part of the Apple HomeKit Smart Home platform, which means it can also be controlled via Apple Siri.

With Google, however, this goes one step further, because Google Voice Assistant, i.e. Google’s voice control, is directly implemented in the new Bang & Olufsen Beosound Level. This means that no additional devices are needed to use the full functionality.

The new Bang & Olufsen Beosound Level is therefore primarily set up via the Google Home app, which is also used to combine two Bang & Olufsen Beosound Levels into a stereo pair.

If you want to connect other sources directly, you can do this with the new Bang & Olufsen Beosound Level via a 3.5 mm stereo mini-jack plug for analogue sources. Since this is a so-called combi-jack, which also offers an optical S/PDIF interface, digital sources can also be integrated.

Smartphones and tablets can also be used as sources without a network, simply and easily via Bluetooth 5.0.

Speaking of Bluetooth, a suitable remote control is of course also available, apart from the already mentioned app. The Bang & Olufsen Beoremote One BT is intended for this task.

Those who want to control the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Level directly on the device can of course do so as well, the controls are elegantly placed on the side and are all discreetly illuminated.

To ensure that the new Bang & Olufsen Beosound Level can be used anywhere in the home, it is equipped with an integrated rechargeable battery. This is supposed to offer a playing time of up to 16 hours.

The charger, by the way, is particularly cleverly designed; it simply docks onto the back. Consequently, it is also clear that a separate power supply unit is needed for wall mounting, as we mentioned before.

The new Bang & Olufsen Beosound Level should be available immediately. The price for the Gold Tone – Light Oak version is € 1.499,-, the price for the Natural – Dark Grey version is a little cheaper, but you have to estimate € 1.249,-.

Getting to the point

The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Level is a wireless speaker that can be used anywhere in the house, even without a nearby power supply if desired. The battery will then last for up to 16 hours. Positioned horizontally or vertically, mounted on the wall in landscape or portrait format, the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Level should find its place everywhere. Music is available primarily via streaming, whereby Apple AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect are supported in addition to Google Chromecast. Voice control is also included, Google Assistant is directly implemented, but Apple Siri is also available.

Manufacturer: Bang & Olufsen
Distribution: Bang & Olufsen
Price:Gold Tone – Light Oak € 1.490,-
Natural – Dark Grey € 1.290,-

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Michael Holzinger

Michael Holzinger, founder and editor-in-chief of HiFi BLOG and sempre-audio.at, has been working for years as a journalist in the fields of IT, photography, telecommunications and consumer electronics.

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