Review on B&O PLAY A1 Portable Bluetooth Speaker: Superior Sound Quality in Sleek Black Design - One Size Fits All by Jose Strong

Over the years I have tested many Bluetooth speakers (non-portable, portable and ultra-portable) as well as headphones and earphones. While I'm clearly not an audiophile, I like the best sound - in the car, at home, in the office - and listen a lot at the same time to ensure reliable A/B feedback. I usually test them, send back the bad ones and keep the good ones. So I have one. As for the larger Bluetooth speakers, my favorites are Polk Woodbourne and Aiwa Exos-9. As for wearing, I love the B&O Beolit 15 and I really like the Klipsch KMC-3. Unfortunately, all but the Aiwa have been discontinued. The ultra-portable category has been dominated in audio quality for over 4 years by the Bose Soundlink Mini/Mini II - thanks to battling a number of high-end competitors including the Bowers & Wilkins T7 and KEF Gravity One, both of which were frankly terrible compared to Bose. Now to business: B&O Beoplay A1. In my opinion, the biggest technical challenge with a speaker this size is the ability to articulate the bass. Many reviewers tend to say "it gets really loud" or "it's not loud enough". I notice it, but honestly I don't care. I don't buy a tiny speaker like Bose or B&O to fill the gym or set it up for a party. It's a personal speaker - I use it on my desk, put it on a dresser in a hotel room when I travel. Listen to music or movies at a moderate volume. I'm almost exclusively concerned with the sound quality, especially the bass reproduction. Secondary considerations are build quality and aesthetics, battery life, volume. B&O did well to very well. He's small, he's pretty. You'll probably want to tuck it in your pocket before tossing it in your backpack or suitcase, but it's definitely in the same volume/weight category as Bose. See attached photos, different form factors but same overall size and weight. Both are of course very well designed and executed, with an attractive metal body/grille. sound quality? Bose has the advantage. While their purported low-frequency response is comparable, Bose delivers much flatter, articulate bass all the way down to 60Hz. You can easily beat it - you'll hear the low-frequency tones disappear, and at higher volumes the small woofer and passive radiator can do the trick Just can't handle mids and highs. I don't notice any bass drop at higher volumes with the B&O A1. But at moderate volumes, Bose simply creates a more convincing presentation, amazing "coolness", warmth, "voice" at low notes. Perhaps due to the metal grille and somewhat unusual hockey puck form factor, the B&O also doesn't hit the crisp highs that the Bose does - sparkling, precise highs in the 15+kHz range. B&O sounds a bit dull, rounded, maybe above the 8-10kHz range. I docked the Bose half step for a very narrow soundstage and to some extent room placement. To get the most brilliant experience out of a tiny device, it's best to position it about 6 to 12 inches from a vertical angle, and you should be almost directly in front of the device. The highs are a bit "laser-like" in that regard - GOOD wherever you stand, but overwhelming when you're squarely in the soundstage. B&O also has a certain weirdness about high frequencies. It's supposed to be "360" sound, and it is, but there are corners around a hockey puck that have slightly cleaner highs than others. While the B&O clearly delivers good sound, easily earning that long-awaited, hard-earned #3 spot in my ultraportable stable, and clearly better than offerings from other respected names in the industry (Bowers & Wilkins and KEF units mentioned above), side by side Page wins Bose in pure sound quality, while the A2 delivers more power but in a larger size. I would still recommend buying this speaker if you want top quality sound in a very cool, chic Scandinavian package. With the Bose Soundlink Mini II, Soundlink Revolve+, B&O Beoplay A1 or B&O Beoplay A2, you would do well in this category (littered with failed products that don't deliver decent sound in a tiny package). These are the only very good and great sounding speakers I have ever tried. Among them, Soundlink Mini still comes out on top, but by a much narrower margin than before!