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Portable Bang & Olufsen Beosound A5 is the world’s most fashionable Bluetooth speaker

A hand grabs the handle of a Bang & Olufsen Beosound A5 portable speaker

Bang & Olufsen has launched the Beosound A5, a stylish portable Bluetooth speaker that combines a sixties design aesthetic with cutting edge audio tech. The new speaker looks like it belongs in a French New Wave movie, but supports Airplay 2, Chromecast, and Spotify Connect, and works with the Beolink Multiroom system, allowing interoperability with other Bang & Olufsen Hi-Fi kit.

Designed in collaboration with Danish-Italian design studio GamFratesi, created by Stine Gam and Enrico Fratesi, the speaker pays homage to the curves and handle of the Beolit 607, launched in 1961.

The new speaker looks like it belongs in a French New Wave movie, but supports Airplay 2, Chromecast, and Spotify Connect…

“Our inspiration for Beosound A5 came from many places including the iconic Beolit series as well as natural materials synonymous with the colours and textures found in Scandinavian nature”, say the duo. “From the traditional Panama straw hats worn on beaches, to the hand-woven leather accents of Danish chairs from the 1960s, blends of natural materials applied in experimental ways guided our design journey”. 

The wooden teak finish of the Beolit 800 and Beolit 1000, originally designed by Jacob Jensen between the late 60’s and early 70’s also played a part in GamFratesi’s design process for Beosound A5.

Usability, though, is thoroughly modern. The A5 can be controlled through an intuitive user interface or directly from the Bang & Olufsen App. It offers over 12 hours of wireless playtime, and has a wireless phone charger integrated into the top panel of the speaker. 

The A5 may look smart enough to be a living room centrepiece, but it’s also IP65 water and dustproof certified, so can be taken on trails or benched by the beach. A solid oak handle adds a tactile pleasure to transportation.

The Beosound A5 also draws from the brand’s class-leading Beolab 90 and 50 stereo speakers, incorporating beamforming technology, an innovation first built into the Beolab series. Its immersive 360-degree soundstage is delivered by four-way driver setup driven by a quartet of amps, totalling 280 watts.

As we’ve come to expect from the Danish audio outfit, sustainability is a key part of the Beosound A5’s design concept. A modular approach ensures that it can be easily serviced and repaired to extend its lifetime. Enhancing this longevity will be exchangeable front covers in a variety of materials and colourways. 

The speaker also uses Bang & Olufsen’s advanced Mozart software platform, which guarantees audio features, connectivity, and firmware are always up to date. The Beosound A5 has the capacity and capability to evolve with new technologies and unlock new listening experiences for years to come, we’re told.

The Beosound A5 is now available in stores and online, with the Nordic Weave model selling for £899 (€999 / $1,049) and the Dark Oak model for £999 (€1,099 / $1,149).

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About Steve May

Creator of Home Cinema Choice magazine, and editor of The Luxe Review, Steve muses and reviews for Trusted Reviews, T3, Yahoo UK, Home Cinema Choice, Games Radar, Ideal Home, Louder Sounds, Channel News and Boat International. He’s also the editor of professional home cinema website Inside CI. He's on Twitter and Instagram as @SteveMay_UK

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