Bang & Olufsen has launched a very elegant portable speaker that looks more like a food basket. Retailing in Singapore from S$1499, the Beosound A5 comes with two colour finishes – the light oak wrapped with fibre weave accented with natural aluminium, and the stripped dark oak with black aluminium finishing. Both of them have different grille design and different price, so getting either one will bring out different feel in your living space.
The package does not come with a protective bag since there is already a built-in handle to carry the speaker. The A5 is IP65 rated for water and dust resistance and while the wood and paper weave components may be damaged by water, they would age nicely over time.
The A5 is fitted with two 2-inch full-range speakers, a 0.8-inch tweeter and a 5.25-inch woofer. Driven by a Class D amplifier with a peak amplification of 70W on each driver, the A5 is the most powerful B&O portable speaker. It is so powerful that I could never dial the volume past 50% on my Spotify streaming app. It sound ridiculously loud past that to the point that it becomes noise rather than music. The advantage is that you could dial up the volume if your input is very low, and quiet tracks like the opening section of “No Time To Die” by Billie Eilish can easily fill the room.
From the B&O app, it is possible to adjust the frequency balance through many ways: using the treble-bass or the Beosonic, a tool based on advanced digital sound algorithms to explore different audio spaces by simply moving the circle around or enlarging it by pinching. The position of the circle affects the treble and bass level, while the size of the circle adjusts the midrange. Beosonic can alter the soundscape quite dramatically, so it is highly recommended to experiment with it to get some rather dramatic results. I find myself enjoying the A5 only after tuning with the Beosonic. However, I was unable to find a standard setting that plays consistently well with all my test tracks.
To further improve the acoustic performance of the A5, owners can run the “Room Compensation” feature where the speaker plays a sweeping sound to map the room. From the app, you can also switch the directivity from omni to front. You can also pair it to another A5 to deliver better stereo sound, or connect it to Wi-Fi using Beolink Multiroom and Chromecast for multi-room broadcast. The push buttons on top of the A5 can be hard to see but it is a design compromise to achieve a less techie outlook. Besides the usual playback and volume controls, there are four “favourites” buttons to configure shortcuts to radio stations or Spotify playlists. The top surface also supports Qi wireless charging.
Compared to the Devialet Mania, the Mania is slightly cheaper and its sub-bass is unparalleled. The Mania is also better sounding without the need for excessive tweaking. In terms of connectivity, both are identical, supporting Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, stereo pairing and also room calibration. The Mania delivers a better bass experience while the Beosound A5 offers a little better on the eye candy and design. You can also get better sound tuning if you put an effort to play with the Beosonic app. One feature that both speakers do not offer is AUX Input, which means that you will be reliant only on wireless audio transmission.
Conclusion
Bang & Olufsen produces beautifully-designed audio products, and the Beosound A5 is a beautifully crafted speaker. The audio quality is decent, the sound level is amazing but lacking in authenticity. I suppose the target audience of A5 should be easily impressed by the overall quality but if you are a meticulous audio enthusiast, the A5 will not appeal to you. I enjoy looking at it more than listening to it.
