B&O Beosound A1 Second Gen Bluetooth Speaker Review - Worth it?

The Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 Gen 2 Bluetooth speaker is everything I expected and more. With an incredibly solid build quality, compact design, and lush, rich sound, the Beosound A1 Gen 2 is the complete package. The B&O app is a wonderful surprise considering many Bluetooth apps are mediocre at best. The app helped get Alexa set up, and most importantly, allowed me to fine tune to the sound to my liking. At $250 MSRP, you're paying for the complete package, but B&O delivers completely on that front.

If this is the right speaker for you, you can purchase it here (and support the channel!):

Egogy's YouTube channel (speaker graphic came from him):

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Learn more about the B&O Beosound A1 Second Gen here:

Chapters:
0:00 - Features, Specs, and Improvements
08:04 - Mic Test
09:35 - Sound Quality
12:24 - B&O App
15:18 - Closing Thoughts

DISCLAIMERS:
The links above charge you the same price as finding it on Amazon. However, purchasing through the links above would support this channel for future product reviews. We appreciate any support, but please feel free to purchase though any means you feel comfortable with.

[msudlp]

This is the best technical review I have heard on this product, but Floss has the most entertaining review.

[ddavidd]

I've just sifted through 10+ B&O A1 reviews and this was easily the most comprehensive and detailed. I made my decision after watching this video, and I appreciate the review coming from a fellow sound nut! :)

[Petermanis]

Very solid review. Best out of the 5 or so I viewed.

I've listened to the Gen 1 version and the sound quality totally blew me away even though I'm no audiophile/audionut. The clarity and crispness of the speaker 2y ago was already superb. Looking forward to getting my Gen 2.

[sampliance]

Thanks for the good review. What was not mentioned about the microphones was that they have a very good filter function. For example, if music is playing during the conversation, the music is filtered out and you only hear the person speaking. This is an extremely cool feature for TEAMS or ZOOM conferences.

[kaizen]

Holy sh*t bro, quickest 20 min of my life. Everything you said was helpful, and i consider myself an audiofile!
Fast forward a year and this can be had at mere mortal prices, well under $200.
Liked and subbed, looking forward to seeing more reviews!

[marcd]

One of the best and most informative reviews I have ever watched. Appreciate it very much! Subbed

[oleurgast]

A very good detailed review.

Esp. you are the only reviewer emphazising the microphone quality. Actually this is the most important feature for me and the reason I actually bought two of theese.

If you compare the A1 2.gen with conference speakers like the Sennheiser SP-30 or Jabra 510, the sound quality is at least simular. And the price is quite simular, too. If you use it as conference speaker on your PC, as a single person or maybe with another person. The dedicated conference speakers might be a bit better if you are in a smal conference room with maybe 5 persons. Of course, for bigger conference rooms up to 20 people you might need more special conference speakers like the logitech group system.

However, the main feature of conference speakers is to surpress feedback - the microphone should not take sound the speaker just send out and send it back, causing echos. To supress this, digital signal processing (DSP) is used. Also the distance the microphone reaches should be limited to what you need, to reducecathing sound reflections of the walls and the ceiling.
This feedback reduction (often refered to as echo chancellation) reduces sound quality. So even a high priced conference speaker can have not so good sound quality as the A1. For example, the Logitech group is made for about 8 people and can be upgraded to 20 people with extra microphones. It has a lot of work to do to chancel out sound reflections, to allow clear communications. This also means to reduce low frequencys.

On a single workplace (if you are working at home or have a single room in your office (I have both), the A1 is a better device for communication via Skype or Zoom as a Sennheiser SP-30 or Jabra 510. While the quality the other side hears is the same (or slightly better if he has a good system also), imho the others sound better to me.

So in my opinion the B&O A1 2.gen is the best comunication device (exept for headsets of course) for online meatings if you have a single office - esp working from home.

Also USB isn't just power supply. If you connect it to a PC, it's of course also an audio card. You can use bluetooth in parallel, audio switches the moment a former silent "input" gives sound. So I hear radio while working using a tablet connected to the A1 by bluetooth, but the moment a call comes in on my office PC the music stops. Quite comfortable.

Using the A1 2.gen as a nearly perfect handsfree communication device instead of bluetooth speaker makes the price more competing. Actually even a used Sennheiser SP-30 cost about 75€ on ebay. My A1 (warehouse deal on Amazon, so new but someone has tested it before) was 150€. Actually you barely get a used A1. The prices new whitout special deals are quite simular, but even if I compare a used SP-30 and a (nearly) new A1, the A1 is just 75€ more and a much better speaker for music (the SP-30 isn't bad either, but is a lot smaller).

Of course, with one in the main office and one at home office, I could simply take my main office A1 home if 1 want real stereo music at a BBQ on the weekend ;-)

[flipgt]

My job sent me one as a gift for my twenty year anniversary.

[DouweBuruma]

Best review I’ve seen on a Bluetooth speaker! Thank you, this video was very helpful.

[jeffchastain]

This is a great little speaker! 2 of them, paired in stereo are amazing. One note: When you showed the photo of the Beolit 20 and stated that it was a front firing speaker, thats incorrect. The Beolit 20 has a 360 speaker array, and the only direction it doesn’t favor is straight up! Bang & Olufsen rocks!!!

[sendhilvignarajan]

Very impressed with the review. The guy really knows his stuff.

[fanech]

I have one and love it, I have the BeoPlay P2.the sound is outstanding, it has equalizer and Beosonic sound in it which is something Boss doesn't have.this is the only Bluetooth speaker compete with Boss.

[HarshMandavia]

Very helpful, thanks :) i have ordered one for me after a lot of research, i hope it’s worth it!

[ppiwowar]

Thanks for your honest review. Now I know what i have to do!

[dontreadthisnameoutloud]

Hopefully with gen 3 they put 5000 man battery in it. Great video.

[KienNguyen-qfkw]

Verizon has the B&O A1 for sale, which makes them super good in the bracket.

[boba]

2 phones can connect to it at once meaning it can share music, what does that actually mean mean?

[TreehouseChimp]

Thanks for this! You mentioned that you think there is a better sounding and less expensive speaker. I don’t see any other portable speaker videos on your channel. What do you think that/those speaker are?

[royk]

Thanks really great vid. Bit confused why you didn't do mic test with it in front of you (behind to right??) as most people would have it front and centre using it for teams etc

[alfonsopaz]

Thanks! Do you think Marshall Middleton is better than this B&O A1 2nd gen? Best!,