Bang & Olufsen Has Done It Again with an Elegant Speaker That Delivers Great Sound
Bang & Olufsen is a Danish high-end company that made its debut in 2012, with the Beolit series, Beolit 12. Then it shifted gears to Bluetooth technology and provided a splendid Bluetooth speaker in 2017, the Beolit 17.
Still to this day, it is giving the competition a hard time, but this time with its latest release, the Beolit 20. This speaker stands out in the audio environment with its uniquely elegant design, and at the same time, it is a splendid performer.
A premium speaker that has a stunning and luxurious design with powerful and capable components that provide top-notch sound quality. However, the painful price that it comes with might limit some people.
Design, Elegant Appearance
Moving on to design, the Bang Olufsen Beolit 20 portfolio continues to wow us with its Grey Mist hue, which is a gray-gold blend, and a darker version, Anthracite, which is black and blue and is slightly more expensive.
The gray and gold version appeals to me since it screams “royalty,” which helps to justify the expensive price, they are plain high quality materials, that you don’t often find on a portable Bluetooth speaker.
At first glance, it looks like a luxurious, classy lunchbox that measures 9.1 x 5.3 x 7.4 inches and weighs 5.95 pounds.
The middle of the speaker is covered in a wraparound aluminum grille. At the corner, diagonally, you will see a sturdy leather strap that allows you to easily carry the speaker around, and at the same time, in style, so yeah this is one portable speaker.
Sadly, Beolit is a party pooper. Most of the high-end speakers in this price range come with a high level of water resistance; some of them even have LEDs around them.
It makes sense why it doesn’t include LEDs; they would ruin the luxurious vintage look, but I don’t understand why there are no waterproof versions.
Features and Connectivity.
On the top of the Beolit, you will be greeted by various buttons for controlling the speaker. There is the multifunctional play/pause button, the Bluetooth one, and a plus/minus for the volume.
But I much prefer using the app. It gives me a nice range of features to play around with. Oh, there was also a nice range of EQ presets that I found really helpful to explore and find the sound signature sound that suits me best.
But what’s more, the coolest and most hidden feature in the middle area is the Qi wireless charging pad. Imagine how nice it is to charge your phone while streaming music.
It comes with Bluetooth 4.2 streaming like most of the Bang & Olufsen products. It would be great if it had Bluetooth 5.0, to be honest.
Nevertheless, you should not have any trouble connecting your smartphone.
It supports AAC and SBC codecs but no aptX, and sadly, no Wi-Fi, putting it at a disadvantage to competitors like Sonos Move.
You will also find a 3.5mm audio jack available for physical connection.
It can be paired, stereo pairing (if your pockets are deep enough and you want to throw some cash), but it also pairs with the rest of the Beolit lineup, such as the Beolit 17.
Not Only Does it Look Good, but it Also Performs Performance
Sound quality should not be questioned because this is where the Bang & Olufsen excels, and the Bang Olufsen Beolit 20 is no exception.
Behind the grille, it contains a 5.5-inch woofer combined with three 1–5-inch full-range drivers and two passive bass radiators.
Bang Olufsen Beolit 20 delivers a solid low-frequency thump with no distortion at all, even at the highest volumes.
The instruments and vocals have a smooth and warm musical quality to them.
The heavy punchy bass ensures that the sounds never become muddy or lost, and it is also extremely loud, as you would expect from a speaker of this size. It is capable of easily filling the whole room with good audio quality.
Longevity, Battery-Life.
The Bang Olufsen Beolit 20 has the longest battery life when compared to the B&O portable speakers.
The 3200mAh battery provides us with a nice amount of 8 hours, and by this, I mean intense loud listening. As for playing low background music, it will last a whopping 35 to 37 hours of battery life.
With all this being said, it proves that it is an upgrade from the previous version, Beolit 17, which only had a 2600mAh battery that lasted around 6 hours.
It sure does have a USB C charging port, which is used to charge the speaker, and a 45-watt charger is also included.
- Stylish design with high-quality materials
- Qi charging
- Punchy and clear sound-
- Great Battery life
- No smart features
- No ruggedization build/resistance
- Painful Price
Final Thoughts and Conclusions
Bang Olufsen Beolit 20, like most products from Bang Olufsen Beolit 20, comes at an expensive price; some might even flag it as overpriced. But please take note that you are paying for a powerful portable speaker that has a stunning and luxurious design with powerful and capable components that provide top-notch sound quality. Isn’t that the most important thing in an audio device?
It is also quite easy to use and, with some smart features like the Qi wireless charging pad, and stereo pair I think the price is well deserved and this is a great portable device.
So this pretty much concludes the whole Olufsen Beolit 20 review, hopefully, it was helpful, enjoy.
Competitors:
When it comes to wireless speakers some speakers that come to my mind right now that can go back-to-back with the Bang Olufsen Beolit 20 would be the Sonos Move and JBL Boombox 2.
While the BoomBox pretty much has the same price as the Beolit portable speaker, it is more powerful but fails to deliver clear sound as the Beolit does. The Bang Olufsen Beolit 20 sounds better than the Sonos Move, the latter costs less and is more feature-packed.
So yeah Bang Olufsen Beolit 20 is a tough challenge for a wireless speaker. It outperforms most of them. It is made out of premium materials, it has a USB c port, a qi charging panel, IP certification, and so on.
Further Reading
Here, I’ll include some other articles you might find interesting to read. You may read this post to learn about some incredible audio interfaces for live streaming and to learn the distinctions between amplifiers and preamplifiers so that you can compare them.
Let’s see if we can solve the echo issue with our earbuds before looking at a list of headphones designed particularly for soundstages. There are always some problems with earbuds, and echo is one of them.
Equipment Tester & Reviewer
I’m an unbiased audio equipment tester & reviewer, dedicated to keeping you up-to-date on the latest and greatest in audio gear.