Bang & Olufsen is (almost) ready to go after the AirPods Pro with its costly Beoplay EQ
If you're getting tired of hearing about some new true wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation and an AirPods Pro-beating price tag practically every other week or so, Bang & Olufsen is ready to release the rare model costing more than $250 off the bat.
Available from August 19 around the world, the Beoplay EQ will set you back $399 a pair stateside in black and "sand" paint jobs, which obviously sounds like a pretty tough sell. Then again, B&O is not exactly a mass-oriented brand, focusing instead on premium audio products like the $249 third-gen Beoplay E8 and $350 Beoplay E8 Sport.
We're not necessarily saying the Danish company's newest contender for the title of best true wireless earbuds money can buy will be worth a whopping four Benjamins, but given that the two older aforementioned Beoplay family members only come with passive noise cancelling functionality, said EQ premium was clearly very easy to anticipate.
That's right, these bad boys are the high-end consumer electronics outfit's first true wireless earbuds to integrate (adaptive) active noise cancellation technology, thus going directly up against the crazy popular AirPods Pro, as well as the even more affordable OnePlus Buds Pro, Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro, or second-gen Amazon Echo Buds.
For what it's worth (not $399, that's for sure), Bang & Olufsen is touting a pretty impressive grand total of six built-in microphones as a major Beoplay EQ selling point, alongside 6.5 hours of battery life (with ANC turned on at all times) and a stylish yet robust design guaranteed to withstand dust and (a bit of) water thanks to an IP54 rating.
That solid endurance time between charges can be easily bumped up to 7.5 hours if you don't have a problem switching off your noise cancelling feature, while the bundled wireless charging case will bring you to a total of 20 hours of playtime, which is... actually not that remarkable when you consider what some of the best wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation are capable of these days.
Like the Sony WF-1000XM4, which are starting to feel mighty affordable all of a sudden, the B&O Beoplay EQ come with state-of-the-art Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity, and at least on paper, its audio performance looks at the very least better than average, thanks to a 6.88mm electro-dynamic driver and proprietary Bang & Olufsen Signature Sound technology. But you still have to wonder exactly who these puppies are for... apart from a presumably small group of the brand's most hardcore fans.
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