Bang & Olufsen has looked back to the 60s for its latest Bluetooth speaker - the Beosound A5. Designed in collaboration with the Danish-Italian duo GamFratesi, the speaker owes curves and hues to the classic Beolit radios of yesteryear.
It is crafted in two colourways - black anthracite aluminium/dark oak and natural aluminium/woven paper fibre - while IP65 water and dustproofing allow the portable, high-end, single-box solution to be used outdoors as well an in. A rechargeable battery gives up to 12 hours of music playback. In addition, the top of the speaker can double as a wireless phone charger.
Most powerful portable speaker yet
Bang & Olufsen claims that the Beosound A5 is its most-powerful portable speaker yet. It contains a four-war driver setup with four digital amplifiers and 360-degree sound. Total power output is a claimed 280W.
There is a single 5.25-inch woofer for bass, two mid-range 2-inch drive units, and a three-quarter-inch tweeter. Two Beosound A5 speakers can be linked together to widen the soundstage further and create a stereo system. What's more, it will gain proximity pairing at some point in the future, to automatically detect a second speaker and pair.
Compatibility with other Bang & Olufsen Mozart-enabled speakers is also present, and the speaker can be used as part of a B&O multiroom setup. There's support for Airplay 2, Chromecast, and Spotify Connect, too. Bluetooth 5.2 is on board for wireless music transmission.
"Beosound A5 is our new high-end portable speaker which combines Bang & Olufsen’s long standing approach to timeless design with our vision on sound for the future," said the brand's vice president of product marketing, Michael Henriksson.
"We’re excited to collaborate with GamFratesi for the first time, to create two speaker designs that are rooted in a Scandinavian aesthetic with a distinct design signature on their own."
The Bang & Olufsen Beosound A5 is available now with the lighter "Nordic Weave" version priced at $1,049 / £899 / €999. The "Dark Oak" variant is priced at $1,149 / £999 / €1,099.
Both models are available from Bang & Olufsen stores, both physical and online.