high performance but at a golden price –

With an elegant design and high fidelity sound, the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay EX wireless earphones are aimed at the most demanding audiophiles, but also at anyone who appreciates aesthetically pleasing devices made with high quality materials. Detailed, natural and balanced playback lets you enjoy your music and podcasts with plenty of freedom of movement. Finally, their waterproof design means they can be used on every journey, or even for a sports session. Bang & Olufsen Beoplay EX True Wireless earphones are very versatile. Their aptX Adaptive compatibility, IP rating and luxurious design are strong arguments in favor of Beoplay EX. However, the high price tag of these True Wireless earphones only makes them accessible to audiophiles looking for a high-end model.

Review Bang & Olufsen Beoplay EX

Elegant and remarkably well finished, Bang & Olufsen Beoplay EX earphones are equipped with active noise reduction, microphones for conversation, touch controls and I’m waterproof. But do they really benefit from B&O’s acoustic expertise? Let’s find out in this review…

An iconic brand of hi-fi design, Bang & Olufsen adds the B&O Beoplay EX to its range of wireless earphones, which now includes four models, the Beoplay EQ – with smaller, non-waterproof transducers – le Beoplay E8 not E8 Sport version. In other words, earphones Beoplay EX they are the top of the range from the Danish manufacturer.

Technical specifications Bang & Olufsen Beoplay EX

Headphone format: in-ear
Removable Battery: No
Microphone: Yes
Active Noise Reduction: Yes
Autonomy declared: 28 ore
Connector Type: USB Type-C
Versione Bluetooth: 5.2
Frequency Response: 20Hz – 22kHz
Impedance: 32 Ohm
Weight: 12 grams
Prezzo: 398 €

Appearance and design

The B&O Beoplay EX are compact earphones with elegant lines. Their format is quite classic among true wireless earphones, with shells shaped to fit the auricles, and extended by insertion cannulas with flexible silicone earbuds. Each headset has a stem to facilitate the grip, in which the Bluetooth antenna and conversation microphones are placed.

Each earphone also has acircular touch control area, printed with the Bang & Olufsen logo and covered with a thin layer of glass. Although plastic predominates, the quality impression given by these earphones is quite good.

Beoplay EX earphones are IP57 certified, i.e dust and water resistant (1m depth for 30 minutes). Four pairs of different sized silicone tips are provided, as well as a set of memory foam ear tips.

The charging case is accomplished in brushed aluminiumwith silicone base. Rather compact, it has the same colors as the headphones, rose gold on the outside and cream on the inside – or black for the black version. An LED on the front provides information on the charging status of the earphones, while the USB-C charging port is housed on the back. The case is compatible with the ricarica wireless by induction.

Comfort and controls

These earphones are very comfortable to wear and they are super stable under all circumstances. After inserting the earpiece into your ear canal, a half turn backwards will secure the earpiece snugly in your ear. The comfort is excellent, with very little pressure placed on the ear canal: Beoplay EXs can be listened to for hours without fatigue.

Each headset offers touch controls. The zone touch they each have specific functions. The one of the left earphone allows you to turn down the volume (continuous pressure), manage playback (pause, return to previous track) and le audio calls (start end). The touch zone of the right earphone is used for increase the volumeper skip to the next song and to activate the noise reduction o to transparency mode. These functions cannot be changed in the B&O app.

Each earbud features a sensor that automatically shuts off power when removed, without interrupting music playback.

App Bang & Olufsen

The Bang & Olufsen mobile application gives you access to some advanced settings, in particular for active noise reduction when listening to music and during audio calls (we will come back to this later), as well as firmware updates. The strength of him is undoubtedly based on sound equalization profiles offered – there are 5 of them – and on theBeosonic equalizer.

The latter offers several sound signatures within a circle, in which the user can move a point. The results are simply excellent and leave plenty of room for the listener to find the signature that suits them best.

Bluetooth multipoint con Google Fast Pair

B&O Beoplay EX headphones support connection multipoint bluetooth and can be paired with two smartphones at the same time. Compatible with Google Fast Pair, automatically declare themselves to the closest Android smartphone and are then associated with all phones and tablets connected to the same Google account. Four are supported codec audio, SBC, AAC, aptX e aptX Adaptive.

There are no range problems, the earphones continue to play without interruption from 10 meters away. Bluetooth latency is around 195ms, annoying for video games, but perfectly compensated for watching movies or TV series with a smartphone.

Active noise reduction

The B&O Beoplay EX are equipped with a system of active noise reduction with three intensity levels, selectable in the control app. An adaptive mode is also available, to automatically adjust the level of noise reduction and preserve the autonomy of the headphones. The low frequency suppression is effective and muffled noises in public transport or in the car are no longer heard. However, the clearest noises remain audible and potentially annoying if you don’t listen at high volumes, such as when walking down the street. Upside: The sound signature of the headphones is unaffected by activating the noise canceling system.

As for the transparency mode, lets you feel around you, with three levels of intensity. It works well, but a little more volume would have been nice.

Audio quality

Beoplay EX earphones are equipped with 9.2mm dynamic drivers with a sensitivity of 108 dB per 1 mW of power. This means that they are very sensitive and therefore require little power to express themselves. Their frequency response spans from 20Hz to 22kHz.

The Bang & Olufsen Beoplay EX earphones were impressive right off the bat. In Bluetooth aptX, the bass gave the tracks substance without obscuring the mids, which remained soft and detailed. Violins, clarinets, pianos, double basses… All instruments are positioned correctly. Regardless of genre, Bang & Olufsen Beoplay EX has provided one balanced, powerful and engaging playback.

Also, the B&O Beoplay EX earphones responded perfectly to the equalizer in the app. The different presets (optimal, warm, sport, commute and clear) allow us to optimize the sound quickly and easily. For the most demanding users, the very intuitive manual equalizer (a slider in a circle) provides a personalized sound tailored to your preferences or adapted to your music. These settings can be saved.

Microphone

B&O has paid special attention to voice calls with Beoplay EX headphones. Thanks to six built-in microphones, the user’s voice is freed from surrounding noise and clearly heard by the caller. The surrounding noise reduction can also be adjusted to three levels directly in the app, while the own voice mode allows you to hear your own voice during the conversation, always with three levels of intensity to choose from.

Autonomy

B&O announces 6 hours with active noise reduction o up to 8 hours Of ANC inactive at about 30% volume. The case fully charges the earphones in approximately 1 hour 30 minutes, and 20 minutes of charging provides 1 hour 45 minutes of battery life. The case itself takes around 1 hour and 45 minutes to charge via its USB-C port, and 30 minutes longer if charged by induction.

Price and availability

B&O Beoplay EX headphones are available in Gold, Black and Anthracite Oxygen colors (black and blue) priced at 399 euro. If you’re looking for comparable or even better audio performance, you might want to consider the excellent headphones as well Soundcore Liberty 3 Pro TWS has 2 lives.

Conclusions

Bang and Olufsen maintains its status by offering TWS headphones with active noise reduction and convincing conversation microphones. Comfortable, durable, practical to use, Bang and Olufsen Beoplay EX sound great with the right EQ and create a large, well-populated soundstage. Too bad that at the asking price they are very good, but not mind-blowing.

Pro

• Excellent dynamic reproduction (after EQ)
• Great stage
• Fair noise reduction
• Audio call quality
• Good autonomy
• Waterproof up to 1m depth
• Qi compatible charging case

Against