The luxury over-ear headphone market has been heating up for some time. A category once dominated by Bose and its Quiet Comfort line has been blown open in recent years. Now almost every major headphone manufacturer offers a premium, over-ear option with noise-canceling features, Bose, Sony, Sennheiser and Bowers & Wilkins are all vying to dominate the product category. Apple even joined the race in 2020 with the release of AirPod Max. Each option offers comparable features, sound quality, and noise-canceling capabilities at a similar price point, ensuring maximum confusion for the consumer. Then we come to Bang & Olufsen, which has just announced its new flagship offering the Beoplay H100, hoping to offer those looking for the ultra-premium option a clear path out of the confusion.
Founded 99 years ago in 1925, in more recent history Danish brand Bang & Olufsen has found its place in the market. As other companies looked towards mass production and lowering price points, Bang & Olufsen went premium focusing on higher quality at lower numbers.
Investing heavily in design, you may have noticed that many Bang & Olufsen pieces look closer to a modern sculpture than a tech product. While the new BeoPlay H100s continue this high design ethos, they remain unavoidably headphones. They are also premium to the hilt and carry a price point to match at $1,549, effectively three times more than the next priciest set of premium headphones. But what exactly is the discernable audiophile, who’s prepared to drop $1,500 on their next set of headphones, getting for their money?
“Beoplay H100 elevates what we have accomplished over the past ten decades and defines our future: an era where beautiful sound is built to last,” said Bang & Olufsen CEO Kristian Teär. “It represents the true potential of what a Bang & Olufsen audio wearable can be, and we cannot wait to bring the headphones to our customers. Drawing inspiration from the unparalleled performance of our Beolab speakers, our iconic designs from the past and the modular construction that embraces material excellence and circularity, Beoplay H100 truly embodies our design and innovation capabilities.”
As one of the fundamental pillars of a Bang & Olufsen product, design has played an important role in the new Beoplay H100 headphones. Ultra-high-quality materials are used throughout, from the scratch-resistant hardened glass touch interface on the side of the headphones to the precise and tactile haptic dials and buttons used to control them.
A good pair of headphones must be comfortable for all-day wear. The Beoplay H100s feature a detachable inner headband, formed from a knitted textile to increase breathability, while the earpad cushions are made of soft lambskin leather. Arriving in three colors: Infinite Black, Hourglass Sand and Sunset Apricot, the headphones are also set to be a looker, capable of fitting into anyone’s sense of style.
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Good design is vital, but when it comes to headphones, sound quality remains king. “Beoplay H100 is the best pair of headphones we have ever created. Whether you are listening to your favorite music, having a phone call in a noisy environment, controlling the effect of the surrounding environment with active noise canceling or audio transparency, H100 always delivers exceptional audio performance,” says Bang & Olufsen director of technology Neo Kaplanis.
Bang & Olufsen has achieved supreme sound quality through the use of its custom-made 40mm titanium drivers which sit behind aluminum grills, the sound produced has been tuned by Bang & Olufsen tonmeisters. Bang & Olufsen also claimed to have doubled the performance of its active noise cancellation when compared to the previous iteration of the headphones.
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This noise cancelation is created by ten studio-grade microphones situated around the headphones. As the microphones detect the sounds coming from outside, the headphones can produce the exact opposite audio wavelength, creating the noise-canceling effect. The level of this effect can be entirely controlled by the user, through controls on the side of the headphones. So say you walk into a café to order a drink, you can turn down the noise canceling while you order, before turning it back up as soon as you have your coffee.
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A final differentiator that splits the Beoplay H100s from the competition is its modular design. While many companies allow the replacement of ear cushions, that’s about as far as it goes. Bang & Olufsen allows users to replace ear cushions and the headband, two key wear points. Additionally, Band & Olufsen technicians can easily access interior components, allowing for the quick replacement of batteries, drivers and circuit boards.
The end result is a pair of headphones that conceivably have a much longer lifespan, having been designed to be maintained and repaired. The software has even been developed to be upgradeable and evolve as new audio innovations are released. This in theory reduces both the amount of headphones the user has to buy and technology that ends up in landfill.
In a market that seems to get more oversaturated by the second, with the release of the Beoplay H100s, it appears Bang & Olufsen have stuck to what they know best, creating an ultra-premium product that delivers on both sound and design.
The new Beoplay H100s can be purchased in store, or online at bang-olufsen.com
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