Bang & Olufsen Beosound Emerge is the speaker the Apple HomePod should have been

(Image credit: Bang & Olufsen)

published 16 April 2021

The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Emerge joins the company’s long list of beautifully designed speakers. This bookshelf smart speaker is the result of a collaboration with Benjamin Hubert from the experience design agency Layer and its slim design bears a passing resemblance to a book. While many B&O speakers are designed to draw focus, this one is more designed to slip into the background.

So, the Beosound Emerge is more about being heard than seen, and despite its size it promises ultra-wide sound thanks to a revolutionary driver configuration. It features a 100mm side-firing woofer at the back, a 37mm midrange speaker at an angle and a 14mm soft dome tweeter at the front to allow the demure speaker to fill the room with sound.

The Beosound Emerge Gold Tone is finished in oak wood sides and gold anodized aluminum. It is also available in a black anthracite aluminum finish. Hubert was also responsible for the Beosound Balance design and it’s easy to see the connection between the two.

As part of the Beosound family, the Emerge can link to any of the B&O Connected Speakers, whether it’s a second Emerge, the Balance or the Beoplay A9 to provide multi-room audio or fill larger spaces. It also supports Apple AirPlay 2, Chromecast and Google Assistant with built-in microphone.

While we’ve always been a fan of Bang & Olufsen’s more outlandish speaker designs, the subtlety of Beosound Emerge is certainly appealing and is likely to strike a chord with more reserved audio fans. We’d have these on our bookshelf any day.

The Beosound Emerge Gold Tone is priced £669 and the Black Anthracite is priced £539 with availability in selected European markets from today. The units will be available globally in Autumn 2021, with US and Australian prices still to be confirmed.

As T3's Editor-in-Chief, Mat Gallagher has his finger on the pulse for the latest advances in technology. He has written about technology since 2003 and after stints in Beijing, Hong Kong and Chicago is now based in the UK. He’s a true lover of gadgets, but especially anything that involves cameras, Apple, electric cars, musical instruments or travel.