I took Bang & Olufsen's new 5-star Bluetooth speaker on holiday – it's perfect for travel

Having used Bang & Olufsen's Beosound A1 in first- and second-gen guises for years, I was thrilled at the reveal of the new Beosound A1 3rd Gen – which ups the bass and battery life for this outing.

I've long considered the Beosound A1 as the best portable Bluetooth speaker for the simple fact that it's so truly portable. So I duly took the A1 Gen 3 away on holiday, testing it in hotel rooms from Dublin to New York, and out in my garden once back home.

Granted, there's a ton of competition in this space. Plenty that won't cost you as much either. But if you're seeking a luxury, well-made, and super-sounding portable then, believe me, Bang & Olufsen's Beosound A1 Gen 3 proves the adage that third time's a charm...

Price & Availability

You can buy the Beosound A1 Gen 3 right now, directly from Bang & Olufsen's website. It launched on 6 May 2025.

Pricing is officially set at £299 / $349 / AU$639 for any of the three available colours. You can pick from Natural Aluminium, Honey Tone, or Eucalyptus Green.

What's New?

Visually speaking, the Beosound A1 looks mighty similar in 3rd Gen form to its 2nd Gen predecessor. There are minor adjustments, however, which I've spotted when placing the two products side-by-side.

While the 3rd Gen is almost the same size, its depth is slightly reduced, with the upper aluminium section's milled circular openings smaller and neater-looking than before.

The whole product sits a little more elevated from any surface upon which it sits, the result of acoustic reengineering. The material handle, which protrudes from the side of the rubberised base, also features a smaller, tidier-looking B&O metallic emblem.

Otherwise, the key feature differences are enhanced bass output, greater battery longevity, those new colour options (as listed above), plus improved repairability, and a warranty up to 5 years. It's even Cradle to Cradle Bronze, certifying its responsible sourcing and circularity.

Design & Portability

What I really love about the Beosound A1 is how portable it is (I'm sounding like a broken record now, I know). Its 13.3cm diameter is smaller than, say, a dinner side plate; it's about the size of a CD (remember those?) – but thicker, of course, at 4.6cm.

That scale makes it so easy to carry around. I've been able to pop it into a backpack side pocket with ease. Or you can tie the carry handle around a bag, as needed, and need not negate any bag space at all.

However, just as with earlier models, that pearl-blasted anodised aluminium exterior can scuff. It attracts marks from contact with other objects, which is a given for a portable, and there's no case included in the box – so it might not look pristine after even just a little use.

Not that you need it to look polished and brand new at all times. After all, this is an IP67-rated device, meaning it's both dust- and water-resistant. To the point you could chuck it in a metre-deep pond for half an hour and it'd reemerge unscathed and still functional.

Its 576g weight doesn't make it the lightest speaker at this sort of scale – it's like adding three phones to your bag – but there's reassuring heft here. And I've no doubt that's because Bang & Olufsen components are second to none – the weight is carried forth in the weight of the sound, too.

While the speaker does feature controls on its side – play/pause, volume down, volume up on one side; on/off, Bluetooth, microphone on the other – there's also an app for control and sound adjustment too. Connect via a phone and it's easy to control with app open or closed.

Sound Quality & Battery

The nature of this design does mean the Beosound A1 has never been a true 360-degree sound speaker, but I have no qualms about that. It's super-easy to position as you wish – whether tabletop, angled, hanging from a nearby object – and the sound profile into your ears will be at its best with front-on delivery.

Inside, the Beosound A1 3rd Gen features one 82mm woofer and one 15mm tweeter, powered by two 30W amplifiers. This little package can go super loud if you need, although crank it too loud and it'll reverberate surrounding surfaces – while avoiding distorting itself.

But the really surprising thing about the Beosound is just how much bass it can output for a speaker of this scale. Nothing else I've seen or heard can match it pound for pound – or cubic centimetre for centimetre, really – and that's a big part of why it's my favourite portable around.

By default that bass isn't pushed to wild excess, though, it's just succinctly executed. The app is where you can adjust things using a click-and-drag circle that has polar opposites between Bright and Warm, Relaxed and Energetic.

You can therefore balance as you please between low/high bass and low/high treble, without it being binary nor complex to perform. There's no multi-band equaliser to faff about with, it's just a nice, colourful and real-time experience – and the results are considerable.

I will say, however, that you can over-crank the bass and, depending on what you're listening to, it can get a bit too much. A deft touch and everything sounds big, warm, spacious and quite wonderful – far bolder than you'd imagine from looking at this little speaker.

The sound is quoted to deliver from 54Hz, meaning true bass, through to 20kHz for sparkling high-end. The mid can sound a little fuzzy or muted from the wrong angles, but as I highlighted above, that's down to speaker positioning – acute listening angles aren't the best, basically.

Also of note is the aptX Adaptive codec on board, meaning a Qualcomm Snapdragon Sound chip is nestled somewhere in the product's heart, to deliver utmost quality. There's no quote on the upper limits of this in terms of bitrate, however, so that's unknown.

Lastly, there's battery life. I've used the speaker for several hours for this test and am down to 65% (it shows in the app). So the quote of 24 hours from a charge? It seems on point to me – and raised volume levels haven't seen that battery dwindle rapidly in my experience either.

Verdict

The Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 Gen 3 takes my favourite ever portable Bluetooth speaker and further improves its looks, bass output and battery life.

That's a win-win. Sure, the Bluetooth market is bustling with umpteen options, but if you want a truly portable speaker, one that's exceptionally well made and delivers sound a level beyond its scale, then this speaker is second to none.

Once again, Bang & Olufsen has nailed its revered portable. Even if you own a Gen 2, it's worth adding a Gen 3 model just to pair the two in stereo and double down on the quality of sound.

Also Consider

Despite its brilliance, the Gen 3 speaker is now much pricier than the current Gen 2 on offer. The latest model is better, marginally, but a decent price on the old model would also make a lot of sense.

Otherwise, if you want something a little larger then Bose's SoundLink Max is a great pill-shaped, carry-handle endowed portable for a similar price. Or, at the opposite end, the JBL Flip 7 is suitably small and lower priced if that's more suitable for your bank balance.