Bang & Olufsen Beoplay Portal Xbox headset review: Can a $500 headset make sense?

B And O Beoplay Portal Review Source: Windows Central

There are many Xbox headsets on the market, and we review each and everyone we tin can get our hands on for our best Xbox I headset and all-time Xbox Series X, Serial S headsets round-ups. I tend to review with the mindset of "is this value for money?" at the forefront of my mind, reminding myself consistently that, ultimately, I'm trying to inform you lovely people what is actually worth the dollars. I have to say, when discovering that Blindside and Olufsen were making a special "Express Series" Xbox headset, I was intrigued... until I saw the price.

This is the B&O Beoplay Portal, which costs a whopping $500 — the same price as an Xbox Series X. My kickoff thought was, quite honestly, how tin can that perchance be justified?

The Beoplay Portal represents the philosophical intersection between a "gamer" headset and a "lifestyle" headset. Lifestyle means something y'all can wear exterior without feeling silly, consummate with features and audio quality that make your favorite Spotify tracks soar. In addition, yous also have Xbox Wireless compatibility, giving you a directly link to the audio on your Xbox console.

The Portal is not the simply headset on the market that boasts some of these features. The LucidSound LS50X also has Bluetooth and Xbox Wireless, as does Microsoft's own official Xbox Wireless Headset. Both of these are immensely cheaper than the Beoplay Portal as well, clocking in at $250 and $100 respectively.

Can build quality, additional features, audio reproduction, and the B&O proper noun actually justify the mammoth price tag? Well, we went out and bought one, so nosotros could find out and let y'all know.

Beoplay Portal Se

B&O Beoplay Portal Xbox headset

Lesser line: The B&O Beoplay Portal is a true rarity in the games accessories market, bringing some premium flair to the competition. However, I would await a headset that costs as much as my console to exist effectively perfect. With microphones that are just passable, and the omission of Bluetooth and Xbox sound source mixing, the Beoplay Portal doesn't make the grade. This is a lifestyle headset first, with a nuance of gaming.

The Good

All-time-in-grade app experience with good features
Gorgeous visual design with groovy ergonomics and actions
Incredibly lightweight and comfy with premium materials
The merely Xbox headset with active noise cancellation
All-24-hour interval battery life
Impressive audio with Dolby Atmos

The Bad

Internal microphones aren't smashing
Can't dual-channel Bluetooth and Xbox wireless
The price is difficult to justify

B&O Beoplay Portal Xbox headset: Price and availability

The Blindside and Olufsen Beoplay Portal is a whopping $500, putting it in the same range every bit college-cease lifestyle ANC music headsets rather than your typical gamer gear. The headset is part of "Limited Serial" official Xbox gear from Microsoft, labeled then for its supposed premium quality. In that area, the B&O Beoplay certainly makes the course. Whether or not it's actually worth it will boil down to your preferences, and our full review, but the headphones are generally difficult to purchase correct now. There are units bachelor from B&O's website and from the Microsoft Store, merely many other retailers take already sold out, and we don't know if more will be manufactured.

B&O Beoplay Portal headset: What I loved

B And O Beoplay Portal Review Source: Windows Central

Admittedly, I don't review many "lifestyle" headphones, focusing primarily on gaming-style headphones. That's the intersection Bang and Olufsen are pushing here, though. Are gamers willing to pay lifestyle prices for features they get on headphones with gaming brands attached to them? There'southward certainly something to be said for the engineering process to brand headphones not but wait good only sound good, too. Almost gamer headsets, frankly, don't care likewise much about the "wait proficient" aspect.

Category	B&O Beoplay Portal
Frequency Response	twenty-22,000 Hz
Speakers	Neodymium, 40 mm
Features	Agile Noise Cancellation (ANC), Dolby Atmos
Materials	Premium lightweight aluminum, genuine lambskin
Connectivity	three.5mm, Bluetooth five.1, Xbox Wireless
Bombardment	3 hours to charge, ~12 hours w/ Xbox wireless, Bluetooth, ANC. ~24 hours westward/ Bluetooth, ANC.
Weight	282 k

The Beoplay Portal headset is, quite honestly, gorgeous. Not simply is it spectacularly modernistic, simply it's also subtle in its pattern. Information technology'southward something that frankly looks loftier-finish, and if you're into portraying yourself as a fashion-forrad contemporary bloke or lady, the Beoplay Portal might have won you over already.

The headset comes in three color pallets. I opted for the industrial black on aluminum fashion, with brushed metal earcups, a high-grade lightweight metal headband, complete with calfskin genuine leather. I remember this is actually the first gaming headset I've reviewed that features 18-carat leather, and it really does brand a deviation. It feels great to wear even across long sessions, with a gentle contact profile on your skin.

Given the beefy 12-hour battery life (24 hours in Bluetooth style) I honestly expected them to be far heavier, but that's not the case. This headset is incredibly lightweight. I also initially worried that the slim headband design would suspension, but information technology notwithstanding feels reliably dumbo in its construction. They have a continuous metal shaft running the entire length of the production, which I can't imagine will break easily, even under duress.

B And O Beoplay Portal Review Source: Windows Central

That's but it, though. The Beoplay Portal is expensive considering of the engineering try it takes to get these features and components into something that's compact and lightweight, while besides looking corking. How do they sound, though? Pretty damn groovy, actually.

Packing Dolby Atmos every bit standard, the Beoplay Portal is definitely among the all-time-sounding Xbox headsets I've used, if not the all-time. Active noise-canceling (ANC) is something I haven't withal experienced on an Xbox headset, and information technology really tin can brand a big difference, cutting out ambience scrawl from an open window or desk fan.

The Beoplay Portal is definitely amidst the all-time-sounding Xbox headsets I've used, if not the best.

Using the Beoplay Portal, games similar Resident Evil Village gained an boosted dimension. The lonely ambiance of the creaking village swirled all around me thanks to a cavernous soundscape and very detailed, high-definition audio. From the about minute windswept brush to thunderous Lycan roars, Resident Evil truly sang on this headset. I also jumped into Overwatch and Battlefield V, my become-to shooters, and found a similarly impressive experience. The distinctive separation and crisp detailed highs aid with tactical play, without sacrificing any of the more than immersive ambiance. It just sounds great.

When it comes to the Bluetooth signal, I had a few issues. At first, I couldn't become them to pair with my PC or my phone, but later repeated attempts, information technology did finally get through. My Razer Bract 17 Pro didn't similar them, for some reason, creating immense baloney. I'm inclined to blame the Razer Bract for that, though, since its never been particularly bully with Bluetooth. On my Galaxy Annotation twenty Ultra, I had no issues whatsoever with connectivity, after wrangling with the app for a while.

B And O Beoplay Portal Review Source: Windows Fundamental

The app is also quite good, making it easy to create EQ presets and tweak settings for things like ANC. Admittedly, I did have to play around with the EQ a fair fleck to get the headphones where I wanted them for music. Out of the box, they may sound a little bit apartment until yous crank up the bass a bit, depending on your tastes. Subsequently, I found them to be a solid choice for my favorite tracks, with excellent ANC that drowns out outdoor ambient noise. They're fifty-fifty ideal for exercise!

I generally adopt earbuds, though, and didn't find them to audio that much meliorate than my Samsung Milky way Buds Live or Marshall Monitor 2 ANC, both of which are a off-white bit cheaper. The Beoplay Portal maximum volume also isn't the best, which is offset by the ANC to some degree, only if yous similar it loud these might not be the cans for you. Still, they remain excellent for music and media overall, and of course, they too do Xbox gaming, which neither of my other primary headsets for music is capable of.

The Beoplay Portal too impresses in other areas. The touch-bar volume controls are surprisingly responsive and authentic, allowing y'all to very easily mix political party chat communication with game sound, and command master volume. Pairing buttons are piece of cake to locate, and exercise their job incredibly quickly. I was surprised to find that, despite having internal microphones for Xbox political party conversation, they produce no echo whatsoever, nor do they choice up game sound from the speakers. This is something that gaming headsets even on the college cease oft screw upwardly, and so it'southward good to run across them succeed in this area.

B&O Beoplay Portal headset: What I disliked

B And O Beoplay Portal Review Source: Windows Primal

At that place's a ton of stuff to praise about the Beoplay Portal, but for $500, I truly expect the best of the all-time. The Beoplay Portal falls short in a few critical means, unfortunately. While I did annotation that the microphones perform adequately for internal mics, they're still on the lower finish when it comes to audio communication. While it wasn't possible to capture sound from the Xbox, I was told that I sounded as though I was using a Kinect microphone, even without informing the listener that I was using a dissimilar headset from usual. Many of B&O'due south contest in the gaming space also offer mic monitoring for calls, which isn't present hither. It'southward non such a glaring omission since you can still hear yourself fairly well while wearing these, despite the ANC eliminating ambient noise.

Either style, the mics are passable, and unless you lot're in a especially busy party with many participants, I don't think you lot'll have besides many issues with how they audio. Simply don't expect to be making any content or performing alive streams with this headset. Not that you could, that is.

One of the more contempo trends with Xbox headsets is the ability to mix audio from two dissimilar sources. The Astro A50 is the king for this, mixing audio from a USB signal and a SPDIF signal simultaneously into ane mix. This is great for content creators or people who want to use PC programs for chatting, like Discord. Other headset manufacturers, including Microsoft, opted for Bluetooth instead of USB and SPDIF in their wireless products. And sure, Bluetooth is not great in any situation, being particularly susceptible to sound corruption. However, it feels odd that the Beoplay Portal doesn't let you to mix Xbox Wireless and Bluetooth sound simultaneously, nether whatever circumstances.

B And O Beoplay Portal Review Source: Windows Central

I had assumed that I would be able to accept a Discord phone call or phone phone call off my phone while using the Xbox Wireless indicate for game audio. Alas, yous can only utilise one or the other at a time.

If you want a headset that is unapologetically premium, the B&O Beoplay Portal is information technology.

Honestly, I don't use the Bluetooth mixing feature a huge amount, and then this may not bother well-nigh people. It does feel like an odd omission though, given how many other competing headsets are offering this. Presumably, this was done to preserve indicate quality, but I think at least giving people the option to do both in a pinch wouldn't be a miss.

It'southward likewise merely hard to talk well-nigh this headset without mentioning the toll. Aye, it's packed with premium materials and high-end engineering. Getting all of this tech into a densely packaged, lightweight product is no easy feat, and it's certainly not cheap to practice either. That being said, you won't necessarily think nearly that while they're on your caput. I feel like you tin can get a comparable audio feel for your Xbox for far, far less, unless y'all're especially interested in the mode play here.

Honestly, that'due south ultimately what the Bang & Olufsen brand is. It's all about the lifestyle. High-end, minimalistic design, across a broad product family unit that all complement each other in dissimilar ways. If you lot want a headset that is unapologetically premium, the B&O Beoplay Portal is it.

B&O Beoplay Portal headset: Contest

B And O Beoplay Portal Review Source: Windows Central

Nosotros include these new competition segments in our reviews at present, and commonly, they're pretty like shooting fish in a barrel to write. Still, this headset really does stand alone. In that location are no "lifestyle" headsets on the entire market that are trying to do what Bang and Olufsen are with the Beoplay Portal, but there are a lot of headsets on the market place that do some of its cardinal aspects pretty well for much less.

Honestly, the Beoplay Portal headset is probably the best-sounding Xbox headset I've ever used, but there are much cheaper headsets out at that place that come quite close. The planar-based Audeze Penrose X sounds quite comparable, but it's are likewise quite pricey at $300.

Source: Windows CentralThe Corsair HS75 XB is a great bang-for-your-buck wireless sound pick for Xbox fans.

For bang-for-your-buck sound quality, I by and large recommend the Corsair HS75 XB these days, since information technology besides comes with a Dolby Atmos license baked in, and has a great soundstage with detailed reproduction. It doesn't have Bluetooth, however.

The closest competitor in the Xbox scene to the Beoplay is the LucidSound LS50X. LucidSound's design contour is a lot bulkier than the B&O Beoplay, and the construction is nowhere near every bit good, with clunky action on the book dials and no app feel on mobile. Nevertheless, information technology sounds solid, though, and look pretty decent. Information technology also does that Bluetooth and Xbox Wireless simultaneous sound mixing, and accept a far, far better microphone than the Beoplay Portal, which is also detachable if you become roaming. Crucially, it also costs half as much, retailing for $250, but you tin can often get them for much less.

B&O Beoplay Portal headset: Should y'all buy it?

B And O Beoplay Portal Review Source: Windows Central

Honestly, the B&O Beoplay Portal headset somewhat stands alone in a crowded market. It offers a premium feel beyond the lath, but it's aimed at a very specific type of client. I went into this review with a bit of a negative mental attitude absolutely, assuming that B&O Beoplay were finer selling me a brand rather than something truly substantive — I was wrong, they accept won me over. But, they are still incredibly tough to recommend considering of that wild price point.

You should buy this if ...

You desire a best-in-form premium feel regardless of cost.
You want a headset for frequent function/outdoor use that can as well piece of work on your Xbox.
Yous don't intendance well-nigh having the all-time microphone.

You shouldn't buy this if...

You're on a budget.
You desire to mix audio from 2 different sound sources.
You don't plan to use them beyond your Xbox.

You shouldn't consider buying the Beoplay Portal unless yous're someone who often uses headphones in general. If you're someone who commutes, uses headphones at piece of work, or at domicile, whether gaming or not, these might be a great lifetime buy for you. The app experience is summit-notch (probably the best I've used), and sits alongside some truly remarkable engineering work with impressive design sensibilities. This headset does a lot very well, only at that place are so many, many cheaper options out there that are probably amend for most Xbox gamers.

This is an unashamedly premium product with some of the best audio reproduction I've always experienced on my Xbox, but that alone doesn't give them a big enough edge to justify the toll. I'g non someone who would necessarily apply these out and about either, because I adopt lower-contour earbuds, even if it comes at the loss of some sound quality.

You really have to fit into the lifestyle B&O is selling here. A mode-forrad, minimalistic pattern contour, with a great on-the-get sound experience, that has a side order of gaming. I am certainly not its target market, only I can't help but admire what Xbox and Bang & Olufsen have achieved here.

Beoplay Portal Se

B&O Beoplay Portal Xbox headset

Bottom line: This headset has heavenly audio and design quality, simply a hellacious toll signal. Yous have to really spend a lot of fourth dimension inside your headphones to want these — they're a headset for lifestyle enthusiasts with a fashion-first mindset. For most, the price probably won't make any sense, simply these are designed for a specific audience in mind, and in that, they succeed.

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