Article at The Verge

And on the B&O website now:

Newly haircutted John o’ Manchester already tested the Portal

It really pisses me off how these are so much better in pretty much everything compared to the HX, and yet they cost the same.

And how exactly are they so much better? I'm probably missing something in the specs?

Battery life seems to be worse..

Is that the case for the H95’s also?

Emil Jensen wrote:

The HX you cannot use for gaming, because when you use the Microphone the sound setting change to speak, and therefore terrible to use for gaming.

Finally it will be posible with the Portal.

crossbytje wrote:

And how exactly are they so much better? I'm probably missing something in the specs?

Battery life seems to be worse..

Technically and technologically, they're on another league.

Lossless and latency-free 2.4GHz connection (on Xbox and Windows).

Virtual Dolby Atmos processing.

Much better hardware controls.

Much better ear cushions.

Customisable 5-band EQ (how long for we've been asking B&O for this, on the H series?).

Probably better microphone algorithm (or even better mic hardware).

Microphone works also via 3.5mm jack and via USB-C connection (with HX it only works via BT).

Plus all the stuff the HX come with (Google Fast Pair, Bluetooth 5.1, Microsoft Swift Pair, aptX Adaptive, etc). The only things that the Portal lack are the wear sensor (that go figure, B&O don't even advertise for the HX) and the included carrying case (plus, better battery life, despite the larger battery that B&O put in Portal and that also could have put in the HX especially as unlike the H9 series they can't be used passively - battery that most certainly would have fit since the HX lack all the additional hardware the Portal have that's related to the 2.4GHz module).

And Portal are even slightly lighter than the HX (despite additional hardware and slightly larger battery).

All of this, at the same price of the HX.

Yes, battery life is better on the HX, but they come with the same battery as the H9 3rd Gen, which shows how little effort B&O put in the development of the HX. Also look how much they're advertising them (zero). Look at how much they're advertising the Portal.

HX are probably an old project that was in development before they agreed what to do with the partnership with Microsoft, so they just quickly released them without giving much importance to it. It's basically the exact same hardware as H9 3rd Gen, with slightly updated design and Bluetooth module borrowed from the H95.

I wouldn't be surprised if HX are the last model of the H headphones series.

They'll keep H95 going forward with updates, and that will be the premium "music" headphones for who wants to spend a lot of money for music headphones, and they'll keep the Portal line going for who wants to spend less.

HX are not as profitable for them as the H95 and Portal are.  

Then again, I haven't heard how the Portal sound compared to the HX, but still... I doubt the drivers are different from the ones of the HX (and hence, H9 3rd Gen), if there's any difference in sound it's 99.999999% likely due just to different DSP tuning.

@Beo_Vision: yes, also H95 are affected by that "issue". And even the Portal if you use them in Bluetooth mode.

A very positive review:

https://www.techhive.com/article/3613118/beoplay-portal-headphone-review.html

A longer review here........he is quite excited about the Portal