A1 . If you can afford A2,much better

thorne wrote:

Looking for a fairly cheap ( by B&O standards) Bluetooth portable speaker. Is there an obvious choice between these two?

The sound on the A2 is excellent but the battery life is terrible, on 50% volume it lasts 2 hrs, anything higher than that maybe 1hr. The P2 has excellent battery life and the sound for such a small speaker is impressive but obviously the bigger speakers will have better bass. I have never owned a A1. 

I have both!

The A1 is superior. I now have the 2nd Generation A1 and it's a build improvement over the first model (although sounds the same to me). A1 battery life is not terrible at all. The 2nd Generation lasts hours. I've sat out in the sun all day with it running.

However, the P2 is better for travel. Much better. You can slip it in your pocket if necessary. Sound quality isn't as rounded as the A1, but better than you'd expect for such a small device.

Thanks for all the advice. I think I’ll go for the A1, which seems to meet my needs

I also have both.  If you don't care too much about portability, then go with the A1.  It's all around better.  However, it is quite a bit bigger and heavier.  Prior to the recent world events, I used to travel a bit for work and space/weight was always at a premium so I moved from the A1 to the P2 for travel purposes.  Given I was mostly listening at low volumes in a hotel, the sound difference didn't make up for the weight/size difference.  I can say the P2 performed excellently for this purpose.  Ultimately, the A1 is better, but the P2 sounds great for its size.