I’m not sure where the old thread went!OK OK I went out and bought one. I’m going to blame this and put it firmly at the feet of Miki and his blasted YouTube videos. I don’t know why I just get my wages diverted to Ghent.I need to a travel speaker as I’m doing a lot more travelling now, and both the A1 Mk2 and the Explore were on offer here in the Middle East. Amazing as B&O set the prices to Euro levels even though we pay no taxes etc. I’ve had an A1, and it was great up until my wife left it in a hotel![No - thumbs down]()
I’ve just compared it to my HomePod mini which really like, and with a bit of tweaking in the B&O app it’s pretty much as good as. Yes the HomePod is half the price, but it doesn’t have a big battery and isn’t sand and waterproof. Really useful when you live in the desert and winter by a pool.The A1 is beautifully made but would get dented very quickly with being thrown around a suitcase three times a week. The Explore feels like it was made for the military. They need to produce some more modern colours. Battleship grey, black and 70s green aren’t really in the pallet selection of youth going to Glastonbury. If Rolex can do it….Pretty good.
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Beosound Explore
20 replies
I also got one last week and my opinion is that everything BUT the design of the thing is absolutely TERRIBLE. The sound is no better than a laptop speaker, its mind blowing bad actually, so now I understand why the video reviews I saw people burst out laughing when it played music.
Sound aside the features are also laking to such a degree its crazy anyone could justify this price for what you get.
The battery life if horrible (3 hours) if you turn it past 80% which you need to do if you want to hear it outside.
I retunned mine. I found several products that sound MUCH MUCH better and have so many other features and are almost $100 cheaper.
Major fail from B&O.
Location: Toronto, Canada
I hope you like my vids Chris? 😁 thanks if you do. I like the explore for what it is, but it’s unusual in many ways. I have yet to hear any laptop sound as good as the Explore is. An A1 sounds better for sure, but nothing beats the toughness of an Explore, that’s for sure! In the end I like it, but i guess expectations need to be managed for it🙂
Here are some products that sound at least 4x better and are also durable. They also have Wifi, Alexa and built in streaming services:
Sonos roam:
JBL
Marshall. I think I'm going to keep this one. Sounds so so so so much better than the horrible explore AND its cheaper.
Location: Toronto, Canada
Thanks I love your videos. If folk want a robust speaker with all that offers, they’ll have to compromise on something unfortunately. The A1 wouldn’t last a month without looking like an old dented car on my travels, so I’m just happy to take some music with me.🤒
Here are some products that sound at least 4x better and are also durable. They also have Wifi, Alexa and built in streaming services... and battery life that's not totally misleading.
Sonos roam:
JBL
Marshall. I think I'm going to keep this one. Sounds so so so so much better than the horrible explore AND its cheaper.
Location: Toronto, Canada
Here are some products that sound at least 4x better and are also durable. They also have Wifi, Alexa and built in streaming services... and battery life that's not totally misleading.
Sonos roam:
JBL
Marshall. I think I'm going to keep this one. Sounds so so so so much better than the horrible explore AND its cheaper.
The Marshall speaker doesn't seem like an outdoor speaker that can be dropped or is waterproof etc.
The explore is rugged and for taking camping, hiking, where ever. Clearly you are not wanting a rugged speaker so the explore is pointless for you.
I’m very happy with my Explore. It’s made for outdoor use, it’s easy to bring along, very good battery capacity, sound wise ok AND it has that B&O factor. Exactly what I expect and is willing to pay for.If you just want the best sound for the money, don’t choose B&O (valid for most of the products).
If I had the time or energy to make the same comparison with your Beolab 18s I could. I could show you B&W, Linn etc etc all cheaper or “technically better” and better speakers. But I’m glad your happy with them, and this isn’t the forum to do it either.🤒Here are some products that sound at least 4x better and are also durable. They also have Wifi, Alexa and built in streaming services: Sonos roam: https://www.sonos.com/en-us/shop/roam.html JBL https://ca.jbl.com/CHARGE5-.html?dwvar_CHARGE5-_color=Blue-AM-Current Marshall. I think I'm going to keep this one. Sounds so so so so much better than the horrible explore AND its cheaper. https://www.marshallheadphones.com/gb/en/stockwell-ii.html#country-dropdown -- BeoLab 18's. Beolab 3's. A8. A9. A2. H7.
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