My Beoplay A9 arrived on Friday and thought i would capture my thoughts, experiences, and opportunities for Beoplay to make it a seamless customer experience.

The a9 arrived in the afternoon in a big brown package, but as i was working I had to wait until i finished to unbox it

The unboxing was easy,

> Thoughts: the box is big :-) 

> Experiences: I had to flip over the box after opening it to work it out

> Opportunities: the box could show which side to open so you don't have to flip; a diagram on the inside of the box as you open to say: you can attach the legs whilst in the box; or watch our youtube video; or a Q Code scan for that video 

Getting it out the box: easy

Setting up:

> Thoughts: seems easy enough

> experiences: When using the iPhone to touch to > wifi > BP a9> Change name > Find network > Then launch the app was too many steps.  First time i tried connecting it to the network it timed out.  I was fiddling around for a bit, then tried again then it worked. 

> Opportunities: why can't you just launch the app and it finds the device, connects to your network then you set it up

Setting up: easy enough in the Beoplay Music App

Using:

> Thoughts: If this is going to be more sold as a NL product, a more wider audience would likely purchase this, and therefore a checklist could be placed in the packaging

> Experiences: I initially put my Tune-In credentials in, using my phone then i turned off the device in between that time, then no sound, and i couldn't get it back, so i turned it off restarted my phone now that I had the credentials in properly, then it was fine

> Opportunities; when flicking through the different sources by tapping the a9, BP could introduce voice over or the like.  When you think back to the iPod shuffle that came out with no buttons, you could hold down the headphones and it would announce the song or the source. It would be good that when you change the source, that the BP says "Deezer" "Home Integration or MultiRoom or Avant" "Tune In" etc - that would be handy, even for most users 

> Surprise: That once in my Tune In setting with my phone turned off, you can step back and forward between your favourite stations.  I thought that this would only be for your iOS library or whatever 

Multiroom:

I tried a number of scenarios to see how the a9 would react

1. Avant on WLAN; a9 on WLAN

> When streaming from the Avant (foxtel) to the A9 - delay present

> When streaming from the A9 to the Avant - no delay

2. Avant on LAN (ethernet); A9 on WLAN; or vice versa of a9 on LAN (ethernet) and Avant on WLAN

> When streaming from the Avant (foxtel) to the A9 - delay present

> When streaming from the A9 to the Avant - no delay

3. Avant on LAN (ethernet) and a9 on LAN (ethernet)

> When streaming from the Avant (foxtel) to the A9 - no delay

> When streaming from the A9 to the Avant - no delay

All up: 

- The a9 is beautiful, and in fact it is more compact than i thought from seeing it in the shop

- The all black model with the walnut legs is handsome, I'm really surprised how well the wooden legs look

- Its stable and i run it on WLAN, and for this purpose i was also planning to buy an Essence and use that with my BL3s, but this is a one touch solution. I got up on Saturday morning, tapped the a9 and Gardening Australia started.  Lovely. 

- Multiroom is amazing and i plan to work on that more 

- The black is better than i imagined 

- When you put the a9 in to standby by pressing the button on the back the standby light goes out, but the other light (the network light) remains on, so that you know its connected to your network. A simple tap brings back your last setting / station, or if you use your phone with the BPMusic app, it starts up quickly 

- Bluetooth is very simple

- I really love the inbuilt tune in, deezer connect, etc (i don't use spotify) , so that i don't have to use my phone.  When i wake up i just want to go to the device as I'm walking past and not have to look for my phone as its normally off on weekends 

- i like how you can skip forward and back in tune in radio and it picks up on your favourite stations, and if you want to set up others you can do that 

- when using mutliroom and i stream from my a9 to my Avant, how do i get it to skip those speakers and use my BL18s which are rears in the avant set up ; or even my BL3s that are connected to the Avant as a speaker group 

- i don't know with multiroom if it is using WISA or what technology 

- i have started to play around with using my (unused) BL3s in other rooms with Receiver 1.  They said that they work only in the same room however i have set them up in other rooms today and set them up as a speaker group on my Avant

- it would be good if i could get my BeoTime to wake up the TV - at the moment i have only got it to wake up to TV, and not to HDMI 1 (foxtel) .  it would be awesome if i could get it to wake up to HDMI 1 and then the BL3 in the other room lol

These are my first impressions of the a9, and i think its a great product.  Its what i wanted, a simple solution with one power lead that could allow me to have music in a separate room when i wake up (radio) and the ability to multiroom.  I think the light grey Kvadrat cover in the black frame and walnut legs would be a graphic and somewhat deco piece in the house.

Kind regards

Michael.