Chris i hope you are right

Chris i hope you are right

BeoPlay 500 headphones

...obviously headphones 😂 because in the current line-up there are too few...?

MJ wrote:

BeoPlay 500 headphones

...obviously headphones 😂 because in the current line-up there are too few...?

link

 

Ohh I'm very curious about those Beoplay 500!!

There's the PS/PC version of the Beoplay Portal coming out probably around summer.

Apart from that, I can't forsee any newer and cheaper other pair of headphones coming.

In the last few years B&O have made it quite clear that they're raising prices of the entry-level products (see the connected speakers segment, where M5 is being replaced by Emerge that objectively audio-wise is inferior in every way, and costs even 50% more... Emerge can be classified as a successor of the M3, which costed about half of it), however a successor of the H4 at more than £300 don't make any sense as they would clash with the HX (which are always on discount between 340 and 400 GBP) - in addition to that, there's not much they could do to differentiate an ipotetic H4 3rd Gen from the HX unless they wanted to purposefully remove features that in 2022 all competitors offer at even a much much lower price (i.e. in 2019 it could have made sense to launch entry-level headphones without ANC, now it doesn't, especially considering that they couldn't even make then with ANC "worse" than that of HX given that the HX themselves have ANC that's worse than the H9 3rd Gen).

And below £300, it's quite clear that it's an area they lost interest into (the only exception being bluetooth speakers as it's been the only category that consistently provided decent sales in that market range).

B&O entry-level headphones (and gear, in general) had the main purpose of raising brand awareness. Duty that now, thanks to investments in other areas, is being fullfilled via other means (mainly, licensing agreements such as those with HP, Verizon, Microsoft, Sagemcom, Cisco, SK Broadband, Ford, and others - not to mention all of the collaborations with "fashion houses").

Very curious to see where these Beoplay 500 will be positioned in the lineup, I hope (slightly) above the H95.

I've been extremely unhappy of the headphones launched after H9 3rd Gen (H95, HX, Portal) in terms of craftmanship. I hope these will be worth their price tag.

Good grief. I don't even own one pair of headphones. Not a single pair. They must be selling headphones like carmarkers are selling SUVs in the USA.

I'm still crossing my fingers for something with a "BeoLab" prefix to it this year. I'm hoping for a BL17 replacement most of all. Or a BL50 replacement, though I know this is less likely.

I agree with both of you, it’d be fantastic to see both a new Beolab and headphones positioned above the H95. The H95 really set the bar high for me, so I’m very curious about what the 500 will become. I’m also realistic though. I think they’ll not able to make anything better than the H95 a couple of years later. Maybe around their 100th anniversary. I may be wrong though. But then again, hasn’t there been some talk about that the H95 was never meant to be for as long in the line-up as other headphones? The 500 could be its replacement. The naming is strange in any case. How is the number 500 so important? I understand 95.

Curly wrote:

I'm hoping for a BL17 replacement most of all.

Absolutely not happening from what I’ve gathered.

I was extremely close to getting a pair of 17’s before they were EOL’d but back then I thought that they were going to be replaced and hence I held off. Your BL17 replacement is the Balance. Seriously speaking though the Balance (as a stereo pair anyway) costs more than a BL17 pair and they also sound better. The Balance is honestly more deserving of the BeoLab prefix but I can see why they still call it a BeoSound. I’m aware that they’re very different products from a placement and mourning perspective, but it is what it is right now.

Also given current prices even if a BL17 replacement were to come into fruition it would probably cost more than the BL18’s (at launch anyway). That said from what I’ve heard there’s definitely no plans to launch a successor to the BL17 anytime soon.

Regarding headphones.

I have taken another look at the FCC entry and what I actually find intriguing is that the Product Purpose claims the Beoplay 500 headphones are going to be "Wireless Headphones", whereas the entry for the Portal states "Wireless Gaming Headphones" and the H95 was registered as "Bluetooth Headphone". So the 500 seems to be wireless-capable (beyond Bluetooth) but not targeted as gaming headphones.

Which explains why the will also release a USB audio dongle. The 500 could be an audiophile wireless headphone for home use.

As a vague guess, maybe it is a product like the Audioquest Dragonfly? 

A dongle-based DAC (with or without Wifi/WISA as always remember....bluetooth is not Hi-Res?). USB C plugin (Android perhaps, not iPhone)

Seems too complicated, advanced and forward-thinking for B&O Beoplay range. Ockham's razor suggests its probably just a headphone in a new colour?