Since you have a Beosound 2, not sure if you’ve seen it on the forum but there was news about the Beosound 1 & 2 where you would not be forced to auto-redirect to the Google app in order to set up your speaker. Not sure if it was an update to the B&O app or the speakers themselves, and I am not sure if it has released or it is still in beta, but I’d test it out if I were you, or keep an eye out for the update. In any case I too hope for this to be impkemented for the Balance. Don’t give up on the Balance just yet ;).

BeoAnna wrote:

Anyone have any idea what I should do about this?

Sigh.

I have an idea, not sure you'll like it, but it's what I would personally do: return the speaker to the seller for a refund.

It doesn't matter if it's out of the 30-day return window some sellers have, the product was advertised as being also a Bluetooth speaker and - based on comparison with industry-standard competitor products - it doesn't work as such unless you set-it-up with Google Home, which is a non-standard requirement not mentioned on the product page nor in marketing collateral.

In other words, you have the legal right to get this fixed. One option is having B&O amending this behaviour with a software update (unlikely to happen, if it's Google's requirement that's keeping their hands tied), another way is giving you a refund (or exchange for the non-GVA variant).

(assuming you reside in EU/UK - I am not aware of US/CA legislation)

Anna, can you return the Balance and have your dealer ORDER you a non-GVA? Who cares what he carries--if you buy it, buy it as you want it. Alternatively, can you buy it straight from the B&O website?

I haven't had a single set-up issue with my non-GVA Level. None of that Google nonsense.

BeoAnna wrote:

Bloody hell my problems keep getting worse.

Got myself a Balance in Nordic Ice, lovely finish, and damn does it sound good. I find the room compensation a bit crap but I guess this is one of those big “YMMV” subjects especially since the Balance calibrates based on its own position and not yours. Anyway, as mentioned in my original thread I had to opt for the GVA version because my dealer refuses to carry non-GVA models (they basically told me that since they’re the same price everyone here wants the GVA one just in case). I originally thought this wouldn’t be a big deal since there’s a nice big clicky “MIC OFF” switch at the bottom; so I bought the speaker and went on to set it up via the iOS Settings App as an AirPlay speaker thus fully bypassing any Google shenanigans.

All good. Except… WHY does Bluetooth get disabled if you don’t use GVA?!? WHAT? If I tap on the Bluetooth pairing button I am greeted with a “nice” voice telling me that I cannot pair any Bluetooth devices until I complete the Google Home App portion of the setup. Really??? I don’t know about you guys but this sounds like something that would’ve been nice to know on such an expensive product.

While I don’t have an issue with AirPlay I do require Bluetooth to be working and this puts a huge spanner in my plans.

Anyone have any idea what I should do about this?

Sigh.

Try this…

1. Turn Mic on
2. Say, “Hey Google, enable Bluetooth”
3. Pair device
4. Switch off mic
5. Paired device should now work perfectly

Cheers, Simon. 

Doesn’t work, the speaker keeps telling me that the “First Time Setup” (of Google Home, not the B&O App) needs to be done first. I’m going to call my dealer once they’re open and ask them what options they can give me because as it stands my BeoLit 17 is more useful than this speaker. I don’t even have a Google account (don’t use gmail et al) and am not intending to give them my mobile number to register one just to enable Bluetooth. 

If I'm okay with having a microphone always on, are there any other downsides to having a GVA BS2? As I understand, if you start music playing with google, you can't JOIN that in other rooms via beolink. However, can you still use Deezer and all of the other sources via the B&O app?

I understand that many people don't like the idea of always having a mic listening, but I don't mind it. I'm trying to decide between the GVA and non-GVA version.

Yes, you can JOIN on other devices if you start playing sources via the B&O app (or via remote). Only when you start playing via a voice command the join function will not work. Also the line-in seems to be an exception where for some reason you can join with the non-GVA but not with the GVA version.

Frederik wrote:

Also the line-in seems to be an exception where for some reason you can join with the non-GVA but not with the GVA version.

And exactly this - in times where many want to have a turntable - could be a deal breaker.

They would not be able to listen to that throughout their (NL) setup.

So best think about what you need and which version you buy, before ordering.

MM

Millemissen wrote:

Frederik wrote:

Also the line-in seems to be an exception where for some reason you can join with the non-GVA but not with the GVA version.

And exactly this - in times where many want to have a turntable - could be a deal breaker.

They would not be able to listen to that throughout their (NL) setup.

So best think about what you need and which version you buy, before ordering.

MM

All of my turntables are in NL via NL/ML converters with BeoMasters, so I'm fine without the line-in. I've been wanting to upgrade the natural BeoSound 1 in my kitchen with a bronze BeoSound 2 to perhaps look better with all of the copper in my kitchen. I hear a lot of people very much against the GVA versions, and I just wanted to be sure that the big reason is just a concern of privacy.

Millemissen wrote:

And exactly this - in times where many want to have a turntable - could be a deal breaker.

They would not be able to listen to that throughout their (NL) setup.

So best think about what you need and which version you buy, before ordering.

I agree. And even where you think the voice commands would come in handy there are serious limitations. For example, you start a B&O radio station and ask something trivial like "Can you stop playing in 1 hour", it just cannot do that, only if you started playing via Google Voice.

I got a Level with GVA, it was the only version my dealer had in stock, but I actually see mostly disadvantages compared to the non-GVA version. As others have said before, I think B&O should better advertise these differences because most customers think they get more for the same price, while in practice it is not as simple.