Beoremote Halo, the future B&O remote control

It was uneccessary fluff when it was released and it will end up gathered with the other fluff in the corner, unused.

B&O have a really annoying habit of wasting time, effort and resource producing irrelevant stuff like this when it really should be spent on core products

 

My Halo sits on a charger where I walk by it multiple times a day. Seeing it light up as I walk by always brings a smile to my face. A frequent complaint here is the absence of any mechanical magic as there was in the older products. While not mechanical, and obviously a simple thing to with today’s electronics, I do like it. I find the function and design of it to be beautiful and enjoy using it regularly.

If I do remove it from the charger, even with me walking by and triggering it many times a day, it still maintains a charge for many days. I charge my iPhone and iPad daily and starting in a week I will be charging my Tesla every day. I have no problem with a battery that needs charging once or twice a week. The product was made to be on a charger or plugged in as well as be portable. It is all a matter of how it is used. I am very happy with it and am considering getting a second one at some point.

My halo is in the Kitchen where I also have a wall-mounted Essence Remote that was the main control for the previous 4 years.  I find I use the Join button at the top of the Essence when I walk into the room, and use the Halo for everything else.  I like seeing the display of what is playing, and like the controlled access to other stations versus just jumping to the next with the Essence.

I'm disappointed that it doesn't support the Beosound Moment: if it did, I would carry it from the kitchen to the dining room to have control over both systems while I'm dining.  Instead I have to use the phone app or the moment to join the kitchen stream, and then an Essence remote to control volume on the Moment.

Still, I find that it is growing on me, and expect I will continue to appreciate it for as many years as B&O maintains software support.

Puncher:

It was uneccessary fluff when it was released and it will end up gathered with the other fluff in the corner, unused.

B&O have a really annoying habit of wasting time, effort and resource producing irrelevant stuff like this when it really should be spent on core products

Ban boring signatures!

Couldn’t have said it as well as you. They shouldn’t be carrying on like this, being totally strapped for cash and then bringing out gimmicky pointless stuff not far form being discontinued on release. All form and no function.

Very limited functionality 2020

Terrible battery life 2021

Charging problems and expensive battery replacement 2021

Incomplete software on release 2020

Perpetual customer service tickets raised 2020-22/3

EOL end of line 2022/3

.

I'm curious if anyone here has done a Halo wall installation and which power connection method they used.

Maybe this can help or at least inspire:

https://youtu.be/s-5QJOJkGGw

N.B.
Sceduled for the 17 th. 

MM

Thanks, MM. I had earlier seen the official B&O video on options for wall-mounting. I'm curious which direction people are taking. The POE requires a large space in the wall for the adapter. I'm inclined to just drill the smallest possible hole to drop a USB cable through the wall. I think the Halo looks better when you can see the wall rather than the wall-plate. I think I might install a USB jack near the floor with a coupler to neatly connect the USB cable in the wall so that I can connect a USB cable on the outside of the wall to the jack and then run that external cable along the floor to a power outlet.

As I told my dealer yesterday, the Halo wall mount is much better suited to new construction, sadly. The Essence remote was something you could just stick on the wall! But I understand, less functionality and thus, it could take some replaceable batteries whereas Halo cannot and therefore requires cabling behind walls.

Good luck, Jeff!

Curly:

As I told my dealer yesterday, the Halo wall mount is much better suited to new construction, sadly. The Essence remote was something you could just stick on the wall! 

It gets worse. You can't add a wall mount option to the table mounted version!

I never use the Halo. Complete waste of money. It's one of those things you sort of have to force yourself to use. It runs out of battery so quickly (approx 4-5 days) that I can't be bothered to charge it.

So, I thought I'd look at moving it to a wall mount as it's mains powered. You can't. 

The Halo-bashing is getting rather old. You either like it or you don't. I use mine quite often and now have three.

Just wait for what Henrik has in store for you

beojeff:

The Halo-bashing is getting rather old. You either like it or you don't. I use mine quite often and now have three.

I like mine also. Have considered another one for a wall mount as well as one for another room where I currently have an Essence.

Mikipidia:

Just wait for what Henrik has in store for you New: Beovision Harmony, Beolab 50's, Beolab 18's, Beolab 17's, Beolab 3's, Beosound 9000 mk3, Beosound Stage & LG, Beosound 2, Beoplay M3, Beoplay A1, Beoplay H4 gen 2, Beoplay E8 3.0

Mikipedia on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Mikipedia

mikipedi4 on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/mikipedi4

Old: Beovision Eclipse, Beolab 1's, Beolab 2, Beovision 10-46, Overture 2300, beolab 8000's, Beolab 4000's, Beovision avant 32" etc. etc.

Would you perhaps provide me with a translated summary after the video airs?

Mikipidia:

Just wait for what Henrik has in store for you

beojeff:

Would you perhaps provide me with a translated summary after the video airs?

(He meant to say "us".  US! ) [Edit: Off-topic suggestion to ask Henrik to narrate himself moved to your podcast thread.  Back on-topic, I would just like to say that, "POE requires a large space in the wall for the adapter." is not the way to look at it:  Pull the low-voltage cable back to your equipment room to your PoE network hub.  (What, you don't have PoE?  Well, get it!)  OK, fine, pull to anywhere unobtrusive, if you don't have PoE, and plug the adapter there.  I do *understand* not wanting to DIY a cable pull, or deal with a contractor for a miniscule job they barely care about, but a $250 bill for cabling a $800 remote seems inconsequential.  Just think of it as a "media control panel" or whatever Crestron calls them, and you'll relax about having to custom cable the Halo.]

beojeff:

The Halo-bashing is getting rather old. You either like it or you don't. I use mine quite often and now have three.

Halo-bashing? I friggin own the thing. I'm allowed to say I love or dislike it. I spent hard-earned cash on this and am entitled to tell you what I think of my own device, positive or negative. In the same way I'll tell you I love the BeoSound 2, Stage and plenty of other devices. In fact, almost every other B&O device I own.

In my opinion it's a very expensive BeoRemote with a tiny fraction of the battery power. It simply dies too quickly. I've often come to the Halo to find the battery has run out. I just turn to the BeoRemote or control the device manually. 

If you actually read my response it's hardly 'bashing' it's more a critique of an expensive remote. If you pay almost $1000 for a table stand remote, you want the battery to last more than a few days. I don't think that's unreasonable? The wall-mounted version is probably better value-for-money for this reason alone and I'm frustrated you can't move from the table to wall-mount: again, a fair comment to make as an owner.

So many times I've come to use the Halo after a few days to find it's completely dead, whereas the BeoRemote lasts for years on two batteries. I just don't think the table (battery) version is quite up to the level required and happy to tell people this so they can make their own decision, in advance. Again, fair.

I'm glad you own three. But more fool you - I wouldn't spend almost $3000 on a sphere volume control.

This is hardly 'bashing' and a forum isn't a place where you come online just to tell everyone how amazing something is and they should buy it. If that was the case, I'd be lying, frankly.