Bang & Olufsen announced Beoplay Portal, the first wireless gaming headset of the company. The product maintains the signature sophisticated look of the other products from them, but comes with many other features than the average headset.
Bang & Olufsen's Beoplay Portal
The Beoplay Portal was created to match the Xbox ecosystem, and with a push of its pairing button, they can connect to the Xbox Series X, the Xbox Series S, Xbox One, or to a PC that has the Xbox Wireless adapter plugged into it.
Moreover, they support a concurrent connection through Bluetooth 5.1 for other devices. This way, the users can take calls without totally detaching from the game audio, as noted by Engadget.
Similar to the Bose QC35 gaming headset that was released in 2020, the Beoplay Portal look like high-end wireless headphones, and thus, comes with a high-end price.
The Beoplay Portal $499 and is available now in the black colorway at Best Buy, the Microsoft Store, and through Bang & Olufsen's site, which is the same price as a next-gen console. Two other colors are gray and navy and they will be available starting April 29.
Beoplay Portal features
This model has adaptive active noise cancelation or ANC and a gaming audio mode that automatically activates when connected wirelessly to a console or when wired through USB-C to a PC. It also has a 3.5mm headphone jack.
According to Windows Central, the Bang & Olufsen app for Android and iOS has some new features that the Beoplay Portal benefits from, like a game / chat audio balance and microphone optimization.
The company reports that its "Own Voice" feature allows for voice monitoring while keeping out noises out, thanks to the ANC feature. The headphones have 40mm drivers with Dolby Atmos support for virtualized surround sound.
Another area where Bang & Olufsen is trying to distinguish itself from other gaming headsets is the build quality. The memory foam ear pads are wrapped in lambskin leather, and it also uses bamboo fiber textile to cover the headband padding.
Furthermore, there are a few anodized aluminum details on the Portal, such as the touch-sensitive discs on the outside of each ear cup that are used to control them.
The company stated that the headphones weigh around 282 grams, which is lighter than mostly plastic Xbox Wireless Headset, which is around 312g.
This headset can last up to 12 hours per charge when you are connected through both Xbox Wireless protocol and Bluetooth, and using the active noise cancellation feature. If you are just using Bluetooth and noise cancellation, Bang & Olufsen stated that you can use it for up to 24 hours.
Given the price, people are skeptical that these will be worth the money, especially those who wants to use them solely for gaming. Nevertheless, it is best to use them both for gaming and for everyday use to get your money's worth.
Beoplay Portal advertises its microphones allow for clear conversations and it can help amplify your voice while filtering out sounds in the background.
Although it may cost a lot for a gaming headset, all of its features and its build quality does seem worth it. If you wish to give it a try, you can set aside a budget as it costs the same as an Xbox console.
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Sieeka Khan
