Designer Felix Schmiddelaar placed nine drivers inside a cylindrical aluminium body and angled them outward, distributing sound across a full 360 degrees from a single point. That is the engineering premise the Beosound A5 is built around — and unlike many omnidirectional speaker projects, the execution follows through. Thirty-seven hours of battery life, IP65 dust and water protection, and the ability to join B&O’s multiroom ecosystem make it viable in environments the brand had previously shown little interest in designing for.
The standard version pairs natural aluminium with an oak base; the Centennial Edition, released to mark Bang & Olufsen’s hundredth year, comes in anthracite and ships in limited numbers. Connectivity covers Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2, and Apple AirPlay 2. At this price it sits in competition with dedicated home speakers — which it trades against on aesthetics while matching on measured performance. In a room that has to serve as both study and sitting room, that trade-off is straightforwardly sensible.
£1,250 — bang-olufsen.com