Believe it or not B&O(Bang & Olufsen) has been in the electronics game for close to a century and can be known for making some pretty high-end looking devices with quality in mind. With them making such high end products they do also try to consumer to more of the casual consumer market and this is where B&O Play comes in. With the Beoplay E8 they are entering the now crowded truly wireless earbuds market. Does B&O bring the quality and sound to that hefty price tag for the E8?
Style
One thing that B&O can always be looked at is detail and quality. The E8s are crafted via a combo of rubber and polymer to give you a circular style pair of earbuds that are super light. Possibly some of the lightest I have dealt with.
The B&O logo is enclosed inside a metal ring gives the earbuds just enough premium touch. Flip the buds over and you get lettering indicating ear positions and also showing the charging spots.
Earbuds are magnetic and pop right into the accompanying leather charging case. The case itself provides 2 additional charges(4 hours from each charge). I like the magnetic clicks as you don’t have to worry if the earbuds are secured in or not.
Beoplay E8s come with various ear tips including a set of Comply tips and a microUSB cable.
Features/Sound
So with these being wireless earbuds you be interested to know the capabilities of the E8. Each earbud has a 5.7mm driver and is equipped with Bluetooth 4.2. Unlike some earbuds I have used they don’t turn on right away when taking them out the case and you have to push the touch sensitive panels. Once doing so they pretty much sync up the device with ease.
I was using a Galaxy Note 8 in this case. With these touch panels you can pause, play, and do volume controls. You can also access their transparency mode which can also be utilized via the B&O Play app.
Audio wise the E8s have a nice clean sound to them with voices and instruments heard with clarity and not any muffling going on. They aren’t too bassy which I felt was a bit disappointing and wish they had a little more thumph. You can mess with the equalizer on the app but it will only give you so much.
Experience
Using the E8s for a week make me enjoy how light and portable they were but miss some of the bass I’m used to from other earbuds. Battery life was pretty good as you got the initial four hours and then additional from the case. I’m glad I didn’t have to run and charge them much. Using the touch sensitive controls was a hit and miss for me. Not saying it’s not bad but you have to memorize the touches and its so light you have to make sure you don’t tap too much or hard.
Verdict
I love the look and feel of the Beoplay E8s. B&O crafted an elegant pair of earbuds with a slick leather case to go alongside it. Sound is good but I felt like for the $299 price tag they could have used a bit more bass and may steer some people away. $200 or less might be more ideal for these buds from B&O.
