When you release a new pair of truly wireless earbuds, the first question now would probably be, “Does it have active noise cancellation?” This feature has become a must-have for OEMs that produce audio devices and has now come to the smallest earbuds. The good news is that technology has evolved enough that truly wireless earbuds are able to carry this feature as we’ve seen the past few product releases. Bang & Olufsen’s new Beoplay EQ is the latest to have what they call Adaptive Active Noise Cancellation.
B&O is of course one of the most popular audio brands out there but the Beoplay EQ is their first ANC TWS earbuds. It uses six mics and an ANC DSP to be able to bring this feature to its sleek, premium-looking product. When you double tap the left earbud’s buttons, ANC is turned on or if you prefer to let the sound through, another double tap will turn on the Transparency mode. You get a seamless wireless experience with aptX adaptive and Bluetooth 5.2.
You should be able to get 6.5 hours of playing time with ANC and 20 hours without but that’s including the charging case already. Just charge it for 20 minutes with its fast charge feature and you should get 2 more hours of playtime. It supports the Qi wireless charging standard as well. The charging case meanwhile is made from spacecraft-grade aluminum that you can easily put in your pocket. Setting it up meanwhile is easy for Android devices and it also has support for Microsoft Swift Pair.
The earbuds are IP54 dust and water-resistant so it can deal with sweat and water splashes that you may encounter while wearing it. It also has interchangeable ear tips so you get passive noise cancellation as well. Because it has an ergonomic design, B&O says it can be for all-day use as well as commutes and other long-term wear. It matches the “luxurious yet functional” design of B&O products.
The Beoplay EQ in Black Anthracite is already available in China and Japan and then by August 19 to the rest of the world. The Sand Gold Tone variant will also be available globally online and in B&O stores by August 19. They’re priced at $399 which is even more expensive than the Apple AirPods Pro.