In another life, my budding music career may have actually taken off and gone beyond writing and recording tracks in my home studio that few people would ever hear. As a by-product of this, I have always had a keen interest in audio equipment, and the renowned brand Bang & Olufsen has always been one that I’ve wanted to experience with my own ears. However, the company’s high price point has always seen me relegated to mere window shopping. But that’s all changed thanks to a partnership between the Danish audio manufacturer and Xbox, who have joined forces to bring a bespoke wireless audio experience to Xbox consoles with the Beoplay Portal headset. I was lucky enough to treat my ears to the Bang & Olufsen debut gaming experience over the past month and a half to see if it’s all it’s cracked up to be.
Priced at a wallet-melting A$840 (free shipping though), the Beoplay Portal is a ‘limited series’ headset that costs more than all the consoles it has been made for. So what does that amount of money buy you? The Beoplay Portal features Active Noise Cancelling (ANC), Dolby Atmos support and a tasty battery life of up to 24 hours using Bluetooth with ANC, and 12 hours when used with Xbox Wireless, Bluetooth and ANC, and of course, the Bang & Olufsen audio experience.
The right ear cup houses the unit’s USB-C charging port, 3.5mm port, power and connection button, and the volume controls (which utilise a touch slider), while the left side is where users will adjust the ANC levels and a button that lets users connect straight to their Xbox. The one thing I didn’t like was the touch controls for the headset’s volume and ANC, which felt fiddly to use – I much prefer push buttons or a control wheel.
That lambskin life
Given its Xbox associations, the Beoplay Portal connects directly to your Xbox console the same way you would connect a controller. The headset can also connect to your mobile phone, tablet or PC via Bluetooth. Having dual connectivity means that you can have the headset paired to your Xbox and another device at the same time. The best way to connect to the headset is via the Bang & Olufsen companion app, which lets users play around with a host of settings, including setting your own audio presets and ANC levels. In the app you can easily swap between Bluetooth (mobile device) and Xbox connectivity and when it works it’s great, but the execution of this feature is not as good as it should be. Several times the headset failed to connect to my Xbox Series X and required re-pairing through the app, and when using the headset without the app on my PC, the headset frequently failed to connect to my Series X, usually requiring me to restart the console and pair it again, or unpair it from my PC completely. In the end I simply chose not to use the headset with my PC.
Aesthetically, the Beoplay Portal headset is gorgeous, with the look and feel of the headset screaming high-end product. The unit comes in three different flavours: Black Anthracite (which we had), Navy and Grey Mist. The outside of the Black Anthracite unit features silver aluminium circles with the iconic B&O symbol printed on them and from a looks point of view, it’s a headset that you can wear anywhere.
If you’re dropping the kind of coin the Beoplay Portal will set you back you’ll want quality and Bang & Olufsen hasn’t cheaped out on the build. Using a strong but flexible aluminium frame, the headset is incredibly lightweight and is easy to adjust to fit heads of all sizes. Where cheaper units would utilise a faux leather finish, such as the ear cups, the Beoplay Portal use lambskin and the underside of the headband uses breathable memory foam, it makes for a headset that provides a good a fit without feeling too tight, including when worn for long periods. I’ve said it before, but comfortability is just as important as sound quality and the Beoplay Portal is one of the comfiest headsets I’ve ever worn.
The Beoplay Portal comes in three different flavours
So we know the Beoplay Portal looks good and is comfortable to wear, but how does it sound? Bang & Olufsen didn’t get their reputation by having a subpar audio experience, and for the most part the Beoplay Portal provides excellent sound quality. Packed with 40 mm diameter drivers with Neodymium magnets, games with atmospheric soundscapes such as The Medium feel immersive, and weaponry in action games such as Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 or Doom: Eternal all have a good kick to them. Using the headset in tandem with Dolby Atmos elevates the immersion even further and is definitely recommended for games with an emphasis on atmosphere.
While gaming is the headset’s primary use, it’s versatile enough to use for watching TV shows and movies, as well as listening to music. In fact I listened to a ton of music with the Beoplay Portal and the sound quality was excellent – guitars had a tasty crunch to them, while orchestral and ambient music sounded clean and detailed.
Where the headset does falter is in the mic quality. They’re not the worst headset microphones going around, but for $840 you’d certainly expect better. I attempted to use the headset to record a podcast via Discord and the quality was bang average, whereas party chat audio was fine according to those on the receiving end.
Feature-wise, the Beoplay Portal’s noise cancelling isn’t then best in the business but it does do a tidy job of blocking out basic background noise, such as fan noise or if someone else is watching TV in another room. However noisier household activities like vacuuming still penetrate through the ANC.
Final Thoughts
While connectivity issues bring the user experience down slightly, when it works there’s no denying that the Beoplay Portal headset is a top-notch piece of audio hardware with looks to boot. But the answer to the $840 question is that I don’t know who the headset is for or who to recommend it to other than those with cash to burn. There’s certainly better value to be found in other headsets, such as the SteelSeries Arctis 7X, but owning a pair of Bang & Olufsen has an element of prestige that very few, if any, other brands in gaming can match.
Review unit supplied by the manufacturer
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