Reviews for B&O PLAY Beolit 12 by Bang & Olufsen

Like everyone else, I find the wi-fi reception poor and the sound incredible. Easier to setup w/ upgrade and IOS app, once you have it set for a network.

Bass is set for off the floor location (bookcase, table top, etc.). If you put it on the floor or in a corner, you very likely will hear too much bass. And upper end clarity is best if you face it toward you and have it at head (and ear) level. With that placement, the sound is awesome.

For all those whining about the price, I can only suggest you go find something as good for less - it simply does not exist - I guess B&O must know that and, just like the rest of their incredible products, have priced it accordingly.

11 of 14 people found this useful

...wifi range is quite limited, I experienced many drop outs and the wifi router is only 15 feet away (same room). Power consumption is quite high (10,5 Watt with Volume @ 50% on the iPhone 4S via AirPlay). It doesn't shut down when AC is connected and the music is turned off (it does when running on battery). Even shut down and connected to AC is uses 6 Watt. The sound is good for a machine this size. The battery can't be removed so you can't use the Beolit with AC only. Sooner or later this means a new battery is needed (a visit to the service). Also it doesn't like when your WPA2 password has symbols like $ or ?. It takes to buttons (On and then Wifi) to establish an AirPlay connection within 45 seconds.

I bought this device and two other devices: Loewe AirSpeaker and NAD VISO1 and compared a) the sound b) the handling c) smart power consumption. I ended up with the Loewe AirSpeaker because it delivered the best sound and broadest bass. Very low power consumption excellent design. The NAD VISO1 bass was the best, but the sound was a bit to dark and muted. Not as crisp and clear as with the Loewe. Also the Loewe system was the loudest by far, especially when compared to the Beolit 12.

If you need portability, go with Beolit 12 because of the battery. I use my device at the office and at home, it works great. I hope multiple speakers via AirPlay will arrive soon on iOS devices so I can buy another Loewe system for the kitchen and enjoy multi-room sound. Works great with iTunes on Mac OS X so far.

13 of 20 people found this useful

I picked up a Beolit 12 at the Apple store but may return it yet -- I’ve not decided. Let's not kid around, it's an impressive sounding little box for its weight and portability. It really sings with jazz and vocal, although that's no surprise for B&O. I played a few "lossless" encoded files via Airplay and I was pleased with the sound.

Now let's talk abuot the flaws:
1. This little machine was a pain to set up. I'm pretty tech savvy but this just seemed counter-intuitive to configure. B&O needs to fix this next time because for many people I'd imagine this trouble would result in the Beolit going back in the box and back to the store for a return.

2. Mild "hiss" that doesn't go away. I'm in a small apartment and when this device is on it has a soft "hiss" that doesn't stop. If it is playing music quietly it remains noticeable. I'm going to try to contact B&O to find out if this is normal behaviour. If yes it's going back.

3. Slow start-up time. Every time you turn this machine on it takes forever to connect to the network.

4. No bluetooth or other solution for taking this box to the park, or elsewhere without wifi. I hear people say you can set up a personal hotspot with an iPhone but given how challenging the configuration software is I'm not sure most people would attempt this. I've yet to try.

I still give it 4 stars because of:
-size
-sound
-airport is stable once configured
-ability to pull the AC cord on the fly (like with a laptop) and go without interrupting playback.
-beautiful design

4 of 5 people found this useful

Very satisfied with the speakers. The Bass is deep and powerful.

Airplay setup is difficult but once done it works.

The best think apart from the sound quality is the build in battery that lasts 8 hours and charges the phone when plugged in.

I use the Beolit 12 outdoor on my boat. The batteri makes it so practical.

5 of 7 people found this useful

Better sound than a Zeppelin Air, to say nothing of competing docks; unlike the pleasant-sounding but ultimately flawed Bose Soundlink devices, you won't find dropouts in any part of the audio spectrum.

If you know your music well (from hearing it on truly high quality sources), you'll find nothing missing; if you don't, you will discover entirely new aspects of your favorites that you never knew existed.

Setup was a breeze, with the Beolit acting as an access point for easy configuration, then solidly joining our existing network for airplay usage. It's limited to 2.4 GHz (instead of offering 5GHz wireless N as an option), so microwaves and some wireless phones can cause dropouts, but we've had very good reliability of playback.

What's perhaps most astounding (given the sound) is the unit's size and portability. There is simply nothing else like it.

1 of 2 people found this useful

only if you have something very urgent to do with your money... It is a wonderful piece of electronics... Air Play is a little tricky to setup (use the iOS app) but just WORKS...

Nothing will sound like this box in your house!!! You can pay half of its value to get a tenth of the sound volume, density, emotion... so... bad business!!!

The best thing is how much space a small box save without any kind of hearing pleasure quality...

20 of 53 people found this useful