Customer Ratings & Reviews

Excellent purchase - sound quality is amazing. Used it on vacation at the beach and it was a big hit!

Little bitty speaker, great big quality sound. Works just as intended. Is it a little pricey? Yes. But go ahead, you’re worth it.

Bought this on clearance so i got a real value. Good sound, solid build. Will be used extensively at the pool and beach.

Great buy and definitely worth buying. I use it on my screened in porch and love it.

I wanted to be both awed and impressed by the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore Portable Speaker. My expectations were based solely on the stellar reputation of B & O. While unboxing I was thrilled with it’s solid build, compact size (slightly larger than a can of soda), and high-end, scratch-resistant finish. Advertised as water resistant for up to 30 minutes in 1 meter of water and boasting the ability to withstand a fall of up to 1-½ meters this speaker begged to be taken adventuring on the weekend. Unfortunately, once I connected my phone via Bluetooth I quickly realized that while the 360-degree sound it offered easily filled small spaces this speaker was not the powerhouse that I was expecting it to be. Even after using the app to adjust the sound there was still some distortion at high volumes and the base was lacking. While I really liked the aesthetics and features of this speaker it just didn’t deliver the commanding performance that I was expecting from the sticker price and brand name.

Plenty of power for a speaker that is just a little bigger than a beer can

Excellent headphones . One of the best headphones ever. Great sound

SUMMARY: The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore (‘B&O Explore’ from this point forward) will NEVER be a bad choice. The bass can use some work. BUT, it feels great in the hand, aesthetically very cool to look at, it’s easy to set up, it sounds great to the ears, the volume goes quite high before there is any distortion, the battery power lasts remarkably long, and it is amazingly rugged. It also sounds great through the gamut of music genres (read below about bass). I use this with an iPad Air 2nd gen (iPadOS 14.8), as well as an iPhone 11 PRO (iOS 14.8). Setup using the app is self-explanatory and very quick. The app isn’t bad; sometimes it does become unpaired from the iDevice, and it’s frequent enough to be a minor nuisance. Luckily, it happens when you start using it, instead of during playback. I know B&O like to keep it simple, but the app is extremely boring to look at; like reading a newspaper because it’s literally black and white. The B&O Beosound Explore allows you to take your music to places, and in conditions, that you couldn’t previoiusly take a Bluetooth speaker. It’s made for adventure because it’s rugged and water-resistent and design-forward. The app needs to be exciting like the product it controls. I’ve taken this hiking a few times, once where I was out the entire day in the middle of nowhere, playing music at 50%+ volume, and it lasted the entire 8-ish hours with battery power to spare. I would not have expected that at all, since the volume was at 50% or a bit more. The B&O Explore battery charges quickly via USB-Type C. It was drizzling rain and chilly, and it sat there on a picnic bench while I grilled out with my kids. It feels very well-made. The size is awesome, because it’s easy to pack. The carabiner that comes with, and the nylon loop, is great to hang it on a backpack or a thicker tree branch. The bottom is somewhat rubberized, because it did not slide off of smooth surfaces. It is shipped with a silicone ‘cap’ for the top (controls) and the bottom (Type-C plug). I’ve tried most genres of music with the B&O Explore; it performs extremely well. The bass only becomes an issue if you are listening to rock or rap music that is bass-intensive. BASS-INTENSIVE; in general, it handles bass very well. At that point, you understand the limitation of the unit, as you hear the bass ‘bottom out’; that is, it gets to a point where the unit can no longer reproduce the amount / frequency of bass, and begins to distort. On a very positive note about the bass ‘bottoming out’, instead of becoming an utterly distorted mess, the bass very discernably and cleanly just cuts off. I say this is a positive thing because if I’m listening to a song and the speaker can’t handle the bass, it is very desirable to continue listening to clear-sounding music, versus the bass distortion. I’ve never heard that from any speaker in my life, and I do wonder if that ‘feature’ was intentional by Bang & Olufsen...if it was, I thank you for that. There are competitors that make a BT speaker of similar size that handles the bass a bit better, but I can’t take them hiking in the rain; I would no doubt opt for the latter.

Best Bluetooth speakers ever. The sound quality is amazing two speakers can fill a large room with wonderful sound.

Bruh.... what is this?!?!? I was so disappointed to try this out. Knowing B&O they are usually known for making outstanding products. Though a bit expensive, I always thought they were worth the money. That was until I met this..... This speaker has only 2 Tweeters. No subwoofer / Radiators, no amplifier (If so not a good one) & it just was overall a huge letdown. A lot of people say you have to try the B&O app for it to perform better. True. The app does help, but not much..... take my advice, don’t buy this speaker. I recently bought the Bose Flex speaker which just came out for $149, that one is FAR better than this “Speaker”.

Great speaker for smaller spaces like bath room or for small groups outside. Nice bass and premium case/feel.

Very crisp audio, I love my new purchase Very glad I went with this choice.

The gift was well received and enjoyed by recipient

Exactly what I wanted. Easy ordering and delivery.

The song is a bit disappointing for such a premium product and brand.

This speaker is what you’d expect for something this size. I enjoy collecting and using speakers of all sizes and am an outdoorsy type person that believe music should be available in all situations. The size is small and portable and has been good for battery life so far, its supposed to get 27 hours which I have yet to push it that far. I also like the USB C charger option as its one less obstacle I have to worry about when charging, unlike my other speakers which are micro-usb. It is beautifully crafted with a premium feel. However, for being shock proof and claiming to take a beating it seems too nice of a product. Most rugged and water resistant products are lined with some sort of protection that typically can absorb impacts, but the nice aluminum finish looks like it’ll get damaged easily even though it claims to be scratch resistant. That concern aside, I think its great that a premium speaker can handle the downsides of a portable lifestyle! Adding to the premium look and feel, it has a nice weight to it. I associate a heavy weight (not too heavy) product with quality, cheap lightweight-speakers usually don’t have that premium or long-lasting sound. The next thing I judge a speaker by is sound level, aka how powerful it is. Even for a smaller speaker, I expect a good level of sound that can clearly protrude general noises and conversations without distortion. I would rate this speaker a 3.5/5 for power level. I would test it out in my garage while working in a partially enclosed area and max volume wasn’t too loud which I find slightly disappointing. I would even go down the driveway and it was moderately acceptable. Can’t expect too much from a personal size speaker, but its one of the criteria I still measure a speaker by. Overall, it’s one of the more premium looking and feeling speakers I’ve ever owned, and having 360 degree sound is a great design feature. Pairing was super quick and easy, it came with a USB cable but not the charging block to plug into, but that seems to be the norm these days. I would rate the speaker the 4.5/5 stars and would be a great gift for anyone.

It's an alright speaker not worth $200 though. The quality is nice but the sound is lacking.

Not up to B & O’s usual sound quality. Ended up returning it.

Sadly this speaker doesn't live up to the Bang & Olufsen name. Sounds good at 40% volume or less Anything above that sounds distorted and like a cheap speaker from TjMaxx.

Strong speaker. The sound carries well and fills a room. Heavy duty feeling so i dont feel like im going to damage it by simple use alone.