Hi everyone, thank you once again for finding my channel and for watching the review! This Gen 2 A1 is a very surprising and big improvement over the original, stay tuned if you want to see some of the sound comparisons that'll come soon! if you don't want to miss any that please leave a like and subscribe and share the video if you can as it helps the channel out a lot, please and thank you!
Nicely done Mikey, glad it's not my ears or my old battered A1 1st gen because I thought it sounded a bit better too. The black anthracite one is soooo nice but I'd like to see the diagonal brushing like the Contrast Collection A1. If a speaker is cat approved it's alright by me.
I like the old design: the new led position disturbs the clean look a little. Same with the new brown leather strap. And the round logo-button is a more artful counterweight to the round speaker.
the led goes off after a while so you won't see it then. I personally like the new strap and especially the contrast of it, but most the new sound is amazing! :p Thank you for watching and commenting!
@@MikipediaI tried the device today: It looks much better than in pictures. And yes it has a clearer sound in the mid ranges. But it no longer reaches the very deep bass now. There are no more "fine vibrations" at low volume. So you have to decide, what you prefer... Btw.: I tested in moderat volume only. I Think it's not a boom box. There are better ones for that. :)
@@steffsteffson the range it plays actually is identical to each other, they both go down to 55 hz. It's a tuning thing, the gen 1 is very boomy in my experience, but if you want to you can still make the Gen 2 boomy in the app lol
Mine (the Gen 1) has never gone down that quickly but I rarely use it at max volume, but 40 mins sounds awfully quick to me. This New Gen 2 model has by far superior battery life and even with my use I can really tell the battery life is significantly improved. They now say 18 hours at 70db and 48 hours at 50db and I am sure it's really close or a totally accurate claim. I have used the Gen 2 now for ~10 hours and I have never charged it nor have I charged it after opening the package and I play it at roughly 70 to 80% volume so far :p
Mikipedia 17 hours would be great. Yea a few of us at work all use it. Maybe I got a defective model but I basically keep it plugged in all the time because it does very quickly. Everyone has said it needs to be plugged in constantly also not just me so maybe I got a defective unit
I can give it a go one my Gen 1 too but we work from home so I can only give it a try on the weekend as it's too loud to be on the phone and stuff :p The New Gen 2 is something different for sure, it lasts waaaay longer and it's very noticeable :)
Wow, I really don’t need to upgrade from my first gen but you make it so compelling! I’m sure I would feel the same way in terms of thinking the sound on the A1 couldn’t be improved upon much, it was that good and for the gen 2 to be a noticeable improvement is saying something! And the fact that it’s cat approved as well...
TheChosen 1 battery level generally won’t affect the sound quality. Have you adjusted the EQ to your liking? 20-30 hours is typically needed and may also improve after that.
@@Mikipedia to be honest not much in design department as I love my Beosound A1 how it looks and how it sounds. Actually I have two of them for stereo purposes. All I want to change is software bug fixes for hardware and app itself. These bugs gets me very angry.
Do you know whether it's possible to control volume via a TV remote when the Beoplay A1 is connected to a TV via bluetooth? I have successfully paired the 2 together and hearing sound loud and clear out of the Beoplay, but I only seem to be able to adjust volume directly via the volume +/- on the Beoplay itself and not via the TV remote which is a little frustrating. A bluetooth icon appears on my TV when I change volume via the remote, but it has no effect on the actual sound level. Any advice?
I would think so but not entirely sure, it works both ways on all other devices I've tried but I've never connected on to a tv. It could also be the tv i guess if it uses a much older BT standard or there is just something buggy in software there?! I don't know, but try and check that as all other devices I've tried that wasn't an issue ever. Do other BT devices work normally with your tv?
Great review, very useful! Have you tried stereo pairing the 1st gen with the 2nd gen? I'm thinking of getting a 2nd gen but would really like to stereo pair it with my current 1st gen A1 if it's possible
No unfortunately it’s not possible. You can only pair the same identical speakers, so gen 1 and gen 2 don’t match unfortunately. So if you really want to do that the only option really is to get another A1 Gen 1 since you already have one of those. Thank you for watching and commenting though! :D
What are your thoughts about this upgraded a1 vs the p6? Thinking about getting a couple of one or the other for stereo pair in the office. Any advice?
Well if budget isn't an issue then the P6 will win on pure sound alone. But if you don't intent to be mobile with them why not go for two M3's? I have an easier time giving you advice if the use case is a bit better known. I must say though that I really love these new A1's as they just sound so good and the battery lif is insanely long for such a small speaker :) Let me know and I can help you out a little more!
Mikipedia thanks for the feedback. Looking for small but great quality speakers for mostly the office, but also to take out on the back deck when we are hanging out there. Want to have stereo imaging and not pay more than about $700 US. Also have a Beosound Stage, would like ability to have what I’m playing there streamed via beolink if possible (though I doubt it would push stereo L to one and R to other). So mostly around the house.
Alright, if you'd like to use beolink then both the A1 and P6 won't work as they are bluetooth speakers. I think you can pair the M3's via chrome cast, but not 100% sure as I don't have 2 to try. Two of them should still keep you under the 700 dollar mark. You might even have some money left over for a P2 for on the deck. Or you can always look in to more classical speakers, as in second hand 3's or something for the pc. Tons of options but the Bluetooth range will for sure not do beolink unfortunately. Have you though of a second hand beosound 1? It's portable too and does it all :) let me know if I can help!
Mikipedia decided to give them a shot - received the A1s today. Wow. Killer desktop setup. Very impressed with stereo performance. Highly recommended. Glad I didn’t go another direction. Loud, stable, clean, balanced sound. Proper placement delivers solid imaging for this type of setup. Added benefits of conference calling , portability, and battery make it even more of a great value.
I hope this is A LOT better than the A1 1st gen because that was grossly overpriced piece of beautiful junk. I honestly can't take this video seriously if you had no apprehension about the battery life of the gen 1 speaker.
@@andrehunter8137 the first of the background music songs I use is: th-cam.com/video/n82TXg7VHu0/w-d-xo.html but the music from the intro is actually an excerpt of this song: th-cam.com/video/8yOskhDn468/w-d-xo.html if it's not the one, let me know :p
Thank you for your video. You said the A1 v2 sounded better all around. Just wondering, between the A1 V1 vs A1 V2 in bass performance, any differences in low bass frequency ?? Cos the v2 is a bit smaller in size
Both of them have the same frequency range, the gen 2 is just tuned way better so that it's not just pumping out bass where it doesn't need to be. The Gen 2 is just as bass capable, but it's a little bit less ''beats by dre''-ish :p
no, depends on what you mean by white noise but it shouldn't be audible over a foot away. active speakers always make some noise when on but it should be very limited.
@@Mikipediayes you're right ,I can't hear it when I'm 1 meter far and beyond. I can only hear it when I'm within a radius of. 5 meters and if the room is extra quite. The hissing noise itself is not clean imo. It pops occasionally. Do you think a firmware update could fix this.
@@royajunique That seems louder than I would think is normal, but am not sure without it being in my hands. I would raise a ticket with it on B&O's site.
surely seems like it, but I don't own it so I don't know for sure. I am always weary of companies that don't publish basic specs like that, B&O always does. But maximum loudness is useless if it distorts, so it's a bit of mute point, the A1 will do max volume with out issue that I know. I personally like the grey mist colour more as it's different than the usual black everybody else seems to only do.
Hi :) Thank you so much for your review! I am still debating b/n this one and libratone zipp mini -and thanks to your video, I am leaning towards b&o one but still kinda thinking about it-do you think that zipp mini is a good alternative? (www.whathifi.com/libratone/zipp-mini/review)
that zip mini looks very iffy too me for some (good) reason, they don't tell you much of what's inside at all and that doesn't inspire confidence when I see it. It may be good, who knows, but I wouldn't gamble on it myself.
Mikipedia thank you!! You are very kind & helpful 😊 I found the specs but I do think that b&o one isn’t updated so it’s not totally fair - I think I will most likely go with b&o because it’s more recent as well! versus.com/en/bang-olufsen-beoplay-a1-vs-libratone-zipp-mini-2
It doesn't look updated no, plus these sort of sites don't even mention sound quality or spl etc. The only real way to test what you like most is to have them both in front of you irl. :)
@@Mikipedia that's very true! since I couldn't really test the other one in real life-- I am gonna go with b&o for sure now! thank you so much :) you were a huge help!
Hi everyone, thank you once again for finding my channel and for watching the review! This Gen 2 A1 is a very surprising and big improvement over the original, stay tuned if you want to see some of the sound comparisons that'll come soon! if you don't want to miss any that please leave a like and subscribe and share the video if you can as it helps the channel out a lot, please and thank you!
Nicely done Mikey, glad it's not my ears or my old battered A1 1st gen because I thought it sounded a bit better too. The black anthracite one is soooo nice but I'd like to see the diagonal brushing like the Contrast Collection A1. If a speaker is cat approved it's alright by me.
I am amazed there was this much gain to be had to be honest, it's excellent!
I like the old design: the new led position disturbs the clean look a little. Same with the new brown leather strap. And the round logo-button is a more artful counterweight to the round speaker.
the led goes off after a while so you won't see it then. I personally like the new strap and especially the contrast of it, but most the new sound is amazing! :p Thank you for watching and commenting!
@@Mikipedia LED: perfect! Okay, I will check the sound in the BO store tomorrow! :D
@@steffsteffson it takes something like ~2 minutes before it goes off, just fyi :)
@@MikipediaI tried the device today: It looks much better than in pictures. And yes it has a clearer sound in the mid ranges. But it no longer reaches the very deep bass now. There are no more "fine vibrations" at low volume. So you have to decide, what you prefer... Btw.: I tested in moderat volume only. I Think it's not a boom box. There are better ones for that. :)
@@steffsteffson the range it plays actually is identical to each other, they both go down to 55 hz. It's a tuning thing, the gen 1 is very boomy in my experience, but if you want to you can still make the Gen 2 boomy in the app lol
The origional has terrible battery life. I work in a loud environment so I had it on max volume or close to max and it always died in 40 minutes
Mine (the Gen 1) has never gone down that quickly but I rarely use it at max volume, but 40 mins sounds awfully quick to me. This New Gen 2 model has by far superior battery life and even with my use I can really tell the battery life is significantly improved. They now say 18 hours at 70db and 48 hours at 50db and I am sure it's really close or a totally accurate claim. I have used the Gen 2 now for ~10 hours and I have never charged it nor have I charged it after opening the package and I play it at roughly 70 to 80% volume so far :p
Mikipedia 17 hours would be great. Yea a few of us at work all use it. Maybe I got a defective model but I basically keep it plugged in all the time because it does very quickly. Everyone has said it needs to be plugged in constantly also not just me so maybe I got a defective unit
I can give it a go one my Gen 1 too but we work from home so I can only give it a try on the weekend as it's too loud to be on the phone and stuff :p The New Gen 2 is something different for sure, it lasts waaaay longer and it's very noticeable :)
Try max volume. Like I said I work in noisy environment so maybe that was why.
it’s the sole reason i returned it after a week.
Wow, I really don’t need to upgrade from my first gen but you make it so compelling! I’m sure I would feel the same way in terms of thinking the sound on the A1 couldn’t be improved upon much, it was that good and for the gen 2 to be a noticeable improvement is saying something! And the fact that it’s cat approved as well...
if the cats love it it's excellent :p Thank you for watching and commenting!
The 1st Gen is better in sound. Sucks I gave mine to my sister because I bought the Gen 2 lol
TheChosen 1 really? You’re the first person to say that. Have your gone through the burn in period yet?
Oliver Polden I’ve played my Gen 2 for maybe 7 hours total still have not drained the battery. I fully charged it when I opened it
TheChosen 1 battery level generally won’t affect the sound quality.
Have you adjusted the EQ to your liking?
20-30 hours is typically needed and may also improve after that.
It’s 4 yrs since BeoA1 came out. Wondering if we’ll see a new one this year 😉
what would you like to see changed?
@@Mikipedia to be honest not much in design department as I love my Beosound A1 how it looks and how it sounds. Actually I have two of them for stereo purposes. All I want to change is software bug fixes for hardware and app itself. These bugs gets me very angry.
@@mr.jazzowo same..
@@Mikipedia but man, how they sounds in stereo! I adore!
Sold!!!👍👍 You CATvinced me😹😻. Greetings from Mexico❕❕❕
Mio gatos dicen gracias é purrrr purrrr :p
Lo siento, no he hablando lo para mucho tiempo :p
Still in love with my A1 Gen 1
happy to hear that :D
Always enjoy your reviews 👍👍
Thank you, glad you like them :D
Lovely tassels 😉
I thought you'd like that ;)
Keep up the great peeling! Then at the end of the year you could upload a peel compilation :D
lol I might actually do that!
@@Mikipedia looking forward to it! :)
A peel compilation really appeals. I’ll leave now.
peels stay, this is a pun channel :p
@@Mikipedia x'D
Exactly. Go to the shop, go to your dealer and support their small business
exactly1
Do you know whether it's possible to control volume via a TV remote when the Beoplay A1 is connected to a TV via bluetooth? I have successfully paired the 2 together and hearing sound loud and clear out of the Beoplay, but I only seem to be able to adjust volume directly via the volume +/- on the Beoplay itself and not via the TV remote which is a little frustrating. A bluetooth icon appears on my TV when I change volume via the remote, but it has no effect on the actual sound level. Any advice?
I would think so but not entirely sure, it works both ways on all other devices I've tried but I've never connected on to a tv. It could also be the tv i guess if it uses a much older BT standard or there is just something buggy in software there?! I don't know, but try and check that as all other devices I've tried that wasn't an issue ever. Do other BT devices work normally with your tv?
Great review, very useful! Have you tried stereo pairing the 1st gen with the 2nd gen? I'm thinking of getting a 2nd gen but would really like to stereo pair it with my current 1st gen A1 if it's possible
No unfortunately it’s not possible. You can only pair the same identical speakers, so gen 1 and gen 2 don’t match unfortunately. So if you really want to do that the only option really is to get another A1 Gen 1 since you already have one of those. Thank you for watching and commenting though! :D
Please, let us
hear them! PS: Your videos is great keep up the good work!
Thank you and yes I will film them both soon to show how big the difference is :D
Patience for now :p
Mikipedia have you posted the video?
th-cam.com/video/lO__X_rHV-c/w-d-xo.html
What are your thoughts about this upgraded a1 vs the p6? Thinking about getting a couple of one or the other for stereo pair in the office. Any advice?
Well if budget isn't an issue then the P6 will win on pure sound alone. But if you don't intent to be mobile with them why not go for two M3's? I have an easier time giving you advice if the use case is a bit better known. I must say though that I really love these new A1's as they just sound so good and the battery lif is insanely long for such a small speaker :) Let me know and I can help you out a little more!
Mikipedia thanks for the feedback. Looking for small but great quality speakers for mostly the office, but also to take out on the back deck when we are hanging out there. Want to have stereo imaging and not pay more than about $700 US. Also have a Beosound Stage, would like ability to have what I’m playing there streamed via beolink if possible (though I doubt it would push stereo L to one and R to other). So mostly around the house.
Alright, if you'd like to use beolink then both the A1 and P6 won't work as they are bluetooth speakers. I think you can pair the M3's via chrome cast, but not 100% sure as I don't have 2 to try. Two of them should still keep you under the 700 dollar mark. You might even have some money left over for a P2 for on the deck. Or you can always look in to more classical speakers, as in second hand 3's or something for the pc. Tons of options but the Bluetooth range will for sure not do beolink unfortunately. Have you though of a second hand beosound 1? It's portable too and does it all :)
let me know if I can help!
Mikipedia decided to give them a shot - received the A1s today. Wow. Killer desktop setup. Very impressed with stereo performance. Highly recommended. Glad I didn’t go another direction. Loud, stable, clean, balanced sound. Proper placement delivers solid imaging for this type of setup. Added benefits of conference calling , portability, and battery make it even more of a great value.
@@chrispearce2783 very happy you're happy! hope you'll enjoy it for a long time :D
Does Aptx-Adaptive mean this will support Aptx-HD where appropriate?
I think so, fairly sure, but haven't checked it at time of review as I was on pre release software and even then it was excellent.
I hope this is A LOT better than the A1 1st gen because that was grossly overpriced piece of beautiful junk.
I honestly can't take this video seriously if you had no apprehension about the battery life of the gen 1 speaker.
I own the 1st gen one in the video and have no battery issues, mine goes 12+ hours with ease.
Hey Miki great video and good info. What song is that playing in the background? 😎
When, what time? There are several :p
Mikipedia I believe the first one. I think you use it for your opening on your videos. It has a great beat
@@andrehunter8137 the first of the background music songs I use is: th-cam.com/video/n82TXg7VHu0/w-d-xo.html
but the music from the intro is actually an excerpt of this song: th-cam.com/video/8yOskhDn468/w-d-xo.html
if it's not the one, let me know :p
Thank you for your video. You said the A1 v2 sounded better all around. Just wondering, between the A1 V1 vs A1 V2 in bass performance, any differences in low bass frequency ?? Cos the v2 is a bit smaller in size
Both of them have the same frequency range, the gen 2 is just tuned way better so that it's not just pumping out bass where it doesn't need to be. The Gen 2 is just as bass capable, but it's a little bit less ''beats by dre''-ish :p
Bought both. The gen one overall is louder and a lot more bass. Sounds like a small subwoofer.
So, how does it compare to the Bose SoundLink mini2 SE?
I don't know, don't have experience with that one.
Does your unit have white noise with occasional popping when close to ear.
no, depends on what you mean by white noise but it shouldn't be audible over a foot away. active speakers always make some noise when on but it should be very limited.
@@Mikipediayes you're right ,I can't hear it when I'm 1 meter far and beyond. I can only hear it when I'm within a radius of. 5 meters and if the room is extra quite. The hissing noise itself is not clean imo. It pops occasionally. Do you think a firmware update could fix this.
@@royajunique That seems louder than I would think is normal, but am not sure without it being in my hands. I would raise a ticket with it on B&O's site.
Thank you very much. I was going to ask if you can reach B&O for me. Let's hope for a firmware update soon. Thanks for the great reviews you do.
@@royajunique I can't on your behalf, you can contact them either through their app or through the website: support.bang-olufsen.com/hc/en-us
great
Does it float in water
No, but you can submerge it up to a meter for 30 minutes(i think) and it'll be fine. IP76 rating.
@@Mikipedia ok...i think what imma do is buy it and then keep my flip 5 for the pool but the a1 for at home use
what ever works for you, a little water won't do it any harm :p
@@Mikipedia im still stuck on whether to buy the black or grey mist color...also is the a1 louder than the bose soundlink micro
surely seems like it, but I don't own it so I don't know for sure. I am always weary of companies that don't publish basic specs like that, B&O always does. But maximum loudness is useless if it distorts, so it's a bit of mute point, the A1 will do max volume with out issue that I know. I personally like the grey mist colour more as it's different than the usual black everybody else seems to only do.
Hi :) Thank you so much for your review! I am still debating b/n this one and libratone zipp mini -and thanks to your video, I am leaning towards b&o one but still kinda thinking about it-do you think that zipp mini is a good alternative?
(www.whathifi.com/libratone/zipp-mini/review)
that zip mini looks very iffy too me for some (good) reason, they don't tell you much of what's inside at all and that doesn't inspire confidence when I see it. It may be good, who knows, but I wouldn't gamble on it myself.
Mikipedia thank you!! You are very kind & helpful 😊 I found the specs but I do think that b&o one isn’t updated so it’s not totally fair -
I think I will most likely go with b&o because it’s more recent as well!
versus.com/en/bang-olufsen-beoplay-a1-vs-libratone-zipp-mini-2
It doesn't look updated no, plus these sort of sites don't even mention sound quality or spl etc. The only real way to test what you like most is to have them both in front of you irl. :)
@@Mikipedia that's very true! since I couldn't really test the other one in real life-- I am gonna go with b&o for sure now! thank you so much :) you were a huge help!
@@soulshuffles5643 you're welcome!
Cat approved 🤣🤣👍👍
😁
You need to worry more about your weight than those speakers
Bro chill