Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore Black Anthracite Portable Bluetooth Speaker

Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore Black Anthracite Portable Bluetooth Speaker

The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore is a portable Bluetooth speaker designed from the start for outdoor use rather than adapted for it afterwards. Its cylindrical body is machined from Type II anodised aluminium, a hard, scratch-resistant finish that tolerates being clipped to a rucksack, set down on rock or gravel, and carried through rain. This listing is the Black Anthracite finish. At 81 mm across and 124 mm tall, the Explore is closer in size to a water bottle than to a conventional portable speaker, and at 631 grams without its carabiner it adds little weight to a pack.

Inside, two 1.8-inch full-range drivers are arranged for 360-degree sound and driven by two 30 W Class D amplifiers. The grille is cut in lines around the full circumference so the sound radiates in every direction, which suits a speaker that gets placed in the middle of a group rather than pointed at a sofa. A 2,400 mAh battery provides up to 27 hours of playtime at typical listening volumes, which covers a full weekend of use without planning around a charger.

Key features

• 360-degree sound: Two 1.8-inch full-range drivers with 2 x 30 W Class D amplification, radiating evenly in all directions.
• Up to 27 hours of playtime: Long battery life at typical listening volumes from a 2,400 mAh rechargeable battery, charged over USB-C in about two hours.
• IP67 certified: Fully dustproof and waterproof to the IP67 test standard, including immersion in one metre of water for up to 30 minutes.
• Type II anodised aluminium shell: Scratch-resistant hard-anodised finish over aluminium, polymer and fabric, built for outdoor handling.
• Bluetooth 5.2 with multipoint: Connect up to two source devices at once and switch between them without re-pairing.
• Stereo pairing: Pair two Beosound Explore speakers for genuine left and right stereo separation outdoors.
• Carabiner and strap: An aluminium carabiner and integrated strap make the speaker easy to clip, hang or carry.

Design and handling

The Explore was designed by the studio Above with a deliberately simple control layout on its top surface: large, clearly separated controls that remain usable with gloves on, which is a practical detail for a speaker aimed at hikers, climbers and cold-weather use. A battery LED shows the charge state at a glance, and a more precise reading is shown in the Bang & Olufsen app. The included carabiner clips to a belt loop, a tent loop or a pack strap, and the integrated strap gives a second hanging option, so the speaker can be raised off the ground where its omnidirectional output works best.

Sound performance

Bang & Olufsen specifies a frequency range of 56 Hz to 22,700 Hz, a maximum sound pressure level of 91 dB at one metre and a bass capability of 59 dB SPL. For a speaker of this size those figures translate into a presentation built on clarity and presence rather than sub-bass weight: voices, acoustic instruments and podcasts stay intelligible outdoors, where wind and open space strip away low frequencies first. The recommended room size of 5 to 30 square metres also makes it a credible indoor speaker for a bathroom, kitchen or small bedroom. Sound can be shaped with presets or a fully customisable equaliser in the Bang & Olufsen app, and the SBC codec keeps compatibility universal across phones, tablets and laptops.

Connectivity and battery

Pairing is helped by Google Fast Pair, Microsoft Swift Pair and Made for iPhone certification, so the speaker announces itself to nearby devices instead of requiring a settings hunt. Multipoint support keeps two devices connected, for example a laptop for video and a phone for music. Charging is through USB-C at 5 V DC and 3 A, with a full charge taking about two hours at a 2 A or 3 A supply, and typical power consumption is 6.2 W. There is no microphone, so the Explore stays a playback device and calls remain on the phone.

Where it fits

The Explore suits travel, trekking, camping, beach days, poolside use and site work, as well as smaller indoor rooms where a larger speaker would be intrusive. Its combination of a hard metal shell, sealed construction, long playtime and genuinely pocketable proportions is what separates it from home portables that merely tolerate being carried outside.

In Black Anthracite, the Beosound Explore is a compact, weather-sealed speaker with serious amplification for its size, a full day and more of battery life, and the build quality to be treated as outdoor equipment rather than as a fragile gadget.