

Once you know to double-check this probably won’t happen, but it’s not something I have to do with any other pair of true wireless earbuds, suggesting the pretty case is all form over function. I often listen to podcasts to fall asleep, and in my half-awake state messing around with the case and earbuds was frustrating, and most of the time I’d wake up in the morning to find one earbud wasn’t in correctly and hadn’t charged. It only needs to be slightly out of alignment too. They’re magnetically held in place, but you need to be very precise with placing them in correctly, otherwise the buds don’t seat and charge. The buds are held at an angle inside and are very easy to remove, but putting them back in is a pain. It’s a subtly designed piece, with Bang & Olufsen branding on the case top, and a grippy base to stop it sliding off the table. The earbuds are kept inside a swish aluminum case in either Black Anthracite or Sand Gold colors. Additionally, they helped minimize the effect of the weight too, and I found them supremely comfortable to wear for long periods, with slight fatigue only becoming evident after about four hours.

They’re really excellent and solved the issue around fit immediately. Luckily Bang & Olufsen includes a pair of Comply Sport 200 foam tips in the package. The large silicone tips were too big, and the medium ones were a little too small, resulting in one quickly working its way loose during activities.

However, I initially had trouble keeping the Beoplay EQs secure in my ears. There are four silicone ear tips in the box, giving a flexible range of sizes for even the smallest ears. But the metal body and shiny end caps, complete with noticeable B&O logo, look ace. Each one weighs 8 grams, so you feel them in your ear more than a lighter bud like the Apple AirPods Pro. This means they do protrude from your ear quite a lot and are definitely not subtle. The body is considerably larger than an Apple AirPods Pro bud, and even larger than the Beoplay E8 bud. It’s immediately obvious the Beoplay EQ are not small earbuds. Where does that leave the $400 Bang & Olufsen Beoplay EQ? It’s all about heritage, audio appreciation, and the very big sound they deliver that’ll get your wallet opening up just that little bit more. I’ve recently enjoyed the $99 Nothing Ear 1 earbuds, while my colleague Simon Cohen has tested a host of similarly priced models and come to the conclusion that, unless you’re a real audiophile, $100 is more than enough to bag you a great pair of true wireless earbuds. There has been some chatter at Digital Trends recently about not really needing to spend hundreds of dollars to get a good pair of true wireless earbuds.
