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What does good design entail? Stylish sweeps? Bold colours? Exaggerated lines?
Or could it just be one plain cube with a simple leather strap and no pretenses? If the latter is your style, there's some real nice eye-candy being brought to you by Bang & Olufsen. The Danish company has recently launched a new music speaker in the B&O Play range of products, the Beolit 12.
Design
The look and feel of the mono-block speaker is very retro, and intentionally so. The full-grain leather strap that goes around the system makes for an easy grip and adds to the retro design quotient.
The design philosophy harks back to the first radio crafted by Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen, way back in 1938. The material they used to craft their first radio (also the first Beolit product) was Bakelite, from which this range of products derives its appellation from.
In true B&O ‘Minimalist' style, the body only has four touch button, neatly laid out on one side of the rubberised soft-touch top panel. All four light up when the system is activated and in use. The ‘Airplay' button lets you connect to Mac devices which are Airplay-enabled so you can stream music directly from those.
The design by the Danish product designer Cecilia Manz is simple, attractive and functional like most well-designed industrial products are. For example, you know that you have reached the maximum volume limit on the speakers when only the ‘Volume Down' button is lit up – a very simple, yet smart touch to the design.
Sound check
Be it the thump of a drum or the twang of a string, Beolit 12 managed to do justice to every strain of sound recorded in a track. Neither did it overpower the vocals with the music nor did it let the voice ring loud above the instruments. Overall, it provided a very balanced acoustic output.
We played a wide range of tracks including some pieces of Rajasthani folk music to see how well the speakers handle sharp tones and bass. There was no distortion in audio, even with the volumes pumped up to the maximum.
We also listened to ‘In The Sky' by Mark Knopfler and ‘I Hope I Don't Fall In Love With you' by Tom Waits with their soulful voices ringing loud and clear throughout the room. Fidelity of sound is trademark B&O.
The quality of sound that the Beolit 12 manages to reproduce despite its small-ish dimension is quite a feat. Driving the sound is Beolit 12's 120 Watts digital Class-D power amplifier system which individually drives two 2-inch tweeters and a 4-inch woofer.
Portability
One of the most appealing features of the Beolit 12 is that it's light enough to carry around the house whenever you feel like it. It's all of 2.8 kgs. So, you can listen to a soothing instrumental in your bedroom while falling asleep and move it to the living room for a house party the next day.
The Beolit 12 is supposed to be able to pander to your musical needs for about eight hours on end if you have your music player plugged in to the system. If you are listening to music through your Apple device wirelessly (via Airplay) then the playback time is brought down to about four hours only.
Connectivity
Although the dedicated Airplay button indicates that like most other new-age Bang & Olufsen products, the Beolit 12 is attuned to Apple products, the company has not overlooked other possible sources of media. There's a small two-ended 3.5mm jack which makes for an easy plug-in to any smartphone or standalone Mp3 player.
The Beolit 12 is available in four colours - yellow, dark grey, blue and grey. Note that it's not the body that is painted with these colours but a panel within the perforated outer shell that dons these colours, thus giving a hint of these shades to the body.
Verdict
Value-for-money is not the first parameter you might want to consider when buying products from a company as high-end as Bang & Olufsen. You pay as much for the utility as the associated luxury and class the brand stands for. Having said that, the Beolit 12 is something you will not regret having paid a premium for going by the superior sound it delivers. If you have an eye for design and a penchant for all things retro, the speaker is a recommended must-have in your collection.
Love – Excellent sound quality, portable, neat retro design
Hate – Premium price tag
Rs 70,000
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