Bang & Olufsen Beoplay M3 & M5 Discontinued.

 

Two stalwart's of Bang & Olufsen's product ranges, the Beoplay M3 and Beoplay M5 have been quietly discontinued.   As the images here demonstrate, the products are now "No longer part of our active product portfolio".  

Released in the height of Bang Olufsen's "Beoplay" phase, they represent the epitome of what that period, and diffusion line was about, budget speakers for consumers.  We have made no secret of our contempt for the Beoplay range, perceiving as little more than a cynical attempt to cash in on the Bang Olufsen name for a less affluent consumer base, but without the Bang Olufsen quality.  Unfortunately, the move was universally unsuccessful, with the sub-brand disappearing, and products slowly being eliminated one by one.

These were used as surround-sound speakers for some time, however with a range of vastly superior options, B&O have cut them off.  The Beoplay A9 is now the only non headphone branded Beoplay product available.  However that was always an anathema to the Beoplay range, being vastly superior to all other Beoplay products by leaps and bounds.

Our sense is Bang Olufsen will tweak the A9,  and rebrand it as a "Beosound" product, the moniker of the brands highest end speakers, and quietly forget the Beoplay debacle, leaving it as a name for headphones only.