Bang & Olufsen Finally Release Noise Cancelling Earbuds With The Beoplay EQ's

Five years after Bose released noise cancelling neck in-earphones in 2017 by way of the Bose QuietControl 30, three years after in 2018 Sony released fully wireless ear buds in the WF-1000XM3's, and two years after Apple released the competition smashing AirPods in 2019, Bang & Olufsen come to the table with an offering in the Beoplay EQ's.

While in years past Bang Olufsen have been famous for being extremely slow to adapt new technologies, taking many years before they finally incorporated CD players for example, times have changed, and such an elitist attitude is now professional suicide in the electronics and hi-fi industry.  Bang Olufsen know this, and so are eager to cram whatever is current into their offerings.  

Indeed they were offering noise cancellation as early as 2017 when they released the H9 generation 1 headphones, however these were extremely unpopular, being reviewed as technically lacking.  It is possible therefore the reason for the long delay in releasing competing Active Noise Cancellation earbuds is due to them not yet having mastered it in full size form, and so being hesitant to attempt it in compact form with so many superior offerings available.  Emboldened no doubt by the exceptionally warm reception the Beoplay H95's received in 2020, they felt ready to move on to small versions with ANC.

We love to speculate as to what goes on behind the scenes here, however whatever the case, these are an impressive set of wireless ANC earbuds.  Offering 6.5 hours battery, 2 hours longer than the industry leading AirPods Pro, 20 hours with the charging case, Bluetooth 5.2 versus Apple's 5.0, AAC, SBC, and the high end aptX Adaptive, all wrapped in premium B&O aluminium, polymer and silicone.

Available now for £349, £100 more than the AirPods Pro, however, as a new AirPods Pro edition is set to be released soon, patience in order to be able to compare the two might be advisable.