Horizon
The best new tech heading your way
1 BEOPLAY ELEVEN
£429, bang-olufsen.com
B&O makes no bones of the fact that the Elevens are an evolution of the tech already well established in its EX ear buds. To look at the two side by side you’d notice very little difference, at least beyond the colouration of the Elevens and a notable increase in the hundreds column of the price tag. But the hues are a clue: the aluminium and copper-tone styling draws heavily from the premium H100 headphones with which B&O sent the market spinning a few months ago.
These know exactly what they are. They’re already-premium ear buds dialled up yet another notch. As much blingy jewellery as they are a presumably glorious in-ear experience (we can’t imagine that B&O would choose this moment to not get the sound right), they’re the antithesis of the growing £20 ear bud market.
The question is if they pass the cost/benefit analysis test, and that’s something we can’t really answer at this stage. There are some incredible buds – the Beoplay EX amongst them – which cost a lot less. At the same time, there are ostensibly less good buds – the £500 Ferrari-branded version of the Beoplay EX, to offer an interesting example – which will cost you more. We’ll need to spend an extended time with these to decide whether the technical improvements really justify the extra spend, but we can’t say we’re not impressed by B&O’s ambition.
FORM AND FUNCTION
Both the buds and the charging case are constructed from aluminium, with a glass touch interface offering a smooth touch feel. You get two choices of colour: the classic black and grey Natural Aluminium look, or the warmer Copper Tone.