Bang & Olufsen's Beoplay H100, which upgrade the outgoing H95, bring a modular design for longevity – as users can replace parts in the future.
The headphones are hi-resolution audio capable and, just like Apple's AirPods Max, offer Spatial Audio. The Beoplay commands a significant price premium over the Apple model though.
Bang & Olufsen's products exude quality – and the brand's latest headphones, the Beoplay H100, certainly aren't shy of their luxury positioning. Indeed, the £1299/$1549 asking price laughs in the face of the Apple AirPods Max's £/$549 pricing.
But, as I know too well, Bang & Olufsen's products – across the Beosound and Beoplay ranges – befit their asking price given the quality, materials and craftmanship that goes into creating such products. The Beoplay H100, which update the 5-star-awarded Beoplay H95, are no different in that regard.
Where the Beoplay H100 are different, however, is by introducing Bang & Olufsen's modular design language to its best headphones, meaning you'll get extended use out of these over-ears over the years should you need to replace parts. Plus there's a 5-year warranty via Beocare, which is five times that of a UK standard on electronics products.
Bang & Olufsen says the Beoplay H100 headphones improve upon their predecessor in "almost every discipline", upgrading the sound quality, the noise cancellation, and the design, by "drawing inspiration from the unparalleled performance of [Bang & Olufsen's] Beolab speakers".
The Beoplay H100 leave no stone unturned when it comes to features: the headphones deliver high-resolution audio (up to 96kHz/24-bit) from 40mm custom titanium drivers; cater for Spatial Audio, much like the AirPods Max, including Dolby Atmos and head-tracking; a 34-hour battery life per charge; and "the most advanced noise cancellation and transparency mode yet" thanks to a 10-microphone system.
I've tried plenty of Bang & Olufsen products in the past – and if there's one thing that's always for certain, it's the sound quality is sublime. The H100 use Bang & Olufsen’s new adaptive audio processing, called EarSense, which real-time measures the wearer's fit for an "unrivalled listening experience".
Design is an integral part of any headphones product, but the Beoplay H100 feature lots of lush-sounding material choices that I can't wait to see and try out in person. From the "silky smooth, scratch-resistant hardened glass touch interface" with haptic control dials, to the inner headband's "knitted textile" finish and the earpads' soft lambskin leather.
There's a trio of colour options at launch: Infinite Black, which is black as it sounds; Hourglass Sand, which actually looks closer to a two-tone white to me; and Sunset Apricot, which I think has a burnt orange, copper-like visual appeal about it. You can see all three in the gallery of images embedded above.
Modular seems to be flavour of the year, with the Dyson OnTrac headphones featuring a distinctive earcup/earpad interchangeable system. Bang & Olufsen's take is more about sustainability, though, with extended life giving that tall asking price a more comprehensible context.
