Bang & Olufsen is aiming for a perfect score with its latest release.
On Tuesday, the Danish audio brand debuted the Beoplay H100 headphones, an update to the über-successful Beoplay H95 (our favourite wireless noise-canceling headphones, for the record). The brand claims the new design offers even better sound quality and noise cancellation, along with other upgrades aimed squarely at audiophiles.
Inspired by the brand’s Beolab 90 loudspeaker, the Beoplay H100 gets its hi-res sound—up to 96 kilohertz/24 bits—from 40 mm custom-made titanium drivers placed behind aluminium grills. 10 studio-grade microphones amp up both noise cancellation and transparency mode, meaning that you can just as easily hear your music as you can your surroundings. Fully charged, you get up to 34 hours of playtime—but even just five minutes of charging gives you enough juice for five hours of listening.
Image courtesy of Bang & Olufsen
Available in three colourways—the calm-sounding Infinite Black, Hourglass Sand, and Sunset Apricot—the Beoplay H100 features a detachable inner headband wrapped in knitted textile and earpad cushions swaddled in luxe lambskin leather. A scratch-resistant and hardened glass touch interface on the side of the headphones is designed to make sound control extremely easy. And you should be able to use the Beoplay H100 for quite a while: The inner headband and ear cushions can be replaced by the user, while the Bang & Olufsen service team can swap out batteries, glass surfaces, drivers, and circuit boards. Plus, the company is rolling out a new software platform that allows the software to be updated with any new tech that may come along in the future.
Image courtesy of Bang & Olufsen
“Drawing inspiration from the unparalleled performance of our Beolab speakers, our iconic designs from the past and the modular construction that embraces material excellence and circularity, Beoplay H100 truly embodies our design and innovation capabilities,” Bang & Olufsen CEO Kristian Teär said in a statement. Neo Kaplanis, the brand’s director of technology, took it one step further: “Beoplay H100 is the best pair of headphones we have ever created.”
The new headphones are now available for US$1,549 (HK$12,075) on the brand’s website. We can’t wait to hear them for ourselves. We’ll be sure to keep it, well, 100 when we do.
