ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
So firstly, I saw YouTube reviews of people comparing it against other speakers and they literally burst out laughing when the Explore played something.
Then I read comments from B&O fans saying you have to use the app to change the levels etc which wasn't done in the review videos.
So I ended up ordering the explore last week as I love the design and size of it.
The second I played music on it I knew I made a mistake. IT SOUNDS HORRIBLE. Yes I used the app to change the levels which made very very little difference.
This speakers is totally lacking in not only base but mids as well. I listed to 80's pop music which isn't bass heavy and the music still sounded like it was missing half the instruments.
Then I tried more modern music with bass and its pointless. No punch, not even the least amount of bass.
I am not the type of person who loves tons of un-natural bass like from Beats products but the explore has literally zero bass and terrible mids.
There is going to be the group that defends it saying "B&O products offer balanced sound and is very natural" but this is NOT the case for the explore. I DARE anyone who defends the explore to do a blind sound test. When you aren't influenced by the design and the name you will agree the explore is failure.
The performance MIGHT be defendable but not for this price. It is $299 CAN which is ridiculous for a tiny bluetooth speaker.
Design:
Awesome. I love the design of this thing. Its solid and well built.
Features:
Bad for this price point. Literally bluetooth and nothing else.
Battery:
Not great. They advertise "up to 27 hour battery". What they don't tell you is that if you have the volume at 80% or higher the battery is about 3 hours. This speaker is so wimpy you HAVE to turn it up to 80% if you want to hear anything outside. Very very misleading.
Sound:
As mentioned above incredibly unimpressive.
Price:
A joke. $299 for a terrible sounding bluetooth only speaker with a nice design
Here are things that sound better than the explore and are cheaper:
Sonos Roam: $230 CAN
Has Wifi, Bluetooth, airplay 2, chromcast and built in streaming services. Oh and quite a punch to it.
AirPods Pro:
Sounds absolutely amazing compared to the explore.
2014 iMac
Yes even the tiny speakers on this computer sound better than the explore.
Google Nest devices:
Even these cheap devices speakers sound better than the explore for $50-80
Its products like this that make me question the brand. I get its a small speaker and can't have as much punch but there are other products on the market that disprove that. B&O is supposed to be sound quality and design, the explore is pure design only.
I am returning it needless to say and I highly suggest anyone stay away from it.
--
BeoLab 18's. Beolab 3's. A8. A9. A2. H7.
Wait...isnt the explorer only 199? Why he said it is 299? So it is more expensive than A1 gen 2?
Do you have anything to compare it to? if you did you might change your mind. But I guess $299 kids speaker works for someone.
Rule No.1: Listen and judge with your own ears. ;-)
I compared the Beosound Explore with the Beosound / Beoplay A1 (1st gen).I agree that it is noticable inferior to an A1, especially the bass is weak. Keep in mind that the bass of such tiny speakers will vary depending on the positioning (corner, free on a desk, in a shelf, outdoors...).BUT I wouldn't say that the Beosound Explore sounds bad per se. It sounds different and has a warmer / mid range centered sound signature - at least to my ears. If you put it on a desk in front of you (e.g. while working in the office) it has a surprisingly wide sound stage for such a small can and what's a very big PRO for the Explore: It doesn't sound exhausting. I can listen to it for a longer period with background music than on an A1. The A1 delivers too much sometimes.The highs and lows aren't as good as on an A1. it is something like an upgraded P2, so don't rise your expectations too high when buying one. The Beosound Explore looks and feels great! The first contact says "I'm premium" and it's lovely to hold and to touch. The buttons are WAY better than on the Beosound / Beoplay A1 and for me personally the design of the Explore is way better, too. I like the Beosound Explore and it's - as Daniel already mentioned - a very good option if you have children. Listening to childs music and tales while showering or taking a bath without being worried that the speaker will be damaged by water is great!Listen and judge for yourself and I hope the Explore will be available in multiple colors! :-)
I've made the same conclusion after my complete review : I don't understand why B&O made the Explore because it's a lot under the A1 sonically for just $50 less. At first I thought "ok, it's because it's waterproff", and then I realized that the A1 is also waterproof. So just go for the A1.
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Severed_Hand_of_Skywalker:Do you have anything to compare it to? if you did you might change your mind. But I guess $299 kids speaker works for someone.--BeoLab 18's. Beolab 3's. A8. A9. A2. H7.
Loved my A1 till it freaked out and was unrepairable ! Or at least not below the price of a discount P6 wich i liked even more !
I take my P6 everywhere from Borneo till the garden :) Thanks for the review i now know it's P6 staying as the travel companion.
Daniel:Where did you pay 299 $ for the Explore?
OlivierC:Canada, the price is in CAD. Olivier
My 1-year-old has been wrestling with my Beolit 15 for some time and has killed a driver in the back, and dented the aluminium grill a tiny bit on the front. Still, he keeps asking me to turn it on. I have considered getting an Explore for him - for me, really, for when he is with me :) - but for now he can keep wrestling with the Beolit. It’s still going strong even though it’s been wounded in battle. You need to have some casulties for a greater purpose: hinting the seeds of his blooming love for B&O ;). In fact, he has been listening to the Beolit 15 since he was in his mom’s belly. But I have also wondered about if the Explore would be able to take a bigger hit, which is how B&O have been selling it.
Oh I forgot to mention for $299 this thing doesn't even have a mic. So if you get a call on your "outdoor adventures" you can't use this thing as a speaker. The Sonos has a mic AND both google assistant and Alexia for voice commands and calls.
To distract from the rant about the Beosound Explore:
I ordered one from my dealer yesterday AFTER I tested it and listened to it. Choosed the silver/alu natural and I hope there will be some other colors, too. This time even the anthracite looks damn good. I played with it at home for a fair amount of time and I'm aware of its sonical limitations. For the preferred usage scenario in the bathroom it's ideal. No more worries when the kids are playing swimming bath in the bathroom of any speaker damage.
Severed_Hand_of_Skywalker: Oh I forgot to mention for $299 this thing doesn't even have a mic. So if you get a call on your "outdoor adventures" you can't use this thing as a speaker. The Sonos has a mic AND both google assistant and Alexia for voice commands and calls.
TWG:Sonos: rendered all of their older speakers and systems useless with an intentional software update to force customers into buying new stuff.
Their software was not broken when they abandoned it, like some company we know! Wait, wait, does Mozart work yet? We *hope* they implement Join -- some day -- in newer speakers, without further breaking old speakers running ASE2 that lost Spotify, broke DLNA, never even could be stereo paired, etc. P.S. Two words: BeoSound Moment.
Well said - the same suggestion was mentioned on the podcast on Sunday, and like you I dont believe it was correct.
Amazing how many chose to believe what they want to believe, all the more surprising when everyone has the power to google and find out what has actually happened.
trackbeo: TWG:Sonos: rendered all of their older speakers and systems useless with an intentional software update to force customers into buying new stuff.Nice try. Yellow journalism ("fake news"), reposting doesn't make it true. What Sonos did was create new speakers that only worked with new software, and left old speakers to stay on a previous -- but fully-featured, and mostly bug-free -- version of software. They did start out bricking devices **IF** you chose to take their 30%-off upgrade for new ones, but the backlash got them to leave old speakers working with Gen.1 software forever, even if you bought new devices with your discount. Their software was not broken when they abandoned it, like some company we know! Wait, wait, does Mozart work yet? We *hope* they implement Join -- some day -- in newer speakers, without further breaking old speakers running ASE2 that lost Spotify, broke DLNA, never even could be stereo paired, etc. P.S. Two words: BeoSound Moment.
Wasn't any try and I didn't trace progress on the Sonos topic. Just saw those "news" on many tech sites. But the rant is pointless and doesn't help anybody! If you paid too much or you where cheated, yes, it's okay to rant, but afterwards you've got to move on. ;-)Criticism is okay and a description of what's good or not, comparison with other devices etc. helps all of us to classify the Beosound Explore somewhere. If you don't like the Beosound Explore, don't buy it or if you already did: Just sent it back and move on. There are hundreds of Bluetooth speakers and everybody will find one that makes him happy.Whether it's Sonos, B&O, Bose, JBL etc.doesn't matter: NOT having a bug like Alexa, Cortana, Siri, Google Assistant (and whatever might raise in the future) is a must.
Yeah, but research requires work: the fault is with Business Insider and its ilk, not @TWG or @BeoWillie for believing the falsehood.
Karma-wise, Sonos deserves their bad press, because they did indeed (April 2018) completely and intentionally brick their CR100 controllers (from 2005, the "Soviet iPod" overize clickwheel remotes). Sonos made it very hard to avoid that software update and, like Apple iOS, left no way to go back. My Beo4 & BeoLink 1000 of old vintage started glitching all by themselves anyway! -- but at least it wasn't because B&O planted a software virus, plus I could still buy a BeoRemote 1 in-stead. The only company that has performed admirably is Logitech, replacing Links with Home Hubs for free! I was astonished and pleased, but now they have dropped out of the marketplace; too bad...
Obligatory apropos on-topic / Explore, has anybody seen the "matching" cylinder beer-can video projector? Nebula "Capsule" (distributed by Anker, available on amazon.com): https://us.seenebula.com/collections/go-anywhere-series/products/d4111 -- It would be a fun L/C/R if someone could implement it, even with 2 Explores therefore halving the Bluetooth transmission stream, I doubt anybody would miss it with this size drivers.
First I do not know anything about Sonos, their upgrades and devices getting useless.
Sorry, but to me the comment can be as fake news as TWG's. For example the remarks about B&o within are at least coloured remarks!
my point: be carefull to describe the oposite news as fake news
Why?
If someone employs evidence that proves to be wrong, there are those who may chose to ignore it, and those that dont.
Me, I'd prefer if people (myself included) when using evidence to support a point made sure that the evidence actually was right, or what they thought it to be.
Carolpa: First I do not know anything about Sonos, their upgrades and devices getting useless. Sorry, but to me the comment can be as fake news as TWG's. For example the remarks about B&o within are at least coloured remarks! my point: be carefull to describe the oposite news as fake news
Sandyb:Why? If someone employs evidence that proves to be wrong, there are those who may chose to ignore it, and those that dont. Me, I'd prefer if people (myself included) when using evidence to support a point made sure that the evidence actually was right, or what they thought it to be.
New: Beovision Harmony, Beolab 50's, Beolab 28's, Beolab 18's, Beolab 17's, Beosound Stage & LG, Beosound 2, Beoplay M3, Beoplay A1, Beoplay Portal, Beoplay H4 gen 2, Beoplay E8 3.0
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Old: Beosound 9000 mk3, Beolab 3's, Beovision Eclipse, Beolab 1's, Beolab 2, Beovision 10-46, Overture 2300, beolab 8000's, Beolab 4000's, Beovision avant 32" etc. etc.
As someone who marched and campaigned against that war, you're preaching to the converted.
My point remains - if someone is going to posit something as evidence, and evidence that proved to be wrong, dont be surprised if others highlight the flaw.
I wouldn't have used the term fake news myself. Its a term i hate, so generalised has its use become, that people just throw it around as a response to anything they dont agree with.
Carolpa: Sandyb: Why? If someone employs evidence that proves to be wrong, there are those who may chose to ignore it, and those that dont. Me, I'd prefer if people (myself included) when using evidence to support a point made sure that the evidence actually was right, or what they thought it to be. Evidence solid as Bush administration proved that Saddam had weapon of mass destruction?
Sandyb: Why? If someone employs evidence that proves to be wrong, there are those who may chose to ignore it, and those that dont. Me, I'd prefer if people (myself included) when using evidence to support a point made sure that the evidence actually was right, or what they thought it to be.
Mea Culpa. In my defense, I did put that term in *both* quotes and parentheses, and after the proper vocab panning "Business Insider"! The "Wired" article @TWG cited was factual, by the way. ...At least, so far as I know... We can't always insert our disclaimers..."Based upon my personal experience updating many Sonos products and some B&O products, and using the Sonos S1 app and the newer (unitary) B&O app under iOS." I'm already long-winded enough!
Obligatory on-topic re: Explore: Has anybody taken it through a TSA scanner checkpoint? I used to carry-on a Du Pont "EVAC-U8" smoke hood in a can, but it got old waiting for a supervisor to train reps that a CO filter is permitted. Harmonicas still give some scanner software the ol' red-outline -- wonder what the profile & density of the Explore will do!
The primary topic of this thread is the Beosound Explore... ;-)
TWG: The primary topic of this thread is the Beosound Explore... ;-)
I have to be fair, no clue or time to try and understand this thread!
Beosound Stage, Beovision 8-40, Beolit 20, Beosound Explore.