Sign in   |  Join   |  Help
Untitled Page

ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022
READ ONLY FORUM

This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022

 

Beosound Balance: GVA vs. Non-GVA differences

rated by 0 users
This post has 6 Replies | 1 Follower

Csaba
Top 500 Contributor
Oslo, Norway
Posts 216
OFFLINE
Bronze Member
Csaba Posted: Sun, Nov 7 2021 2:20 PM

Hey all,

Since you are often more knowledgeable than B&O support, who has already given me imprecise answers on the matter, I thought I’d ask here :).

I’ve just got myself a Beosound Balance Nordic Ice and my order was placed as one Without Google Assistant. I have almost obsessively tried to figure out if I’ve actually got the right one. My confusion comes from the following: I have got the 4 dotted function or memory buttons on the top plate which I’ve always thought was only a feature of the GVA version.

B&O Support has only added to my confusion when they wrote they «believed» it was indeed supposed to be on the GVA version, while at the same time claiming that the setup process would also lead me through setting up Google Voice Assistant, and according to them both the packaging and the bottom of the speaker would state the version, without telling me what text exactly is supposed to say which one it is.

Due to lack of time I have not read through all related forum discussions here, so I appreciate direct clarifications in this thread.

I appreciate any pictures and info of both the GVA and non-GVA versions, top, bottom, box, as well as any additional info or experience :). I’d assume it would be fairly easy to tell.

A few more thoughts:

- I was never forced to set up voice assistant, but I did get a question if I wanted to add mine to the same setup using Google Home as the one in which I’ve added my non-GVA Beosound 1 (which does NOT have 4 function/memory buttons at the top)

- In the B&O app, the four function buttons default to Spotify in my case.

I’ve also got another Balance coming in soonish, which I’ve also ordered as non-GVA, but the stakes are higher with it being a Bespoke version :).

Thank you in advance!

Csaba
Top 500 Contributor
Oslo, Norway
Posts 216
OFFLINE
Bronze Member
Csaba replied on Mon, Nov 8 2021 11:26 AM

Just a quick «visibility update» due to my question having been posted with a delay and its original timestamp. Anybody by any chance have a good overview of the differences?

Curly
Top 200 Contributor
FL, USA
Posts 366
OFFLINE
Gold Member
Curly replied on Mon, Nov 8 2021 2:37 PM

Csaba, I'm not an expert on the Balance but I have a non-GVA Level and, as noted in another thread from last week, the four dot "MyButtons" work on my Level as favorite buttons for B&O Radio presets.

It sounds like all the Mozart products include the four MyButtons for both GVA and non-GVA. But it sounds like BeoSound 1 and 2 Gen 2 devices with GVA have the MyButtons and non-GVA do not.

Oh, and the Balance, Level and Emerge boxes for GVA units have "OK GOOGLE" on the front of the box in the buttom-right corner; non-GVA units do not have that icon. A Google Image Search will show you both versions. Also, the product sticker with the bar codes indicates the product name "GVA" or "nonGVA".

I hope that helps.

Currently: BeoLab 17, BeoLab 18, BeoSound Core, Beosound Level, Beosound A1 2nd Gen, BeoPlay S8 Connection Hub, Halo, Essence Remote

Previously: BeoSound 1 non-GVA

Csaba
Top 500 Contributor
Oslo, Norway
Posts 216
OFFLINE
Bronze Member
Csaba replied on Mon, Nov 8 2021 3:11 PM

Thank you so much! I’m getting somewhere now. I do not have any OK Google text or icon on the box, nor can I see any other mentioning of Google than Chromecast built-in and «user interaction that welcomes you», although that must refer to the proximity sensor. But above the barcode I can only see «Beosound Balance, AL2 Nordic Ice/Fr Rose», no «GVA» or «nonGVA».

Curly:

Csaba, I'm not an expert on the Balance but I have a non-GVA Level and, as noted in another thread from last week, the four dot "MyButtons" work on my Level as favorite buttons for B&O Radio presets.

It sounds like all the Mozart products include the four MyButtons for both GVA and non-GVA. But it sounds like BeoSound 1 and 2 Gen 2 devices with GVA have the MyButtons and non-GVA do not.

Oh, and the Balance, Level and Emerge boxes for GVA units have "OK GOOGLE" on the front of the box in the buttom-right corner; non-GVA units do not have that icon. A Google Image Search will show you both versions. Also, the product sticker with the bar codes indicates the product name "GVA" or "nonGVA".

I hope that helps.

 

Curly
Top 200 Contributor
FL, USA
Posts 366
OFFLINE
Gold Member
Curly replied on Mon, Nov 8 2021 4:35 PM

"OK GOOGLE" is very clearly on the box for Balance on GVA versions, my friend. It's in white text in the bottom-right corner of the photo of the Balance on the side of the box. You can't miss it--although in the Google photos, it's hard to see what the text says, you can tell it is there.

Currently: BeoLab 17, BeoLab 18, BeoSound Core, Beosound Level, Beosound A1 2nd Gen, BeoPlay S8 Connection Hub, Halo, Essence Remote

Previously: BeoSound 1 non-GVA

Csaba
Top 500 Contributor
Oslo, Norway
Posts 216
OFFLINE
Bronze Member
Csaba replied on Mon, Nov 8 2021 8:27 PM

Curly:

"OK GOOGLE" is very clearly on the box for Balance on GVA versions, my friend. It's in white text in the bottom-right corner of the photo of the Balance on the side of the box. You can't miss it--although in the Google photos, it's hard to see what the text says, you can tell it is there.

Yes, it may look like I've got the right one indeed, without GVA, since there is more and more evidence against the GVA version :). It could be so easily told if one knew what one has to look for. I am still a little uncertain why the 4 function buttons are there, but it may look like you can program them for different use cases. Like I mentioned mine default to 4 Spotify functions.

When it comes to the OK Google text, I have found this image of the box online:

 

So here you can clearly see the icon in the right-hand corner. Whereas mine is just the product shot:

 

Thank you so much for your kind help! I think I can relax now :).

Csaba
Top 500 Contributor
Oslo, Norway
Posts 216
OFFLINE
Bronze Member
Csaba replied on Wed, Nov 10 2021 7:43 PM

More info from B&O if anyone’s still unsure after the above.

  1. (Referring to non-GVA.) You would not have the option to set up the speaker you have with Google Voice Assistant as it does not have it. 
  2. The 4 buttons on top of your Balance are the MyButtons which differ from the Google Preset buttons by basically being only a physical means to store a given preferred state of the Balance (volume level, music source, etc) rather than one that could be accessible via the voice assistant as well.
  3. (Referring to the Google assistant.) If your speaker's box didn't have this then it would be one without it.
  4. (Referring to the information printed on the bottom of the speaker.) Normally we check the model details of a speaker via the serial number (which I have provided), and in my case my Nordic Ice Balance had no voice assistant integration.
Page 1 of 1 (7 items) | RSS