Bang & Olufsen's Beosound Balance is a jaw-dropping, wallet-emptying smart speaker

Bang & Olufsen speakers not only sound good, they look good, too. And, the new Beosound Balance is no different.

Created in collaboration with UK-based designer Benjamin Hubert, B&O are describing the Beosound Balance as “the ultimate shelf speaker for city homes”.

The design is sleek and minimal, with the wireless speaker made up of a two parts - a solid wooden base and a knitted textile wrap with blasted aluminium accents.

When it comes to sound, there are seven speaker drivers with beam-forming technology so that you can shift music from being directional to ‘room-filling’ thanks to the speaker’s omni-directional mode.

A nice design feature is that the touch controls on the top only appear when you need them, the rest of the time they fade away to leave the aluminum finish unspoiled.

It also does all the typical features you’d expect from a Bluetooth speaker including voice commands thanks to Google Assistant, and supports AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect.

There are two colour options available - Natural and Black Oak.

The Beosound Balance is available now but this state-of-the-art speaker does not come cheap at £1,750.

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