

The Danish have given the world two legendary pieces of technology you’ll never want the misfortune of standing on: Lego and the audio equipment of Bang & Olufsen.
Renowned for their otherworldly speakers, B&O products not only appear and perform like the handiwork of a technologically superior race, they usually carry a similarly cosmic price tag. The group's BeoPlay H3 in-ear headphones are thus a snip at £199.
Contained within the H3’s neatly crafted aluminium earpieces are a 10.8mm driver and Micro Bass Port – geek-speak for an impressively capable set of earphones. Designed with the iCrowd in mind, an in-line mic and volume control also feature.
The H3s dispatched the majority of music genres we threw at them with consummate ease: vocals were deliciously crisp, sitting sat at the front of tracks rather than getting lost between mid- and high-end sounds. Chaotic electro, classical concerts, podcasts – everything sounded gorgeously sharp and detailed from minimum to ear-splitting maximum volumes. The only tripping point came on numbers that led with bass: the sound isn’t muddy, but the H3s seem to lose something of otherwise galactic capacities when lower frequencies takes centre stage.
After spending a few days with the H3s, going back to our usual (cheaper) headphones felt hugely disappointing. As with most B&O products, they instantly improve anything you choose to pump through them, but only the keenest of music lovers will feel that it’s £199 well spent.
You can buy the BeoPlay H3s here
Get exclusive shortlists, celebrity interviews and the best deals on the products you care about, straight to your inbox.

As Content Director of Shortlist, Marc likes nothing more than to compile endless lists of an evening by candlelight. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.