The B&O Beoplay Portal headphones are made for gamers
Bang & Olufsen, known for its sublime, audiophile-quality headphones, has entered new territory with the launch of its first wireless gaming headphones – the Beoplay Portals.
What’s the difference between these and normal headphones, you might ask? B&O says there are a number of features that make them suitable for gamers.
First off. the Portals have low-latency sound – which means there’s much less of a lag between the action on screen and the sound reaching your ears.
B&O also says these cans use “a new generation of Adaptive Active Noise Cancellation technology” which uses a combination of feed-forward ANC and feed-back ANC. This hybrid design uses microphones placed both outside and inside the ear cup to cancel noise across a wide frequency band.
A technology the company calls Own Voice lets users “hear their own voices while simultaneously cancelling out extraneous sounds”.
The Beosound Portals deliver high-fidelity audio via two 40mm drivers with Neodymium magnets and have a raft of small but high-performance microphones on board: four digital MEMS voice mics (two shared with the ANC) and four dedicated MEMS ANC mics (two per ear cup).
They also use Dolby Atmos for Headphones, which is a technology that delivers three-dimensional surround sound. This is awesome for gaming as it lets you know where gunfire is coming from, accurately estimate the position of your enemy based on the sound of their footsteps or just immerse yourself in your surroundings.
Dolby Atmos is available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S and PCs.
Speaking of Xboxes, if you’re a Series X/S or Xbox One user, the Beoplay Portals will be able to connect seamlessly to your console using Xbox Wireless protocol, which provides a high-bandwidth, low-latency connection.
Comfort and control
Turning to comfort – a massive consideration for gamers, who can wear their headphones for hours (and hours) on end – the Beoplay Portals weigh just 282 grams, making them among the lightest wireless models you’ll find.
The earpads are jaw-supporting and made from lambskin-wrapped memory foam with a subtle protrusion on the rear which conforms to the shape of your head for better comfort and less sound leakage.
Bang & Olufsen has also gotten rid of the traditional boom arm. Instead, a virtual arm uses “Directional Beamforming” technology to isolate and amplify your voice while eliminating background noise.
Control is via touchpads built into the side of the earcups. These let you raise and lower the volume, adjust ANC and Transparency Mode, and control music and phone calls. A higher level of control is available via the Bang & Olufsen app for iOS and Android, which has a bunch of gamer-specific features such as mic optimisation and game/chat balance.
The Beoplay Portals are available in three colours: Black Anthracite, Grey Mist, and Navy.
The Black Anthracite models will be available from early May, followed by the Grey Mist and Navy from mid-June.
Beoplay Portal price
RRP $840
