B&O Beoplay EX in the test: Are the expensive earbuds worth the price?

This is an article by our content partner "Nextpit". Here you can find the original article by Benjamin Lucks.

Pro

• First-class sound with fun EQ
• Very good ANC
• Firm, comfortable fit
• High-quality workmanship
• Multi-point pairing

Cons

• Strong wind noise in transparency mode
• No voice assistant control
• Occasional connection problems
• No tracking feature

Headphones

EUR454,86

B&O Beoplay EX

ANC, 6 h, Wireless

72

Headphones

EUR385,32

B&O Beoplay EX

ANC, 6 h, Wireless

72

Short conclusion on the B&O Beoplay EX

Don't have a lot of time as you need to quickly earn 400 euros for headphones? Okay: The Beoplay EX are the most expensive in-ear headphones available in May 2022. However, they are only worth their money to a limited extent. Because models like the WF-1000XM4 from Sony show that premium sound and industry-leading ANC are also possible for just under 200 euros.

Moreover, the 400-euro earbuds are not without their faults. In the test, I noticed quite strong wind noise in transparency mode when cycling or even walking. In addition, you cannot control voice assistants. While these are minor issues, the occasional connection problems would bother me at such a high RRP. More on that in the course of this review.

Design & comfort: Extremely high quality

Bang & Olufsen relies on premium materials for its Beoplay EX. The charging cradle is made of aluminium, the Earbuds are made of plastic and have recessed glass elements. Designer Thomas Bentzen, who also designed the Beoplay EQ, was responsible for this. Particularly pleasing: in addition to various silicone attachments, the Beoplay EX also come with foam attachments. You pay 25 euros for these separately.

Pleasing:

• Fine materials provide a premium feeling
• Very good and firm fit
• Comply foam attachment included

Dislikes:

• Charging tray gets dirty quickly
• Only IP57 certified
• No pairing button

In my opinion, if you offer customers in-ear headphones for 400 euros, you can't compromise on comfort. And indeed, the Earbuds sit remarkably well in the ear. The feeling when inserting them reminds me a little of plugging in a plug - it seems as if the Beoplay EX were always meant for my ears. If you don't get that feeling, there are three different silicone attachments.

The build quality is also better than cheaper alternatives. This is due to materials such as glass and aluminium, which are sensibly used on the Earbuds and the charging cradle. Despite the materials, the Earbuds are IP54 certified - so use in the rain and during sweaty sports is no problem.

A very welcome feature is the inclusion of a pair of Comply foam tips. You may be familiar with these from premium in-ear headphones or the WF-1000XM4. For concentrated music listening, I prefer the more soundproof attachments. The fact that you can switch back to the more comfortable silicone tips when you're on the move is something I think the Danish audio professionals have really thought through.

Two minor negative points: the charging cradle made of aluminium is not only quite large, but also susceptible to dirt. Furthermore, I would have liked to see a physical pairing button, which would provide a little more security when connecting to new devices.

App & convenience features

In the App Store and the Google Play Store, you can find the "Bang&Olufsen" app, which you can use to control the Beoplay EX. You will find quite unconventional equalisers as well as a control for active noise cancellation. However, the comfort functions are quite rare compared to other models.

Likes:

• Fun, intuitive equaliser
• OwnVoice technology for telephony very pleasant
• Pretty, well-designed app

Dislikes:

• Quite few comfort functions
• Inaccurate equaliser

The B&O app is the prettiest companion app I've seen for in-ear headphones. It's so detailed that you can even change the colour of the Beoplay EXs displayed to match the colour of your models. At the same time, it is logically structured and offers you control over the sound, ANC and features, as well as control for active music playback.

Bang & Olufsen's equaliser works differently from established models. You can move a slider around in a circle and choose between the contradictions "Bright - Warm" and "Relaxed". These allow you to intuitively adjust the sound to your own preferences. What I would have liked to see in addition, however, is a full-fledged equaliser to be able to adjust the frequencies more precisely.

On the software side, a big plus is the OwnVoice technology, which I would like to see in all headphones. It allows you to hear your own voice naturally when you're on the phone. Especially during longer phone calls with ANC headphones, I notice that my voice gets scratchy at some point, because it's hard to judge how loud I'm talking. So that's a plus for B&O.

Besides active ANC control and OwnVoice technology, the only comfort features are multi-point Bluetooth and wear recognition. I find that a little lacking for headphones in this price range. Other models offer 3D audio or the option of accessing voice assistants at the touch of a button.

Sound & ANC

A few numbers for the audio nerds: B&O uses 9.2 millimetre neodymium drivers in the Beoplay EX, which can reproduce a frequency range of 20 to 20,000 Hertz. In addition, the earbuds support adaptive ANC, which can draw on six omnidirectional microphones. Bluetooth 5.2 works via SBC, AAC and aptX Adaptive codecs.

Likes:

• Wide soundstage, balanced sound
• Very good ANC
• Latest Bluetooth standard
• Great for phone calls

Dislikes:

• Strong wind noise in transparency mode
• No hi-fi data sheet

Before the test, I looked back and forth between the data sheet and the price tag of the Beoplay EX. After all, the frequency range and the supported codecs are anything but impressive for 400-euro earbuds. But in the end, it's the sound quality that counts, and the Beoplay EX definitely delivers.

The sound is very balanced ex works and is fun to listen to even without adjusting the equalisers. Particularly striking is the wide soundstage, which keeps all instruments finely separated from each other. From the neutral standard configuration, you can then adjust the headphones to your preferences or the genres you listen to via the equaliser. The Beoplay EX go wherever you want to go.

During the test period, I listened to everything from hip-hop tracks by OG Keemo, Kendrick Lamar and Tyler the Creator to rock songs by Primus and CCR to pop tracks by Harry Styles or Paolo Nutini. The Beoplay EX can also adapt to jazz and classical music, so overall the earbuds are surprisingly flexible. This is an advantage over cheaper models like the Beats Studio Buds, which tend to drown all tracks in quivering bass.

For full music enjoyment, ANC is also important with Earbuds in 2022. The active noise cancellation can be adjusted in three levels, and there are also the modes "Transparency" and "Normal", in which the ANC is not active. The effectiveness is impeccable, especially with the insulating foam attachments. I was able to block out 80 per cent of road traffic, but I find using the Beoplay EX on a bicycle quite borderline.

And that's a problem, because the transparency mode is plagued by nasty wind noise. I noticed this not only on the bike, but also when walking in medium winds. The automatic control of the ANC works, but it rather bothered me in everyday life. So it's a plus that you can switch off the feature.

Finally, there is one criticism of the Beoplay EX. During the test period of two weeks, I had connection problems with an iPhone SE 2022 about five times. Only one of the two earbuds worked and I had to put the headphones back in the charging cradle to solve the problem. That's inconvenient and would bother me a lot if I were buying headphones for 400 euros.

Battery: All requirements met

With noise cancellation activated, the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay EX last for six hours. If you don't use this function, they can last eight hours. That's a whole working day, and thanks to the charging cradle, you can add another 13 hours if necessary. That's a total runtime of 21 hours. The headphones are charged via USB-C or wireless charging according to the Qi standard.

Likes:

• Super everyday battery life
• Wireless charging
• Quick-charging

Dislikes:

• Bang & Olufsen's high-end earbuds meet all the requirements I have for the runtimes of expensive true-wireless headphones. So you don't have to worry about an empty battery before a day's work. Combined with the charging cradle, you are independent of power sockets for 21 hours, which is equivalent to a complete weekend trip by train to Sylt with the new 9-euro ticket.

The integration of quick-charging is very pleasing, even if the manufacturer hardly mentions it on its own homepage. A 20-minute charge via USB-C cable is enough for 1.75 hours of listening to music. Such functions are particularly practical if, like me, you like to go jogging and don't care enough about the charging status of your technology.

Bang & Olufsen rounds out the headphones' charging flexibility with wireless charging. If your smartphone supports reverse wireless charging, you can also charge the headphones conveniently via your mobile phone.

Very good, but too expensive

The Bang & Olufsen are truly among the best in-ear headphones available in 2022. They outperform most models in the categories of sound quality, ANC effectiveness and wearing comfort. Technically, I would put them on par with the Sony WF-1000XM4, which are considered the industry leaders in almost every feature. However, the Beoplay EX are higher quality and offer a nicer companion app.

However, B&O is charging 120 euros more at market launch than Sony did at the launch of the WF-1000XM4. If you don't care about the brand, there is no real justification for this surcharge. Especially since Bang & Olufsen makes a few mistakes that are painful at this price level. For example, I noticed strong wind noise in transparency mode and had to struggle with connection problems.

Furthermore, as a rather scatterbrained buyer, I would wish for a tracking function like in the AirPods Pro. Because losing in-ear headphones for 399 euros because they slip out of your pocket will ruin the day or even the week even for better earners.

So, in the end, the B&O Beoplay EX are very good headphones that also serve an additional purpose as a status symbol or jewellery object. After all, a Rolex is functionally inferior to the Garmin Fenix 7, but looks better on the wrist. This may be one of the reasons why the manufacturer prints its logo on the glass elements of the earbuds.