New premium AirPlay accessory

Bang & Olufsen brought several of its latest products to the Macworld iWorld expo in San Francisco, including the Beolit 12 portable speaker that fits into the company's B&O Play brand. MacNN took the opportunity to listen to the new speaker, which is a premium model among iOS accessories but a budget model when compared to the rest of Bang & Olufsen's products.

We were impressed by the sound output from the seemingly small box, which houses stereo two-inch tweeters and a single four-inch woofer powered by a 120-watt Class D amplifier. The booming sound is not cut off when the cord is unplugged, as an integrated battery is claimed to last up to eight hours if an iOS device or other source is directly connected.

The Beolit also supports AirPlay, making it easy to stream music from an iOS device, however we were a bit surprised to learn that the battery life is cut in half when using Apple's wireless standard.

As expected for a Bang & Olufsen product, the housing speaks of quality and brings an attractive design. The grey aluminum housing is covered with small holes that form a speaker grill, while a leather strap can be used to carry the device from place to place.

The Beolit started shipping this week for $799.

by MacNN Staff