Bang & Olufsen launches the Beoplay Portal for PC and PlayStation
The latest iteration of the Beoplay Portal gaming headset is available to buy now for the princely sum of £449
Danish manufacturer Bang & Olufsen has unveiled a PlayStation and PC version of its premium wireless gaming headset, the Beoplay Portal.
Launched in spring 2021, the original Beoplay Portal was only compatible with Xbox consoles. PlayStation and PC gamers can now get their hands on a model optimised for both platforms, and the package is as compelling as it is pricey.
Let’s get the price out of the way first. Like the Xbox version, the PC/PlayStation Beoplay Portal will set you back a whopping £449, positioning it as one of the most expensive gaming headsets going.
That price is in part down to the premium nature of the Bang & Olufsen brand, but the Beoplay Portal is more than a well-made gaming headset from an esteemed audio company.
In addition to connecting wirelessly to your PlayStation console or PC via a 2.4GHz USB-C dongle, the Portal doubles up as a pair of noise-cancelling Bluetooth headphones featuring support for the SBC, AAC and aptX Adaptive codecs.
Key to this dual existence is the absence of a physical microphone. As was the case with the original Portal, this model features Bang & Olufsen’s trademarked “Virtual Boom Arm”, which uses a series of beamforming mics to isolate and amplify your voice.
The Beoplay Portal has a few other tricks up its sleeve, too. It supports Dolby Atmos for headphones along with dual-audio streaming, meaning you can listen to something on your phone over Bluetooth while also having game audio fed into your ears via the wireless dongle. This has a wide range of applications but is particularly useful if you’re wanting to communicate with mates via voice chat on Discord.
The headset is compatible with Bang & Olufsen’s app, and this provides access to a few handy features. You can adjust the audio balance between the two inputs, control the level of noise cancellation/transparency, select from a handful of game genre-specific EQs and also toggle on or off a handful of other quality-of-life options.
Despite its array of advanced features, B&O says the Beoplay Portal will last around 19 hours when you have noise cancellation active and are connected over both wireless and Bluetooth. That figure jumps to 42 hours if you’re only using Bluetooth.
I got the chance to try the new Beoplay Portal at an event attended by Bang & Olufsen brand ambassador Trent Alexander-Arnold and was suitably impressed by the look, feel and sound of the headset. Sadly, my FIFA skills weren’t nearly as impressive – the football ace’s Liverpool side beat my Newcastle United team 4-2 in a two-on-two game of FIFA Volta.
I’ve since received a sample and have been putting it through its paces, so be sure to check back soon for my full review of the PC/PlayStation Beoplay Portal.