Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay A6 review – Bluetooth, AirPlay and now Google Cast

Sound Quality

The bowed shape of the speaker is designed to look attractive and to provide an acoustically wider sound stage. On the underside of the speaker is a slider switch, which is hidden away behind a removable cover. This lets you swap between different sound profiles suited to how you place your speaker.

There’s Free for most standard speaker positions, such as on a table or other surface, Corner for when the speaker is tucked away and Wall if you choose to hang the speaker on a wall. The wall brackets are an optional extra, however, and cost an additional £79. Between the optional covers and brackets, the cost of a BeoPlayA6 can become considerably higher.

Selecting the right setting will be important, as acoustic properties change depending on speaker position. This is the case with nearly any speaker to an extent, but more so with the BeoPlay A6 due to its driver arrangement.

There are two front-firing 5.5in woofers and two 2¾in tweeters but things get interesting around the back, where there’s a 1.5in full-range driver. The back of the speaker cabinet has a perforated grill that not only adds some visual flourish but means sound is delivered through the back.

While the BeoPlay A6 doesn’t aim to deliver omnidirectional sound, as Samsung aims to with its Wireless 360 range, the rear-facing driver does mean that there’s not a big drop off in audio quality and volume when walking around the BeoPlay A6. Walking towards the rear, it’s the lower frequencies that disappear compared to when you’re in front, which doesn’t come as any surprise. You’ll want to be in front of the BeoPlay A6 to get the best listening experience.

From this position, the lower frequencies can really be heard and felt. There’s some real punch to the bass, which at times we thought was a little overpowering. Anyone who likes their music particularly emphatic in the lower frequencies will take delight.

The strong bass does mean that the sound is ever so slightly warm but there is still plenty of intricate details in the mids and treble. The sharpness of a trumpet and delicateness of violins were still there in acoustic tracks but thumping electronic bass lines were delivered with aplomb too. Disappointingly, even with the bowed shape of the BeoPlay A6, we still found the sound slightly narrow for our liking.

Conclusion

In terms of connections and music sources, the BeoPlay A6 checks all the boxes for what you might want. Especially as Google Cast support is coming soon. Its sound quality is also fantastic. With that all in mind, the score might come as a slight surprise but at this price we’re not going to suffer messy and unrefined apps. We’d also like to be able to choose a colour for free when purchasing, and not have to buy an alternative cover for an extra £99.

The Sonos Play:5 sounds nearly as good as the BeoPlay A6 and is almost half the price. While you miss out on a number of connection options, the Sonos multiroom system is far more elegant for internet streaming and accessing your own music. Unless you like your speakers with a certain Scandinavian flare, we’d choose the Play:5 over the BeoPlay A6 every time.