Bang & Olufsen Beoplay Portal - Comfortable Wireless Noise Cancelling Gaming Headphones for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One

I ordered the PC/PS version which might be important as I suspect it is a more refined product, having been released a year or so later. Thought I'd write a review because all seemed focused on xbox and some of the common complaints don't apply.I was looking for headphones to us in PC VR gaming and had several requirements: (1) Low latency 2.4 ghz wireless PC connection; (2) Noise cancellation including good transparency effect; (3) Good sound quality; and (4) a decent mic. These fit all my requirements where no other headset out there did. These are not perfect, but they are perfect for my use case - so 5 stars relative to what I wanted.Pros:- Very well made. Feel very high quality/premium.- My wife thinks they look good. I like the silver/grey color.- I have owned plenty of headphones but don't claim audiophile expertise. My reference point for sound quality is the Bose 700 headset I have been using (wired to my quest 2 headset). Different sound signatures, but these are at least as good and better as it pertains specifically to gaming.- ANC is good enough to be worthwhile and useful. Not as effective as my Bose 700 or my Bose QC Earbuds, but different use case really. Where I take my Bose with me outside, these I use only inside. ANC is more than sufficient to block out the annoying fans on our AC/heating units while at home. Not sure it would work on the subway or NYC streets.- Transparency mode is good. This is important to me as I like to be able to keep on and hold a conversation. Feels natural and close enough to my Bose, which are very good. This is the first time a non-bose ANC transparency mode has worked well for me.......have jabra headphones and Samsung buds where transparency feels very artificial.- Wireless connection to PC dongle has been rock solid. No issues as all on this version where some other reviews noted issues for the Xbox version.- The setup is pretty easy. You do need to use the phone app, but it worked well for me. Computer could be viewed as plug and play, but worth installing the Dolby access software. If you want to make changes to sound profile on PC without your phone, you need the Dolby software.- The mic works pretty well even without a boom arm. It's certainly good enough for gaming purposes, and generally better than I expected. I would at least say that the quality is good enough that I would have no interest in a headset with a boom arm even if there were some mic quality benefits.- Mic background noise suppression surprisingly good. I have been using RTX voice to accomplish this anyway, but that is now arguably superfluous.- Handles dual wireless connections really well.- Comfortable to wear.Cons:- If you are looking for the best ANC out there, turn to Bose or Sony. The ANC feature is helpful on these and I am definitely glad to have it, but it's definitely not the best out there. I think they have leaned toward subtlety, which is the right move - limited effectiveness but it is never irritating or in the way. My Samsung Galaxy buds ANC can be really distracting, you notice it both when with ANC on and when using transparency mode.- The controls are pretty good but not necessarily intuitive out of the gate. For instance some buttons change depending on what wireless connections you have. Ultimately this benefits utility, but can be confusing upfront.- Transparency mode works differently with mic on vs mic off. It sorta intermixes ANC with sidetone functionality which is confusing. Not a big deal, but I would prefer these be separate functions.- I wish headphone makers would focus on making them less wide. I don't operate in the apple ecosystem, but airpods max look great with lower profile. These are pretty wide which hurts the aesthetics in my view (maybe cause my head more oval than round), though not much worse than Bose 700 in this regard. Of course I am also using them at home when wearing a VR headset......I already look ridiculous so no consequence to me for how I use. Also as noted above, my wife actually likes the way these look, so taste may vary.- Some of the on headset controls would benefit from voice notification rather than beeps. Sometimes hard to tell if I landed on the right setting. Bose 700 has this and it really helps.

First I'll start by describing myself.I primarily use my headphones at my desk for music/video, and game on PC. I spend a lot of time on discord calls. My room has a fairly noticeable amount of background noise.I also fly about 5 times per year, 2 ways.So I was looking for a pair of headphones that would satisfy both of these use cases.Until now, I had a wired setup for my desk (dedicated amp/dac with a variety of wired headphones) with an ant lion modmic wired. This resulted in a bundle of wires following me around at my desk, and many of my headphones were open back, so the background noise would be an issue. And for my flights, I'd use a pair of air pods pro. However, they'd run out of battery part way through a flight, which would be pretty annoying.I believe that this headset is the only option in the market that satisfies the following criteria:1. Low latency wireless audio for gaming2. Noise cancelling3. Audio quality actually sounds decent (no the steelseries doesn't count)4. Connects to my phone via bluetooth5. Doesn't look like a gaming headset so I can actually wear it in public6. Has a decent mic that doesn't revert to bluetooth phone quality when connected to a PCThere are headphones/headsets that do any one of these things better than the BeoPlay Portals. But as mentioned before, I still think these are the only option that do all of the above.However, I think there are caveats to consider before buying these (numbered same as above):1. The wireless connection does not go very far. I'd say after 7-10 feet, and out of line of sight these start stuttering. I'm not sure if this is typical of 2.4ghz dongle-based connections. With line of sight it's much better. EDIT: It seems to be a lot better now, I can go around 30 feet line of sight without noticing any differences in quality.2. Noise cancelling is fine, but dedicated NC headphones are much better. When enabling NC, it pops in instead of fading in like with other options. Voices and other non-constant sounds filter in much more than others.3. No, they don't sound better than the air pods max (though I do think they sound better than the Sony WH-1000XM series). After my ears acclimated to them I'd say the sound quality is really nice. They're definitely the best sounding wireless gaming headset I have ever heard for music. If you're into EQ, there's an equalizer APO preset available online to match the harman target.4. The bluetooth connection could use some updates. Especially when connected to both the dongle and my phone, there are some issues. Could be my phone having a problem as well. Usually disconnecting BT and reconnecting solves the issue. Also, the bluetooth doesn't connect automatically, and I need to tap the button to get my phone to connect. I tried toggling the auto-connect setting in the app, but it didn't seem to help. (update: auto connect now working)5. These look great. No caveats in the looks department. I'd say there's more pressure on the top of my head than I like, so if you're sensitive to that, it could be worth trying other options. I'll also say that at first these used to slip off my head, but since breaking in/accumulating my oils (ew) it seems to grip much better. The ear cups are replaceable, and they twist off. But they have this plastic fixture so I assume you can only replace them with genuine B&O pads.6. Though it doesn't revert to BT call quality when used as a headset when connecting to a PC, the mic quality is pretty meh. Since I'm really picky about how others hear my voice, I got a modmic wireless which solves this issue, and I can still be without any wires when at my desk.Other observations outside of my requirements:Battery life seems to be as advertised, but it's really tough to time it for 22 hours. I'll just say that I haven't had any issues or surprises. The Type C charging is convenient.I don't use the tap controls much, but the volume slider on the back of the right cup is really nice. The noise cancelling/transparency mode slider doesn't need to exist IMO, it could just be a toggle or a button. But perhaps someone else will find it useful.The app does what it says, but it's a bit flakey. Usually by waiting a bit, it figures itself out. I don't use it much.Make sure to use a USB 3 port for these for the dongle. When using 2.0 (using included adapter) there was stuttering, but when using a 3.0 or type-c it started working fine again. Not sure why since this shouldn't requre more than the 480mbps usb 2.0 spec.I definitely complained a lot, but overall I'm very happy with these. I'll test the noise cancelling on a plane and maybe remember to report back.At the full price I'd hesitate to recommend these, but check price comparison web sites to get the best deal. I got mine for $300 for which is definitely worth it. Given all these caveats, for most people I'd recommend a gaming headset from a reputable brand (sennheiser/epos?), plus a pair of noise cancelling wireless headphones from Bose/Sony/whatever. That would probably still be cheaper than buying these at full price, and you could get the best of both worlds. But these are perfect for me.

Creo que está reseña será algo larga, pero si estás interesado en comprar estos audífonos te ayudará a decidir.Para empezar, estoy están diseñados para destacar en el caso de VIDEOJUEGOS, como se conectan directamente al XBOX la calidad de audio es una locura, los he usado para jugar Resident Evil 4 remake, y puedes escuchar cada paso, cada antorcha, cada ruido del ambiente, es una sensación de inmersión total. Esto gracias a que tiene la tecnología de DOLBY ATMOS. Antes usaba unos audífonos Sony conectados por cable al control, pero no daban la misma calidad e inmersión que estos, creo que la conexión con los protocoles de XBOX es lo que ayuda a dar ese plus.En la caja y muchas reseñas en internet dicen que los puedes usar para escuchar música ya sea comentados por cable o bluetooth pero a mí la verdad me deja un poco que desear, para empezar el volumen está algo limitado, tienes que subirle casi al máximo volumen del celular para que lo empieces a escuchar “fuerte” en otro dispositivo tal cual tuve que subir el volumen al 100% y regular con el control de volumen de los propios audífonos, si no hacía esto se hacía un ruido molesto como si el volumen de la fuente no fuera “suficiente “En la cuestión de la calidad de audio es debatible se escuchan bien con una gran definición de los instrumentos y voz, pero su cualidad es que separan todos los sonidos, dando una sensación 3D el cantante en el centro y los diferentes instrumentos alrededor lo cual da un gran efecto, pero da la sensación que la voz del intérprete se escucha “lejos” un poco encerrada, creo que es por este efecto 3D ya lo he escuchado con otros audios y cuando se activa este efecto siento que se “aleja” la voz del cantante.Tal vez es cuestión de gustos. También si eres de los que les gusta mucho los graves y que todo retumbe, no lo vas a encontrar en estos audífonos, que ya su audio es algo natural. Nada subido de tono ni chispeante o grave. Por medio de la aplicación del celular puedes hacer algunos ajustes en agudos y graves.En conclusión: su uso en videojuegos es magnífica, con una gran calidad de sonido e inmersión.Para escuchar música son peculiares, buena calidad de sonido, con un afecto 3D en todas las canciones, se queda corto en potencia y tienes que subir mucho el volumen. Y la aislamiento de sonido ambiental es poco si los comparas con unos SonySi los encuentras en oferta (lo más cercano a 3,000 pesos, yo los compré en 3,150) es una gran compra, si están más caros no los recomiendo.

What to say about Bang & Olufsen? I can't say I'm surprised by the product, as it met my expectations, it is exceptional, with extremely high sound quality and also in terms of materials. The only downsides to this headphone are the lack of a case and its non-foldable design, but other than that, I have no complaints, only compliments.

Lo primero que hay que entender al revisar estos audífonos es que Bang & Olufsen es una marca premium, materiales, presentación, concepto y PRECIO.Estos son unos audífonos que comenzaron con un precio de 500USD (alrededor de 9,000. Pesos mexicanos) y diré que a ese precio se sentirían algo costosos, aunque no me habría sentido estafado.En ese mismo rango de precio están los HX de ellos mismos que, a mi parecer son prácticamente iguales. Tengo esos en color blanco y dorado y francamente no soy capaz de diferenciar el audio, incluso el confort al utilizarlo es muy similar. Puedo decir que, en mi caso particular, siento los HX con un poco más de presión en los costados de los oídos, pero francamente es poca la diferencia entre ambos otra más allá de las obvias diferencias estéticas.Hago está mención porque los Hx siguen costando alrededor de 500USD mientras los portal han bajado a 250-200usd que es el precio al que los adquirí yo y, debo decir: a este precio son indiscutiblemente los mejores audífonos que puedes comprar para escuchar música pero, no estoy tan seguro que sean los mejores para jugar video juegos.Definitivamente son los más lujosos en este rango de precio. Simplemente no hay competencia, pero aunque estos audífonos son una maravilla en la representación acústica, la separación, el control instrumental sonoro y un buen soundstage, carecen del “punch” que es típico en los audífonos para videojuegos. Esto es bien sabido de B&O, un sonido bastante plano, y de hecho fue una de las características que a mi en lo personal más disfruto de ellos, ya que odio lo “abrumador” de los “gaming headsets” es cansado escucharlos por lo mismo (al menos para mí).Si eres de los que gustan escuchar los beats, sigue buscando estos no son para ti. Pero si por otro lado estas buscando una opción de calidad superior en la construcción y con un sonido plano (que siempre puede ser ecualizado a tu gusto particular) que será una delicia de escuchar, donde podrás distinguir sin ningún problema cada detalle, ya sea en la música, películas o en los video juegos entonces estas en un buen lugar.La construcción y materiales están simplemente en una liga completamente sola, nada se le acerca. Desde que los tomas sabes que estás ante algo premium (que rara vez encuentras con otros gaming sets, o incluso otros audífonos premium)La reproducción del audio es increíblemente precisa (para algunos un contra)El modo transparencia es bastante bueno.Tiene todos los modos de conectividad que puedas requerir, BT, 2.4hz, Jack 3.5mm y todos funcionan de manera excelente.La batería te da para utilizarlos sin problema durante más un par de días (obvio depende de cuanto tiempo los uses diario) y la carga rápida te da un par de horas por solo unos minutos.Es en realidad difícil de compararlos con otras marcas o modelos de audífonos para video juegos, porque no hay nada que se le acerque en calidad / sonido. Pero no todo es bueno como siempre hay algunos detalles que listareEl ANC es mediocre por decirlo de alguna manera, bloqueará la mayoría de los zumbidos de ventiladores / aspiradoras, etc, pero no hará mucho para bloquear a las personas hablando o otras fuentes de ruido no tan repetitivas.Como dije, el audio es plano, y pocos disfrutan un sonido así y más cuando están acostumbrados a que los gaming headsets tengan bajos tan pronunciados medios bastante mediocres y altos hacia el frente (típica forma de frecuencia en V)El micrófono la verdad es que, aunque cumple y la mayoría de las veces en un ambiente normal de casa será bastante efectivo, en cuanto hay un poco mas de ruido, por ejemplo, que estés usándolo en publico para una llamada o estés jugando en la sala común de tu campus universitario, se verá bastante mermada la calidad.NO TIENEN UN ESTUCHE sino una BOLSA HORRIBLE DE TELA, hahaha en realidad no es horrible, es bonita, bien ejecutada, tela de buena calidad reversible y buen cordón con un “broche” metálico grabado con el logo de B&O pero, vamos por 500USD (que pedían originalmente) es casi un insulto.Siento que deberían incluir un estuche duro, pero bueno puedes encontrar algunos por aquí por menos de 20usd.En conclusión, creo que estos audífonos son un robo si los encuentras por 5mil o menos pesos. Pues son audífonos que incluso si no los quieres para jugar y solo los usaras como audífonos para escuchar música son excelentes, no tienen la apariencia “ridícula” de los hechos para videojuegos y se escuchan fenomenal.

The number of stars is based on the application and its relationship with the headphones. It creates a mess with the options and not identifying them.The sound is amazing and the comfort even better.

100% recomendable, sirven para trabajo y juego, tienen Bluetooth y un USB dongle para 0 latencia. Pueden funcionar al mismo tiempo las dos conexiones, tambien los puedes cargar mientras los usas, el ANC funciona bien aunque nada del otro mundo, las almohadillas son de piel auténtica lo cual las hará más duraderas y no se van a descarapelar con el tiempo.