Bang & Olufsen Beosound Emerge

Why this model

The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Emerge is a Wi-Fi and Bluetooth home speaker as slim as a book, designed for people who want great sound in the living room or on a bookshelf without a bulky box in the middle of the room. In its Gold Tone finish it pairs gold-tone aluminium with oak, and it sits between two novels as if it belonged there.

Our Beosound Emerge review starts from a simple observation: few design speakers take up so little width. Bang & Olufsen fits in three drivers and 120 W of amplification, with sound tuning in its app. Here’s a look at the design, everyday use, key specs and who it suits best.

Design: a bookshelf speaker that looks like a book

Bang & Olufsen describes it as a slim bookshelf speaker that fits in anywhere. Its narrow, open-book profile lets it slide between books or decorative objects where a conventional speaker would stick out. In Gold Tone, the gold-tone aluminium and oak make it a genuine display piece.

The controls are discreet touch buttons on top, which keeps the front clean. The speaker is also Cradle to Cradle certified, a label that assesses materials and circularity — worth knowing if you want a durable object in your home.

Everyday use: wide sound for a living space

Bang & Olufsen promises full-range, ultra-wide sound that reaches you anywhere in the room. The bass port faces backwards, so placing it near a wall or in a bookshelf alcove is part of how it’s meant to be used. In the Bang & Olufsen app, Active Room Compensation lets you tell it whether it’s standing free, against a wall or in a corner.

It connects over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, so you can send music from your phone in seconds. The app offers EQ presets you can fully customise. And if one is no longer enough, you can pair two for stereo listening.

Beosound Emerge key specs

According to Bang & Olufsen, the Beosound Emerge has a 0.6-inch tweeter, a 1.45-inch mid-range driver and a 4-inch woofer, each with its own class D amp: 30 W for the tweeter, 30 W for the mid-range and 60 W for the woofer, for 120 W in total. The stated frequency range is 45 to 22,000 Hz, with a maximum sound level of 92 dB SPL at 1 m.

The brand adds Adaptive Bass Linearization, which adjusts the bass to the volume, plus thermal protection. It recommends the speaker for rooms of 5 to 30 m² — a typical living room, home office or bedroom.

Who it’s for (and who it isn’t)

The Beosound Emerge is for you if you want a design speaker for your bookshelf, living room or home office and don’t have much width to spare. It will also appeal to anyone who cares as much about materials as sound, and wants something beautiful to leave on display.

It isn’t for you if you want a battery speaker to take to the garden or on holiday: this is a home speaker. For a very large open-plan space or loud parties, a bigger speaker or a stereo pair will suit you better.

The matching guide

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