Bang & Olufsen beoplay portal review: An ultra-luxe gaming headset with a top price to match

How many pairs of headphones do you have? If you’re anything like us you’ll have a pair of wireless earphones for every occasion. A pocket-sized charging case for daily use, a bulky gaming headset for use with your preferred console, and perhaps even a set of premium over-ear headphones with great noise cancelling for use on the plane.

With the Portal, Bang & Olufsen hopes to replace most of these with a single device. It can’t match the portability of wireless earphones like Apple AirPods, of course, but here is a headset that claims to work just as well with music and podcasts as it does with your game console.

Given the Danish audio firm’s track record, the emphasis here is on a high-end experience, from the hardware to the software and of course the functionality. But there’s no getting away from the high price. At ?449 they cost the same as an Xbox series X. But can the Portal’s ability to serve as dual-purpose headphones, seamlessly switching between Xbox and Bluetooth connections, be worth it? Read on to find out.

How we tested

The B&O Portal became our default headphones for an entire week. We connected them to our iPhone and our Mac to listen to music and podcasts while working. They also joined us for trips across London and enjoyed several hours of Xbox gaming too.

Their physical comfort was tested for several hours at a time, and we downloaded the B&O app too, to update their firmware and delve into all of the software options available. We tested the active noise cancelling system too, which can have its strength adjusted in the app, and we eventually got used to all of the various tap and swipe commands needed to control the Portal. Here’s what we thought of them.

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Bang & Olufsen beoplay portal wireless gaming headphones: ?449, Bang-olufsen.com

Rating: 9/10

• Noise cancellation: Variable ANC
• Weight: 282g
• Battery life: 12 hours Xbox / 24 hours Bluetooth
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.1 and Xbox Wireless

Design

As you’d expect from a Bang & Olufsen product, the hardware design of the Portal is top-notch. Gaming headsets have a tendency to be a little garish, complete with bulky designs and even multicoloured LED lights. The Portal shuns all of that in favour of a classic headphone aesthetic. There’s aluminium and leather, comfortable ear cups and a nicely padded headband.

At 282g they are fairly light and we found they stayed entirely comfortable, even after several hours of use. Three colour options are available: black anthracite, grey mist and navy, which is featured in this review.

The key here is how the Portal doesn’t look like a gaming headset, and so can be used in other situations without passers-by wondering where your gamepad is. The most obvious difference between this and other gaming headsets is the lack of a microphone arm. It’s not detachable; there simply isn’t one.

Read more: 10 best wireless headphones 2022 that are on and over-ear

Instead, B&O uses an array of microphones with beamforming technology, which filters out background noise and focuses on your voice. It’s clever tech and it really works; those we spoke to with the headset said we sounded the same as with others we’ve tried.

The Portal is controlled entirely via touch. Music is lauded and played with a double-tap on the side of each ear cup (when in Bluetooth mode) and volume in both Bluetooth and Xbox modes is adjusted with a swipe up or down on the edge of the right-hand ear cup. The same movement on the left cup switches between active noise cancelling and transparency mode, where microphones are used to help you hear your surroundings more clearly.

There’s a button on the right for power and Bluetooth pairing, and one on the left for connecting to an Xbox console. This doesn’t use Bluetooth, but instead uses Microsoft’s proprietary Xbox Wireless system, which ensures lossless audio is sent from console to headset. Physical connections include a 3.5mm audio jack and a USB-C port for charging and audio input.

We’d like to see more tap controls, such as one tap for play/pause (instead of two) and two for skipping forward a track. Instead, you have to reach for your phone to change tracks.

Read more: AirPods Max vs. AirPods Pro: Should you buy Apple’s earbuds or headphones?

The Portal works with the newer Xbox series X and S consoles but also older Xbox one devices too. We tested ours with an Xbox one X and connecting couldn’t have been easier – all you do is press the connect button on the console (like when connecting a new gamepad) and the same button on the Portal. Once paired for the first time, just press the connect button on the headset next time you want to use it while gaming.

All that’s missing from the hardware is a proximity or light sensor for automatically pausing music when the headphones are taken off, as seen on some rivals, like the Apple AirPods max.

Sound

Being a Bang & Olufsen product, as much attention has been paid to sound quality as the design. Music, games and podcasts all sound very good through these headphones. Compared to most other gaming headsets (which are significantly cheaper, admittedly) the Portal sounds superb, especially when set up with Dolby Atmos via the Xbox settings menu.

As a player, it feels like you are surrounded by a sphere of sound, with elements of the gaming environment heard from all directions. We quickly defaulted to gaming with the headset on and our TV sound bar (also Atmos-capable) muted, even when not playing against friends and specifically requiring a headset. It’s just a more intimate sound than that of a TV or sound bar, helping you to feel fully absorbed in whatever game you are playing.

The overall feeling is one of warmth, with a soundscape that is accurate and carefully delivered without ever sounding too sharp or overwhelming. Some gamers might miss the skull-thumping bass of some other headsets, but for a comfortable, balanced and fatigue-free audio experience the Portal does a fantastic job. Just make sure you have Dolby Atmos enabled for best results.

Active noise cancelling can also be used while gaming, but unless you game in a particularly loud environment, perhaps with someone cooking or watching TV in the same room, then it isn’t always needed. ANC is best used when listening to music over Bluetooth on a noisy train or plane. And while it works fairly well here, and is adjustable in the B&O app, it doesn’t create the near-silence achieved by non-gaming headphones from the likes of Sony, Bose and Apple.

Read more: 14 best noise-cancelling headphones for an immersive listening experience

And don’t forget, Apple AirPods max aside, those rival headphones are significantly cheaper than the Portal, but of course, miss out on Xbox Wireless compatibility.

The verdict: Bang & Olufsen beoplay portal wireless gaming headset

The Bang & Olufsen beoplay portal presents a very good case for itself. Here is a pair of headphones that look, feel and sound every bit the B&O product, perfect for music and podcasts. And yet the portal also connects – easily, reliably and with lossless audio – to Xbox game consoles, and manages to deliver an excellent gaming headset experience despite lacking a microphone arm.

If you don’t own a pair of high-end headphones or a gaming headset, the Portal can fulfil both roles very well indeed. The bass isn’t quite as punchy as some gamers might want, and the active noise cancelling isn’t as powerful as others, but the overall package is still mightily impressive.

However, there’s no getting away from the high price – the same as an Xbox series X, no less. But, B&O hasn’t set out to create headphones that everyone can afford. If you have the cash to spare, they are hard to beat.