Bang & Olufsen Beoplay P2 Portable Bluetooth Speaker with Built-In Microphone, Black

I have wireless Momentum 2 headphones, but still wanted a pocket sized BT speaker, as an alternative, for my iPhone 6 Plus. Furthermore, I wanted something of equal or greater quality. Having said that, the P2 appears to be the most qualified, pocketable, wireless speaker, currently on the market. The build and sound quality are excellent.Physics & application considered, the P2 is near field, so don't expect room or deck sound. However, the P2 will deliver on it's advertised 68Hz-21Khz frequency range. The personal listening experience is powerful, punchy & lively.Keep in mind, playback quality is relative to the quality of the recording. For example, the P2 is absolutely brilliant when streaming TV series or movies. The experience is absolutely hilarious & speaks to the future. It plays all genre's of music respectfully enough as well. In short, if you're listening to a quality recording, you'll know it. If not, well, you'll know that too. Again, best in class & highly recommended for anyone looking for a great sounding, pocketable speaker.Pros: Sound, portability, build & overall sense of closure.Cons: The unit auto-regulates the volume to a nearly inaudible level at 30% battery, which further abbreviates usage cycles (4 hours). However, I've discovered that I can noticeably hedge against life cycle, by plugging in, when desired at home. Recharge cycles are a bit sluggish (2 hours). The casing appears vulnerable until some sort of silicon sleeve becomes available. An integrated carabiner system would be way more purposeful for active carry, than the leather string provided. The On/Off button isn't raised or indented, so it's difficult to find. The touch-shake sensor pauses playback at high volumes, so I had to disable it. Lastly, the unit tends to run a little warm to hot, if not placed on a hard flat surface.I auditioned an A1, a P6 & the P6’s predecessor. The P2 has the best SQ by miles.

What a great little speaker. I love it. Fits in your pocket. Take it anywhere. Sounds great, or better put, sounds awesome for a small speaker this size playing 256k, mp3 or aac quality music from a smartphone. If you often use the built in speakers on your smartphone to listen to music, then this will be a huge upgrade.Mostly, I have the P2 next to me as I work on my laptop, hanging off my golf bag (I put the leather strap on the hook that holds my golf towel), next to my lounge chair at the pool, or next to my bed while I'm nodding off. It seems to work best at 25% to 75% volume, the sweet spot being around half volume. If you need to power a party, this is probably too small for the job. If you want tunes for yourself, maybe a couple friends or cubicle mates, this is it. Music while hitting golf balls? This is perfect for the job. Tunes for around the campfire? this is it. Blast it to scare away wild animals, yep, it'll probably do that. Impromptu dance party on the beach in Ibiza? No. Inviting 20 friends over for a party? again, no. Think of it like a hatchback. Nice, fun to drive. But if you need to haul lumber from Lowe's, you're bringing a truck, not the hatchback. Always use the right tool for the job. Need to power a party, get a larger speaker (or two).I think the battery is great. As with anything battery operated, the more you demand, the shorter the battery life. For me, at 50% volume, I can get close to the 10 hours B&O says it will get. Using it at night to go to sleep, so at pretty low volume, I can get 12-14 hours. One thing I've noticed, the indicator light will turn green when the battery gets to around 85-90% while charging. I can see that in the B&O app. Even when it turns green, I just let it keep on charging.I wish you could pair two of these for listening in stereo.

Initially I liked the P2. Setup was easy though the lack of buttons creates a very unintuitive user interface - one would think that B&O would have thought this fact through a bit more of before shipping. That said, I liked the look and the initial sound.Over the years I have owned different B&O products: BeoSound 9000; Beolit 15; several different headphones and now the P2. My experience with B&O products subsequent to the 9000 has been mixed at best. The Beolit 15, for example, initially worked great, looked incredible and sounded wonderful. But after 6 months the Beolit would not stay connected via AirPlay (it did not have a Bluetooth option) - I took it back to the B&O store around the corner from my condo, but as a result of it connecting and remaining so for 30 seconds the B&O adviser decided it was not really an issue with the equipment; this despite numerous blogs complaining of the same issue. Moreover my issue was staying connected during normal use (30 sec. is probably a bit shorter than my typical use 🤪). I share this story as it seems to reflect B&O’s approach to product issues: ignore them.Fast forward to nearly 2 weeks ago when I received the P2. Until now for my frequent travel I try to remember to bring along a UE Roll 2 - its failrly compact, has great sound, is waterproof and can be hung from any number of places. Despite my happiness with the UE Roll I decided to purchase the B&O Play 2. Why, you may ask. The draw is the more compact housing and overall design. Plus the reviews seemed overall positive.MY EXPERIENCE: Unpacked the P2, plugged it in and set it up, including downloading the latest software update. The sound was good (not tinny nor boomy), the user interface while being idiotic (in my opinion) is fairly easy to remember, and I like the long thin rope to hang the device from. I have listened to the P2 without incident for the past week, but this morning that changed. Initially the device would not connect to my iPhone, which is the only device I have ever used to connect to the P2. Next issue - the volume now only has 2 options: mute or on (and the “on” level is not very loud). Third issue: the P2 is suddenly dropping the connection every few minutes - no other Bluetooth device I have does this. Fourth issue: the P2 turns itself off every 20 or so minutes.Why the above issues are particularly troubling is that this is not a cheap, throwaway speaker. Before turning the P2 on this AM the unit was fully charged, the B&O app was on, the unit is inside - no direct sun with a temp of 70. The above issues occurred while attempting to play the unit while plugged in and unplugged. I have not charged the unit at any time using a rapid charger, and read that this can cause issues. The volume level is the most perplexing issue - guess B&O quality control continues to lag (obviously the company has no idea about or interest in Six Sigma).In an attempt to “fix” the problem I have uninstalled and reinstalled the B&O app, deleted and reestablished the Bluetooth connection, but neither seemed to make a difference. Also tried to run the P2 with and without the B&O app on - neither made a difference.Ultimately the P2 is less functional than the $20 toss away Bluetooth water resistant speakers I buy my son to use in the shower. The P2 sounds a whole lot better, but is not as loud (now that the volume controls do nothing), drops its connection and shuts off on its own.One last consideration: B&O seems to have an issue with technology. I say this as every app it has developed reflects bad UI design and low functionality. The company is also not good at updating its apps, so be warned.After reading other reviews I am also wondering if I might have been sold a defective and previously returned product - while the speaker and wire were wrapped (not sealed) the box itself was not shrink wrapped.Unfortunately while cleaning up empty Amazon boxes used to receive various Christmas gifts for others it appears that I tossed the B&O box, otherwise this brick would be sent back. Could not be more disappointed with this piece of 💩💩!!!!!