It’s been four years since the luxury Danish brand, Bang & Olufsen, released their previous Beoplay H95 flagship headphones. When they debuted at $800, they were the most expensive wireless headphone at the time, but have risen to an inflation adjusted price of $999 USD. However, they’re no longer the only expensive luxury wireless headphones, which now include the Mark Levinson No. 5909 ($999), Focal Bathys ($699), Bowers & Wilkins Px8 ($699) and DALI IO-12 ($1,300).
While rivals took advantage of advances in Bluetooth and noise cancellation technology, Bang & Olufsen patiently plotted their next wearable masterpiece. Finally, with a jaw dropping price of $1,549 USD, the new flagship Beoplay H100 wireless noise cancelling headphones have been revealed.
Bang & Olufsen claims Beoplay H100 is improved in every discipline: unrivalled high-quality sound, outstanding digital noise cancellation, a new modular construction and a beautiful design that builds on Bang & Olufsen’s design icons.
“Beoplay H100 elevates what we have accomplished over the past ten decades and defines our future: an era where beautiful sound is built to last. It represents the true potential of what a Bang & Olufsen audio wearable can be, and we cannot wait to bring the headphones to our customers,” says Bang & Olufsen CEO Kristian Teär and continues:
“Drawing inspiration from the unparalleled performance of our Beolab speakers, our iconic designs from the past and the modular construction that embraces material excellence and circularity, Beoplay H100 truly embodies our design and innovation capabilities.”
Design
Beoplay H100 has been crafted from the finest quality materials to give fuller, finer sound, wherever needed.
Beoplay H100 features a silky smooth, scratch-resistant and hardened glass touch interface on the side of the headphones. Together with precision haptic dials and tactile buttons, all essential controls are easily accessible. The new detachable inner headband, finely wrapped in knitted textile, has been ergonomically designed to provide all day breathability and comfort. Even the earpad cushions covered in soft lambskin leather have been adapted to provide a better seal and improved long-term comfort.
Beoplay H100 comes in three timeless colorways: Infinite Black, Hourglass Sand and Sunset Apricot. The Infinite Black shade references Bang & Olufsen’s classic design aesthetic where the deep black leather contrasts against the natural toned aluminium. The color of Hourglass Sand has a Scandinavian tone on tone approach while Sunset Apricot features a light copper aluminium which pops against the warm peach tones of the leather.
“Designing an immersive sound experience with ultimate comfort has been key in the development process when creating Beoplay H100,” says Bang & Olufsen Head of Design, Tiina Kierysch. “We wanted to utilize high quality materials and colours inspired by fine jewellery to create a timeless and sophisticated design. With the solid sheen of aluminium, softness of leather and cold-to-the-touch glass, Beoplay H100 doesn’t just champion sound excellence, it feels like design excellence,” she continues.
The lightweight and luxurious leather case provides easy and stylish portability while travelling. When Beoplay H100 is outside the pouch and not being worn, it enters a low-power mode, extending standby time up to 90 days while remaining ready to activate when worn. If stored in the pouch, the headphones power fully off, enabling more than a year of standby time.
With 40mm custom-made titanium drivers housed behind elegant aluminium grills, Beoplay H100 delivers Hi-Res sound, tuned by renowned Bang & Olufsen tonmeisters. Elevating the sound experience, the team leveraged their expertise and principles to create a headphone inspired by the Danish audio brand’s statement loudspeaker, Beolab 90.
“Beoplay H100 is the best pair of headphones we have ever created. Whether you are listening to your favorite music, having a phone call in a noisy environment, controlling the effect of the surrounding environment with active noise cancelling or audio transparency, H100 always delivers exceptional audio performance,” says Bang & Olufsen Director of Technology Neo Kaplanis and explains:
“To appreciate great sound, you need silence. In a peaceful environment, you will experience how effortlessly Beoplay H100 brings you the sound clarity and dynamic performance that you normally only hear on high-end loudspeakers. When commuting or travelling, you want to be able to control the impact that noise has in your experience. To achieve this, we have developed an advanced microphone system that delivers crystal clear voice even in very demanding situations, doubled the performance of our active noise cancellation (ANC) from Beoplay H95 and developed EarSense™ technology that tailors the sound to the wearer’s unique fit in real time while you are listening to music on the go.”
Technology
Beoplay H100 comes with a range of new innovations and features setting benchmarks within wearables:
Personal sound: Beoplay H100 delivers Hi-res sound up to 96 kHz / 24 bits. The introduction of Bang & Olufsen’s new adaptive audio processing EarSense™ delivers a personal and unrivalled listening experience by tailoring the sound to the wearer’s unique fit in real time.
Spatial Audio: Optimized for Dolby Atmos, state-of-the-art spatial audio processing and head-tracking, Beoplay H100 delivers a more natural listening experience.
Noise Cancellation: Beoplay H100 features 10 carefully configured studio-grade microphones, delivering Bang & Olufsen’s most advanced noise cancellation and transparency mode yet.
Automatic On/Off: Beoplay H100 automatically detects when they are being worn. Slip them on, and you are ready to go. No need to find the power button.
Transparency Mode: Move from music to the outside world in a twist by using the carefully crafted haptic dial to enable TrueTransparency, as though you weren’t wearing headphones to begin with.
Quick listen: Lift an earcup or cover with your palm on either earcup to switch from fully closed and immersed to open mode, allowing you to hear your surroundings as clearly as if you weren’t wearing headphones
Customizable controls: Customize the user interface to your own taste by using the Bang & Olufsen app.
Quick charging: Get 5 hours of playtime with 5 minutes of charging. When fully charged, Beoplay H100 will deliver 32 hours of playtime.
Longevity
Bang & Olufsen’s commitment to product circularity, repairability and longevity is evident in Beoplay H100. The new headphones have been designed based on cradle-to-cradle principles, and the company expects Beoplay H100 to be officially certified during 2025.
“We are excited to bring our modular design thinking to Bang & Olufsen’s wearables category for the first time, and it is the right step towards our on-going journey to improve product circularity across our entire portfolio. For Beoplay H100, we’ve prioritized longevity, maintenance and repairability through modular design. We have also developed our software with the future in mind so that the headphones can adapt and evolve with new technologies for a truly timeless design,” says Bang & Olufsen’s Director of Product Circularity and Portfolio Planning, Mads Kogsgaard Hansen.
The longevity factors incorporated into Beoplay H100 to set a new precedent in wearables include:
User replaceable parts: The most exposed areas to wear and tear are the ones facing inwards towards the user. The inner headband and earpad cushions have been designed for easy detachability, so users can exchange these parts by themselves.
Serviceable components: A significantly revamped headphone design means quick access for Bang & Olufsen’s service team to replace key components such as the batteries, glass surfaces, drivers and circuit boards for easy repair and extension of lifetime.
Evolving software platform: Beoplay H100 marks the dawn of Bang & Olufsen’s new software platform for wearables. Inspired by the company’s Mozart software platform, the software on Beoplay H100 is upgradable, so the headphones won’t be surpassed by new technology. Bang & Olufsen will be bringing new capabilities to Beoplay H100, notably wireless hi-res audio and 3-Device Multipoint.
Up to five-year warranty: Standing by quality and care, Beoplay H100 comes with an extended five-year warranty when joining Beocare – Bang & Olufsen’s extended warranty program (three-year warranty comes standard).
Comparison
| H95 | H100 | |
| MSRP | $999 | $1,549 |
| Driver Size | 40 mm | 40 mm |
| Driver Type | Electro-dynamic Titanium Driver w/ Neodymium magnets | Electro-dynamic Titanium Driver w/ Neodymium magnets |
| Frequency Range | 20Hz-22kHz | 10Hz-40kHz |
| Sensitivity | 101.5 dB (1mW @1kHz) | 103 dB (1 kHz/-3 dB FS) |
| Microphones | 6 | 10 |
| Battery | Up to 50 hours | Up to 32 hours |
| Charge time | 2 hours | 1 hours |
| Bluetooth | 5.1 | 5.3 |
| Codecs | SBC, AAC, aptX Adaptive | SBC, AAC, LDAC, Wireless hi-res codecs* |
| Adaptive Active Noise Cancellation | Yes | Yes |
| Multipoint | Yes (2 devices) | Yes (2-devices) (3-devices*) |
| Google Fast Pair | Yes | Yes |
| Made for iPhone (MFi) | Yes | Yes |
| Microsoft Swift Pair | Yes | Yes |
| Optimized for Dolby Atmos | – | Yes |
| Hi-res audio | – | Yes |
| Head-tracking | – | Yes |
| Customizable Controls | – | Yes |
| EarSense | – | Yes |
| Transparency Mode | Yes | TrueTransparency |
| Voice Assistant | – | Yes w/ app |
| Cables | USB-C to USB-A 1.25 m | USB-C to USB-C 1.25 m |
| 3.5 mm audio cable 1.25 m | USB-C to 3.5 mm audio cable 1.25 m | |
| Headphone Weight | 323 g | 375 g |
| Case Weight | 500 g | 350 g |
* features expected to be added via software update during 2025
Pricing & Availability
Beoplay H100 is available for $1,549 at bang-olufsen.com (1499 EUR / 11,598 CN) in Infinite Black, Hourglass Sand and Sunset Apricot. Find it online and in Bang & Olufsen stores from September 3, 2024.
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