In the hands of B&O Beo Grace: When 47 million VND redefines the concept of "luxury" True Wireless headphones
The launch of Beo Grace is not simply the introduction of a regular true wireless headset model, but it is a redefinition of the ultra high-end mobile audio segment, with a listed price of 1500 USD and in Vietnam it is 47 million VND.
If the true wireless market is saturated in the 300-400 USD segment with familiar names from Sony, Apple or Bose, then B&O has once again chosen its own path, a path that people can only say is "crazy" or "masterpiece". This is not simply a device to listen to music, it is B&O's strong assertion about the boundary between consumer electronics and a true luxury item for the most demanding ears.
Between the group of consumers looking for performance on price and the group of hi-end audio players, Beo Grace targets the second group, these are customers who have previously owned the B&O ecosystem and view headphones not only as a music listening device but also as a piece of technological jewelry.
Design and finishing: difference in class
What makes Beo Grace completely different from the rest of the headphone world lies not in the specifications on paper, but in the feeling of touch. Instead of using molded polymer plastic, the entire housing (headphone case) and charging box are made from hand-polished monolithic aluminum (Natural Aluminum). The "cold" feeling of the metal when touching the skin and the product's tightness are important indicators of premiumness.
Beo Grace's "stem" (with tail) design is reminiscent of B&O's legendary Earset 3 model from 2008, creating a link between the past and the future. Although there are comments comparing this design to the Oddict Twig Pro or AirPods, the surface finish and light treatment on the Beo Grace's aluminum body create the visual effect of a piece of jewelry rather than a consumer electronic device.
Beo Grace's charging box does not use the usual spring-loaded lid mechanism, with a weight and smoothness reminiscent of opening a high-end Zippo lighter or a Swiss watch box. The weight of the charging box is up to 65g, significantly heavier than competitors, creating a solid feeling but can cause a bit of inconvenience when stored in a pocket. The luxury also lies in the 35 tiny holes with LED lights placed behind that are also CNCed with the highest precision.
Despite using metal, the weight of each earbud is optimized at 6g. The ergonomic design is fine-tuned so that the headphone body acts as a counterweight, helping the housing sit firmly in the ear cavity without causing fatigue. Using silicon tips (with 4 included sizes) is still the standard solution to ensure the sound tightness needed for active noise cancellation.
Audio and hardware architecture
The most important factor for an audiophile is the internal hardware configuration. Beo Grace possesses impressive technical specifications, promising outstanding sound reproduction capabilities. The heart of Beo Grace is a 12mm diameter dynamic driver using a titanium speaker membrane. Most high-end TWS headphones only use drivers from 6mm to 9.2mm (like on Beoplay EX). Upgrading to 12mm allows the speaker membrane to move a much larger volume of air, helping to reproduce deep, powerful bass with better spread without overusing the simulated bass enhancement algorithm.
Titanium has very high hardness compared to light weight. This physical characteristic helps the speaker membrane respond extremely quickly to audio signals (transients), eliminating excess vibrations (resonance) that cause distortion in the high range. The result is highly detailed and distinct sound while still remaining smooth.
Beo Grace has a frequency response range from 10 Hz to 20,000 Hz. Expanding the bass range down to 10 Hz (below the human ear's hearing threshold of 20Hz) provides the experience of "feeling" the bass by touch, creating vibrations and a larger soundstage space, especially important when listening to symphonic music or electronic music with deep sub-bass.
The system includes 6 omnidirectional MEMS microphones (3 microphones on each side) for conversation and noise cancellation. EarSense™️ 2.0 technology is introduced to be able to scan the user's ear canal structure in real time to fine-tune the noise canceling (ANC) filter and EQ. B&O claims Beo Grace's noise-canceling performance is 4 times better than previous generations, while completely eliminating the annoying "hiss" sound often encountered when crosstalk mode is enabled (TrueTransparency).
Connectivity technology
B&O seems to have chosen the LC3's connection stability and low latency instead of competing with LDAC's less stable bitrate specifications. LC3 is the future codec standard of Bluetooth LE Audio, providing better sound quality than SBC at the same bitrate and is more energy efficient.
To compensate for codec limitations when connecting directly to the phone, B&O equips the "Case Retransmission" feature. Users can connect the charging box to a source (such as a computer, music player or in-flight entertainment system) via USB-C cable or 3.5mm jack. At this time, the charging box acts as a high-quality transmitter that sends signals directly to the headphones. When using this mode, the audio signal is processed and transmitted via a separate protocol (possibly LC3plus at high bitrate), bypassing the limitation of the Bluetooth chip on the phone. This is the optimal solution for those who want to listen to Lossless/Hi-Res music from high quality sources without too much compression.
Realistic experience
With Beo Grace, I see a big difference compared to all the TWS headset models from under 1 million to under 20 million that I have ever heard of.
Beo Grace's sound quality carries the "Bang & Olufsen Signature Sound" philosophy but is enhanced thanks to new hardware. Thanks to the 12mm driver, Beo Grace's bass is much more "powerful" and "fleshy" than the Beoplay EX I've heard before. It's not just a "boom" sound but a controlled vibration, fast and compact decay thanks to the Titanium membrane.
But the most impressive thing for me is probably the mid range, the vocals are reproduced extremely naturally, smoothly and it feels like the singer is standing close to me and singing, a feeling that gave me goosebumps when I first heard the songs of Ha Tran or Khanh Ly. Beo Grace also gives me the feeling of highly detailed sound, tinkling but not shrill, creating a more open space and not having a stuffy nose. The soundstage is wide and deep, with good instrument separation, equivalent to mid-range full-size headphones, otherwise it is better than today's popular in-ear headphones.
Battery life
One weakness that needs to be frankly acknowledged is battery life. Beo Grace only provides 4.5 hours of continuous listening with ANC on. Pulling a large 12mm driver requires a larger power amplifier circuit, consuming more energy. In addition, continuous EarSense 2.0 signal processing also drains the battery quickly. With the charging box providing an additional 12.5 hours (17 hours total), ordinary users can use it for 2-3 full days. The fast charging feature (5 minutes gets 2.5 hours of listening time) is an important lifesaver for emergency situations. However, for long flights of over 10 hours, the number of 4.5 hours is a significant limitation compared to the 8 hours of the Sony WF-1000XM5. But in the end, at least we still have the LC3 codec to listen to using the case as a transmitter, so it's not a big weakness.
Conclusion
Beo Grace is a product full of contradictions but also full of enchantment. It is not for the masses and will certainly face many mixed opinions regarding price versus specifications (especially battery and codec). However, from an audio technical aspect, the equipment of a 12mm titanium driver and the ability to transmit through the charging box shows that B&O still maintains its position as one of the audio manufacturers with leading R&D capabilities. In short, if you need p/p, buy Sony. If you need ecosystem, buy Apple. And if you have enough money and want a piece of jewelry that makes sound to celebrate 100 years of B&O history, Beo Grace is the only choice.
