Bang & Olufsen’s new bookshelf speaker literally looks like a book

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Bang & Olufsen have always gone their own way with speaker designs, and the company’s latest option is no exception. The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Emerge is a bookshelf speaker like no other, in that it will almost blend into your books like it’s not there at all.

The wood-clad speaker has a 14mm front-facing tweeter and a 100mm side-firing woofer to create a “room-filling sound,” according to Band & Olufsen. The speaker supports AirPlay 2 and Chromecast, and they can be voice-controlled with the Google Assistant.

You can also pair two Beosound Emerge to get stereo sound, or connect them to other Bang & Olufsen connected speakers. That’ll cost you though, as the Emerge in Black Anthracite is 599 EUR ($717), and in Gold Tone, it’s 749 EUR ($897). That’s an expensive stereo, but then again B&O has always occupied that price bracket.

Maybe that’s down to the premium materials used, from bead-blasted aluminum to oak, and woven textiles. Those are always of a high finish on B&O stuff, so the Beosound Emerge will look every bit as good as the promo images. It really is a great-looking speaker.

If you really want bookshelf speakers that will make perfect bookends for your actual books, the Beosound Emerge will be available in “select European markets” from April 15, with worldwide availability this fall.

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Editors’ Recommendations:

• The next Apple TV could have an integrated HomePod speaker and FaceTime
• The Sonos Roam, the company’s smallest smart speaker ever
• The new Soundboks app makes its $999 speaker sound like a $5,000 speaker
• Review: Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Carbon Edition noise-canceling headphones

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.