Product specialists lauded the Bang & Olufsen A1 Gen 2 Bluetooth speaker for its small design, sturdy build quality, and durability. Experts from Rtings were delighted with how well-suited the A1 Gen 2 speaker was for outdoor use. They liked that it was compact and that it was both water and dust-resistant. They could also tweak its sound during their tests through the speaker’s companion app. They commended it for its accurate vocal reproduction when playing music and wide soundstage when playing movies. Reviewers from T3 also liked that they could pair the speaker to two devices at once and that it could act as a speakerphone.
Still, testers didn’t appreciate its bass response and low battery life of 4.6 hours. In contrast, the Bose Portable Smart Speaker lasts longer. (check it out in our Bose Portable Smart Speaker review). Testers also didn’t like its lack of WiFi compatibility, which is a discredit it shares with the Bang & Olufsen Beolit 20 – more on that in our Bang & Olufsen Beolit 20 review.