Oliver Haslam·

B&O And Libratone Announce New AirPlay 2 Compatible Wireless Speakers

It’s been a big couple of days for Apple and its AirPlay 2 streaming audio system. Things all kicked off when the company released a software update for its own, defunct AirPort Express router that added support for AirPlay 2, something mightily unexpected, and the AirPlay 2 love continues with two companies announcing a total of three speakers, all supporting, you guessed it, AirPlay 2.

Kicking things off we have the high end Bang & Olufson brand, announcing its Beosound Edge.

Featuring a 10-inch woofer, B&O says that the overall design of this thing was based on an old English one pound coin. We can see the resemblance, although we do find ourselves wondering why. Regardless, there is no doubting the fact that this is one good looking, futuristic speaker.

Inside things are equally futuristic thanks to the inclusion of the aforementioned AirPlay 2 support. We don’t have pricing for the B&O Beosound Edge just yet, which is a concern, but we do know that it will be going on sale at some point in November.

Further down the market we have a pair of new speakers, both from Libratone. The new ZIPP 2 and ZIPP MINI 2 both ship with AirPlay 2 support along with Amazon’s Alexa built right in, too.

That combination is one that is faring Sonos well right now, and Libratone is looking to join in. Both speakers include Libratone’s 360 FullRoom sound that claims to fill a room with audio and most impressively they can all be used in a setup comprising up to ten speakers for multi-room playback thanks to AirPlay 2 or SoundSpace Link.

Both of the new speakers include support for WiFi and Bluetooth, which is more than Apple’s HomePod manages, and both are battery powered with up to 12 hours of juice available. Colors are available for those who like to stand out, and the ZIPP 2 and ZIPP MINI 2 will be available to buy in October, costing $299 and $249 respectively.

As for the price and availability of Beosound Edge, as mentioned earlier, there’s no word on that, but like all things B&O, we believe it will be quite the pocket burner.

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