Unlike most gaming headsets, the Beoplay Portal is made of premium materials, like super-soft lambskin on the ear cups and a knitted bamboo fiber textile on the headband. Weighing just 282 grams, the Beoplay Portal is also incredibly lightweight, meaning the headset can be worn comfortably even after hours of use. However, these high-quality materials also justify a high price. Another advantage the Beoplay Portal has over its competitors is active noise cancellation. While the feature is probably redundant for most homes, ANC comes into its own when you use the headphones on the go. ANC, volume, and “Own Voice” technology can be adjusted via the headset’s touch controls, which work great. You can also mute your microphone or stop music playback by double-tapping one of the earcups. For more detailed control, you can download the Bang & Olufsen app from the iOS or Google Play Store. The app allows you to quickly and effectively change and save various EQ settings, volume, and ANC. So, the Beoplay Portal is very feature-rich, but one glaring shortcoming is that the headset is not able to play Bluetooth and Xbox audio simultaneously. You can only ever hear one active sound connection, which feels noticeably limiting when other, cheaper headsets have this option. Note that the 2022 PS5 variant offers dual-audio support, so you can listen to audio from your console and a connected Bluetooth device at the same time, which is handy when you take a call in the middle of a game, for example. Few competing gaming headsets sound as impressive as the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay Portal. When playing music, the Beoplay Portal sounds even better, which is something we can’t often say about other gaming headsets. The Bang & Olufsen Beoplay Portal gaming headset is a compelling product if you’re looking for an all-in-one headset that you can wear comfortably at home or on the go. However, the frequent connectivity issues we had with the Xbox version, the lack of simultaneous Bluetooth playback, and the average battery life make it difficult to justify the high price of the Beoplay Portal for fans of Microsoft’s devices. Those who opt for the newer PS5 version will benefit from the fact that many of these issues have been fixed.
