Beolab 8

The Bang & Olufsen Beolab 8 is an active loudspeaker: amplification, conversion and streaming inside the cabinet, sold singly or in pairs, and mountable on a stand, a wall or a table foot.

B&O’s Beam Width Control is the distinctive feature. It lets you set how widely the speaker disperses sound, from narrow for one listening position to wide for a room, which is a genuine answer to the awkward placements that real homes force on speakers.

What Apple Home actually does with it

This is an AirPlay 2 speaker rather than a HomeKit accessory.

• It appears in the Home app as a speaker you can play to, and as an AirPlay target in Control Centre.
• You can assign it to a room and group it with HomePods for synchronised multi-room audio.
• Siri can send music to it by room name.
• It can be the audio output in a scene or an automation.

You cannot switch it on or set its volume from the Home app the way you would a light. Those stay with the speaker itself and its own app.

Before you buy

Beolab speakers are usually bought in pairs for stereo, which doubles the price. A single one works as a mono room speaker.

The mounting options are part of the cost and are chosen at purchase, so decide early whether it is going on a wall, a floor stand or a table.

The Beosound A5 is the portable alternative from the same brand.

Specifications