Bang & Olufsen BeoVision Avant | Movement with Purpose

The launch of a new television is likely to register little interest outside of the industry and a host of true gadget fans. A slight upgrade to picture or sound is probably all you'd expect, so it's surprising that Bang & Olufsen shrouded their new TV in such secrecy (no details given with their breakfast invite and an embargo on what we would eventually learn) especially as I was so underwhelmed when the curtain eventually went back.

It's a new TV from B&O: the BeoVision Avant. Slick, sleek, stylish - of course - with a monumental price tag of £5,995 - of course. It has incredible picture quality and sound to match ('sound is half the picture’ said the presenter), which began to capture my interest; but again, it's an expensive TV so I expected no less.

Then B&O started to talk a little more about the philosophy behind the design of the TV and my curiosity was aroused. B&O understand that content is now platform agnostic. People don’t just want, but expect to be able to access content from a wide variety of ever evolving sources through whatever technology they’re using. If one platform can’t provide access, they’ll simply switch to another. This can result in fairly rapid product displacement, regardless of how expensive the kit was when they bought it.

 

With this philosophy in mind, B&O have designed a TV that can keep pace with technological developments and changing content providers. The TV features direct access to Spotify and YouTube, but could easily be upgraded to allow direct access to Netflix or any provider yet to be foreseen. No more sitting staring at football on my 7-inch iPad, while the 32-inch TV sits in the corner gathering dust. This is starting to resemble the all-in-one multimedia hub that countless brands have promised for years.  

 

Simplicity is another core tenant of the B&O philosophy, particularly as constant technological upgrades and evolving content providers make TV set-up more complicated than it’s ever been. Updates for new features or software are sent directly to the TV when released, the interface allows seamless movement between the various content providers, while other external sources (e.g. Sky or Virgin) can be plugged in, added as a menu option, and controlled from the one TV remote.

The swiveling of the TV and it’s movement around a wide circular ‘orbit’ stand seems a little like a party trick, and although I can appreciate the merit of the feature in a flat-pack bijou Scandinavian apartment, I’m undecided on the value. The ability of the TV to auto-adjust to the surrounding light - coming from both behind and in front - in both strength and colour is a valuable feature though, especially those looking for the perfect cinematic experience.

All-in-all, this is a TV that is far out of my reach financially, but does demonstrate what a TV now has to offer to keep the attention of viewers who are increasingly distracted by the ‘television’ available through their laptops, tablets, and smartphones. 

A nice pair of headphones given out at the event means that I’m finally the proud owner of a Bang & Olufsen product. I’d be interested to know if anyone else out there has a B&O product and what they think of it? - Nik
 

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