Bang & Olufsen’s Beosound Emerge is a bookshelf speaker disguised as a book

Gadgets designed to blend in with your living room are nothing new, but Bang & Olufsen has gone a step further with its new Beosound Emerge speaker, which has been deliberately designed to resemble a book. The latest collaboration between B&O and design agency Layer’s Benjamin Hubert, the slimline Beosound Emerge’s side panels wrap around the speaker like the covers of a book, while the front is marked with its maker’s logo in the same away you’d expect to find the author’s name on a book’s spine. Flush touch-sensitive buttons can be found on the top of the speaker, and you can choose between oak wood and high-grade aluminum finishes. Beyond its impressive camouflaging skills, the Beosound Emerge promises big sound that adapts to its placement in the room, with a front-firing 37mm midrange driver and 14mm soft dome tweeter paired with a 100mm side-firing woofer that’s guided to the back of the product. The Beosound Emerge can be added to an existing multi-room setup consisting of Bang & Olufsen Connected speakers, while there’s support for Apple Airplay 2 and Chromecast, plus Google Assistant for hands-free control. The Besound Emerge is available to buy from today, costing £669 for the Gold Tone model or £539 for Black Anthracite.

Matt Tate Contributor

About

I'm fascinated by all things tech, but if you were going to leave me on a desert island, I'd probably ask for my Nintendo Switch, a drone, and a pair of noise-cancelling cans to block out the relentless seagull racket. When I'm not on Stuff duty you'll probably find me subscribing to too many podcasts, playing too many video games, or telling anyone who will listen that Spurs are going to win a trophy this season.

Areas of expertise

Video games, VR, smartwatches, headphones, smart speakers, bizarre Kickstarter campaigns