Premium audio and home entertainment brand, Bang & Olufsen, releases new Beoplay H100 headphones. Encompassing almost a century of greatness in audio, the brand’s newest innovation seeks to redefine the future of listening. Growing from the supremely successful Beoplay H95, the Beoplay H100 has surpassed the bar in every regard—high quality sound, incredible digital noise cancellation, a new modular construction and a sleek design built from Bang & Olufsen’s design icons.

Beoplay H100 has been intentionally crafted from the finest quality materials in order to provide fuller, finer sound. Beoplay H100 boasts a silky smooth, scratch resistant and hardened glass touch interface on the side of the headphones.

All necessary controls are effortlessly accessible, with precision haptic dials and tactile buttons. A new feature, the detachable inner headband, which is wrapped finely in knitted tile, is ergonomically designed to yield breathability and comfort all day long. Furthermore, the earpad cushions are covered with soft lambskin leather, because with no distraction from discomfort, you can focus solely on the sound.

Beoplay H100 comes in three elegant color choices: Infinite Black, Hourglass Sand, and Sunset Apricot. The Infinite Black shade nods to Bang & Olufsen’s signature design aesthetic, where deep black leather contrasts with natural toned aluminum. The Hourglass Sand option features a Scandinavian tone on tone approach, and the Sunset Apricot is a light copper aluminum which compliments the warm peach tones of the leather.

In the name of sustainability, Bang & Olufsen strive to create timeless technology that is built to last. They place value on longevity and repairability in the hopes of placing intentionality at the forefront of consumerism. FLAUNT conversed with Bang & Olufsen’s Head of Design, Tiina Karjalainen Kierysch, on the launch of the Beoplay H100.

What was the biggest challenge you faced in bringing the Beoplay H100 to life?

Beoplay H100 is showing where we are heading with our sound experiences: into an era where beautiful sound is built to last. We are excited to bring our modular design thinking to Bang & Olufsen’s wearables category for the first time. With Beoplay H100, we have defined our own challenges in many ways. We wanted to create a comfortable product with immersive sound that can last for a long time. Bang & Olufsen’s commitment to product circularity and longevity is evident in Beoplay H100. We've prioritised maintenance and repairability through a modular design. The modularity targets we put up for ourselves were a challenge yet made the teams very motivated.

How would you describe the ethos behind designing a product that will adapt to technology changes in the future, rather than obsolescence?

In a world of consumer electronics where products grow obsolete quickly, we want to make sure that our products can be updated over time both with hardware and software. We see our products as investments and would like our customers to enjoy them for as many years as possible.

We want to inspire a movement away from a consumption pattern, where consumers are constantly chasing the new, the next and the instant, and instead champion a mindset of buying less but buying better, with the expectation and appreciation of long lasting, timeless products.

Which particular material in the product are you most excited to bring to market?

Designing an immersive sound experience with ultimate comfort has been key in the development process when creating Beoplay H100. We wanted to utilise high quality materials and colours inspired by luxury accessories and fine jewellery to create a timeless and sophisticated design. With the solid sheen of aluminium, softness of leather and cold-to-the-touch glass, Beoplay H100 doesn’t just champion sound excellence, it feels like design excellence.

How would you describe the personal feeling of canceling the noise around you? What do you feel?

Noise cancelling gives a feeling of having a personal space around you that is only for you, even when being amongst many people. Personally, I utilise this space for many kinds of experiences and beautiful moments. As an example, noise cancelling helps me getting fully immersed into my favourite music. It also supports me when focusing on work tasks, gives clarity during phone calls or creates space for meditation.

Any memorable albums or songs you tested these with that really made you feel they're the best you've ever created?

It’s been fun to almost rediscover some music with Beoplay H100. A couple of songs that I’ve really enjoyed listening to are Make Me Feel with Janelle Monáe and Bury A Friend by Billie Eilish.

Describe your relationship to longevity and repairability with this particular product? Why is it important?

At Bang & Olufsen, we are much inspired by our founders’, Peter Bang’s and Svend Olufsen’s vision: “a never-failing will to create only the best, continuing to find new ways and improvements”. We have worked with modularity and repairability of speakers for a long time and are continuing our journey of making more circular products and finding new ways of designing for wearables. Our aim is to create products that are built to last and worth keeping, regardless of product category.

When designing for repair and circularity, there are many constraints and challenges we have to overcome. In relation to physical design, we need to put things together that can also be reversed in the future through dismantlement. For example, we prioritise using joints and screws over glueing. When designing for modularity, we must still have a high build quality to make sure we don’t compromise on robustness. This ensures our products are long lasting, have high performance and quality. We see our products as investments and would like our customers to be enjoying them as many years as possible.

What is special about EarSense?

For H100, Bang & Olufsen has developed our new EarSense™ technology that tailors the sound to the wearer’s unique fit in real time, while you are listening to music on the go. This technology enhances the listening experience with two features: Real-Time Bass Adaption with the built-in microphones positioned in front of the drivers, Earsense captures and analyses the music right at your ears. This allows for real-time bass adjustments, ensuring optimal sound quality tailored to the fit of your Beoplay H100. Environmental Noise Analysis Earsense uses the outside microphones to analyse the characteristics of ambient noise. The technology intelligently adjusts the Active Noise Cancellation to match your surroundings and to be most efficient.