BeoVision Avant from Bang & Olufsen launched just last week and FlatpanelsHD was present at the launch event. Here are our first impressions.

I will cut to the case and say that if you are a Bang & Olufsen enthusiast, you are in for a treat and might end up buying a new TV. Bang & Olufsen have made a very interesting product at a price that is more competitive than ever.

When you first look at BeoVision Avant it is still a black square box, just as any other TV, but when you spot the floor stand or table stand it is obvious that B&O have been rethinking even the small details. The same can be said if you observe the TV from behind. There are no visible cables, heat vents or screws; only a metal plate that makes sure this TV can be placed in the middle of the room if wanted. 




BeoVision Avant is all about control
When you turn on the TV it will not just turn on display and speakers, but smoothly reveal the picture and loudspeakers underneath. The floor stand will rotate the screen according to your seating position. It is a soundless movement that will impress you the first time you see it.

The movement takes only a few seconds so it will not be annoying in daily use, but the movement will make you focus on the BeoVision Avant, the subtle attention to elegance, and classic B&O way of turning on a TV.



Picture and sound quality as we know it
Bang & Olufsen’s TVs have a tendency to reproduce cold colours due to the blue colour being more emphasised than the red and green colours. BeoVision Avant seems to continue this tendency, but that is of course something we will look into when we review the TV. However, the 4K Ultra HD display was gorgeously crispy and sharp.

B&O is not only recognised for great picture quality, but also sound that often is unparalleled. The BeoVision Avant is no exception and features left, right and centre speakers plus a built-in subwoofer to ensure good audio quality. 

However, B&O knows that if you want truly great audio quality, you need to add separate speakers and within BeoVision Avant there is a full surround decoder and control unit that can power your Beolab speakers. For this event B&O added BeoLab 18 and 5 wireless speakers that demonstrated how the technology is fully capable, while at the same time giving you the comfort of placing the speakers wherever you want. 

In Avant B&O has a control unit that can calibrate speakers with a microphone, and you can organise your speakers with in the TV menu so that the speakers act differently depending on the viewing angle. It is a clever system, as speakers ought to sound differently when the TV is 90 degrees from the wall, compared to 270 degrees from the wall. In total you can add 18 speakers if you please, so there should be enough opportunities for even the most enthusiastic HiFi lover.




BeoRemote One is oldschool, but great
Bang & Olufsen has redesigned their old remote, and the new BeoRemete One is small and of high quality. There are no visual screws and the metal is unibody metal carved from a single piece of aluminium. The design is simply beautiful and rather than hiding your remote you want to leave the BeoRemote One on your living room table for everyone to see.

BeoRemote One is very comfortable to hold and it can control most of your electrical devices like Apple TV, Xbox, Blu-ray players and so on. 




TV for the future
At the presentation Tue Mantoni, CEO of B&O, emphasised that BeoVision Avant will get free software updates, which ensures that new features will be added, such as HDMI 2.0. This stands in contrast to most other TV makers that never care about TV updates or new features after launch.

Learn more about BeoVision Avant here and look forward to FlatpanelsHD’s full review. Is there anything you want to know? Ask.