Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 3 Portable Music Player with Radio and SD Memory Card Playback

From the Manufacturer

BeoSound 3 - No Buttons, No Cables, No Kidding

BeoSound 3 is a portable, personal music player that delivers astounding sound. Powered by a rechargeable battery, there are no cables or plugs – just the incredible sound from FM radio or music files on SD memory cards. The tiny SD card reader makes it possible, as with the cassette tapes of yesteryear, to store your favorite music and take it with you wherever you go – to the beach, to a party or on holiday.

Easy to use portable sound

Anything – Anywhere – Anytime

BeoSound 3 lets you listen to FM radio and to music recorded on an SD card anywhere, indoors or outside – the superb battery life makes sure of that. Use the alarm clock function to wake up to the sound of the radio, or to your personal choice of music stored on the digital memory card. SD memory card technology is an integral part of your BeoSound 3 options.

Fill the memory card with your favorite music while playing it on BeoSound 4, move the music from your BeoSound 2, or download music from your computer, and simply place the card in the specially constructed slot in BeoSound 3. Your recordings are ready to follow you anywhere you want to go.

Looks that Go on for Miles

Made from robust materials, there are no visible buttons along the brushed anodized aluminum surface of BeoSound 3. Instead, soft-touch operation along with an aerial antenna that appears from nowhere adds a touch of magic to the BeoSound 3 experience. The oversized handle ensures easy carrying and combines with a specially developed bracket for wall mounting.

A powerful, portable music player with a
sound performance that will simply astound you

Audio Excellence – Now Available in Take-Away

The design of the new BeoSound 3 portable audio system from Bang & Olufsen echoes past traditions, while on the inside the technology looks to the future. The full-range mono loudspeaker’s performance belies the small size of BeoSound 3, and offers top performance of music and vocal broadcasts. The re-chargeable battery ensures up to 10 hours of continuous listening pleasure. BeoSound 3 supports SD cards up to 2 GB in size. That is a lot of music, so you may have to recharge a couple of times if you want to hear it all.

Beauty, Power, Quality

Bang & Olufsen's reputation is based on development of their unique technologies, beautiful design, creative solutions, outstanding quality and a never failing will to pursue perfection and make the impossible possible. Let the beauty of Bang & Olufsen’s products seduce you, but also do yourself the favor of going beyond the looks and let yourself be amazed, surprised and impressed by the outstanding technologies on which the Bang & Olufsen products are based.

Owner Reviews, Ratings, Comments and Criticism
I purchased my unit directly from the B & O URI list for $350, including shipping. (Thanks B&O Scottsdale!) It includes the full three year warranty, and has no visible signs of wear or use. These units are generally returns from showrooms or corporate placements, and have usually never even been used! This is pretty sweet when you consider that this radio sold for $850 when it was released, and now sells for $500. B&O Miami had some open box units for $399 when I emailed them a few weeks ago, which ain't bad either. I have lusted after this radio for many years, and finally took the plunge, once I was offered the URI option. I've never been much of a music buff, and only own around 20 CD's. But after plugging it in and hearing it for the first time, I was blown away by the sound quality of this small device. It automatically picked up stations that I had never picked up on my old radio. Many come in just fine without the need to extend the antenna, but weaker signals will need it extended. I did encounter one issue with the SD card. When ripping music files in Windows Media Player, be sure to choose the highest setting available. I initially left the bit rate at 64 kbs CD quality, and the unit would not recognize the files. A call to tech support (Thanks Ole!) solved this issue. I transferred all files at 320 kbs, and am now hearing details in my music I never heard before, which includes CD's I've listened to for years. I've read other reviews in which people describe this radio as being good for background noise, and also fault the single speaker. I will say that this single speaker sounds better than any stereo speakers I've owned and listened to-outside a B&O or home theater showroom. I live in a townhouse, and previously could not hear my radio playing unless I was in that room with it. I can easily hear this radio in every room, without the need to crank the volume. But with the handle and built in battery, I can also carry this unit with me from room to room. I keep it by my bed at night, and then carry it downstairs for breakfast. I find the controls very responsive and intuitive. The volume is adjusted on the top, via the click wheel. There are no external buttons, so you just press and hold your finger to the area indicated for selecting radio or memory card playback. The selections make a slight click noise if you push them, like the click wheel, but I find that I can also just touch and hold for a moment for the same effect. It's so neat to raise the antenna this way. It extends without any sound! The alarm has to be set daily, which I don't care for. I guess it encourages you to think about it, rather than taking it for granted and accidentally not setting it. I also wish I could listen to music from the card for a set time while going to bed. You can do this with the radio, but not the memroy card. The alarm, however, can be set to wake you using the radio or the memroy card files. Perhaps I can figure out how to do this with another call to tech support. A buzzer option would have been nice, but I suppose it's too prosaic for B&O. The owners manual is far from comprehensive. It would have been nice if it had mentioned the bit transfer rate requirement, which is a minimum of 128 kbs by the way. I wonder what else it isn't telling me! I am happy with my purchase. I love the simple and elegant design of it. IT has a few minor flaws, but so does everything else. It's like marrying a supermodel, and then being disappointed that she only make peanut butter stew. You'll get used to it!