Smart speaker’s are notoriously in the cheaper market of music fun but B&O want to give connected speakers a treatment of premium sound, bespoke design and a big price tag.

Bang & Olufsen have released their Beosound Balance, putting a blush on the faces of Amazon Echo’s and Google Home’s everywhere. They promise a Smart speaker that offers a dynamic acoustic performance, automatic sound optimisation, and powerful drivers all in a neat, wood-lined package that slips into a modern room theme with style.

The Beosound Balance has been crafted with room placement in mind, as well as premium sound. It has been designed for position against a wall, on a shelf, or atop a side table so that it complements your room. They are promising that with its position and build optimisation it can deliver an “impressively big acoustic experience compared to its size”.

Thanks to Devialet, we know that small speakers are capable of big noise. With two 5.25″ bass drivers the low end is assured to be powerful and 5 more drivers fill out the sound and promise to deliver a broad sound image in high quality.

And you’ll be expecting quality, as the BeoSound will set you back more than $2000 (£1,750 in the UK, phew!). There’s more to it than just a bespoke, oak finish and powerful but clear sound. The Beosound Balance uses beam forming technology to tune it’s delivery to different positions and can automatically adapt its sound to the environment for optimum sound.

Of course there are all the mod-cons of a Smart speaker here too. It is powered by Google Assistant for voice control over your music selections, finding the answers to questions, and… well, you know what AI assistants do by now.

You want to hear more on its aesthetic? Sure; They’ve rooted their inspiration in Scandinavian minimalism. With a smooth, plain speaker component on top contrasting with the gorgeous real oak wood it fits right in with the Scandy’s elegant, monotonal design.

The speaker is available to buy now and costs $2,250 / £1,750 with free delivery.