Bang & Olufsen Beoplay Eleven 1241009

Gorgeous build and design, but the Beoplay Eleven falls short where it counts. ANC is weak, battery life is rough, and the sound quality is divisive. At $599, you're paying for luxury looks, not performance. Only buy on sale if you love the B&O aesthetic.

The 9.2mm driver pushes out a 20Hz-22kHz range, and owners consistently praise the full, balanced sound with rumbling bass. But our database ranks the sound at the 9th percentile, which is rough. The ANC sits at the 97th percentile on paper, yet real users call it weak. That mismatch is the story here. Battery life is a genuine weak spot at the 13th percentile: 6 hours with ANC on, 20 with the case. The mic setup is solid, landing in the 82nd percentile, and connectivity with BT 5.2 and multipoint is strong at the 93rd percentile.

The Sony WF-1000XM6 and Bose QuietComfort Ultra both deliver stronger ANC and better battery life for less money. The Technics EAH-AZ100 is another strong competitor with excellent sound. The Apple AirPods Pro 3 integrates better with iPhones and costs significantly less. The Beoplay Eleven wins on build quality and design, but loses on nearly every functional metric that matters day to day.

At $599, this is a tough sell. You're paying a massive premium for the design and build, which are genuinely top-tier. But the battery life is mediocre, the ANC underwhelms, and the app has issues. If you catch these on sale, the audio performance might justify the price for some. At full retail, you're mostly paying for the B&O logo and that gorgeous aluminum case.

The Beoplay Eleven is Bang & Olufsen doing what they do best: making something that looks and feels like a luxury item. The aluminum and glass build is genuinely stunning, and it sits at the top of our database for build quality. But here's the thing. For $599, you'd expect the whole package to be best-in-class, and it's not.

The sound is a weird story. Our data puts it near the bottom of the barrel, but actual owners rave about the deep bass and clear highs. The ANC is another head-scratcher. B&O calls it their best ever, but users say it's weak. This is a pair of earbuds that splits opinions hard.

Skip these if you need strong noise cancellation for commuting or travel. The ANC is weak, and the battery life won't get you through a long flight. If you want the best sound quality per dollar, look at the Technics EAH-AZ100 or Sony WF-1000XM6 instead. And if you're on a budget, the Soundcore P31i does most of this for a fraction of the price.

Buy these if you want earbuds that feel like jewelry and you prioritize design over everything else. The sound is divisive, the ANC is weak, and the battery life is rough. But if you find them on sale and you're a B&O fan, the audio performance and premium feel might win you over. Everyone else should look at Sony or Bose.