HIGH GEAR

25 Feb 2001

Bang & Olufsen Beocom 6000 Cordless Phone Review

by theVooner

As far as design of electronics is concerned, Bang & Olufsen has to be near or even at the very top of the list. The beauty of their products is always the object of desire. But that desire usually comes with a very expensive price. Plus, as far as electronics go, they usually aren't superb. I avoided buying the B&O Stereos because they were 1) just way too expensive, and 2) they sounded relatively poor. That was usually the same with the other devices as well - the TVs are beautiful but the picture quality isn't great (not to mention that they are a few generations behind in terms of technology -- where's the B&O Plasma TV?).

Anyway, B&O finally came out with a few "smaller" devices that are not only more affordable, but also well improved in terms of technology. The earphones, which I've already reviewed, are one example. The Beocom 6000 though was actually my first B&O product. This striking cordless phone is extremely impressive and when I saw pictures of it, I knew I had to buy one. Unfortunately, they were only available first in Europe, and later the US. Eventually, they finally made a version available here in Hong Kong, and I immediately bought one.

Form

Here of course is where B&O excels. The Beocom 6000 is a beautifully designed phone. The base is a Pyramid like metallic charger that sits on a table/desk. Its shiny metallic surface is quite stunning. Be warned: the acute corners are very sharp and can be used as a deadly weapon if necessary. The handset is shaped almost like a mobile phone. It moves away from the typical receiver-like shape of most other cordless phones (with its typical round earpiece for your ear and a block for the microphone). Instead, it is a design innovation with some pretty sexy curves. I never understood why companies like Nokia managed to make some really nice looking mobile phones, but nobody, not even Sony has made anything that even looks like a decent cordless phone - thank goodness for B&O.

The handset is well made with a plastic shell that feels sturdy but is lightweight. The buttons are well designed, as each key is big enough with lots of space between them that you won't accidentally hit a few other numbers while trying to push the number '5' (try that on today's mobile phones). Also, the jog dial is a neat little tool. I'm surprised only Sony has a jog-dial on their mobile phones, as this is a very useful gizmo. At the center of the jog dial is the 'button', and together, this is the primary way to navigate around the various functions and menus.

The phone comes in a number of different colors. I chose the blue because that is my favorite color. The B&O green and red are pretty ugly, but the black is pretty sleek. It's just a matter of personal preference.

Function

As cordless phones go, this one with the Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications or DECT standard is a great improvement over past "digital" cordless phones. The 900 Mhz digital phones of the past still had quite a bit of static (DECT runs between 1800-1900 Mhz). With the Beocom, static is nearly non-existent. Both the user and the caller sound exceptionally clear to each respective party, even when you're walking around the house. I haven't had a chance to test the "distance" of the cordless but it worked even outside into my corridor when I was throwing the trash.

Caller ID, redial, etc. are all standard functions, and they operate as well as any other phone. The nicest function though is still its program memory coupled with that jog-dial. I can scan my entire list of programmed numbers in a matter of seconds with a spin of the dial.

The battery lasts a decent amount of time. I haven't had the chance to run it down, but I'd say on the average, you get about 4-5 days of normal usage. I basically charge it about every 2-3 days, after all, it looks the best when it's sitting up in its stand. Charging doesn't take very long so this wasn't a concern. Unfortunately, the battery that the B&O uses is a rather cheap battery cell that looks like 3 AAAs taped together. There's no ability to swap with an extra charging battery, as some other cordless phones offer. Because they are Ni-MH batteries, I'll also have to eventually get replacements for them. I'm sure a generic one would cost next to nothing, but B&O is going to charge me an arm and a leg to get new batteries. Oh well.

You can buy additional handsets (without the base) and program them to the same base as your first Beocom. You have the ability to name them different things, so you could have a different phone for each room or each person in a house. The downside is that you'll have only one base to charge each phone with. But you'll save quite a bit versus buying another Beocom set.

If you do happen to own any other B&O device, then this phone is an even better buy because it can control both the volume of B&O TVs and stereos. Neat, except I don't own either.

Factor

There are several things that I wish were included with the phone. One is an integrated answering machine. Of course B&O now sells a digital answering machine so if you want one, you'll have to fork out more dollars. A speakerphone, built into the handset, would have been a great function. Also, I would have liked the ability to plug in a headset. (I don't know, maybe I'm too used to using those mobile phone headsets; I get tired of holding a handset up to my head.) This aside, if you are in the market for a cordless phone, can you seriously get one better than this? My answer would be an emphatic 'NO', not at the moment. For clarity, quality, and just great design, the Beocom 6000 is an ESSENTIAL buy. After seeing how cool it looked in the movie "What Women Want", I know I made a great purchase.

I saw my old cordless phone...

In "The Game". Michael Douglas played this really rich guy (akin to the Vooner except older) who lives in a big house with a big car and big plush office and he put my phone right by his bedside.

It's a crappy black Sony phone that costs around $30. I don't usually believe what they portray in movies, but after seeing how awesome it looked in the film, I knew I made a kick ass purchase.

PS. It broke after 2 years of light usage (being that I have no friends to converse with), I suppose really rich people buy disposable phones...

poor review

I wish to address several points in regards to your Beocom 6000 review.
First of all you say B&O's electronics are usually not suberb. To which electronics would you be referring? One would infer from your statement that you have had direct experience with some particular models and/or components. And when you say superb you mean superb as compared to what? What is your quality barometer here? A Sony Walkman? A Stealth Bomber? A Mr. Coffee Machine? Is this comment based on personal experience or hearsay?
Secondly, you say B&O is too expensive and doesn't sound good? Fair enough. I'm not saying B&O has the best sound in the world, but neither is it the most expensive (and let's not confuse expensive with overpriced)and I'm not going to let you say it's poor quality without knowing what your reference point is. Same thing for your contention that B&O televisions do not have great picture quality. Compared to what?
Now on to your assertion that B&O is behind the curve with regards to technology and your question about the B&O plasma. Hey buddy, if you want to go waste your money on a plasma screen right now, be my guest. In two years they'll be half the price and twice as good. I've been watching them since 1999, and in that two year period, that's exactly what I've seen happen.
See, what B&O does is wait until a technology is actually STABLE and will be USEFUL for more than a year or two. As a matter of fact, one of the company edicts is to not release a product unless they believe it will have a useful life of TEN YEARS MINIMUM. Do you think Sony looks after your money like that? No, they release Product X one year, then announce an upgraded version a year later, and then again a year later and so on. Also, B&O don't release 14 different versions of essentially the same product with slightly different functions and the same $40 worth of parts across a broad spectrum of price points to sell to as many people as they possibly can. They make one product as good as they possibly can and it costs what it costs. Just so you know, A B&O product is still hand assembled in Denmark(after 76 years now) using materials such as anondized aluminum, tempered glass and ABS plastic (not the cheap stuff). And if you want to read about the very latest in a long string of B&O innovations, go to www.powerhouse.bang-olufsen.com and read all about their new ultra effecient amps. They ain't just twiddlin'their thumbs over there in Jutland, skippy!
Next item: The red and green colors are ugly? Why on earth would you put such a blatantly subjective statement into a product review? Why?
Also, I figure if you're to review something, you probably want to test its full potential, right? Really see what it can do. So, since you didn't bother to test the range of the phone, I will let your readers know that it is rated by B&O at 164 feet indoors and 1/4 mi outdoors. I personally am able to cover my apartment (a 1000 square foot space) easily, as well as go downstairs one flight to the street and then about a block in either direction before getting any static at all. It is quite impressive.
Concerning the battery. You say it uses a cheap cell. How do you know that? Are you some kind of battery expert? If so, perhaps you might tell us what sort of battery you would have chosen, and the potential advantages over the one B&O picked. You also mention that you will eventually have to replace the battery.
Is there some sort of battery that never needs replacing that I've never heard of? A Super battery? I bet that's the one you would have picked, right! Man, B&O are stupid. They should have used the Super battery! What in the world were they thinking? And of course they will charge you an arm and leg for the replacement, right? Just for fun, I called my B&O shop and asked how much they sell the replacement battery for. Go on. Guess. Allright, I'll tell you. $15. Holy moley, talk about breaking the bank! Jeepers, might have to take out a loan for that one Zeke! It took the guy a few minutes to find the price. You know why? HE NEVER HAD TO SELL ONE BEFORE! I've had mine for a year and a half with out replacing the battery. Just for fun, I looked up the price on a couple 2.4 gig replacement batteries. Panasonic, $25. Sony, $25. Siemens, $20. Hmm.
As for your next questionable statement, about only having one base to charge all of your handsets(by the way the base will support six handsets, and only one phone jack is needed for the whole affair. This is a major feature of the system yet you completely skip over it in your review. But then you also didn't mention that each handset can store 200 names and numbers in the directory, which seems like a pretty big point.) When you buy an additional handset to use with your master station, the price includes, guess what! That's right, an additional charger! Making it easy to charge the additional phones. Those nutty Danes think of everything.
One the one hand, as a B&O fan, I'm pleased that you give the phone a generally positive notice, however your ham-handed approach to researching and reviewing it makes me skeptical.
If all these things weren't bad enough, you go on to completely undermine your credibility by saying you knew you made a good choice when you saw the product in a movie! And the implications of that (even with my opinion of the film aside) is quite disconcerting.
There is only one conclusion I can draw, and that is that your review isn't worth the cyberspace it is floating in.

Wow... what did docfonebone have for breakfast?

I have been somewhat of a fan of the comments on this site, since almost a year ago... until now the comments are usually lighthearted, and interesting. I don't think anywhere on the REVIEWS section did theVooner claim to know everything and anything about the products he reviewed.

Actually, the webmaster even mentioned that the "review process is not scientific in any way".

Just for giggles, I went to Yahoo! search and typed in "Beocom 6000" - out of the top 10 hits, 9 had nothing but SPECS. The truth is that if I wanted specifications I can just go to B&O's site.

So far theVooner has done an excellent job writing SUBJECTIVE reviews about things he own.

If docfonebone is so unhappy about the review, why not write one himself? I am guessing he has the same phone and thought theVooner was doing it injustice.

I personally will be one who can't wait to read the new review...

Until then...

schlualau out.

Reviews

Whew! Where do I start. Ok docfonebone, I agree with your comments that my review plays on the context of "looks" and aesthetics. In truth, that's the point of B&O. Sure, a B&W Nautilus and a Mark Levinson amp would blow it away, but that's a different league.

I've got a great basis for comparison between B&O and other appliances because either I or someone I know have owned these items and we both share our opinions and have a chance to play with the items. I think B&O has done an amazing job to mix design with product. No other company does it as well. But because they are, as you say, "careful", they stay slightly behind the curve. They haven't adopted 'flat-screen' TV yet (I'm thinking of the Sony Wega's here) as far as I know. I asked the store and they said they were expecting some new models later. I take it like you said, they are working on the 'design meets product' which means that they're still 3 years behind the rest of the electronic world. When will they adopt plasma-TV when we are already in the 4th Generation of Plasma? Maybe next year, maybe 2005. I don't know. Ok, so they are slow -- when do come out with a product, it will be good. True, but I'm not going to wait.

The range on a Beocom differs depending on where you are. In truth, I did test the range, it doesn't work in my elevator shaft nor in the stairwell one floor down. I live in a 600 sq ft apartment on the 26 floor. So what's the range? Hey, it depends. HK is notoriously "noisy" with lots of interference. So subectively, what's the point of me pointing this out. It works in your house and if you're going out, take your mobile!

Regardless of how you interpreted my review, I still love B&O. So much so that I ordered the BeoSound 1. It just looked so amazing. (Once again, I emphasize that for looks, B&O wins.). In the store, the BeoSound started to vibrate and get all funny when you cranked up the volume. (This is what I meant by "relatively poor sound". This doesn't happen to the Nakamichi, Sony, Panasonic, JVC, or Pioneer stereos I own.) Still I ignored this of course because, and I'll say it again, you buy a B&O for its DESIGN. But as for technology, it stopped me AGAIN from buying another B&O product:

I went to the store to pick it up after waiting for 4 months, and guess what? The darn thing won't play CD-R. Nope, not one disc I tried. The guys there apologized. Not "stable" enough technology for B&O? Fine. I'll stick with the others then. In all fairness I should point out that the "cheaper" Sony stereos have encountered similar problems with playing CD-R's!

One quick add-on to the battery. Ni-CD/Ni-MH was the reason why mobile phones had such poor performance in the past. I've had a mobile phone for 12 years so I'm no expert but I know what works really well. Li-ion, now that's good technology. I don't even want to get into that discussion. Oh yes, anyone that comes to Hong Kong will know that you can buy the EXACT same battery in the Beocom from Shum Shui Po for HK$25 versus the HK$115 they charge at the store. But, hey who cares about the difference, let B&O charge you more. BTW, B&O raised the prices on the Beocom AGAIN. Has anything changed? No, just the damn Euro collapsing so B&O needs to protect its margins.

My "snide" remark at the end of my review, about seeing it in a movie, was exactly that, SNIDE. How often do we see things on-screen and they just look amazing? That's what the big screen (and even the little screen is about). Endless TV commercials, Z3/Z8 in the 007 movies -- product placement is everywhere. If something looked UGLY, are they going to show it on TV? When was the last time you saw a Radio Shack phone in a movie? My point being, I'm not the only want that thinks this phone looks awesome, and I'm glad it got to show off in a major movie.

Finally, my reviews are my reviews. If you want technical ones, I suggest the ones over at CNET or something. Those here are meant to give the average person some insight into the products, why I chose them, and whether or not I did the right thing. I give you every right to put up your opinion -- about the product AND the review. So why not give me a medium to put up mine. Who gives you the right to censor what others can and cannot read? So if you don't mind, I'll just keep writing up reviews. I'll write about products I want to, and more importantly HOW I want to, because that's my prerogative.

I've gotten more positive than negative comments so I'm just going to keep doing it thank you very much.

Make money, not war...

B&O has done an amazing job to mix design with product? So what are you now? A certified design consultant? An industrial design advocate? Super techno-banker by day and starving designer by night? If something looks UGLY they won't show it on TV? Then why does ROSIE have her own TV show? How come no one kicked her ass off to the ugly channel? You're not the only one who thinks the phone looks awesome? Well I ain't the first to think that you are...

*SWOOSH!*

WO! BOY! Feels good to get that ICBM size stick outta my ass! Huh? Wait, what was I talking about? Oh, oh! Yeah, I LOVE B&O too, man, the last time I banged an Olufson it was like FAR OUT, know what I'm saying?

Beocom 6000 Is As Good As It Gets

O.K., I've gone through all the cordless phones on the market for the past 20 years. Boxy, bulky, heavy, static, and yes, sometimes pricey.

The 6000 design and feature set seem so obvious in comparison to every other cordless I've used. Even the simple side curve makes it comfortable for both left and right-handed people, whereas other phones are a pain for everyone due to their rectangular shape.

Drawbacks: no accessory jack for a headphone (yet they include a belt clip!), no keypad backlighting, and you must manually set the date and time when you first set up the unit. Even my old caller ID boxes set themselves whenever the phone rings.

Plusses: too numerous to mention, but key points are lightweight, no visible antenna or mic, fabulous range, outstanding clarity, and extensive features available through a simple interface. The battery life is very good compared to other phones, and the battery doesn't have a "memory" effect.

Pricey? Well, it's a bit more expensive than the most expensive cordless phones, but there are more expensive multi-handset/single base units out there, too. Unlike the Sieman's product, the ear speaker doesn't slice your ear!

Try this phone out. Like me, you may find that the few shortcomings are insignificant compared to the functionality (and beauty) of this unit. Someone FINALLY got it right.

For reference, I am a technologist who lives in San Francisco, California.

2 Lines

Does it support 2 lines? I've was wanting a cordless that handled 2 lines. It would be cool if it could be set up with different rings for each line too. Also, how many handsets can you use on the same system?

Checking

I had to scan the manual for 10 minutes to find an answer. As far as I can see, you cannot hook up 2 lines to the phone. Hence, it doesn't do different rings. You can hook up to 6 handsets to each base station, and hook up to 4 base stations to each handset.

B&O phones use Ericsson parts

Most of the B&O Dect phones are merely Ericsson internals in a sexy box.

Had a Sieman

I just bought a beocom 6000. It's being shipped to me in a few days. I hope it's as good as the comments above says it is. I hated the Sieman (poor clarity, range, and battery-life) Basically, it sucks. I, too, have looked everywhere for a "cool" looking cordless phone without the ugly antenna, but was only able to find Sieman...until now. Too bad the beocom doesn't have the jack for headphones...it's hard to play counter strike with my friends with one hand. I hope the beocom 2 comes out with a jack for headphones....

I'm also from San Francisco, California (wish i was in tokyo tho)

BeoCom 6000 Follow Up

Well, it's been a few months now of using this phone system (see previous comment from JoeySF). What have I learned?

Let's start off with my prior comments: everything stands.

New information: I use the handset-to-handset intercom feature a lot more than I expected (I expected "never").

The shared phone book and caller ID lists have turned out to be surprisingly useful as well.

With three handsets, I wish the manual had stated that it takes several LONG minutes for the initial charge of the additional units, phone book replication, etc. before the phone is ready to be named and linked to the main base. The second phone took 20 minutes, but the third took only 4 or 5 minutes. It's all automated, of course, but still -- it's not instant by any means.

Indeed, I was certain there was a technical flaw because a loose page in the package stated that the phone might need to be "upgraded" to work with other units. The long setup delay time made me think the additional handsets were broken or of a different and potentially incompatible operating system version. My fears were unfounded. All I needed was a little patience (actually, a lot of patience) -- and the manual was NOT outrageously clear on this point.

I wish the BeoTalk 1200 answering machine could be operated from a B&O phone handset. Of course, I won't buy the 1200 anyway because it doesn't have multiple mailboxes.

I wish the A/V link on B&O telephone handsets could work with non-B&O equipment.

I wish the new B&O wireless phone (the "tower" model -- the "BeoCom 2", I think) could act as an additional handset in the BeoCom 6000 system.

I wish the secondary handsets didn't require the large metal bar to support the phone. It looks like an enormous paper-clip when the phone isn't in place. Oh well, the phones look much cooler standing upright on a table all by themselves anyway.

I wish the additional handset chargers worked as a tabletop AND a wallmount. I didn't like making that choice in the store.

Would I use a Seimans, Brother, or any other multi-handset phone? NO WAY IN THE WORLD. I stand by my earlier comments. This phone has a few shortcomings, but they really are minor. The design and feature set and sheer comfort factor overwhelm the flaws.

Beocom 2

Glad you like the Beocom 6000. Don't know if I would buy so many different handsets. Looks like the new Beocom 2 maybe a real winner too and might require theVooner to upgrade:

http://www.bang-olufsen.com/

nice site guys!!!
milkee