The latest B&O Play ANC earphones are small and discreet, but still bursting with advanced tech.
To get the block-out power of active noise-cancelling, you usually either need bulky headphones or else earphones with a grotesque electronic afterbirth of a battery pack weighing down the cord. But the new Beoplay E4 is far more discreet than that.
B&O Play's latest in-ear ANC model still has a battery unit, but it's small, sleek and, dare we say, stylish. It's made from aluminium and has a polymer coating for that sweet tactility. The earbuds themselves are similarly subtle, also hewn from aluminium, and weigh just 50g each.
But adopting a stealth-audio strategy on your commute isn't worth the effort if you don't have the sonic chops to back it up. Thankfully B&O Play has bestowed the Beoplay E4 with the same hybrid dual-mic ANC tech as the flagship Beoplay H9, which promises to block out up to 15dB more low-frequency noise than the Beoplay H3 ANC.
Included in the box are four pairs of silicone tips and one pair of memory foam tips, so you also shouldn't have too much trouble getting a perfect fit, both for comfort and that extra sound isolation.
