TECH

Cisco Partners With Bang & Olufsen To Market True Wireless Earbuds

In all my years as a tech journalist, I’ve come across a few joint branding exercises but none quite as unexpected as the latest product to land on my desk. At first glance, there seems little to connect a cool Danish audio brand with a stalwart of the Internet’s backbone. The only precedent I can think of for this kind of thing was when Hewlett-Packard rebadged an early Apple iPod. It’s hard to think of two stranger corporate bedfellows than Bang & Olufsen and Cisco… and yet, somehow, it all makes sense.

Cisco has garnered a chunk of the corporate communications market with its Webex platform. The company is known for top-tier security and, like IBM, no one ever got fired for buying Cisco. The company sells a range of headsets, webcams and VoIP phones to use on the Webex platform, but instead of reinventing the wheel, Cisco approached one of the audio industry’s coolest brands and entered into a deal to co-brand headsets.

The Bang & Olufsen Cisco 950 is a rebadged version of B&O’s superb Beoplay E6 true wireless earbuds. These earbuds are an extension of the Cisco and Bang & Olufsen partnership, which addresses demand from Cisco’s customers for multifunctional devices that are maybe a bit more in line with modern lifestyles, both in and out of work.

The Bang & Olufsen Cisco 950 incorporate six microphones for picking up the user's voice and to filter out unwanted sounds. image:CISCO

Because hybrid work continues to be popular with employers and employees, products like the Bang & Olufsen Cisco 950 are being used for phone calls and video meetings in any setting, including the home office. The earbuds can be managed using Cisco's Control Hub platform, giving IT departments greater visibility and control over the devices and peripherals rolled out to employees.

“As businesses continue to embrace the flexibility of hybrid work, employees need professional-grade tech solutions that enable work from any setting,” says Snorre Kjesbu, Senior Vice President & General Manager of Webex Devices at Cisco. “We’re excited to expand our partnership with B&O to deliver exceptional audio experiences with extensive functionality and timeless design and craftsmanship."

Key features with the new earbuds include enhanced connectivity and functionality, as well as long battery life and the kind of audio quality that means these earbuds are a delight to use outside of work. With Adaptive Active Noise Cancellation, in-ear voice notifications, on-ear controls and Bluetooth 5.2 for quick pairing, the Bang & Olufsen Cisco 950 offer enterprise reliability with the kind of features you’d normally expect to see on high-end consumer products.

The Bang & Olufsen Cisco 950 have around five hours of talk time and slightly longer listening time. The earbuds can be topped up by putting them back in their storage case. Image: CISCO

One reason why enterprise products are often corralled into their own sector is the need in many companies for enterprise-grade security and management features. If employees were to use their personal earbuds, IT departments might have issues maintaining and supporting such products and they could present a threat to a company’s security protocols, especially with wireless products.

The Bang & Olufsen Cisco 950 earbuds have been adapted so they are easily maintained and can be securely updated via the Webex Control Hub, the central dashboard for Cisco Collaboration Devices and Webex services. The tools also offer valuable insights into device inventory and utilization, helping companies to maximize their return on investment. Meanwhile, the earbuds can also be used and controlled with the Bang & Olufsen smartphone app for when employees are off duty.

The Bang & Olufsen Cisco 950 have been optimized for Webex and can pair with other Cisco collaboration devices, with call controls and prioritization for calling and meetings. The earbuds are also platform agnostic which means they can be quickly and simultaneously paired with Android and iOS devices, whether that be a corporate or personal phone.

The joint branding exercise by Cisco and Bang & Olufsen is a big step in the enterprise market and brings a dash of panache to an otherwise staid sector. Image: CISCO

As you’d expect from B&O, the earbuds look sleek and feel ergonomic, plus they ship with four sets of silicone ear tips and a pair of Comply foam tips so all ear sizes are catered for. I reviewed the original B&O Beoplay E6 earbuds back in April 2022 and was impressed with their sound and overall design. Make no mistake, these are beautifully crafted earbuds and I doubt there’s ever been anything quite like them made available for the enterprise market. This is how to keep your employees happy; give them a pair of earbuds that look cool, sound great and are safe to use in high-security environments.

And speaking of high-security environments, if you work somewhere that doesn’t allow smartphones or regular Bluetooth devices—such as some government or military departments—Cisco sells an optional USB HD dongle that can be plugged into a computer and used for calls or even for listening to music, presuming you are allowed to stream music while at work.

Now that we’ve covered the business side of things, let me tell you a little more about the earbuds and how they sound. Inside each earpiece, there is a 9.2mm diameter electro-dynamic speaker driver with a powerful neodymium magnet. These are the largest drivers B&O has ever used. The result is a sound that has a forward and sweet midrange and can project audio with clarity and without coloration. They also sound pretty good when used for phone and video calls.

The bass and treble frequencies are well articulated with a clean and precise sound that’s never harsh or fatiguing. If you like your bass thick and thumping, then these may not be the earbuds for you, but if you want to hear high fidelity, then these earbuds will deliver a true and accurate rendering of the original audio.

Pairing the Bang & Olufsen Cisco 950 with a smartphone, tablet or computer is straightforward and only needs to be done once. A full charge of the earbuds provides more than five hours of listening and talk time (with ANC turned on) before the earbuds need to be popped back into the charging case for a top-up. The case holds 15 additional hours of backup charge and can replenished with a USB-C cable or Qi wireless charging mat.

These earbuds have Active Noise Canceling built in which is ideal when making phone or video calls in a busy office. I think they sound better with the ANC turned on, which is unusual for a pair of earbuds. There are two beamforming voice microphones built into each earpiece (as well as noise-canceling mics) and they are remarkably good at picking up the user’s voice, which is just as well as the main function of these earbuds for use with Webex or Microsoft Teams. Incidentally, the Microsoft Teams version of the Bang & Olufsen Cisco 950 ships with the USB HD adapter as standard.

Verdict: The Bang & Olufsen Cisco 950 must be the most elegant enterprise headset ever released on the market. With the tweaks that Cisco has made, they are ideal for corporate use and can be tracked, supported and maintained using the Webex dashboard. The sound quality is superb design makes a change from the regular clunky design that so many enterprise headsets and earbuds suffer. The availability of a USB HD dongle is another plus and the ANC function makes the Bang & Olufsen Cisco 950 ideal for a busy office. At first glance, B&O and Cisco may not seem like logical partners, but the arrangement makes a lot of sense.

Pricing & Availability: The Bang & Olufsen Cisco 950 is offered on Amazon Business (US Only) via Amazon and Amazon Marketplace sellers. Currently the Bang & Olufsen Cisco 950 earbud pricing is around $362.99. Outside the US, the Bang & Olufsen Cisco 950 True Wireless earbuds are offered by authorized Cisco resellers(https://cisco.com/go/findapartner).

More info: webex.com

Tech Specs:

Model: Bang & Olufsen Cisco 950.

Key feature: Bang & Olufsen Signature Sound.

Mics: 6 mics, 4 beamforming.

Driver 9.2mm.

Bluetooth codecs: SBC, AAC, aptX.

Active Noise Cancelation: Yes.

Talk time: Five hours per earbud.

Enterprise security: Image authentication Secure Boot

Cisco management and analytics: Yes.

Reporter: Mark Sparrow