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The Beoplay P2 is a Bluetooth speaker that replaces buttons with tap and gesture controls

The Beoplay P2 is a Bluetooth speaker that replaces buttons with tap and gesture controls

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Photo: B&O Play

The Beoplay P2 is the latest Bluetooth speaker from B&O Play, and while it has most of the features you’d expect from a high-end portable speaker, there’s one thing conspicuously missing: buttons.

In an effort to further streamline things, the P2 has only a single button hidden on the back to turn it on and off. Everything else — volume, play / pause, skipping tracks — is controlled through customizable taps and shakes that you configure through a connected app. It’s certainly an interesting approach to adding controls to a device, but we’ll have to wait and see if the taps and gestures work better on a speaker than they do on a pair of headphones.

Photo: B&O Play

The P2 is meant to serve as a cheaper, smaller version of the Beoplay A1, with which it shares a similar aluminum and leather design. B&O Play says that it’s applied some lessons from the larger A1 speaker to the P2, including a mid-woofer that’s similar in design and the same tweeter. Last year, The Verge ranked the A1 as one of the best Bluetooth speakers on the market, so if the P2 sounds anything like it, it’ll probably be in good shape when it comes to sound quality.

When it comes down to hardware specifications, the P2 connects over Bluetooth 4.2, and has a microphone, USB-C charging, and some basic splash resistance. B&O Play claims that you’ll be able to get up to 10 hours of music off a charge.

The Beoplay P2 costs $169 and is available today from the B&O Play website in black, sand stone, and royal blue colors.

Correction: The Beoplay P2 costs $169. This article originally listed the price as $120.