Are Bang & Olufsen’s new headphones the very best headphones you can buy? No they’re not, even if at £450 they’ll leave a bigger dent in your bank balance than most of their obvious rivals. But none of those headphones also double as an Xbox headset, and you certainly won’t find a more enjoyable one of those than the Beoplay Portal. They sound brilliant, especially with an Atmos mix, they look great, and are just extremely comfortable. That said, they’re far from perfect. You don’t get the brilliantly implemented audio mixing between Xbox Wireless and Bluetooth offered by the far more affordable Xbox Wireless Headset, which allows you to listen to both your phone and game audio at the same time, the glidey touch controls can be a bit confusing and, most criminally of all, there’s no case in the box. If money is no option, you’re a big Xbox or PC gamer, and you find the idea of do-it-all headphones appealing, then the Beoplay Portal get two emphatic thumbs up. But the fact is you can pick up Sony’s WH-1000XM4 (our favourite wireless noise-cancellers) and the Xbox Wireless Headset for over £50 less than the Portal, which actually kind of sounds like the deal of the century when we put it that way. This a great effort from B&O, though. Let's hope its unexpected dabbling in the gaming space doesn't end here.

Xbox Wireless protocol support; Balanced B&O sound; Incredibly comfortable; Great design; Useful app;

Touch sliders are somehow both elegant and fiddly; No case; Very expensive ; Can't merge audio streams from Xbox Wireless and Bluetooth;

Practically perfect in every way, the Beoplay Portal deliver on almost all fronts. From rich Atmos-powered audio to a premium, comfortable design and solid battery life, these headphones come with enough features to make them an ideal companion for work, gaming and travel, despite a few minor niggles.

Beautiful design; Extremely lightweight and comfortable; Robust app features; Bold, clear sound; Impressive battery life;

No dedicated music forward/skip controls; No case included; Own Voice monitoring could be louder;

The Bang & Olufsen Beoplay Portal is a beautifully crafted headset that offers supreme comfort and excellent audio quality. It’s also one of the few gaming headsets to offer active noise cancellation, and doesn’t look out of place when worn outside of the home. However, it’s hard to excuse the intermittent connection issues we encountered at this price, and the inability to play Bluetooth and Xbox audio simultaneously is also a glaring omission.

Extremely comfortable; Fantastic audio quality; Wired or wireless options;

Connection issues; No case included; Very expensive compared to rivals

Xbox Wireless protocol support; Balanced B&O sound; Incredibly comfortable; Great design; Useful app;

Touch sliders are somehow both elegant and fiddly; No case; Very expensive ; Can’t merge audio streams from Xbox Wireless and Bluetooth;

The second-generation Beoplay Portal headset addresses all of the (minor) criticisms of its Xbox-exclusive predecessor. There is longer battery life, better connectivity, and this model now directly supports PlayStation 5, PS4 and PC wirelessly. In many ways it's also a better all-rounder, capable of working with Nintendo Switch and mobile devices over Bluetooth, and even Xbox consoles when wired. The price certainly makes it out of reach for some, but there is nothing better on the market if you are looking for luxury, performance and versatility combined.

Very comfortable; Excellent and rich sound performance; Virtual 3D spacing works well; Robust yet light construction; Versatile;

Virtual boom arm won't match a physical equivalent for some; Cloth carry bag doesn't offer much protection;

The Bang & Olufsen Beoplay Portal is a beautifully crafted headset that offers supreme comfort and excellent audio quality. It’s also one of the few gaming headsets to offer active noise cancellation, and doesn’t look out of place when worn outside of the home. However, it’s hard to excuse the intermittent connection issues we encountered with the Xbox version at this price, and the inability to play Bluetooth and Xbox audio simultaneously is also a glaring omission.

Extremely comfortable; Fantastic audio quality; Wired or wireless options;

Connection issues on Xbox variant; No case included; Very expensive compared to rivals

The Beoplay Portal delivers as both a wireless gaming headset and Bluetooth headphones but that versatility doesn’t come cheap

Excellent sound quality; Stylish and comfortable; Dual-audio streaming;

Expensive; Lacklustre ANC; No hard-shell case;

Xbox Wireless protocol support; Balanced B&O sound; Incredibly comfortable; Great design; Useful app;

Touch sliders are somehow both elegant and fiddly; No case; Very expensive ; Can’t merge audio streams from Xbox Wireless and Bluetooth;