Harman Kardon Invoke Bluetooth Voice-activated Speaker with Cortana Graphite

I purchased this from HK website when it first came out years ago and it has been my favorite speaker ever since,despite having purchased several other similarly priced similar brand speakers. I believe I paid $199 for this originally. It has made it through 2 moves and other than the speaker discontinued the Smart speaker Cortana feature few years ago ,I have not a single complaint. You used to be able to say "Cortana,get Alexa" and then could use the Alexa smart feature but that also stopped when the Cortana support was discontinued. HK did issue $50 refund checks to all owners who submitted a request when they announced the removal of smart feature. This speaker gets very loud but the quality is clear and never distorted. I use it to stream audio from ... MoreI purchased this from HK website when it first came out years ago and it has been my favorite speaker ever since,despite having purchased several other similarly priced similar brand speakers. I believe I paid $199 for this originally. It has made it through 2 moves and other than the speaker discontinued the Smart speaker Cortana feature few years ago ,I have not a single complaint. You used to be able to say "Cortana,get Alexa" and then could use the Alexa smart feature but that also stopped when the Cortana support was discontinued. HK did issue $50 refund checks to all owners who submitted a request when they announced the removal of smart feature. This speaker gets very loud but the quality is clear and never distorted. I use it to stream audio from phone,computer and sometimes even link my Firestick to it when watching shows on my smaller TV that has not the greatest sound ability and this always does the trick. Not sure why this was discontinued but I'm grateful I got one before it disappeared. Harmon and Kardon products have always been reliable and long-lasting for me so I would definitely recommend buying a speaker from this brand if you are looking for top quality sound and versatile use coupled with fair price and long product support.

All in all it's an interesting device that needs some improvement though to be the best

Pros: - very good looking; - high quality materials used by harman kardon; - nice, clear sound; - the micprophones catch your voice from almost anywhere even from other rooms; - Cortana has some nice answers such as "dude!" when you ask if she likes to party , even can play "rock paper scissors" etc. Cons: - at max. volume , the speaker looses the strong bass , it sounds more like screaming than music :) , but you don't need max. volume for a good audition as it has enough power to serve a good audition at about 60-80 % vol. - the initial setup pairing is very hard if you're outside US , as you'll need Cortana app for android, iphone etc and it's not available in Europe. - the plug in adapter is a mess, it needs lot of improvement; - the bluetooth does not work too ... MorePros: - very good looking; - high quality materials used by harman kardon; - nice, clear sound; - the micprophones catch your voice from almost anywhere even from other rooms; - Cortana has some nice answers such as "dude!" when you ask if she likes to party , even can play "rock paper scissors" etc. Cons: - at max. volume , the speaker looses the strong bass , it sounds more like screaming than music :) , but you don't need max. volume for a good audition as it has enough power to serve a good audition at about 60-80 % vol. - the initial setup pairing is very hard if you're outside US , as you'll need Cortana app for android, iphone etc and it's not available in Europe. - the plug in adapter is a mess, it needs lot of improvement; - the bluetooth does not work too well, I did not managed to connect it to my laptop , only to the phone and also it stops playing the music from the phone via bluetooth at irregular intervals of time and you have to press pause and then play on the phone to play again the music. - bluetooth is not available if whole setup with Cortana app is not done; - also Cortana needs improvement, even if she's funny , as she stated herself when asked how old is she : she says "i'm a spring chicken" born on 2nd of april 2014;

Excellent Sound, Skype Integration, Far Field Microphone, and Smart Home Integration (IFTTT)

I've bought 4 of these - they have beautiful sound, are well integrated with Office365 for schedules, etc., and work with Skype. Once you enable IFTTT, it works with most smart switches and also works with Amazon's Alexa and vice versa. Sound: Very, very good sound - especially good for jazz and classical/post-classical. Not overly bass heavy, like some speakers - neutral tone, nice projection. Can fill a very large room. Microphone: Much better far-field ability than Amazon's devices. It can pick me up from another room - handy when answering a Skype call or changing music.. Voice control: The beauty of Microsoft's approach is that you largely do not need to enable specific skills to get results, as it is using their semantic search and machine learning - the key ... MoreI've bought 4 of these - they have beautiful sound, are well integrated with Office365 for schedules, etc., and work with Skype. Once you enable IFTTT, it works with most smart switches and also works with Amazon's Alexa and vice versa. Sound: Very, very good sound - especially good for jazz and classical/post-classical. Not overly bass heavy, like some speakers - neutral tone, nice projection. Can fill a very large room. Microphone: Much better far-field ability than Amazon's devices. It can pick me up from another room - handy when answering a Skype call or changing music.. Voice control: The beauty of Microsoft's approach is that you largely do not need to enable specific skills to get results, as it is using their semantic search and machine learning - the key is to ask the right questions. By and large I use this more than our Alexa devices. Office integration is helpful. Skype: integration with Skype us good (on par with Alexa), and I frequently use it to make calls. Included Skype credits with Office365 ensure that I can call any landline or mobile line, in addition to Skype address.

Great Bluetooth Speaker, MS ended support in 2021.

As a Bluetooth Speaker, this has a really great sound especially if you place it in a corner. It does sound okay in an open space, but the Bass (not base < learn to spell it correctly!> ) is enhanced in a corner. Just connect to it as a Bluetooth speaker with your phone, or other device. Unfortunately, it is only Bluetooth Version 4.1 , so it isn’t the latest version of Bluetooth (5.3).Microsoft ENDED support for the Cortana app and the Invoke in January 2021, so you need to be aware of that because you won’t be able to use this as it was originally intended. If you do an update, the update will block the use of Cortana in the update.If you find this on Sale/Clearance and want it for just a really great sounding speaker, I would definitely recommend it! I have ... MoreAs a Bluetooth Speaker, this has a really great sound especially if you place it in a corner. It does sound okay in an open space, but the Bass (not base < learn to spell it correctly!> ) is enhanced in a corner. Just connect to it as a Bluetooth speaker with your phone, or other device. Unfortunately, it is only Bluetooth Version 4.1 , so it isn’t the latest version of Bluetooth (5.3).Microsoft ENDED support for the Cortana app and the Invoke in January 2021, so you need to be aware of that because you won’t be able to use this as it was originally intended. If you do an update, the update will block the use of Cortana in the update.If you find this on Sale/Clearance and want it for just a really great sounding speaker, I would definitely recommend it! I have noticed that WM carries it (shipped) at $64 for the Silver color %26 $81 for the Black color. I am using mine as a Bluetooth speaker in my bathroom sitting on a corner shelf and it does sound great! Good volume, clear sound and decent Bass for it’s size. This speaker has 3 small woofers (1 inch..?), 3 tweeters (1/2”) and 2 bass ports as well. It’s not going to blow you away, so playing it at moderate volume or so and you will be happy with it. At the highest volume, I’m sure you’ll eventually blow one or more of the small speakers.

Needs technical knowledge, but is great.

This speaker is great in general. Great bass, clean midds and highs. The price is wonderful $50.00 for a Harman Kardon quality speaker is like a dream, but there is a catch to it. This speaker was designed for giving a voice and use to Cortana, a Microsoft artificial assistant, but as many other things from Microsoft didnt work as expected and suddenly was discontinued and the support for it was terminated living countless users with a great speaker but with the need to update the speaker drivers and and software. That is not easy to do technology savvy people and kind of impossible for the majority of the rest. That is why these Harman Kardon speakers are selling this cheap. I did all the process that it takes to delete Cortana out of the speaker and convert it to ... MoreThis speaker is great in general. Great bass, clean midds and highs. The price is wonderful $50.00 for a Harman Kardon quality speaker is like a dream, but there is a catch to it. This speaker was designed for giving a voice and use to Cortana, a Microsoft artificial assistant, but as many other things from Microsoft didnt work as expected and suddenly was discontinued and the support for it was terminated living countless users with a great speaker but with the need to update the speaker drivers and and software. That is not easy to do technology savvy people and kind of impossible for the majority of the rest. That is why these Harman Kardon speakers are selling this cheap. I did all the process that it takes to delete Cortana out of the speaker and convert it to a regular Bluetooth speaker with a wonderful sound. If you are confident that you can do the drivers updates and software installation etc. then you will be happy with this speaker.

[Rewarded Review] Another Smart Device But Great Sound Quality

This Invoke is a new player in the arena occupied by the Echo and Google Home devices, and it's not likely to make much of a ripple unless you want better quality sound for your money. The Invoke is being sold for about half of the intended original retail, which is good since the competition has also done that.It was very easy to set up with the Android app, and was online with my wifi in a minute. It has nice bass and clear midrange and highs, with volume levels controlled by your voice or a rotating ring at the top. There is also a lighted button for stopping what's playing, or cueing up a random "surprise" bit of trivia or info.Sadly, I didn't see any way for the Cortana interface to be able to access and play a music library in anything connected to your ... MoreThis Invoke is a new player in the arena occupied by the Echo and Google Home devices, and it's not likely to make much of a ripple unless you want better quality sound for your money. The Invoke is being sold for about half of the intended original retail, which is good since the competition has also done that.It was very easy to set up with the Android app, and was online with my wifi in a minute. It has nice bass and clear midrange and highs, with volume levels controlled by your voice or a rotating ring at the top. There is also a lighted button for stopping what's playing, or cueing up a random "surprise" bit of trivia or info.Sadly, I didn't see any way for the Cortana interface to be able to access and play a music library in anything connected to your home wifi. Selling subscriptions is the current trend, links to a paid Spotify or iHeart Radio subscription are built-in, hopefully more choices to come. It won't work with your Amazon music (surprise!) or a Google music account. You can ask it to play free music on iHeart and TuneIn.You can make and take phone calls with a matched Skype account with credits. It will also dial places for free that you ask it to by a web search or giving it a number to call. The caller ID from the Invoke shows "Private Number" so some businesses. homes and cell phones would reject the call. This is a catch-up on the Google Home which added the phone calling features recently.I wasn't blown away by any difference in Cortana's ability to find info on the web by your voice query. It covers the basics--sports, weather, news, calculator...but other than the superior audio quality that Harman-Kardon is known for the Invoke doesn't seem to break any new ground. It *does* sound better than the full-size Echo.

[Rewarded Review] Best Smart Speaker if You Only Want One

The Invoke is a truly great smart speaker - especially if you can get it on the sale price when it's $99. I actually liked this speaker a lot BUT I did end up returning it and I'll explain why.Let me start out by saying the Invoke is simply beautiful. It is tall and cylindrical and looks like something you would find in some high end home. The outside grill feels like it is made out of a thin metal, the top rotates for the volume and it has this almost soft click when you do adjust it that just feels very high quality, and there are no ports except for a clean power in source. The top also features my favorite part which is the touchpad that houses the LED that is very bright and displays a circular motion when it's thinking or pulsates when it gives an answer. ... MoreThe Invoke is a truly great smart speaker - especially if you can get it on the sale price when it's $99. I actually liked this speaker a lot BUT I did end up returning it and I'll explain why.Let me start out by saying the Invoke is simply beautiful. It is tall and cylindrical and looks like something you would find in some high end home. The outside grill feels like it is made out of a thin metal, the top rotates for the volume and it has this almost soft click when you do adjust it that just feels very high quality, and there are no ports except for a clean power in source. The top also features my favorite part which is the touchpad that houses the LED that is very bright and displays a circular motion when it's thinking or pulsates when it gives an answer. The setup out of the box was very simple and straightforward with the Cortana app which is in some ways even better than the Alexa app. Cortana herself is also probably the best sounding assistant out of the others which include Google and Alexa. The sound quality from this speaker is just absolutely amazing. It provides 360 degree sound output and while it doesn't have a strong bass, it does provide really good mid and highs.So, why did I end up returning this speaker if I have all of that praise to give it? Well, for starters there isn't a whole lot you can do with Cortana at the moment. There were a good bit of questions or things I would ask Cortana and it would say "Sorry I can't do that at the moment" or "Sorry I don't have that functionality yet". Alexa has been out there for a while now and can tout 25,000 skills versus Cortana's 230 skills. Personally, I think that out of those 25,000 skills you may only really need to use a dozen or so, but the point is that Alexa at least has the option there whereas Cortana at the moment doesn't. There is, however, a big silver lining: Cortana will soon be able to work with Alexa and supposedly you can say "Cortana ask Alexa to...". and it will work with your Alexa devices to do whatever skill you need it to.When I was trying out the speaker I put it in my kitchen while my living room and bedroom were serviced by Echo Dots. The only smart home thing I have at the moment are some Phillips Hue bulbs, but Cortana took a noticeably longer time to turn on or off a light versus Alexa. Alexa did it almost instantaneously.However, the main reason I decided to take the Invoke back really came down to one main thing: I wanted continuity. I own two Echo Dots hooked up to an external speaker. I use multi-room audio. I like being able to go from one room to the next and have some semblance of things crossing over, however with the Invoke not supporting multi-room audio or the ability to communicate with my Echo Dots it just seemed pointless.Would I buy the Invoke again if they offered multi-room audio or improved their skill set and speed? Definitely. In a heartbeat I would. However, at the moment they don't.So, would I recommend this speaker to you? Yes! But, only if this is your first smart speaker or if you are planning on this being your only smart speaker in your home. I have to give Amazon credit: they offer a variety of Echo devices that you can fill your home with. I only wish Microsoft would do the same with Cortana, or perhaps open the Invoke fully to being compatible with the Echos.

[Rewarded Review] Great Speaker with awesome potential

This is a great speaker. The design, manufacturing and quality of materials is fantastic. The sound quality is crisp, clear and good range across highs, mids and lows. I have both this and the Amazon Echo 2, both are good but from an audio quality perspective, this is quite a bit better. Crank up the echo and it will start distorting at volume. The Invoke is clear at volume. With 3 subs and 3 tweeters, it will fill a room with sound. With skype calling (to other skype users or to mobile/land lines), my voice is clear and sounds good as does the other party. As for features, the Echo is more feature rich out of the box, but the Invoke is no slouch. It can control lighting, Nest thermostats, etc. It can provide weather, news, play premium music/pod casts, etc. ... MoreThis is a great speaker. The design, manufacturing and quality of materials is fantastic. The sound quality is crisp, clear and good range across highs, mids and lows. I have both this and the Amazon Echo 2, both are good but from an audio quality perspective, this is quite a bit better. Crank up the echo and it will start distorting at volume. The Invoke is clear at volume. With 3 subs and 3 tweeters, it will fill a room with sound. With skype calling (to other skype users or to mobile/land lines), my voice is clear and sounds good as does the other party. As for features, the Echo is more feature rich out of the box, but the Invoke is no slouch. It can control lighting, Nest thermostats, etc. It can provide weather, news, play premium music/pod casts, etc. (Spotify, I heart radio, TuneIn), play games/trivia, provide interesting facts, run timers, reminders, calendar updates, etc. For the most part it's very similar to Echo and Google Home on most basic features. The advantage of Echo over this is stuff like flash briefings, drop in on other echo devices, play to (like Amazon TV) and a ton more skills. However, Amazon and Msft have announced a collaboration project to make Alexa available on Cortana devices and Cortana available on Echo devices at which point you should have parity on most features and skills. I think given the superior audio quality of this compared to Echo or Google Home, this is a better unit. So, if you are vested in the Msft ecosystem (Win 10 PC, Cortana on your phone, etc.), this is a killer product. If you are vested in Amazon, Echo might be a better device in the short term and if you are vested in Google (using google calendars, google apps, Chromebook, etc.) then Google Home might be the best for you.

[Rewarded Review] Great speaker, only limited by Cortana

If you're a heavy user of Cortana's skills, have I got a device for you...If you're not sure what Cortana is, or what Cortana can do, or if you expect this to work like an Echo (with Alexa) or a Google Home (with Assistant), you might be disappointed.This device is a BEAUTIFUL speaker, standing about a foot tall with a nice heavy, ~5" wide base. Its something to display with pride as an awesome audio device. Harmon Kardon doesn't disappoint (they never have in my mind) delivering great highs and lows, and typically better mids than comparable devices (mud in mids is a common problem of any speaker this small that isn't tuned using high end gear).Aside from the audio quality, this thing is constructed of nice sturdy plastic that is finished like brushed metal - ... MoreIf you're a heavy user of Cortana's skills, have I got a device for you...If you're not sure what Cortana is, or what Cortana can do, or if you expect this to work like an Echo (with Alexa) or a Google Home (with Assistant), you might be disappointed.This device is a BEAUTIFUL speaker, standing about a foot tall with a nice heavy, ~5" wide base. Its something to display with pride as an awesome audio device. Harmon Kardon doesn't disappoint (they never have in my mind) delivering great highs and lows, and typically better mids than comparable devices (mud in mids is a common problem of any speaker this small that isn't tuned using high end gear).Aside from the audio quality, this thing is constructed of nice sturdy plastic that is finished like brushed metal - Some of it may be magnesium alloy but it all feels premium. The top has an excellent slow-turning volume jog dial, and the very top is a queue button for Cortana herself. Down on the bottom there is a soft-touch rubber base that keeps her on her feet (foot, so to say...)Cortana herself is my favorite Digital Assistant for vocal clarity - She sounds the most advanced. She'll soon interface with Alexa too (she tells me) but as of now, unless you're a heavy Windows 10 user who has set up all of the skills, she's not as valuable in the home automation or general knowledge space as GA or Alexa. She's got lots of APIs that developers need to take advantage of, but Microsoft and Developers don't seem to find each other on these things. Her recognition of my voice was excellent, but she sits on my desk in my home office and I found her fighting with herself on my Windows 10 laptop for who would respond. She's also not great with semantics yet, but this is a problem with most of the VAs out there today - You need to learn their vernacular for the commands to give... The responses she's capable of inside my PC are about the same in this unit, so if you want a primer on how Cortana will work, try her first in Windows 10 on your desktop or laptop to get a feel for her capabilities.The device can be paired to any BT audio device as a speaker, and does so admirably, albeit it was fun figuring out what to ask her to start pairing the first time... Resulted in some fun definitions of the work "Pairing" and some information on the financial practice of "Pairing" from Wikipedia. I paired my Invoke to an iPad, iPhone, Samsung Galaxy Note 8, and a MacBook Pro just to see how well it would handle odd, off-brand pairing scenarios and it was a champ. Its definitely my new go-to speaker tower in the office for musical work sessions.All in all good hardware from a good name with an AI/VA that has potential unrealized. The future will tell if this is a great match or not. Most of that depends on whether Microsoft can find similar home assistant capabilities or differentiated value in Cortana in the mass market or enterprise space.

[Rewarded Review] Nice Speaker But A Poor Assistant

The Invoke speaker looks great and seems solid and well-designed. As a natural language assistant (or is it an AI speaker? a smart speaker?), it definitely sounds better than Google Home - it sounds good, in general, and functions just fine as a bluetooth speaker (though for that function alone, there are better options for less money). The sound is clear and has a rich warm tone - but there can be distortion with some music at higher volumes (though it's still way better than Google Home) - as you might expect, the sound was better and less distorted over bluetooth from my iPod.I did my setup through a Windows 10 PC - and while the setup was straightforward, it was a little time-consuming (took about 20 minutes for me including an update to the Invoke).As far ... MoreThe Invoke speaker looks great and seems solid and well-designed. As a natural language assistant (or is it an AI speaker? a smart speaker?), it definitely sounds better than Google Home - it sounds good, in general, and functions just fine as a bluetooth speaker (though for that function alone, there are better options for less money). The sound is clear and has a rich warm tone - but there can be distortion with some music at higher volumes (though it's still way better than Google Home) - as you might expect, the sound was better and less distorted over bluetooth from my iPod.I did my setup through a Windows 10 PC - and while the setup was straightforward, it was a little time-consuming (took about 20 minutes for me including an update to the Invoke).As far as operation goes, I guess the best summary of my experience with the Invoke is that it is likable but klutzy. Microsoft fanatics and Skype adherents and some people with a paid Spotify account will adore it - but for those of us who are just looking for a chatty information assistant and some background music there are frustrations.The biggest failing, in my experience, has been Cortana itself - it has consistently flubbed even some simple requests - and it tends to take a long time to respond (I think a five second delay to retrieve the local weather summary is pretty bad!). Looking at my voice command history, I can see that Cortana butchered some of my words.The top surface of the Invoke is touch-sensitive and is designed to respond to taps - so far that functionality has been working inconsistently.Another limitation is in Invoke’s ability to access music - you can request musical selections only from iHeartRadio, Spotify and TuneIn - and I find that it fails give me selections from some fairly uncontroversial requests.Finally, the Invoke will allow you to make handsfree calls to named contacts on your Skype account - but I have a cell phone so I didn’t see that as particularly desirable (and to be honest, I wasn’t even aware that Skype was still a big thing).Harman Kardon did a great job with their sound design. But the Invoke really has a long way to go to catch up with the Google Home and Amazon Echo and Alexa products - and aside from the uniquely nice sound of the Invoke, I can’t suggest a single desirable feature or functionality that would elevate this product over its competitors.