Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 7 Bluetooth Speaker

I used to have Studio 4s and loved them for their sound quality. When I saw the way these looked, I had to get them. I purchased 2 a few months back and I am very happy with my purchase.Sound: They have the classic V sound signature that I have grown to love! The bass is ridiculous for the size of the speaker, especially when placed in the corner of a room. The dual sound feature is definitely my favorite - they really provide room-filling sound with excellent resolution and deep bass. Stereo mode is the best feature as it opens up the music's sound stage - feels alive and around you. These speakers get LOUD while maintaining their clarity. I enable mono mode when I have parties as it is a little louder than stereo and just makes more sense for a party. I ... MoreI used to have Studio 4s and loved them for their sound quality. When I saw the way these looked, I had to get them. I purchased 2 a few months back and I am very happy with my purchase.Sound: They have the classic V sound signature that I have grown to love! The bass is ridiculous for the size of the speaker, especially when placed in the corner of a room. The dual sound feature is definitely my favorite - they really provide room-filling sound with excellent resolution and deep bass. Stereo mode is the best feature as it opens up the music's sound stage - feels alive and around you. These speakers get LOUD while maintaining their clarity. I enable mono mode when I have parties as it is a little louder than stereo and just makes more sense for a party. I recommend plugging these speakers in when you can as the sound is better and louder, especially the bass.Aesthetics: These speakers look like they are straight out of a sci-fi movie and I love it. My guests are always asking about them and usually compare them to a planet. The build quality feels good and the speaker has a decent amount of heft to it.Battery: The battery life is ok, nothing to write home about. I get a few hours with half volume and about 2 with max volume. I pretty much exclusively keep these speakers plugged in now so they stay on - ready to be paired.The only issue I've had is that sometimes there are Bluetooth problems. The volume doesn't change on the speaker even though I'm increasing/decreasing the volume on my phone. Rarely the speakers will have a choppy Bluetooth connection and need to be disconnected. I hope that software updates will fix these issues. I really wish this speaker had Bluetooth 5.0+ as well as airplay support. These speakers almost seem like a revamp of the Studio 4.

Very basic interface which can be simplistic, but adjustments are very limited. That's fine.Where the real problem is, is the connection quality is poor. Static can be easily heard unless the setup is pristine and very poor latency (- 0.5 seconds). Both these issues get worse when dual pairing with two speakers is enabled. Issue far more present when connected to a PC than phone. It can really be a struggle to enjoy when sound gets interrupted due to poor connection quality.Audio quality, however, is remarkable for its price. Very clean mids and highs compared to the JBL Extremes, Bose Revolves or even Sonos Ones in my opinion. Bass is okay when normal volume but gets immensely better when blasting them- very powerful for their small size. Besides the sound ... MoreVery basic interface which can be simplistic, but adjustments are very limited. That's fine.Where the real problem is, is the connection quality is poor. Static can be easily heard unless the setup is pristine and very poor latency (- 0.5 seconds). Both these issues get worse when dual pairing with two speakers is enabled. Issue far more present when connected to a PC than phone. It can really be a struggle to enjoy when sound gets interrupted due to poor connection quality.Audio quality, however, is remarkable for its price. Very clean mids and highs compared to the JBL Extremes, Bose Revolves or even Sonos Ones in my opinion. Bass is okay when normal volume but gets immensely better when blasting them- very powerful for their small size. Besides the sound profile being rather warm and bass-oriented (almost as if they marinate your ears), nothing special or gimmicky is in the audio.If you plan on using this for your computer or using it where latency is important, this is a bad choice. If you plan on using this to listening music with your phone or as a party speaker, would recommend.

To say I'm impressed with this thing would be an understatement. I am not a super picky person when it comes to audio, but I had a 2 channel receiver and floorstanding speakers starting at like age 8 in 1995. In 2017, I decided that I wanted to put a fair bit of money into a 2.1 channel setup. Fast forward to present day, and I have over 3k in hardware alone. Also have heard some good Bluetooth speakers. Mostly bose soundlinks, and some cheaper Walmart brand models that still sounded okay. The older gen one with the leather flip cover, and the newer one with a color screen and kinda looks like a tiny waste basket. Finally getting to the point, there is absolutely no comparison to those other bt speakers I've spent time with. The top brass at bose should listen ... MoreTo say I'm impressed with this thing would be an understatement. I am not a super picky person when it comes to audio, but I had a 2 channel receiver and floorstanding speakers starting at like age 8 in 1995. In 2017, I decided that I wanted to put a fair bit of money into a 2.1 channel setup. Fast forward to present day, and I have over 3k in hardware alone. Also have heard some good Bluetooth speakers. Mostly bose soundlinks, and some cheaper Walmart brand models that still sounded okay. The older gen one with the leather flip cover, and the newer one with a color screen and kinda looks like a tiny waste basket. Finally getting to the point, there is absolutely no comparison to those other bt speakers I've spent time with. The top brass at bose should listen to this speaker that looks as gorgeous as it sounds and feel a strong urge to leap from their cushy offices. Because not only does this speaker look and sound twice as good as the Bose home speakers 500, it does so while costing over HALF the price of Bose's 350 usd pretax asking price. The only advantage the Bose home speaker has, as far as I can tell, is its fancy color screen and compatibility with the digital assistant wiretaps. The only complaint I have is the one I have with all bt speakers: its lack of I/O. Why someone hasn't figured out a sort of docking station to add RCA inputs and outputs (including subwoofer), digital (coax, optical, etc) ins and outs, and more, or found a way to have them on the unit is beyond me. I guess that would potentially take from consumer motivation to buy that brands home stereo products. With all this in mind, I really cannot see a product at a price point of 150 usd surpassing this one.