Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 4 Review

Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 4 1 (1)

This speaker is the latest version of Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 3. There are lots of improvements in this speaker than the previous version. This one is a little pricey but the features and sound of the speaker made it worth buying.

harman kardon onyx studio 4
Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 4
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PROS
Great sound quality, very balanced sound.
Elegant design.
It can be paired with up to 100 Onyx 4 speakers.
Speakerphone feature.
CONS
Not waterproof, not rugged.
Weak battery (short playtime).

SPECIFICATIONS:

MODEL
BrandHarman/Kardon
NameOnyx Studio 4
ModelHKOS4BLKAM
ColorBlack, Blue, White
GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS
SupportA2DP 1.3, AVRCP 1.6, HFP 1.6
TransducersWoofer 2 x 75mm, Tweeter 2 x 20mm
Frequency Response50Hz – 20kHz (-6dB)
Signal to Noise Ratio80dB A-weighted
CONNECTIVITY
Connectivity3.5mm
Wireless TechnologyBluetooth
Bluetooth Version4.2
SPEAKER
Total PowerRated Power: 4 x 15W (AC mode); 4 x 7.5W (Battery mode)
BATTERY
Power Supply19V/2A
Battery Type3.7V/3000mAh Lithium-ion
Battery Charge Time5 hours
Music Playtimeup to 8 hours (Varies by volume level and music content)
CONTROL AND CONNECTION
Bluetooth Transmitter Power0 – 9dBm
Bluetooth Transmitter Frequency Range2402MHz – 2480MHz
Bluetooth Transmitter ModulationGFSK, π/4 DQPSK, 8DPSK
DIMENSIONS
Dimensions10.24″ x 10.94″ x 6.28″
Weight72.64 oz / 2.05 kg
FEATURES
FeaturesWireless Bluetooth streaming.

8 hours of playtime.

HK Connect+.

Built-in Microphone Conferencing System.

Voice Integration.

Premium Materials.

Expert Reviews of Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 4:

By Techgearlab 
The Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 4 is an interesting speaker that uses an internal battery to facilitate moving it from room to room. If you want what is effectively a multi-room speaker system at a low price this is a great way to…

By PCMag.com
The Harman Kardon Onyx Studio is a solid one-piece Bluetooth speaker that will satisfy fans of bass who don’t want to deal with a really bulky and constantly powered system. It’s larger, less rugged, and more expensive than most portable Bluetooth speakers, but…

By ModernAccessoryReview
Today, I am reviewing the Harman/Kardan Onyx Studio 4. I have heard a lot of hype about this speaker and I finally decided to see what it was all about. When this speaker…

By Hddmag
Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 4 is an impressive sounding speaker with good balance at the mid and high end, but the bass could do some more adjustments and improvements, overall it is an amazing sounding…

Detail Review:

INTRODUCTION:

While many Bluetooth speakers often come small, the Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 4 stands out in this regard. The wireless Bluetooth speaker is large and full-sounding with its powerful bass. It’s the perfect choice if you’re looking for a speaker that has a good amount of rumble. The speaker is an excellent choice if you want a powerful performance of audio along with an elegant design that attracts many.

The balance of the sound offered by the speaker is exceptional to fill up a whole room with excellent audio quality. The premium build of the speaker adds to its charm to be the top choice for a home-suited speaker.

Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 4 feature (1)

DESIGN:

This thing is massively comparing it to just a regular little Bluetooth speaker. It is massive and it weighs quite a bit, it weighs about five to eight pounds. It’s a nice looking speaker. The backside of the speaker is just plastic.

This 27-centimeter spherical design is covered at the front with the beautiful subtle mesh-like finish. It covers the four forward-facing drivers to protect them from dust or damage if you were to use it as a portable speaker.

The round shape design of the Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 4 is simple with a minimalist look. Without the dash of colors or any flashing lights on the speakers, it is very decent looking. The design is very pleasant to look at and gives it the advantage of pairing up with the aesthetics of any room easily.

The speaker is well-structured and keeps sturdy wherever placed. The legs of the speakers appear removable but are actually not. They help in keeping the speaker in an upright and sturdy position. It also has a little handle which makes it easier for you to carry. The speaker comes with a premium fabric covering which should last a long time. The quality of the speaker is top-tier which will make you love it even more. The speaker comes in three distinct color variations: Black, Blue, and White.

PORTABILITY:

This is portable enough for you to move around with the handgrip. Now, the Onyx Studio 4 is marketed as a portable speaker and it can fill that role serve that purpose with the inbuilt handle at the back. However, the legs which are keeping this speaker nicely angled up and away are not removable. These things protrude from the base of the speaker, it can’t fold means you can’t unscrew them and they do protrude quite a bit. So, ultimate portability is probably not something that I can put a stamp to. You can move from your room-to-room within the house, take you from your office, take you from the kitchen but I’d be wary if you wanted to throw this in a backpack.

On the plus side for the portability, it does come with a 3000 milliamp-hour battery which takes about five hours to charge, and depending on the volume that you’re throwing your sound out it could play music up to eight hours.

Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 4 3 (1)

FEATURES:

This looks very much the same as a Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 3 except for the fact that no stereo pairing is actually a possibility with this new speaker. Aside from that, there are few cosmetic changes in this speaker. The fabric on the front is a little bit different from the previous Onyx Studio 3 and the passive radiator on the back is now black instead of silver. Also, the new Onyx Studio 4 has a connect button which maybe should connect the speaker to many Harman Kardon and JBL speakers.

Another positive point of this new Onyx Studio 4 is that it has longer battery life compared to the Onyx Studio 3. To say correctly, the previous version has 6 hours of playtime and this one has eight hours of playtime, its improvement but still, I think there should be an improvement in the Battery life aspect.

I had all the versions of Onyx Studio but the sound quality is pretty much the same in every version. Every update seems to be focused on adding features like auxiliary inputs, duo pairing mode, stereo pairing mode. So, it’s all the changes seem to be simply on the outside and connectivity. Changes generally don’t happen in the Onyx Studio series with internal, so the sound which stays about the same.

This speaker is actually very nice for indoor use, it’s not water-resistant but it has very decent quality and could actually replace a stereo setup with the design and very nice sound quality. It’s not as good Sonos play 5 stereo setup that it comes reasonably be close and Onyx Studio 4 doesn’t sound like average Bluetooth speaker which usually has a very tinny sound.

If you spin the speaker, you come face to face with the passive radiator vibrating away, memorizing in nature but dissipating the heat that all the internals cause when you’re playing your music a full volume. You got yourself your i/o which comprises three ports. You’ve got your micro USB in just in case you wanted to update your firmware, you’ve got your exhilarate in just in case you wanted to plug this into a device a 3.5-millimeter headphone jack. You’ve also got your power in which is a 19 volt 2 amp internal cord that comes within the box.

Separating the divine mesh from the hardcore plastic at the back is a rubber silicon band. Now the top, you find yourself your control buttons ready for use. You’ve got your power on, your volume, Bluetooth which is 4.2 on this device, HK connect plus button. You’ve also got the phone button icon which enables you to either answer a call and use this as a conference call like device. A press of this button will bring up Siri or Google assistant depending on how you’ve set it up in the Harman Kardon act. In the drivers, you get yourself four in total 2 x 75-millimeter woofers, 2 x 20-millimeter tweeters.

It comes with a basic charging cable, I believe it takes about five hours to fully charge. You got your Bluetooth for pairing, you got your power and phone symbol. You could use this to talk to people volume up and down. However, when you do this you could also do it through your device if you press up and down on the device, it’ll actually do it through here too. Then, it has the HK symbol, it connects more than 100 of these speakers together. So, one of these sounds awesome enough and imagine if you had three or four of these I don’t think you will need a surround system for that but you can do that and that’s a pretty awesome thing.

It’s got your USB, it’s got your auxiliary, and charging port. Also, this has the subwoofer and you got two little legs, they don’t move, however, you don’t need them to. Inside the speaker, it has two tweeters, it has two 20-millimeter tweeters and two 75 millimeter woofers. I don’t know how those two are integrated into this but I can see the subwoofer back part and I’m assuming the other ones right in the middle because it’s a little hard. The sides are a little soft.

The device comes with an inbuilt microphone which has noise and echo-cancellation features. The microphone also allows you to make speakerphone calls easily without any hassle. The quality is absolutely great and provides clarity throughout the conversation. The mix works flawlessly and can make you forget that you are using a speaker for calls. This is definitely a plus point that will make you adore the Onyx Studio 4, a worthy feature to keep this speaker on top of its competitors in the same range!

The speaker comes equipped with a 3.5mm AUX port which helps you to connect with a phone or any other media player easily if that’s your preference. The control of the speakers might be a bit confusing but are straight forward once you get used to it. There are easily accessible buttons on the speaker with a volume up and down button along with a phone call button. On the right side is where the power button is located. The speaker comes packed with a 1-year warranty, which is good enough with a valid receipt.

There is no NFC present for pairing up connections which is kind of a bummer as well as no battery level indicators. The device is not water-resistant although this is more a stay at home speaker and I believe many will use it in this way, so it shouldn’t be too big of an issue. Although the device comes with Siri and Google Assistant via the HK app, you can easily make plans through your mobile devices’ voice-assistants. The box comes with a power adapter along with a quick start guide.

The only downside to this is the price. It costs around four hundred and fifty dollars. That’s the only downside to this speaker and other than that, this thing’s amazing.

SOUND & PERFORMANCE:

The circular Bluetooth speaker definitely packs a punch with delivering a surprising performance. The speakers are a bit curved which provides them with an extra edge to spread the sound. This makes them capable of spreading through a wider angle and improves the projection of the sound. The lower end of the speaker is great and the exceptional thump added to it makes it an absolute wonder. The bass offered on the sounds is extremely powerful and has proper depth.

It can readily and easily handle bass-heavy songs without any breaks or distortion. If you are a fan of bass at higher volumes, then this is a good choice to consider. The bass combines with a crisp treble which results in a dynamic range of audios. The speaker might face some trouble while playing some high pitched sounds.

The mids of the audio produced have proper accuracy and are precise with the instrumentation. The highs come with good clarity and steer beyond the performance of mids which improves the overall sound. The overall quality of the speaker is balanced perfectly which makes it capable of playing any type of audio.

Now, I can feel this whole thing vibrating. I can feel this whole thing if I put my hand down, I can feel it vibrating. You could really feel that bass. This speaker is it’s pretty heavy, it’s a nice looking speaker. It’s so loud, it’s really crisp and clear and the bass is really good. You can take this to the beach and take this wherever you go and can put it in your car. If you put it like in a smaller bedroom, you could really feel that bass too.

Harman-Kardon-Onyx-Studio-4 3 (1)

BASS PERFORMANCE:

Looking at the Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 4 Bass, the speaker is best suited for small and medium-sized rooms for proper distribution of the sound. Even in larger rooms, this speaker can handle the audio pretty well. The thumps are very hard and resonate a lot better than most of the competitors at this range. The Onyx Studio 4 can easily beat any other contender with its bass response.

The speaker is bass focused but performs well overall. Although this factor can be considered as a good and a bad thing at the same time, it depends on your overall requirement for the speaker. If you want clean bass performance, this would fit perfectly with you. The best thing about the speaker is the audio quality performance; it stands higher than any other feature of this device. The audio quality speaks for itself, and that is the top-selling factor. The theatre surround sound quality gives you the real experience, and it is indeed hard to beat. The many abilities of this Bluetooth speaker make it the best among the bunch of any other competitive portable speaker.

The bass response from the Onyx Studio 4 isn’t quite on par with play 5 stereo setup. However, it’s not bad, especially for a Bluetooth speaker. I think the Onyx Studio 4 keeps up pretty nicely.

BLUETOOTH:

In the current market scenario, Bluetooth is an essential feature. The Bluetooth Connectivity makes it super easy for you to connect with. Be it any streaming music app or right from your phone; the Bluetooth is seamless. The Bluetooth version embedded within the speaker is 4.2. You can pick the perfect tunes and play without any hassle. The smart Bluetooth connection within the device allows you to connect two devices simultaneously. You can easily switch and swap between the two devices as you please.

For syncing with the speaker, you will require the HK connect+ application. This essentially allows you to connect 100 speakers. Hence, it provides you with every bit of freedom to connect and play smoothly. All you have to do is get on the ride of amplifying music.

BATTERY:

The Onyx Studio 4 comes with average battery life. Although it is comparatively less than most of its competitors in the same price range, it can run for up to 8 hours of functional playback. The device takes up about 5 hours to charge fully. The overall battery life may differ depending upon the volume levels along with the musical content played. As per some tests conducted on the speaker, it can manage to play for a continuous 8 hours on a medium and low range of volume levels. But at higher volume, it stays up for a maximum of 6 to 7 hours of functional playtime.

There is also a difference between battery-powered and AC powered being plugged into the wall. The drivers will play at 60 watts full capacity when you plugged into the wall but will drop down to 30 watts when you’re running off the battery.

One can argue that it performs better than its previous versions, which could be a step-up in the sphere of battery life. Given that this speaker is better suited for home and personal use, it is efficient for the given battery life. It stays stationary for the most part, so it does not stand to be a problem for many.

Harman-Kardon-Onyx-Studio-4 4 (1)

CONCLUSION:

The Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 4 Wireless Bluetooth Speaker stands tall with its great audio performance and quality with the mids and highs. It can follow you anywhere although I think it is best suited for at-home use. The device offers loud and high-quality music. The sound produced through this speaker has impressed many. The high notes are clear and crisp and manage to steer past your expectations. But, the speaker could have done better on the grounds of its large and heavy design but I think this is a minimal con.

This speaker is perfect if you’re looking for a speaker that suits better at home given its average battery life. The impressive volume stands as a driving factor if you consider the audio quality as your most important requirement. It can connect up to two smart devices at once and it has the capacity to pair up with about 100 speakers through its app if you have other HK speakers at your disposal. Overall, an amazing speaker with great sound quality.

If you’re looking for a well rounded sounding speaker that pumps out sufficient bass has a great sound profile but also looks the part in any environment in any setting in any room then you can buy this one. However, if you’re looking for a good well-rounded speaker that you could maybe chuck in your backpack, take to your friends, take on holiday, you could do it with the Onyx 4 but it’s gonna take up a lot of room in that suitcase.