Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 2 Review
Harman Kardon’s ONYX Studio Series speakers are very representative wireless speakers. With its unique spherical shape design and excellent acoustic structure, it can be said to have caught everyone’s eyes. Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 2 inherits the unique spherical design and perfect acoustic features of the Onyx studio series.
Onyx Studio 2 has a new noise cancellation system, more sophisticated and rich functions, thus providing more delicate sound quality. In addition, Onyx Studio 2 wireless speaker, released by Harman Kardon, allowing the incredible sound to be heard in your ears, adds a superior texture outlook to the home environment.
Design
Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 2 adheres to the extremely simple spherical shape, achieves low-key characteristics, and can easily match any living room style.
Studio 2 adopts the classic black and white color scheme. The back is made of high-grade leather material, which is warm and delicate to the touch.
The edges are made of skin-friendly rubber. All the buttons are mainly concentrated on the top. With a light touch of your finger, you can easily adjust the volume, switch Bluetooth or power, and answer the phone.
ONYX STUDIO 2 wireless Bluetooth speaker continues the consistent and unique spherical appearance of the ONYX series. In addition to the black version I have on hand, ONYX STUDIO 2 also provides a white version.
The speaker takes a relatively simple route in terms of accessories. Only some very necessary accessories are provided in the package, including a power adapter, a power cord, and a user manual.
Harman Kardon ONYX STUDIO 2 adopts a spherical appearance, which is very individual, but at the same time simple. The two legs on the back support the speaker. The most significant change between ONYX STUDIO 2 and the first generation is that all the metal parts are painted with gold, which is more elegant.
The speaker’s front adopts a spherical mesh grille, the frame part is mainly composed of plastic material, and the surface is covered with fabric material.
The grille is inlaid with the iconic Harman Kardon LOGO in the center. There is a microphone logo at the bottom, but this is not a button. Instead, the actual phone-answering button and sound pickup hole are on the edge of the speaker.
The edge is made of skin-friendly rubber material, and all the buttons are mainly concentrated on the top. On the right is the power button, in the center are two volume buttons, and on the far left is the phone answering and Bluetooth pairing buttons.
Harman Kardon ONYX STUDIO 2 also uses a leather-textured outer layer, which looks very delicate and delicate. Furthermore, considering the need for portability, ONYX STUDIO 2 also has a handle on the back.
The back center is the iconic passive radiator among the Harman Kardon speakers, covered with metal materials. In addition to enhancing the low frequency, it can also bring an excellent visual experience.
The lower part of the speaker’s back is the interface area, which provides power, AUX, and MicroUSB interfaces. The MicroUSB is used for firmware upgrades.
Harman Kardon ONYX STUDIO 2 uses two legs to keep the speaker stand. As a result, the entire cabinet has a certain angle of inclination to facilitate sound transmission. In addition, the speaker also uses rubber at the bottom of the feet to improve the overall shock-absorbing ability.
The front grille of Harman Kardon ONYX STUDIO 2 is detachable. After removing the grille, you can see the overall driver unit design of the speaker.
The Driver
There are four active units and a passive radiator on the front. ONYX STUDIO 2 Using a dual-channel power amplifier design, each power amplifier has an output power of 15W, and the overall maximum power consumption has reached up to 38W.
The largest one in the center is a passive radiator, like the rear one, while the two sides are three-quarter-inch tweeters. And the bottom one is two three-inch low-frequency speakers. Overall, the design is very similar to the previous ONYX studio models.
It is worth mentioning that Harman Kardon ONYX STUDIO 2 also has a built-in 2600mAh lithium battery, providing 5 hours of battery life, so this speaker can also be used for portable. You can carry it around the house, or going outdoor to have fun with your friends.
Harman Kardon ONYX STUDIO 2 is mainly transmitted via Bluetooth 3.0. Two Bluetooth devices can connect to speakers at the same time and play music in turn.
It can also be connected via 3.5mm AUX when necessary. When I test it this time, I mainly use Bluetooth to play the music. Press the Bluetooth pairing button on the left side of the speaker, and you can hear the corresponding tone and enter the pairing mode. At this time, you can search and connect through your mobile phone.
Sound Performance
The sound quality of Harman Kardon ONYX STUDIO 2 can be said to continue the consistent style of Harman Kardon. The overall feel is very warm and strong, which is a more typical American style.
This speaker has a thick and warm mid-frequency performance. At the same time, it also takes into account the detail resolutions, making the human vocals have excellent expressive power.
In addition, the low frequency can be said to be its sparkling feature. Thanks to the design in place, the low-frequency volume and the dive of the speaker are very outstanding. It sounds just acceptable, and there is no muddy feeling.
As for the high frequency, on the other hand, ONYX STUDIO 2 also has a strong performance ability. And after removing the grille, the high frequency will be enhanced to a certain extent, making it more transparent.
At the same time, the microphone sound pickup effect of the speakers is also quite good, which can fully meet the needs of free calls under any circumstances.
I found that the overall effect is satisfactory during the phone call. The Harman VoiceLogic echo and noise cancellation technology can completely reduce the noise, which impacts the call quality. The environmental noise highlights the essential parts of the human voice.
Conclusion
As a small and chic home audio system, Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 2 can be used on various occasions. It can be placed in the courtyard or living room for family gatherings on weekends, in the study room when you want to listen to music alone, and in the kitchen when you prepare a loving dinner for your family.
With 280mm*161mm*260mm (D*W*H) size, easy to lift the back handle design features, you can carry it around easily.
Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 2 has built-in two 3-inch woofers, two 3/4-inch tweeters, and two passive radiators as a four-channel wireless home speaker system. This high-tech equipment can easily restore the crisp treble and deep bass, making every strong sound appear attractive.
Bluetooth wireless convenient connection and large-capacity 2600mAh rechargeable lithium-ion battery can support up to 5 hours of continuous music playback for outdoor. So while getting rid of the cable entanglement, you can enjoy wonderful music at any time.
You can also use Bluetooth to connect up to two smart devices like your mobile or tablet to Onyx Studio 2 and play music from different audio sources in turn.
The new Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 2 Bluetooth speaker also provides wire connection methods, which can be connected through 3.5mm AUX.
Harman Kardon ONYX STUDIO 2, as an upgraded model from the Onyx Studio 1, its performance in all aspects is very worthy of recognition.
Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 2 Specifications
- Power Requirement100 – 240V AC, 50/60Hz
- Power Consumption38W maximum less than 1W standby
- Maximum SPL95dB @ 1m
- Bi-amplification4 x 15W
- Power adaptor: 19V, 2.0A
- Built-in battery: 3.7V, 2600mAh, Cylindrical Lithium Ion Rechargeable Battery
- Battery charge time: 5 hours
- Speaker Impedance: 4 ohm per speaker
- Frequency range: 2402MHz – 2480MHz
- Transmitter power: less than 4dBm
- Modulation: GFSK/π/4-DQPSK / 8DPSK
- Wireless: Bluetooth 3.0 A2DP v1.3 AVRCP v1.5
- Dimensions (Dia x W x H): 280mm x 161mm x 260mm
