harman/kardon Onyx Studio 6 Portable Bluetooth Speaker - Blue

Product Information

Keeping many waterproof speakers into consideration, the grille used in Kardon onyx feels more like a fabric. The reason why it stands out in comparison with many other speakers in the market. At normal listening volumes (70-90%), you get about 5 hours of playtime from either speaker. Not terrible, but unspectacular to say the least. There are no significant cons about this product when it comes to performance and sound quality. The Bluetooth feature is super flexible, easy to use and operate. You would rarely find any difficulties in terms of its Bluetooth range. That makes it more reliable and user-friendly. Onyx Studio 7 has a handle that encircles the speaker, giving it a futuristic appearance (it looks like a planet with a ring around it). The button placement is better on the Onyx Studio 7. Using the controls on the Onyx Studio 6 is tedious, but the Onyx 7 redesign did a good job of correcting this.

This speaker doesn’t have a built-in mic . If you like the handsfree feature, Onyx Studio 6 is not the best choice. Also, the speaker doesn’t come with an app that would allow you to play with the EQ settings and other advanced settings. Performance and Sound Quality Observing the Harman Kardon brand’s point of view, the device’s main focus is kept on the bass. So if you’re a bass lover, you can certainly buy this product without much thinking about it. Harman Kardon estimates battery life to be roughly eight hours, but your results will vary with your volume levels. Onyx Studio 7 Audio Performance There’s not much more diversity in terms of design. It looks quite similar compared to its previous version of Onyx Studio 5. It comes with an aluminum handle at the top, which comfortably fits in your hand. It comes with a broad base at the bottom, and it’s circular.The IPX7 rating of this brand ensures that it’s safe in water up to 1m for a minimum of thirty minutes. That means you easily carry this speaker to the pool party without worrying about it. Many people will expect these devices to have a power bank, since it does have a USB-C port. Interestingly enough, this port only serves as a connection for firmware updates, rather than charging other devices. The max volume output is roughly the same, with the slight advantage going to Onyx Studio 7. This difference will only be seen on side-by-side testing. Both speakers have total output wattage of 50 watts, if this metric matters to you.

Suppose you want to connect a device that doesn’t have a Bluetooth option, for instance, an mp3 player. For Such devices, an Auxiliary port has been introduced in the device. All you need is an aux cable of size 3.5 mm that will connect to the speaker as well as the source device, and then you’re good to go. The speaker has a fairly simple 5-button control scheme. The buttons have a nice tactile feeling to them and are perfectly responsive. When it comes to sonic performance, the difference between Onyx Studio 5 and Studio 6 is barely noticeable. As mentioned, they have the same drivers and the same driver arrangement so it’s only natural to expect them to sound similar. The fabric used for the grille is different which made the bass slightly less intense, but it’s still elevated and punchy. Studio 6 definitely has a stronger and more impactful bass response than the Onyx Studio 4 and older speakers. The mids are not affected by the elevated bass. They are fairly balanced and natural. The vocals are crisp and clear and the highs are just slightly elevated but fairly consistent. The treble is not too bright or fatiguing. All in all, the sound signature is warm (due to the subtle bass elevation). It’s very engaging and fun to listen to.Studio 6 features Bluetooth 4.2. The pairing is simple and takes just a few seconds – you just have to turn it on and press the Bluetooth button to initiate pairing. The connection range extends over 50ft outdoors and you will probably get 33ft indoors (depending on the configuration of the room, walls, and furniture). There’s no info on the supported Bluetooth profiles and audio codecs , which probably means it supports only the basic AAC and SBC codecs. NFC pairing is not supported, which is kind of disappointing – it’s only natural to expect NFC at this price point. Once paired with a Bluetooth device, the speaker will memorize it and pair with it automatically the next time.

At the MSRP, I wouldn’t touch either of these speakers. But if you are primarily concerned with sound, these are both excellent speakers if you can find them on sale. In other words, Onyx Studio 6 isn’t the most waterproof portable speaker on the market — but it is much better than the Onyx Studio 7. Harman/Kardon estimates battery life to be up to eight hours, but your results will vary with your volume levels. Unfortunately, the newer device (Onyx Studio 7) took a big hit in terms of durability. It has no IP waterproof rating. Most of the portable speakers we review have an IPX7 (waterproof) rating at minimum. Many newer speakers add the dust-proof rating, as well. Harman Kardon always tops the list of being the best brand when it comes to choosing the right Bluetooth speaker for your music experience. Harman Kardon offers a wide variety of speakers and Bluetooth, meeting the needs of their listeners. No matter for what purpose they buy.The speaker will recognize your device once it’s paired successfully, which means it will save you from the hassle of connecting again and again. This device comes with a multi-host pairing that means two or more people can connect to this device simultaneously and play the music of their choices one at a time. Since then, I have become much more careful around radios, boomboxes, and other audio devices (at least, I like to think so) but I have never lost the passion for audio equipment. Throughout 20 years of my professional career, I’ve been working for various audio equipment manufacturers and even started building speakers on my own in my little workshop. You can easily connect these two devices by merely pressing and holding the Bluetooth button for about 5 seconds on both the speakers to work. This feature is only compatible with studio onyx 5. Version older than it is not compatible with this feature.