Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 4 Wireless Bluetooth Speaker Black (LATEST MODEL!)

Coming from a 7 year old Onyx 2...(which still sounds great) I was shocked to see how little the sound changed between the that and the 4...almost the same speaker. They both sound great and very clear...but they both suffer from the battery issue many have complained about here. The Onyx 2 no longer works without being plugged in (and I fear this will be the case with the 4 in a couple years)- but I needed something for my pool. My search began:Remember - portable for the pool - so I looked at everything and not being a JBL fanboy I decided on the Marshall Middleton the Onyx 4 and the UE Hyperboom.Marshall - really sounds great - very crisp sound and they get a lot out of this little speaker. If I was traveling a lot and bringing it to my room this would be my speaker. The most portable of the three - but the smallest sounding (which again, is still pretty damn good). Good bass - but not like the other two considering its $300.UE Hyperboom - This is the best sounding - but really not by enough to justify the price tag. I was willing and I was actually rooting for this one. But when you are at a pool and the water feature is going on...are you really gonna see much difference in clarity? If you want to crank it - this is a better option. If you have neighbors and live on a golf course...it won't matter and the clarity of the the HK and the Middleton are both great...again $400..I did not see a significant jump in sound that "blew me away."HK Onyx 4 - I have a 19 speaker HK system in my vehicle and my friends say it is the best sounding system in any car they have ever heard...and I tend to agree. My tastes run from Klipsch home systems to now the upgraded Sonos Arc with 4 surrounds and the large subwoofer....so I like good sound. The HK will not blow you away with power - it will sound great at a pool and your friends will say...WOW that sounds really good! If you want power go with JBL...but to me they all sound the same and again - to get something that will give you that kind of power....your back to over $400. The batteries on the HK 2 I had sucked and I fear this will be the case with the 4. I am very disappointed that the sound is not much - if at all - different...but the 2 was pretty perfect. I also got the HK 6 a couple months ago and played it for maybe 30 seconds - boxed it up and returned. Horrible in my opinion. I also dabbled with the Sony SRS-XG300. A beautiful speaker which sounds like it is playing underwater...again I did play with all these on the equalizer settings (which the HK does not have) to give them all a fair fight.So if your gonna crank it up...$400 is no issue...go with the Hyperboom. Sound will not be that much different (especially if there is background noise like water features at pools etc.) But, it will crank louder than the HK and still give you some great sound quality.Portability with travel...you are not gonna get much better than the Marshall Middleton if you are willing to eat that $299 price tag.The HK gives you a lot but again that battery issue should have been resolved...they know about it and have done nothing in the way of battery (or sound really in my opinion - which again is not a bad thing) for the last 7 years. The price is a little high - but the sound quality is still 5 stars and that is what I am rating it on. Good luck in your own search - and when in doubt between 2...get them both and compare - Amazon makes it easy for returns.

I have three of these speakers now. For the price you cannot find another speaker that sounds better. I marked it low on battery life and portability as it's more meant to stay plugged in and on a shelf, it's not really a drag to the beach kind of speaker. The battery will play for a decent while, but it's maybe a few hours. The shape of it is not conducive of stuffing in a backpack, and it needs a nice flat surface to sit on. HK makes a speaker that is more mobile called a G0 and Play model made especially for these tasks, so if you're on the go a lot and want this speaker's sound to follow, I'd check that model out. But this usually sits at the house on my desk playing, on the back porch table playing, or the one I keep on my toolbox at the shop playing all day. I cant add up how many people have walked by my tool box and asked what that speaker is, I play some songs for them, then I hear they ordred one too! It is impressive in it's clarity, and bass, and fills a room with rich sound, not that normal tinny sound most bluetooth speaksers sound like.

This is a favorite on job sites. I have seen them covered in spackle, covered in paint, knocked around by tools. Even in these conditions, they still have a very good sound, very light weight and durable. I can't comment on battery life as my speaker has been continuously plugged in for years. Connects via Bluetooth through your cell phone or laptop. When receiving or making phone calls you will need to manually mute the speaker, it will not continue to play music in the background. I have no complaints of this speaker and would buy again.

I heard a friend of mine’s speaker and have been wanting one for 2 years now. I finally pulled the trigger and bought one and I wasn’t disappointed. This thing puts out sound of much bigger speakers at a great price,I love it! The one issue I have with this speaker is that the instructions are practically nonexistent. I had to Google how to turn on the Bluetooth function as I found nothing in the instructions pertaining to this. It has a diagram telling you what each button is for but it didn’t say that you had to hold the Bluetooth button for up to 30 seconds to make a connection. Harmon Karman needs to include better explanations about how to use each button. Other than that I have no problem with this little powerhouse,I’m very happy with my purchase!

I'm an old audiophile from the 70's. Once had a pair of Magneplanar speakers and all the other high end gear, including my own home made power amplifier. It is amazing how good the bass is from this small speaker. Modern signal processing technology allows the physical limitation of its size to be compensated for, yielding a hi-fi frequency response, and the only thing missing is stereo imaging.