Harman Kardon Aura Studio 5 - Bluetooth Home Speaker - Constant Sound Field with 3-Way Speaker & 360-Degree Lighting - Music Streaming & Auracast Multi-Speaker Connection

Wonderful product. Sounds really good. You can change de sound settings with an app on your phone or tablet. You can connect 2 devices at the same time. I've connected the aura with our google home, so we have a good sounding radio. The only thing is I keep forgetting to turn the aura on. So at the moment it's almost only for show. I think we will use the aura more in the summer when we are outside and streaming music or radio. The sound of the aura is really good. You can change the lights too! It has Bluetooth so you can connect it to almost everything!

The sound is really nice. Deep bass and the volume can be turned up very high. The lightshow is a nice feature, but doesn't blow me away. I expected a bit more from the light effects. The setup is extremely easy and the app gives more features. But the price.. I don't think it is worth the money.

I have used this speaker for a few weeks now, and I have to say, the sound is absolutely phenomenal! It is by far the best quality and clarity I've heard coming out of a device this size. The lyrics are clear, and the bass really hits (it is quite bass-heavy, so it may not please everyone, especially your neighbours). The light effects also work surprisingly well. I thought it would be a gimming, but it is actually really enjoyable and sets the perfect mood in the room. The main downside of the speaker is, in my opinion, it's connectivity. As it is limited to Bluetooth and does not have WiFi, you'll have to manually connect to it every time you want to play something. I found this quite annoying, I would have preferred to be able to cast seamlessly from my favourite music app, which is way I removed one star.

I received this speaker over a week ago and installed it as my main speaker in the living room. Because of all the speakers in the device the sound is spread evenly around the room which makes it ideally as a speaker that can be placed centrally in the room but provides sound all over the place. The light effects are a fun extra, I mainly use them as ambient lighting in the evening. The northern lights effect looks awesome. The only way to stream music to the device is by using Bluetooth, which is a downside in my opinion… All my other speakers in the house are Wi-Fi connected which can be controlled via Apple's AirPlay 2. I which this speaker also had AirPlay 2 so you can easily combine multiple speakers from different brands. Another example when receiving a phone call (and my phone is connected via Bluetooth to the speaker), it stops playing music. This would not have been the case using AirPlay 2. For me, the price doesn't justify the functionalities.

Rating is rather 3.5/5. // The Harman Kardon Aura Studio 5 speaker comes securely packaged in attractive packaging. In addition to the speaker itself, the power cable is also included. It has an AUX and a USB-C port on the back, which is mainly intended for charging smartphones and other devices. In the US version, audio playback also works here. The build quality is good, but dust collects very quickly on the dome, which detracts from the overall appearance. I see it being used in a fixed position in the living room, dining room or bedroom. The speaker is not exactly suitable for 360° use, as the sound from the rear tends to be rather muffled. Bluetooth version 5.4 is used and offers a stable and reliable connection. The Studio 5 does not have a power button; it turns on automatically when connected to the mains. After about 10 minutes without playback, it switches to sleep mode and can be woken up by devices that are already paired with it. This does not mean that music playback on your smartphone will automatically resume; you have to tap on it in the settings. The buttons on the device are very sensitive (more like touch buttons); simply lifting the Aura reactivates it. The main feature is, of course, the light show, which is beautiful to watch. You can choose between the following lighting themes: sea, polar lights, blossoms, sunrise, open fire or static. There is also a sub-setting for colour temperature, brightness, speed of effects, switching on the additional projection onto the ceiling and playing sound effects to match the modes. Basically, the lighting is nice to look at and creates a certain ambience in the room, but the light intensity and colour gradation leave something to be desired. The sound effects are rather monotonous and more of a gimmick. The killer feature is, of course, Auracast support, which allows music, radio, etc. to be played from other Auracast-enabled speakers. Another user-friendly feature is that you can turn off the feedback tones. Updates are installed via the Harman Kardon One app; this takes about 10 minutes. The app is relatively straightforward and also gives you access to the equaliser. Here you can choose between Signature Sound, Vocal, Energetic, Chill and Customise. Behind this is a seven-band EQ, which allows you to further improve the sound. The preselection sounded rather mixed. Before I get to the sound review, I would like to note that for a home speaker, wireless Bluetooth-only and AUX was a missed opportunity to include WiFi audio. Classic AirPlay is also missing, which is a shame. The sound is good and provides a solid background sound in the room. But it is by no means a replacement for a hi-fi system. The sound is distributed over 180°. The trebles were a bit too shrill at times with rock music. The mids are fine, but unfortunately the Studio 5 lacks strong low bass and the low frequencies sound very muffled in the upper range. Some details in certain songs are completely lost and are presented in a jumbled manner. You get the feeling that it lags slightly behind in playback. It should also be remembered that it does not have stereo sound, which distorts the overall sound picture. Its strengths lie in its distribution throughout the room, which is good, and classifies it as a solid-sounding background speaker for everyday use. It can get nice and loud, but then it becomes too boomy. EDM and pop sound good, but it struggles with rock and soul, where the dullness tends to come to the fore. The bottom line is that the sound is solid, but absolutely unsuitable for critical listening. Given the performance, lighting effects and sound quality, I cannot recommend the Harman Kardon speaker at the recommended retail price. I expected more, such as significantly better sound across all genres, more brilliant lighting and, above all, WiFi audio or at least AirPlay 2.