Harman kardon onyx studio 7

Harman Kardon's latest portable Bluetooth speaker, the Onyx Studio 7, feels like it was shot out of a time machine. For $479.95, it falls short on features we now commonly see on speakers for half the price (or less). Sonically, the Onyx Studio 7 delivers powerful bass depth that will appeal to those looking for some thunder, but not almost $500 worth. There's no EQ to adjust audio performance to taste, Bluetooth codec support is outdated, and the speaker lacks a water-resistance rating. Ultimately, you can get much better performance for the price—or even for far less. If the Onyx Studio 6 resembles a designer handbag, the Onyx Studio 7 takes things in a completely different direction. The cloth and metallic materials remain, but this speaker looks more like an homage to the planet Saturn. Available with black, blue, or white cloth grilles, the 12-by-10.6-by-6.3-inch, 7.3-pound Onyx Studio 7 has a rounded body that seems to hover inside its ring-like handle. Cleverly, the handle is also the stand that the speaker leans on to sit upright on flat surfaces. It’s an interesting design that won’t be for everyone, but it’s nice to see a company pushing the envelope a bit in the portable speaker realm—this really doesn’t look like any speaker we’ve tested in recent memory. Also, it’s worth pointing out that yes, this is a portable speaker with a battery and a built-in handle, but it’s on the heavy side, so it’s portable more in the room-to-room sense and less in the throw-it-in-a-bag or take-it-camping sense. Unlike the Onyx Studio 6, the Studio 7 isn’t waterproof and has no IP (ingress protection) rating at all, making it a poor choice for most outdoors scenarios.