hello everyone today we're going to be looking at a Bluetooth speaker from
Harman Kardon now this speaker is unlike any 360 Bluetooth speaker that I have
ever seen and in this review we will be testing out the sound quality with a few
songs so without wasting much time my name is Onyi and this is the Aura studio 2 if
you've seen a review of this speaker before and you just want to hear the
sound quality then just go ahead and skip to the time signature on the screen
okay before we get started I would like to disclose that this video is not
sponsored I purchased the speaker at full price to get you this review so my
thoughts and opinions are entirely personal and with that out of the way
let's get started ok in the Box you get four regional power cords of course the
US and the UK included a Quick Start Guide safety and warranty sheet and then
the Bluetooth speaker and at the time of recording this video this whole unit
will cost you about two hundred and forty nine pounds in the UK I suggest
you check the links in the description to compare the prices just in case if
they have changed also I would like to point out that this speaker should not
be mistaken for its older version the or applause which cost significantly more
I'll highlight the differences later on in this video so stay tuned the speaker
itself weighs about two point five kilograms so to me I feel it's quite
lightweight and easy to move around and is actually not as big as I originally
thought it was from the images that I've seen
previously I thought it was going to be much bigger but surprisingly it's
actually a lot smaller and compact and for me I really like the size okay let's
take a look at the features the first thing that makes this speaker to really
stand out is the transparency at first I wondered if it was glass but
haven't touched it now and I can tell you that it is not made of glass but it
feels more like a hard plastic I'm not sure how durable it is so just take
precaution right at the top you have a reflex port for moving air and this
helps with the base response of the speaker now the speaker doesn't have any
passive radiators like you would find on most recent Bluetooth speakers so during
the sound quality test we're going to find out how good the base is the
controls of this speaker are located right around this strip and all the
buttons are completely touch responsive moving along the right side of the logo
you have the volume up and down buttons next you have the call button for taking
calls when you're connected to your phone then you have the Bluetooth button
the power button and over on this side you have the led button for switching
the ambient lights on and off and over on the back side you have an auxiliary
port for connecting pretty much any other device with a 3.5 millimeter
headphone out so it ends like your TV or desktop PC and even an Amazon echo dot
you can connect it via the auxiliary port and then next to it you have a
microUSB for updates in the firmware and lastly you have the power port for
connecting your power brick under this fabric you have six 1.5 inch high to
mid-range transducers which are spaced to right around this region to help it
create this 360 effect and right underneath the speaker you have a 4.5
inch down facing subwoofer let's go ahead and switch this thing on and to do
that you just need to tap and hold the power button for a few seconds and as
soon as it comes on the first thing you notice is this ambient light and how it
reflects all around the dome I think I really like this effect I'm sure it's
going to look really great in low light or going to have a look at that later on
in the sound quality test okay now let's get this paired up with a phone pairing
is quite easy you just need to tap on the Bluetooth button on the speaker and
then you can search and connect to it on your phone
okay now before we do the sound test I would like to touch on the LED ring
light now the cool thing with this light is whenever you turn up the volume
either from the speaker itself or from your phone the ring light kinda animates
to give you an indication of your volume level it's not major but I think it's a
really good idea and I really like it okay I'm done talking for this speaker
I'm gonna let you do the talking it's time for the sound quality test so put
on your headphones for the best experience and after the test I would
give my thoughts and comment on a few things
okay Ora take it away when you got nobody to turn to just hold on and I'll
find you I'll find you find you just hold on and I'll find you
I'm hanging on by a thread and on I'm clinging to his prayers and every breath
is like a battle I feel I gotta come prepared that's knocking on the front
door panes peeping through the back see is falling through the window wait for
to attack they say don't get better get better I'm working on switching them
letters but tell God I'm keeping it together
I'm smiling in everyone's face I'm proud but every day leaders they don't know
the Battle of face they don't understand what I'm
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah Oh
I remember when we used to sit
in the government yard in trenchtown
over observing the heap of friends mingling with a good people with me
good friends we have
good friends
way
in this great future you can't forget your past so try to you
okay as you just heard the or estudio - really sounds amazing the base was very
present on punchy and depending on the song that you're playing the subwoofer
can really dig down to sub levels however a lot as much as bass heavy
speakers that are out there though I found that the vocals were very clear
and crisp and pushed right to the front and they don't sound muffled at all
the highs and mids were well balanced and the speaker does a good job to
accentuate musical instruments like guitars and precautions which adds a lot
of richness and depth to the music in terms of loudness the speaker can really
go loud at the maximum volume the music remains intact the base was not
distorted however depending on the song that you're playing at the maximum
volume I could hear some vibrations coming from the body of the speaker I'm
not sure why that was happening but it seems to me that it was because of the
surface that I placed the speaker on so I moved it to a more sturdy surface and
the vibrations were gone so if you plan to jam the speaker at maximum volume I
suggest you isolated from tins that can easily flutter and vibrate and put it on
a very firm table with even surface now before I give my recommendations there
are a few things I don't like about the aura and first is that the speaker is
not portable it is classed as a home speaker so a lack of internal batteries
will mean that you will always need the power brick in order to run the speaker
that this might not be a huge deal at first but because of how cool the
speaker looks I kind of always wanted to sit on a table right in the center of
the room but having this power cable running from the back will almost force
you to have this up against the wall in order to get the cables out of the way
and as a result of that you don't fully enjoy the 360 experience and the second
thing is the power saving mode now this speaker will completely power off after
thirty minutes of no activity and you will have to physically push the button
to have it come back on again now I personally think that time is quite
short considering it doesn't have any internal batteries and there isn't any
option to increase the timing if you wish to so
I again that's a personal thing that I've observed and let me know what you
think okay for those of you that would go out to pick this beaker up like I
previously mentioned there are other versions that are very identical to the
aura studio too so here are some differences the aura studio too has
bluetooth only but the or applause has built-in Wi-Fi and it's able to connect
via Apple AirPlay and cost significantly more and the second difference is at the
time of this video the aura studio 2 is the only one that has the ambient
lighting the others only have the ring light at the top of the turbine okay now
the third and major difference is the aural studio 2 has the ability to be
paired up with a second one so you can have a stereo sound or you can create a
wider 360 effect or have the speaker's spaced out across your home okay so
would I recommend this speaker to anyone and I would say yes I would definitely
recommend this despite all the things that I have mentioned one is because of
the very unique design I mean there's really no other speaker that looks like
it on the market today and the second thing is because of the very surprising
sound I never thought that the such sound could come out of a speaker that
looks like this now for 250 pounds I think it's a bit on the pricey side but
if you decide to get this speaker then you are not just paying for yet another
Bluetooth speaker you're paying for a very unique design and also your pain
for a great product from a well-established company again I wasn't
sponsored to make this video and that's it guys I'd like to know what you think
about this speaker would you consider buying one or if you currently own one
let me know your experiences or if you have any questions about this speaker
please drop me a comment and also if there's any speaker you would like me to
test please let me know in the comments section and if you like this video then
please hit the like button subscribe and turn on the bell icon so you know when I
upload anything new until next time my name is bunny with
osomon media and I will see you in the next video