The Harman/Kardon Aura Studio 3 Bluetooth speaker is a wired dome-shaped speaker with soft pulsing lights. It has a balanced sound profile out-of-the-box, making it suitable for listening to a wide variety of audio content, though it can sound alternately dark and bright at times. Thanks to its 360-degree design, it has great directivity, resulting in an open and natural-sounding soundstage. It can also get pretty loud, though there's some compression present at max volume that can affect the clarity of your audio at louder volumes. Unfortunately, it struggles to reproduce low-bass, so you can't feel the deep thump and rumble in bass-heavy music. There also aren't any sound customization features you can use to tweak its sound to your liking.
Our Verdict
The Harman/Kardon Aura Studio 3 is decent for music. It has a balanced sound profile out-of-the-box, making it suitable for listening to a variety of music genres, though it can sound alternately dark and bright at times. Its mid-range is balanced, so vocals and lead instruments sound clear and present in the mix, though they can sound a bit dark at times. Thanks to its 360-degree design, it also offers a wide and natural-sounding soundstage. Unfortunately, it noticeably struggles to reproduce low-bass, and there aren't any sound customization features you can use to tweak its sound to your liking.
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Wide and natural-sounding soundstage.
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Gets loud.
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Struggles to reproduce low-bass, and rattles.
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No sound customization features.
The Harman/Kardon Aura Studio 3 is alright for videos and movies. It has low Bluetooth latency with iOS and Android devices, so the audio you see is in sync with the visuals you see, though some apps compensate for latency differently, and your experience may differ. Also, It has a wide and open-sounding soundstage thanks to its 360-degree design. Unfortunately, it noticeably struggles to reproduce low-bass, so you can't feel the deep thump and rumble in action-packed movies and videos, and there isn't a graphic EQ or presets you can use to customize its sound.
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Wide and natural-sounding soundstage.
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Gets loud.
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Struggles to reproduce low-bass, and rattles.
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No sound customization features.
The Harman/Kardon Aura Studio 3 isn't bad for podcasts. Its balanced mid-range ensures voices and lead instruments are reproduced accurately and with detail, making it suitable for listening to dialogue-centric content like audiobooks and podcasts. That said, higher-pitched sounds and voices may sound a bit dark at times. It has great directivity thanks to its 360-degree design, meaning you can hear your audio clearly from most angles. Due to its wired design, it isn't very portable since it needs to remain plugged into a power source to work.
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Wide and natural-sounding soundstage.
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Gets loud.
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Not very portable.
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No sound customization features.
The Harman/Kardon Aura Studio 3 doesn't support voice assistants.
The Harman/Kardon Aura Studio 3 isn't designed for outdoor use due to its wired-only design.
- 7.1 Music
- 6.5 Videos/Movies
- 6.4 Podcasts
- 3.1 Voice Assistant
- 5.2 Outdoors
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Updated Dec 05, 2024:
We added a reference to the Harman/Kardon Go + Play 3 in the Frequency Response Accuracy box.
- Updated Mar 25, 2024: We've added a comparison between this soundbar and the Harman/Kardon Onyx Studio 8 in Frequency Response Accuracy.
- Updated Aug 17, 2023: Updated the Portability picture for greater clarity and consistency between reviews.
- Updated Nov 19, 2021: Review published.
- Updated Nov 16, 2021: Early access published.
- Updated Nov 04, 2021: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Nov 03, 2021: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated Nov 02, 2021: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
- Updated Oct 30, 2021: The product has won our suggestion poll, so we'll buy and test it soon.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Harman/Kardon Aura Studio 3 only comes in Black, you can see the label for the model we tested here.
If you come across any other variants of this speaker, let us know in the discussions, and we'll update our review.
Compared To Other Speakers
The Harman/Kardon Aura Studio 3 has a unique dome-shaped design with pulsing ambient lights that can blend in nicely with most home decor. While it looks like its predecessor, the Harman/Kardon Aura Studio 2, the Studio 3's dome is completely sealed and doesn't have a bass reflex port in its center. Thanks to its 360-degree design, the Harman/Kardon Studio 3 has a wide and natural-sounding soundstage. It can also get pretty loud without much compression at max volume, resulting in clean audio during louder listening sessions. However, unlike other home speakers we've tested, it doesn't support voice assistants, which may disappoint users who regularly rely on them for support.
See also our recommendations for the best Bluetooth speakers, the best home speakers, and the best speaker brands.
Depending on your listening habits, you may prefer either the Bose Home Speaker 500 or the Harman/Kardon Aura Studio 3 overall. The Bose supports Wi-Fi connectivity and offers incredible voice assistant support with Alexa and Google Assistant built-in, who do an excellent job of hearing you from far away and in noisier settings. It's also compatible with the Bose Music app, which features bass and treble adjustments you can use to tweak its sound profile. That said, the Harman/Kardon has a slightly better-balanced sound profile out-of-the-box and has less compression present at max volume. Some users may also prefer its unique dome-shaped design with sot pulsing lights.
The Harman/Kardon Onyx Studio 8 is a better all-around speaker than the Harman/Kardon Aura Studio 3. While the Aura Studio 3 is a wired speaker, the Onyx Studio 8 can run off a battery, meaning it can be used outdoors or more easily set up in different rooms. The Onyx Studio 8 is also better built, has a more balanced default sound profile, and has better controls. That said, the Aura Studio 3 has better directivity and lower latency with iOS and Android devices.
The Harman/Kardon Aura Studio 3 and the Harman/Kardon Onyx Studio 6 have different strengths. The Aura offers a more open and immersive-sounding soundstage and can get louder with less compression present at max volume. However, the Onyx is battery-powered and comes with a built-in carrying handle, making it more portable. It's also better-built and can produce a slightly more extended low-bass than the Aura.
The Harman/Kardon Go + Play 3 and the Harman/Kardon Aura Studio 3 are both home Bluetooth speakers with elegant, though very different, looks. The Play 3 looks like an elegant boombox, while the Aura Studio 3 looks a bit like an alien spaceship. Of the two, the Play 3 is the better pick for most people as it gets louder, reproduces audio more accurately, and is battery-powered. The main reason to pick the Aura Studio 3, aside from its unique style, is its 360-degree design, which means audio sounds the same from whichever angle you're listening from, unlike the forward-facing Play 3.
The Harman/Kardon Aura Studio 3 is a better speaker than the JBL Xtreme 3. The Harman/Kardon is a wired home speaker that offers a wider and more open-sounding soundstage thanks to its 360-degree design. It has less compression present at max volume, resulting in cleaner audio at louder volumes. However, the JBL is smaller and battery-powered, making it more portable. It's also better built with an IP67 rating for dust and water resistance, so you can take it outdoors without worrying about it getting wet.
The Sony SRS-RA3000 and the Harman/Kardon Aura Studio 3 are similar speakers. The Harman/Kardon can get louder with less compression present at max volume and can produce a slightly more extended low-bass out-of-the-box. Some users may also prefer its unique design and lights. However, the Sony offers a wider-sounding soundstage. It supports Sony's '360 Reality Audio' surround format and comes with an 'Immersive Audio Enhancement' feature to further enhance the speaker's soundstage. Its companion app also features a graphic EQ and presets you can use to tweak its sound to your liking.
The JBL PartyBox 100 is a better speaker than the Harman/Kardon Aura Studio 3 overall, though they're designed for different purposes. The JBL is a large, portable party speaker with RGB lights that can get incredibly loud and can produce a more extended low-bass. It also comes with mic and guitar inputs and can be used as a power bank for your devices. However, the Harman/Kardon is a wired speaker designed for home use that offers a wider and more open-sounding soundstage, thanks to its 360-degree design. It also has less compression present at max volume, resulting in cleaner-sounding audio at louder volumes.
The Yamaha MusicCast 50 and the Harman/Kardon Aura Studio 3 are similar speakers with different strengths. The Yamaha can get louder with less compression present at max volume. It's compatible with the MusicCast app, which you can use to pair it with compatible speakers and soundbars. It also features a graphic EQ and presets to customize its sound profile to your liking. That said, the Harman/Kardon has better directivity, resulting in a wider-sounding soundstage. Some users may also prefer its unique, dome-shaped design with pulsing ambient lights.
Test Results
The Harman/Kardon Aura Studio 3 Bluetooth speaker is a sleek home speaker with a unique dome-shaped design that sits vertically on a fabric-covered base. It has a small ripple-like design atop the dome, and there are soft pulsing lights inside of it which you can turn on and off.
This large speaker isn't very portable. Due to its wired design, it needs to remain plugged into a power source to work, so you can't easily take it with you on the go.
The Harman/Kardon Aura Studio 3's build quality isn't bad. Its dome is made of tinted plastic that feels as though it may crack or get damaged if it falls, and there are pulsing lights inside of it, on top of the drivers. Since it doesn't have an IP rating for dust and water resistance, it's best to avoid placing it in areas where it may be exposed to water, like in your kitchen. Its controls are on a rubberized strip in between the dome and the base. The base is covered in fabric, though it doesn't have a very premium feel. There are also three rubber feet underneath the speaker.
The Harman/Kardon Studio 3's tactile controls are located along the rubberized strip surrounding the speaker, and each has its own physical particularity. Its power button is sunken into the rubber strip, while its Bluetooth pairing button is slightly raised. Its + and - buttons to control its volume are texturized. There's also a tactile icon to turn the speaker's lights on and off. Since it doesn't have a companion app, this is the only way to control the speaker.
The lights inside the dome change as you adjust the speaker's volume, and there's some audible feedback once you've reached its maximum volume level. That said, the controls are very sensitive and can be activated by accident. There's also a delay when you touch the power button.
The Harman/Kardon Aura Studio 3's frequency response accuracy is alright. Out-of-the-box, it has a well-balanced sound profile overall, with a balanced mid-range that ensures vocals and lead instruments are clearly and accurately reproduced. That said, higher-pitched vocals and instruments may sound a bit dull at times, especially compared to home speakers with a flatter treble response, like the Harman/Kardon Go + Play 3. It struggles to reproduce the deep thump and rumble in the low bass typically present in bass-heavy music.
In our subjective listening tests, we found the speaker's sound profile to be brighter in the high and mid-treble ranges than the graph suggests. Its struggle to reproduce low bass was also very evident, even causing the speaker to rattle at times. Unfortunately, it lacks sound customization features like a graphic EQ or presets, so you can't tweak its sound to your liking. It also lacks the sort of room correction feature present in the Harman/Kardon Onyx Studio 8.
This speaker has an excellent soundstage performance. This stereo speaker has great directivity thanks to its 360-degree design, so its soundstage is perceived as wide and natural-sounding.
The Harman/Kardon Aura Studio 3 has a good dynamics performance. It can get pretty loud without much compression present at max volume, so your audio sounds mostly clean during louder listening sessions.
Aside from its power port, the Harman/Kardon Aura Studio 3 features an AUX input you can use to wire your devices to the speaker.
This speaker has very good Bluetooth connectivity. It has low latency with Android devices, making it suitable for watching videos and movies over this connection. While its iOS latency isn't as good, it's still decent and doesn't cause syncing issues between audio and visuals. That said, some apps compensate for latency differently, so your real-world experience may differ.