The Harman/Kardon Onyx Studio 9 is a sleek, portable wireless speaker that's meant for at-home use. Its battery and built-in handle make it easy to carry from room to room, and its understated oval design means it will look at home in many different interior decor styles. Like its predecessor, the Harman/Kardon Onyx Studio 8, its dual-tweeter design means it can playback stereo audio without downmixing to mono, and support for Bluetooth multipoint lets you pair it with two devices at once. But the Studio 9 brings added support for a companion app, making it easier to customize its sound to suit your preferences.
Our Verdict
The Harman/Kardon Onyx Studio 9 is decent for listening to music. It has a balanced sound with a bit of extra warmth that suits most genres of music, from folk to pop. But it's a small speaker, so don't expect your house to shake from thumpy 808s. Still, it automatically adjusts to suit your room, and the flat mid-range means vocals and instruments are reproduced accurately. Some listeners may wish its default sound was a bit brighter and more exciting, but you can adjust the bass and treble amounts on the device or use the 7-band EQ in the companion app to tweak its sound to your liking. It supports stereo playback and will get loud enough to fill average-sized indoor spaces, though, at max volume, it does compress your audio a decent amount. Its forward-facing design also means you'll want the speaker facing you for the best sound.
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Stereo playback.
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Room correction feature.
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Forward-facing speaker means sound quality depends on your listening angle.
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Compresses your audio at high volumes.
The Harman/Kardon Onyx Studio 9 is okay for watching movies. It gets loud enough to fill an average-sized room with sound but probably isn't the best choice if you have a larger-sized viewing room. Its balanced frequency response means voices and instruments alike are reproduced accurately, but it's a small speaker, so don't expect to feel the rumbles from low, bassy explosion effects. The speaker automatically adjusts itself to suit your room and also supports stereo playback, allowing subtle details like cavernous reverb effects in sci-fi movies to come through clearly. Latency is low when paired with iOS, but quite high with Android, which may cause lip-sync issues. However, different apps and devices compensate for latency differently, and you can always use the AUX port to get low-latency playback via a wired connection.
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Stereo playback.
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Room correction feature.
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Forward-facing speaker means sound quality depends on your listening angle.
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Compresses your audio at high volumes.
The Harman/Kardon Onyx Studio 9 is good for listening to podcasts. Its virtually flat mid-range ensures voices sound true to life, and it gets loud enough to fill a medium-sized room. Since it's battery-powered and has a built-in carrying handle, it's easy enough to take with you between rooms. It's a front-facing speaker, so you'll probably want to make sure it's facing you, which might be annoying in some circumstances, but it supports multi-device pairing, so switching between two different playback devices is easy.
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Stereo playback.
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Room correction feature.
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Built-in carrying handle.
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Mediocre battery performance.
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Forward-facing speaker means sound quality depends on your listening angle.
The Harman/Kardon Onyx Studio 9 does not have a built-in microphone.
The Harman/Kardon Studio 9 is not really meant for use outdoors as it's not rated against dust and water ingress, and its six-hour battery life won't get you through a full day at the park. That said, provided you keep it protected from the elements, it'll work well enough in your garden or on your balcony, where you'll be able to benefit from its balanced frequency response and wide soundstage. Just don't expect it to get the party started at your next BBQ, as it compresses your audio a fair amount at high volumes, robbing your kick drums of punch.
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Stereo playback.
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Built-in carrying handle.
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Mediocre battery performance.
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Forward-facing speaker means sound quality depends on your listening angle.
- 7.3 Music
- 6.6 Videos/Movies
- 7.7 Podcasts
- 2.9 Voice Assistant
- 7.2 Outdoors
Changelog
- Updated Apr 14, 2025: Review published.
- Updated Apr 08, 2025: Early access published.
- Updated Apr 02, 2025: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Mar 19, 2025: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated Feb 21, 2025: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Harman/Kardon Onyx Studio 9 comes in two color variants: 'Black' and 'Grey.' We tested the 'Black' variant, and this is its label.
If you encounter any other variants of this speaker, please let us know in the comments, and we'll update our review accordingly.
Compared To Other Speakers
The Harman/Kardon Onyx Studio 9 is a sleek and stylish portable home speaker. It's the follow-up to the Harman/Kardon Onyx Studio 8 and offers fairly similar audio performance to its predecessor but in a more understated design. The arresting wraparound handle of the Studio 8 is gone, replaced with a more traditional aluminum band that frames the speaker. Still, the Studio 9 brings added support for a companion app that lets you tweak the sound to your liking, and its more traditional design means it takes up less shelf space. If you like Harman/Kardon's balanced sound profile but want a bit more volume, the Harman/Kardon Go + Play 3 is larger and heavier than the Studio 9 but gets quite a bit louder.
Unlike other home speaker brands, Harman/Kardon doesn't tend to include contemporary niceties like voice assistant support, so you'll want to consider something like the JBL Authentics 500 if that's important to you. And none of the Harman/Kardon speakers we've tested are meant for outdoor use, so you'll want to consider speakers from other brands, such as Bose and Ultimate Ears, if you plan to take the speaker outside. The Bose SoundLink Max and the Ultimate Ears EPICBOOM, both rated IP67 against dust and water ingress, are great alternatives.
Check out our recommendations for the best portable Bluetooth speakers, the best home speakers, and the best Bluetooth speakers.
The Harman/Kardon Go + Play 3 is about double the size of the Harman/Kardon Onyx Studio 9, so it's probably unsurprising that it gets a lot louder and has a more consistent bass response. Both of these speakers have sleek yet understated designs that should suit most rooms in your home; their lack of IP ratings means you won't want to take them outside, anyway. They also both have a similarly balanced frequency response that suits a wide variety of audio, from podcasts to music. But if you like to tweak your speaker's sound, you'll want the Studio 9 as it comes with a companion app with a 7-band EQ.
The Harman/Kardon Onyx Studio 8 is the predecessor to the Harman/Kardon Onyx Studio 9. Where the Studio 8 stood out for its arresting design, with the entire speaker framed by an aluminum wraparound handle, the Studio 9 has a more traditional, laid-back oval design. Both speakers are easy to carry around your house and sound fairly similar. The main difference is the addition of companion app support to the Studio 9, giving you access to a 7-band EQ to tweak the sound to your heart's desire.
The JBL Boombox 3 and the Harman/Kardon Onyx Studio 9 are meant for different purposes. The JBL is a sturdy, water-resistant boombox that can accompany you on long park hangs or BBQs in your garden, while the Harman/Kardon is a sleek speaker meant to live indoors. Both produce a balanced sound that suits a variety of audio types, and both come with companion apps so you can customize their sound profile. The choice really comes down to your use case here.
The JBL Authentics 500 and Harman/Kardon Onyx Studio 9 have different strengths. The JBL is quite a bit larger than the Harman/Kardon, so it unsurprisingly gets much louder. But the Harman/Kardon puts up a sporting fight on the frequency response front, offering about as much mid-bass punch as the larger speaker. The Harman/Kardon is also battery-powered and easy to carry around with you, though we wouldn't take it outside as it lacks an IP rating against water and dust ingress. But the JBL has a built-in mic, so it's the one to choose if voice assistant support is crucial to you.
Test Results
This attractive speaker continues the stylish tradition of Harman/Kardon home speakers. We tested the 'Black' version, but it also comes in 'Grey'. The 'Black' version's body is covered in a black weave surrounded by a silver band that also acts as the flat base it sits upon. Its controls are located on the top, subtly hidden from the front view, which keeps the focus on the driver and maintains a clean, minimalist appearance. For added convenience, the upper rear section features a built-in handle area, making it easy to slide in a finger and carry the speaker around your home with ease.
This speaker is incredibly portable. It's small, not very heavy, and easy to carry with one hand, thanks to its built-in handle.
The Harman/Kardon Onyx Studio 9 has an okay build quality. It'll work well for its intended purpose of at-home use because it feels solid enough to be carried around with you from room to room, and its aluminum frame gives the design a robust, premium feel. The black mesh fabric that covers the drivers is also tightly woven and durable, while the controls are coated in a rubberized material for added grip and comfort. It's worth noting that, at first glance, the design doesn't seem like it's very well-balanced, but the speaker remains stable when placed on flat surfaces. The main downsides here are the lack of water, dust, and impact resistance. But as long as you don't take this outside or drop it, you'll be fine.
Much like the Harman/Kardon Go + Play 3, the Harman/Kardon Onyx Studio 9 has very good controls. The speaker includes basic playback functions with dedicated buttons for volume up/down and play/pause. Most controls have secondary functions accessed by holding buttons down for a longer period or by pressing them in combination. Here is an image showing how these controls work. The speaker does sometimes miss your commands when inputting double or triple presses, so it can take a little while to get used to the expected rhythm.
The Multifunction/Auracast button enables multi-speaker connectivity, allowing you to link multiple Harman/Kardon Onyx Studio 9 units together. It also supports connections to other brands, provided they are Auracast-compatible, making it easy to build a broader wireless audio setup.
The controls are generally straightforward and intuitive to use. The buttons offer satisfying tactile feedback with a rubberized click, and there are helpful audio cues like Bluetooth pairing and connection chimes, as well as a chime for max volume. A blinking light also confirms when a command is registered.
On the downside, there's no sound feedback when reaching minimum volume—though this isn't a major issue since no audio plays at that level. Additionally, there's no visual volume indicator beyond the LED lights, so you won't know the current volume level unless you reach the maximum.
The Harman/Kardon Onyx Studio 9 has a good frequency response. It's quite similar to the Harman/Kardon Onyx Studio 8's in that, though a relatively small speaker, it still offers plenty of mid-bass punch. Fans of low-bass rumble will be disappointed, but that's to be expected in a speaker this size. There's a little extra warmth in the high-bass and low-mids, which keeps your audio sounding full without that lowest octave of thump, but above that, the mids and treble are very well balanced. Voices and instruments are reproduced accurately and with detail. A couple of dips in the treble range give this speaker a smooth tonality without compromising detail too much, though fans of forward pop vocals may wish for a little more low-treble.
Harman/Kardon states that this speaker automatically calibrates itself to your room every time it powers on, so we ran the speaker for several minutes before commencing testing. We tested it using its Signature Sound preset but also measured the different presets available in the app. You can also adjust the bass and treble amounts to taste using controls on the unit or the app, and we measured the results of those tweaks.
The Harman/Kardon Onyx Studio 9 offers a very good soundstage performance. It plays stereo content without downmixing to mono, which helps preserve more of the balance between centrally-panned objects like vocals and hard-panned elements like rhythm guitars. While it's a forward-facing speaker and the sound can vary slightly depending on your listening angle, the difference isn't significant.
The Harman/Kardon Studio 9 offers acceptable dynamics performance, much like its predecessor, the Harman/Kardon Onyx Studio 8. It's loud enough to fill a medium-sized living room but may fall short for larger rooms like lofts. That said, it measures about 90 dB when plugged in, which is 2 dB louder than when unplugged. Unfortunately, at higher volumes, there's a fair bit of compression in the bass range, so kicks are robbed of thump at the highest playback levels.
The battery performance is acceptable. While the manufacturer claims up to eight hours of continuous playback, we measured just over six hours. That said, battery life varies with usage. The speaker includes a power-saving feature that automatically shuts it off after about 10 minutes of inactivity. It takes just under three hours to charge this speaker fully.
This speaker does not have a built-in mic.
The Harman/Kardon Onyx Studio 9 has an outstanding companion app. It's easy to use and lets you pair the speaker with another unit for stereo playback. You can tweak a 7-band EQ, change between EQ presets, rename your speaker, and update your firmware. It also offers playback controls for your audio if you'd rather not use the buttons on the speaker itself. You can view a video of how the app works.
The Harman/Kardon Onyx Studio 9 supports audio playback through its 3.5 mm AUX port and features a USB-C port for power delivery. Playback via the AUX port disables Bluetooth playback. The manufacturer states that the U.S. version can also play audio via the USB-C port, but despite trying multiple phones, laptops, cables, and adapters, we couldn't get our unit to play audio via USB-C.
This speaker offers remarkably good Bluetooth connectivity, supporting simultaneous pairing with up to two devices and providing an impressive wireless range. However, it's important to note that the actual range varies depending on the device you're using. Bluetooth latency is low when connected to iOS but noticeably higher with Android, which may lead to lip-sync issues when watching videos. That said, some apps and devices compensate for latency differently, so your experience may differ.