Harman Kardon Aura Studio 3 review: Room-filling sound

Those hunting for a good-looking speaker for the living room can consider the Harman Kardon Aura Studio 3. It fills up the space with great sound, and if you prefer a strong bass sound, the Aura Studio 3 has that as well. Its unique transparent dome and glowing white lights blend well in most homes, too.

Quick specs

Bluetooth 4.2
100W subwoofer, 2x 15W speakers
3.6kg
283.6mm x 232mm x 232mm

The sound from the Aura Studio 3 is excellent. Highs and mids are clear, while bass, as mentioned earlier, is solid and thumping. You probably won't need to crank up the volume, as even at around 50%, the sound is already pretty loud. But if necessary, there are up to 30 different volume levels, so you can adjust to your heart's content. Since it uses Bluetooth, you can also control the volume from your device, and it syncs accordingly.

Now speaking of Bluetooth, that's really the only wireless connectivity available for the Aura Studio 3. There's no built-in Wi-Fi or support for any music services, which means you will always have to pair the speaker with a device for playback. However, there's an auxiliary 3.5mm port, you can also plug in your PC or say, an Amazon Echo Dot. That will give you a few more options to play through the app without Bluetooth. If you can get your hands on the now discontinued Chromecast Audio, you can also cast YouTube audio to the speaker.

Looks wise, the Aura Studio 3 is designed to be minimalist. The transparent dome design is cool to look at for sure and really catches the eye. Located on the front are the volume and light buttons, which are barely visible. The back is where you find the power and Bluetooth buttons. The white light glows in a wave-like pattern, making it pretty mesmerizing to watch while your music is playing. You can't change the colors of the light, though.

Retailing officially at S$399, the Harman Kardon Aura Studio 3 is a worthy buy if you're looking for an affordable room filling sound experience. I've pretty much enjoyed using it for music and videos, especially since I don't need to rely on the Google Nest Home I was previously using. You can find it cheaper on Shopee for around S$345 and even lower for S$319 on Lazada and Amazon SG. It's also sold on Amazon US.

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