Harman Kardon Citation 200 Review
Verdict
With its Scandi good looks and powerful sound the Commendation 200 certainly makes an impression, just its unpredictable bass performance tin spoil some songs.
Pros
- Powerful audio
- Highly-seasoned design
- Surprisingly hardy
- Piece of cake setup
Cons
- Unpredictable bass performance
- Quite pricey
Central Features
- Smart skills Google Assistant is onboard for vox control
- Water-resistant IPX4 rating guards against splashes of water
- Bear handle Born handle makes it easy to motility around
Introduction
Harman Kardon's Citation range includes everything from a bedside DAB radio to a pair of £2200 floorstanding speakers, but perhaps one of the near highly-seasoned products is the Citation 200 – a semi-portable smart speaker that'southward got the Sonos Motion in its sights.
Similar Sonos'southward offering the Citation 200 is small plenty to be moved around the house and hardy plenty to venture out into the garden, but with a price tag that'll go out you with an extra £100 leftover in your wallet. That makes information technology an appealing proposition to those who aren't already onboard the Sonos railroad train, but is it a worthy alternative?
Design
- Classy fabric coat
- Handle for easy conveying
- IPX4 water resistance
With its leather handle the Citation 200 looks a bit like a bucket that's missing its spade, although the brushed metal top volition stop you from filling it up with sand. Upwards there y'all'll find buttons for adjusting the volume, activating Bluetooth, turning the ability on and off, and a multi-function button that controls playback if you press it, or activates Google Assistant if yous hold it for more than ii seconds. At that place's also a prepare of 5 trivial lights to show how much battery is left, plus the two microphones.
The Citation 200 is swathed in a wool fabric that Harman Kardon reckons is dirt repellent, flame retardant and piece of cake to clean, simply it has that premium feeling that means you're unlikely to want to treat it too badly anyhow. In fact, it most looks too nice to take outside, merely it is IPX4-rated, which ways it tin can cope if the heavens open unexpectedly or it gets splashed from the paddling pool. Just don't wait it to come out unscatched if yous drop it right in.
At 2.85 kg and measuring about the aforementioned size as your boilerplate kettle, it's portable in the sense that y'all tin option it upwards and move information technology effectually the firm or take it into the garden, rather than something yous'd desire to pack in a suitcase for a weekend away. That'southward reinforced by the fact that it has a proprietary charging puck that fits into a recess on the bottom – you don't need to line annihilation up, simply plonk the speaker on height. You tin also charge it using a USB-C cable if you have a powerful enough plug; it requires 5V/two.1A, and then the one that came with your phone might not be bulky enough.
The Citation 200 comes in 2 colours: an inoffensive gray with a beige handle (pictured) or all black. Information technology feels like it'southward been designed to slot in with pretty much any home decor rather than make whatever kind of statement, but there'south a lot to exist said for that approach. It'due south certainly not an unpleasant object to look at.
Features
- Wi-Fi and Bluetooth onboard
- Voice control through Google Assistant
With both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth onboard, the Citation 200 has you covered for connectivity whether you're inside or out.
While at that place'southward no dedicated app, setup using the Google Home app is an absolute cakewalk and considering information technology has support for Apple'southward AirPlay and Google's Chromecast y'all tin can control it direct from your music app of option – handy if Google Assistant is refusing to play the exact version of the song you desire.
Information technology takes nearly 25 seconds to connect to Wi-Fi afterward you turn information technology on but afterwards that it's quick to reply to voice commands, with lights hidden beneath the fabric coating indicating that it'due south listening. You tin can tweak the sensitivity within the Habitation app but because there's barely a beat between requesting a song and information technology starting to emanate from the speaker, that shouldn't be necessary.
As with whatever battery-powered smart speaker, it must exist turned on manually when you want to use it, so it'll never fit into your life quite as seamlessly as a mains-powered, always-on alternative such equally an Amazon Echo or Apple HomePod. That ways that, while it's capable of controlling smart dwelling house devices, it's perhaps not the ideal tool for the job. It does back up Google's Voice Match tech, though, and then results such as calendar entries and reminders are tailored specifically to you.
If you'd rather switch off the Commendation 200's mics completely, there's a push on the back to mute them. Information technology's quite tucked abroad, and then not ideal if yous want to chop-chop encompass its ears while you reveal where the bodies are buried, but that's what the handle'southward for, right?
In terms of battery life, Harman Kardon says the Citation 200 should last up to eight hours depending on how you use it and that proved to exist adequately accurate. There'due south no automobile shutdown so y'all'll have to remember to turn it off if you don't want a prematurely flat battery, only that does also mean you tin leave it switched on all the time if it'southward sitting on the charger. That might not be ideal from an environmental betoken of view but does solve the aforementioned always-on consequence and means yous tin use it as an everyday smart speaker.
Sound quality
- Big, assuming sound
- Bass can be overpowering
Within the fifty-watt Citation 200 is a 25mm tweeter and a 120mm woofer. Combined with its solid build and relatively hefty dimensions that gives it a fair amount of power, much of which information technology seems to apply for the bass.
Without even pushing the volume very high Disclosure's Who Knew?, The Pharcyde's Runnin' and Colossus by Quicksand sound overly boomy, with the low-finish overwhelming the rest of the range a tad. It only gets worse at loftier volumes, which the Citation 200 is more capable of, only chances are you'll need to steer clear of them to avoid bothering the neighbours.
That's non to say information technology's e'er an outcome. There are plenty of tunes where the bass behaves itself, adding real punch to the bottom cease without overwhelming, and others that definitely sound better because of it. Scruffizer'due south Bender would lack bounce without it, it gives real depth to Justin Vernon's heavily treated voice on Bon Iver'south 715 – CRΣΣKS, and ways the sub-bass that kicks in towards the finish of Everything Everything'southward Warm Healer has real bear upon.
Presumably this bass-heavy approach is to improve outdoor functioning, and information technology does aid requite it presence in the open up air, but for something that looks like an indoor speaker showtime and an outdoor one second it'due south hard not to feel like it's been tuned for the wrong surround. In that location is an EQ that allows you to adjust the bass and treble past pressing a combination of the buttons on tiptop, simply considering the bass response is unpredictable rather than being a persistent issue you tin find yourself having to tweak it as well often, and then information technology doesn't totally solve the problem. A Sonos-style auto-aligning arrangement should be on Harman's to-exercise list for the Commendation 200's successor.
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Should you buy it?
If you only need something semi-portable While it might be too large to have on vacation, the Citation 200 is the perfect size for moving from room to room, with enough power to fill the bigger ones. It'south good for the garden, too.
If you don't similar too much bass The Citation 200 goes big on bass and it can sometimes be a bit too much. If low-finish rumbles aren't your thing, you might be meliorate looking elsewhere.
Terminal Thoughts
If yous're looking for something to sing along to in the shower you could do a lot worse than the Harman Kardon Commendation 200. Its IPX4 rating means you don't have to worry about it getting a bit clammy and the voice command means you lot can alter songs without needing your phone – the ideal combo.
It's happy in any room of the business firm, though, or even outside in the garden. The bass performance can sometimes be a scrap overenthusiastic, meaning it won't conform everybody's tastes, but information technology'southward nonetheless an accomplished speaker with handy smart skills.
How nosotros examination
We test every wireless speaker nosotros review thoroughly over an extended period of fourth dimension. We use manufacture standard tests to compare features properly. We'll ever tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a production.
Find out more than nearly how we examination in our ethics policy.
Used equally the main indoor speaker for the review period
Tested for more than a calendar week
Tested with streaming services
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FAQs
Does the Harman Kardon Commendation 200 support Alexa?
You lot can only get Google Assistant with this model.
Full specs
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Source: https://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/harman-kardon-citation-200
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