Computer Shopper - UK (2020-05)

36 MAY2020|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE387

THISREVAMPOFlastyear’sCitationOne

–HarmanKardon’sfirstGoogleAssistant

smartspeaker –makes it even smarter.The

MKII addition mayoffersome additional

colouroptions, but thebig change is that it

now supports Apple AirPlay.

SAME GAME

Outwardly,the design hasn’t changedatall.

TheCitation OneMKII still hasthe look and

feel of apremiumspeaker,largely thanksto

thewoollen fabric that wraps around most

of the exterior,and while its188mmheight

makesitslightly taller than the Apple

HomePod(Shopper364), it’s nottoo

imposingasight in yourliving room. It’s

reasonably heavy, at 2kg, butsince it’s a

wiredspeaker with no battery,you won’t be

moving it aroundmuchanyway.

Aclutch of touch-sensitive buttons sit on

the speaker’stop panel. These canbeused to

changethe volume,mutethe mic, turn

Bluetooth on or off,playand pause audio,and

activate the GoogleAssistant. It’sworth

notingthatasingle pressofeither volume

button won’t do thetrick; youhavetohold

down your finger, which we found mildly

annoying. Still, it’s notamassive problem, as

you can simplyuse voice controlsinstead.

Asmall LEDonthe back of thespeaker

indicates Wi-Fistatus,which will pleasethose

who position their speaker by the bed, as it

will prove less intrusivewiththe lightsoff.

Four smallLEEEDDDsarehhhiiiddddddenunddderttthhhefffabbbriiic

atthetopofthespeaker,whichactivate

whenGoogleeeAssistant is

engagedorthhhetouch-

sensitive buttttttons are

pressed. Thepower

connector is tucked away

on the bottommmof the

speaker with alittle gap

forthe wiretttopass

through, so itttsits flat on

any surface,aaalthough

there arealsooowall-mount

and floor-stand

accessoriesaaavailable.

You’ll needdddtttthhhheeee

Google Homeeeapp to get

set up,but doooingsois

very simple,ttthanks to a

step-by-step guide

providedinthhhebox;even

first-timerswwwon’t have

HARMAN KARDON

CitationOneMKII

★★★★★

£200•Fromwww.harmankardon.co.uk

VERDICT

AqualityGoogleAssistant-basedsmartspeaker,

albeitonethatmightprovetoobassyforsome

WIREDSMARTSPEAKER

anytrouble.Ifyou’realreadyfamillliar

withGoogleAssistantthenyou’llhhhave

itupandrunning,connectedtoyooour

musicserviceofchoiceandpumppping

out tunesinnotime.

Its voicecommand optionsfacccilitate

allthe usual music controls –playing,

pausing and skippingtracks, andccchangi

volume –and allow you to controlllyour s

homeappliances,accessinformationfrom

yourcalendarandfindinformationnnonline.

Asperusual,GoogleAssistantproves

betterthanAlexaforansweringanysearch-

style queriesyoumighthave,althoughAlexa

isstillfarmorewidely supportedbysmart

homekit.BewaryaboutbuyingtheCitation

One MKII if you want yoursmart speaker

to double as acontroller foryour lights or

smart heating systems.

Duringtesting,the speaker’stwo far-field

microphones pickedupcommands

consistently at avariety of distances. Even

at maximumvolume,it’snot necessaryto

raise your voice toomuchtobeheard, and

havingGoogleHome’s‘Lower volume when

listening’ option switched on meant the

Assistant heard us clearly once we had

initiated avoice command.

IN DEEP

Harman Kardon’saudio prowess is

immediately evident with the CitationOne

MKII: it’s agreat-sounding speaker.Its 20mm

tttweettteeeeranddd 888999 mmwooffferarepowwweredbya

total of 40W of amplification and putout a

serious amount of noise

whenyou startttto crank

up the volumeee.The

speakerhas thhheability to

fillaroom withhhsoundso

effectivelythaaatitoften

feels as if you’relistening

to somethingalotbeefier

in size andpooower.

Vocalsareeecrispand

well defined,fffullofrich

body, whilethhhe

presentationofboth

mids andhiggghs is hard to

fault. Bass is aweakness,

however:theeere’s just a

little toomuccchofit.

This mightbbbefun with

musical genrrres that

ve on thumping

s

the mix atad toomuch. It becomes even more

evident at highervolumes,where the speaker

noticeably vibrates, althoughthe general

clarity remains uncompromised.

Sadly,thereisnoway to adjust theEQ

levels in theGoogleHomeapp settings, so

you’re stuckwith howitsounds outofthe

box.It’sarealshame you can’t tinker with

the Citation OneMKII’s soundsettings, as

that would improve an already impressive

listening experience.Itcan’t tune itself to fit

its physicalsurroundings, either,something

the HomePod has always done.

HITTINGTHE MARK

Withthe CitationOne MKII,Harman Kardon

has produced agood-looking speaker than

delivers great sound.It’s unashamedly heavy

on thebass, whichwesuspect willattract

some users while deterring others.

The addition of smart speaker functions

makes it agreatoption if you’relooking to

smarten up youraudioathome,particularly if

Google Assistant is already embeddedinyour

ecosystem. It performs extremely well as a

standalone speaker but can also be usedin

conjunctionwith other members of the

Citation family,which will be appealing to

thosecraving multiroom control and amore

complete home entertainment experience.

It’s not aspeaker forthose whose

allegiances alreadylie withAlexaorSiri, but

foranyone else seeking voice controland

excellent audio quality,the Harman Kardon

Citation One is astrong choice.

AndyWhite

RECOMMENDED

DRIVERS (^2) • RMSPOWER OUTPUT40W•DOCK
CONNECTORNone•WIRELESSBluetooth,802.11acWi-Fi

• DIMENSIONS188x140x140mm•WEIGHT2kg•
  WARRANTYOneyearRTB•DETAILSwww.harmankardon.
  co.uk•PART CODEHKCITAONEMKIIGRYEU

SPECIFICATIONS