Customer Ratings & Reviews

If you're a heavy user of Cortana's skills, have I got a device for you... If you're not sure what Cortana is, or what Cortana can do, or if you expect this to work like an Echo (with Alexa) or a Google Home (with Assistant), you might be disappointed. This device is a BEAUTIFUL speaker, standing about a foot tall with a nice heavy, ~5" wide base. Its something to display with pride as an awesome audio device. Harmon Kardon doesn't disappoint (they never have in my mind) delivering great highs and lows, and typically better mids than comparable devices (mud in mids is a common problem of any speaker this small that isn't tuned using high end gear). Aside from the audio quality, this thing is constructed of nice sturdy plastic that is finished like brushed metal - Some of it may be magnesium alloy but it all feels premium. The top has an excellent slow-turning volume jog dial, and the very top is a queue button for Cortana herself. Down on the bottom there is a soft-touch rubber base that keeps her on her feet (foot, so to say...) Cortana herself is my favorite Digital Assistant for vocal clarity - She sounds the most advanced. She'll soon interface with Alexa too (she tells me) but as of now, unless you're a heavy Windows 10 user who has set up all of the skills, she's not as valuable in the home automation or general knowledge space as GA or Alexa. She's got lots of APIs that developers need to take advantage of, but Microsoft and Developers don't seem to find each other on these things. Her recognition of my voice was excellent, but she sits on my desk in my home office and I found her fighting with herself on my Windows 10 laptop for who would respond. She's also not great with semantics yet, but this is a problem with most of the VAs out there today - You need to learn their vernacular for the commands to give... The responses she's capable of inside my PC are about the same in this unit, so if you want a primer on how Cortana will work, try her first in Windows 10 on your desktop or laptop to get a feel for her capabilities. The device can be paired to any BT audio device as a speaker, and does so admirably, albeit it was fun figuring out what to ask her to start pairing the first time... Resulted in some fun definitions of the work "Pairing" and some information on the financial practice of "Pairing" from Wikipedia. I paired my Invoke to an iPad, iPhone, Samsung Galaxy Note 8, and a MacBook Pro just to see how well it would handle odd, off-brand pairing scenarios and it was a champ. Its definitely my new go-to speaker tower in the office for musical work sessions. All in all good hardware from a good name with an AI/VA that has potential unrealized. The future will tell if this is a great match or not. Most of that depends on whether Microsoft can find similar home assistant capabilities or differentiated value in Cortana in the mass market or enterprise space.

The harmon is a great speaker. It hears you extremely well.

It's a very good toy... sound is very good, I have it in my office and love it...

1st off the build quality, aesthetic, and sound are all amazing on this speaker. The biggest issues with me personally though is that it's not rechargeable, it must stay plugged in. Connecting to different wifis if you did decide to take it somewhere with you is a nightmare, and trying to give it commands from even just across my room was impossible. Sadly even on 90% clearance I still had to return this speaker.are

Compact and easy to use. Looks great on the counter. Love Cortana

This product bass sounds really awesome and I may buy for another room

This thing is pretty awesome. Needs a little updating but very useful.

The speaker is really cool and liked it and using it right now.

Sounds pretty good on my phone used some time not away

Bought this when it was 50$. Its worth the money and good base. Cortona listening is very sensitive and sometime auto answers. Speakers is good for secondary option.

Clean, crisp sound at all volume levels. Very nice speaker!

Love it... best windows speaker i have bought...thanks

I set up this speaker with my TV, and now I dont need a sounds bar. The sound clarity is awesome. You can not go wrong with Harman Kardon. They dont sell it now I think. I got lucky I brought it for $99 in 2018

I have Alexa. They both are good. Alexa is good if you are part of the Amazon eco-system and Cortana as part of the Microsoft eco-system. All the digital assistants are in their infancy. I like it but I don't depend on them (as of yet)

It tends to lose connection to the internet and when it does, it is very difficult to get it back. It has been a week and although we have gotten past the message "... I am unable to access the internet..." I am still getting error messages during setup, which has to be done after losing internet... Very frustrated and Microsoft and Harman / Kardon haven't been helpful either.

The only good thing is the sound. Poor connectivity, unreliable software. conflicts with computer and / or phone in the same room. Support very poor and frustrating. Above problems really stand out after connecting my Phillips Hue to Cortana.

Awesome speakers with smart features. only cons, smart features does not work overseas

Great speaker but the voice assistant didnt understand or hear me while listing to music.

Great sound but app needs some work and overall ok.

its been fun learning how to use the voice assistant. glad I decided to try. I love it