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Harman Kardon Esquire Mini review: Wireless HK pocket speaker doesn't sound quite as good as it looks

The $150 Harman Kardon Esquire Mini Bluetooth speaker has an eye-catching design, fits in a pocket and can charge your phone.

David Carnoy Executive Editor / Reviews
Executive Editor David Carnoy has been a leading member of CNET's Reviews team since 2000. He covers the gamut of gadgets and is a notable reviewer of mobile accessories and portable audio products, including headphones and speakers. He's also an e-reader and e-publishing expert as well as the author of the novels Knife Music, The Big Exit and Lucidity. All the titles are available as Kindle, iBooks, Nook e-books and audiobooks.
Expertise Mobile accessories and portable audio, including headphones, earbuds and speakers Credentials
  • Maggie Award for Best Regularly Featured Web Column/Consumer
David Carnoy
2 min read

Harman Kardon's Esquire Mini is one of those products you'd love to receive as a gift, but you might hesitate to acquire on your own for $150 (£124.95 UK, $229 AU). It's part Bluetooth speaker, part high-quality portable speakerphone and part external battery charger. It's also one slick-looking product, with a slim unibody design (238 grams or 8.1 ounces) and retractable kickstand.

6.9

Harman Kardon Esquire Mini

The Good

The Harman Kardon Esquire Mini Bluetooth speaker has a slim, sleek design, and a built-in kickstand. It makes for an excellent speakerphone and can also charge your phone.

The Bad

Since it doesn't have much bass it doesn't sound great with music; a little pricey.

The Bottom Line

The Harman Kardon Esquire Mini is a great-looking micro Bluetooth speaker that works quite well as a speakerphone, but is bass-challenged, so it isn't much of a music speaker.

So why the hesitation?

Well, while it performs very well as a speakerphone -- it's got dual microphones and built-in echo and noise cancellation technology -- it doesn't produce much bass and sounds pretty mediocre as a music speaker. It plays louder and produces better sound than your typical smartphone, but you can get speakers that sound significantly better for the money, including Harman's own JBL Flip 2 , which only costs $100.

The Esquire Mini, which comes in a few different color options, has an audio input, as well a USB output so you can connect a Micro-USB (included) or Lightning cable and charge your smartphone. The only issue is that the speaker houses a 2,000mAh lithium battery, which is essentially the same battery you'd find in a Mophie charging case. That battery delivers 8 hours of music playback (for the speaker) and will fully charge your phone. However, doing so would completely drain the speaker's battery.

Harman Kardon Esquire Mini Bluetooth speaker (pictures)

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It is worth mentioning that you can leave the speaker plugged into a power source (the Esquire Mini doesn't come with an AC adapter but any USB power adapter is compatible) and charge your cell phone at the same time. But the point I'm really trying to make is that while the speaker works well as an emergency backup charger, it's not a Mophie Powerstation or the external battery brick from any number of lesser-known brands.

Here's what you get in the box (no, there's no carrying case). Sarah Tew/CNET

Those caveats aside, the Esquire Mini is a well-built micro speaker that fits into a pocket and sounds OK for its ultraslim size. It doesn't sound quite as good as the 9-ounce (255-gram) Mini Jambox , which also has a slick unibody aluminum design and costs less (around $120 online). While the speakerphone on the Esquire Mini is superior, the Mini Jambox sounds better with music. It's got a little more bass and just sounds a little cleaner, although it, too has its sonic limitations.

Conclusion

I like the Harman Kardon Esquire Mini and think it's a slickly designed micro Bluetooth speaker. But to choose it over the Mini Jambox would mean that you value its speakerphone and cell-phone charging capabilities more than overall audio quality. Until its price drops some, the Mini Jambox is the better value.

6.9

Harman Kardon Esquire Mini

Score Breakdown

Design 9Features 8Sound 6Value 6