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.
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.
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
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.
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.
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.