AKG, JBL, and Harman Kardon Impress Yet Again

Another one my favorite CES visits each year is with Harman. As someone who absolutely loves AKG, JBL and Harman Kardon audio products, time at the Harman display space is like being a kid in a candy store. I missed it, but Judie spent some quality time before heading to see Sting in concert.

Here’s a look at some of the products that caught her eye and Harman’s description of them.

JBL Pulse 3

The JBL Pulse is a wicked little speaker. It sounds great and is portable enough to take pretty much anywhere. Judie and I both have the Pulse 2 and love it. The JBL Pulse 3 takes things to an entirely new level. The Pulse 3 is a “Portable Bluetooth Speaker with Sound You Can See!” The JBL Pulse 3 is a completely revamped speaker that “elevates the listening experience with powerful 360° sound and light show by including separated LED light and sound cabinets through a seamless exterior.” The new version features improved bass, battery life of up to 12-hours and a sleek new look that had Judie saying,”I can’t wait to try this out!”

JBL Flip 4

We reviewed the original JBL Flip and liked it. We reviewed the JBL Flip 2, and we liked it even more. We reviewed the waterproof JBL Flip 3 and liked it even more! And we can’t wait to check out the JBL Flip 4. Like the Flip 3, it is waterproof. It also has a rugged design that makes it ready for pretty much anything. A 2017 CES Innovation Award winner, the JBL Flip 4 offers improved sound clarity and bass as well as 12 hours of playback.

I’m a fan of AKG headphones, and I was excited to see AKG rolling out a series of new headphones.

They were showing off the N-Series which includes five new in-ear headphones. Each is “engineered with AKG’s legendary reference sound quality to enhance the audio experience at home or on-the-go.” The line includes the AKG N25, N30 and N40 headphones as well as the iPhone 7-friendly AKG N20LT Lighting headphones.

E55BT Quincy Edition Wireless Headphone

If you are looking for luxury, then you will want to check out the headphones coming from a partnership between JBL and Music Pioneer, Quincy Jones.  The E55BT Quincy Edition Wireless Headphone is a “new luxury over-ear wireless headphone that features voice prompts and customized EQ tuning by the music legend.” This is a special edition headphone whose aesthetic is the result of a collaborative effort with designer Kidada Jones, Quincy’s daughter.

JBL E-Series Headphones

JBL is rolling out the next generation E-Series Headphones. Coming in both wired and wireless versions, these headphones will feature a new fabric design aesthetic, and providing all day comfort and versatility.

JBL Soundgear

The JBL Soundgear was a bit unusual. JBL describes them this way– “Sound You Can Wear: JBL Reimagines Personal Audio with the JBL Soundgear – Innovative hands-free and ear-free wireless sound solution provides immersive audio around the neck.” Honestly, they look kinda weird but something tells me they will impress is when and if we get to go “ears on” with them.

There was more news coming from JBL and AKG that caught our eyes… and will catch our ears. For example:

My video review of the wired AKG N60NC

AKG is introducing the AKG N60 NC Wireless on-ear noise-cancelling headphones. I reviewed the wired fersion of these headphones and absolutely love them. I’m excited to see them going wireless and can’t wait to check them out. As AKG explains, “The next generation of the AKG N60 NC headphones, the N60 NC Wireless, gives new meaning to traveling light by eliminating the hassle of wires without sacrificing AKG’s renowned sound and best-in-class noise cancellation while keeping the same ultra-compact folding feature as in AKG N60 NC headphones.”

The 4K-Ready JBL Cinema SB450 Soundbar with Wireless Subwoofer is JBL’s newest soundbar. Designed to work with 4K displays and devices using HDMI 2.0/HDCP 2.2, it is ready to “fill any room with theatre-quality sound and music through the use of HARMAN Display Surround sound and Dolby Digital decoding.” It looks awesome.

JBL announced the JBL Playlist with Chromecast Built-in Technology. This is a JBL wireless home speaker that utilizes Wi-Fi to “effortlessly cast music from favorite streaming apps in high quality sound.” It can connect to multiple devices simultaneously as well as integrate with Google Home. In a sense it is truly a JBL speaker for 2017 and the way we now consume media.

Finally, I was excited to see that the JBL Everest ELITE 700, one of my favorite headphones and, months after reviewing it, one I use on a regular basis, (in fact I’m wearing them as I write this post) had an Over The Air update waiting. (Check out Judie’s review.) This is “Industry-first OTA (over-the-air) update for the JBL Everest ELITE 700 makes significant improvements to the active noise cancelling performance.” I plugged my Everest Elite 700s in and launched the JBL app. A few minutes later the headphones had been updated and sounded better than ever! Gotta love a company that stands by its products and keeps its promises to consumers!

In short, Harman’s companies continue to kill it when it comes to home and personal audio. We can’t wait to bring you some full reviews of these new offerings!