I've been a contributing editor for PCMag since 2011. Before that, I was PCMag's lead audio analyst from 2006 to 2011. Even though I'm a freelancer now, PCMag has been my home for well over a decade, and audio gear reviews are still my primary focus. Prior to my career in reviewing tech, I worked as an audio engineer—my love of recording audio eventually led me to writing about audio gear.
Harman Kardon's Citation One speaker uses Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Google Assistant voice control to deliver a user-friendly, bass-forward audio experience.
At $199.95, the Citation One is the most affordable model in Harman Kardon's lineup of multi-room smart speakers. It delivers music via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and can be controlled via Google Assistant voice commands. The speaker delivers powerful, rich, and crisp audio that will appeal to those who like a bass-forward sound signature balanced out with bright highs. As long as Google Assistant is your voice control method of choice, there's very little to complain about with this graceful speaker and its impressive output, although the Sonos One uses Amazon Alexa and promises future Google Assistant support.
Measuring 7.4 by 5.5 by 5.5 inches (HWD), the Citation One is available in black or gray. Though it has subtle, widely rounded corners, it looks more cylindrical, with a dirt-repellent blended wool fabric grille wrapping around most of its exterior. Four status LED lights shine through the fabric at the top of the front-facing panel when the speaker is active.
Up top, there's a control panel with touch-sensitive buttons, along with dual microphones for communicating with Google Assistant. The buttons have minimal markings—simple icons denote Mute (for turning the mics off), Bluetooth (for switching from Wi-Fi to Bluetooth streaming from a paired device), and plus/minus for controlling volume. A central button, marked with a circle, controls playback and stops timers, alarms, and responses when tapped. Holding it for longer than two seconds summons Google Assistant. We found the buttons to be exceptionally easy to operate, with hardly any misfires.
There's no connectivity of any sort for listening to wired music sources—it's either Bluetooth or Wi-Fi only. The sole connections on the back panel are for the included power cable and a micro USB port for service. Other than the power cable, there are no included accessories. Rubber feet keep the speaker stable—though its substantial weight (4.4 pounds) also helps ensure it won't be dancing around countertops. The bottom panel also houses a reset button.
Unlike the Sonos One, the Citation One can be as a standard Bluetooth speaker, or via Wi-Fi with Google Assistant. To use Google Assistant, you can press the central button on top of the speaker, or simply say, "Hey Google." We had no problem pairing and communicating with Google Assistant through the speaker thanks to solid mic clarity. However, like most smart speakers, there's no speakerphone function.
If you're not familiar with Google Assistant and the Google Home, the good news is that it's incredibly easy to use. The app immediately recognizes the Citation One when it's powered up, and all that's left is to enter your Wi-Fi password. Once the connection is made (and you've taught Google Assistant to recognize your voice), there are many apps that integrate Google Cast, which is sort of like Google's version of Apple's AirPlay, which you can then use to stream audio to the speaker over Wi-Fi. And of course, with Bluetooth you can stream any audio your mobile device or computer can output.
Internally, the Citation One packs two drivers—one 20mm tweeter and one 89mm woofer. Yes, this means that, like many smart speakers, the Citation One is mono. It can be used in multi-speaker/multi-room setups, but on its own you're not going to get any stereo separation.
You probably won't care that the speaker is mono, as the drivers sound excellent. The woofer pushes out a beautiful, rich bass depth and the tweeter provides solid clarity. On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife's "Silent Shout," the Citation One outputs a substantial thump. At maximum volumes, this can cause what sounds like a rattling of the speaker itself—it's not distortion, but it is audible. More likely than not, however, the speaker is going to rattle the surface it's on before it suffers any vibrational sound of its own. At slightly lower volumes, this minor rattling is not an issue. If you listen to tracks with lots of sub-bass, experiment with speaker placement, or even an EQ app, to keep things vibration-free. When the bass is pumping through the Citation One clearly and cleanly, it sounds powerful and is well-balanced with high frequency presence.
Bill Callahan's "Drover," a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a better sense of the Citation One's general sound signature. The drums on this track get some added bass heft—they don't veer into unnaturally thunderous territory, but they definitely receive some boosting, as do Callahan's baritone vocals. Thankfully, this bass thump and low-mid richness are counterbalanced with some clear, crisp high-mid and high frequency presence, lending the vocals some treble edge and allowing the attack of the acoustic guitar to remain sharp and clear. This is a notably sculpted sound signature that will scare off any purist not already turned off by the mono-only audio—but the boosting is done tastefully, and the result is clear and balanced.
On Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild," the kick drum loop receives a solid amount of high-mid presence, allowing its attack to retain some punch. The loop's sustain, however, is where much of the attention is redirected here—there's some serious boosting that pushes the drum's bass to the fore in a manner that we don't always hear on this track. We hear the sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat, as well, but they're dialed back compared with the loop's thump—if there was a subwoofer in the mix here, that statement would be reversed. The sub-bass synth is often one of the most notable elements of the mix, but it's upstaged by the bass-pumped drum loop through the Citation One. The three vocal performances on this track are delivered clearly and cleanly, without any added sibilance.
Orchestral tracks, like the opening scene from John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, get a little more bass boosting than they need. The lows are pushed forward in the mix, and it's not an unpleasant sound, but it's not terribly natural either. Still, the higher register brass, strings, and vocals are not robbed of their bright presence—they're simply anchored by added bass depth that some listeners are bound to love regardless of its accuracy.
The Harman Kardon Citation One delivers a user-friendly experience through its simple manual controls as well as through Google Assistant. It also puts out some solid, bass-forward audio as well. The lack of wired connectivity is annoying (but not unique), and the mono-only, bass-forward sound isn't going to appeal to those seeking a flatter, more audio experience. But the rich, crisp sound signature will please plenty, making the Citation One a standout option in a growing field.
As mentioned earlier, we're also fans of the Sonos One, which currently supports Amazon Alexa and will include Google Assistant integration in the future. The Google Home Max, Amazon Echo Plus, and Apple HomePod are also worth checking out, depending on your voice assistant of choice. For $200, however, there's plenty to like about the Harman Kardon Citation One, making it a solid buy if you like Google Assistant.
Harman Kardon's Citation One speaker uses Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Google Assistant voice control to deliver a user-friendly, bass-forward audio experience.
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I've been a contributing editor for PCMag since 2011. Before that, I was PCMag's lead audio analyst from 2006 to 2011. Even though I'm a freelancer now, PCMag has been my home for well over a decade, and audio gear reviews are still my primary focus. Prior to my career in reviewing tech, I worked as an audio engineer—my love of recording audio eventually led me to writing about audio gear.
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