We’ve got smart assistants in our phones, in our earphones and in our speakers. Why not bedside clocks too? Amazon opened the floodgates with its Echo Dot with Clock speaker. But how about if you want something Google flavoured instead?
You might want to take a look at the Harman Kardon Citation Oasis alarm clock. The Citation range, you may remember, is Harman Kardon’s answer to the likes of Sonos, a multi-room proposition that includes soundbars, bookshelf speakers and floor-standing towers. We enjoyed earlier entries into the range enough to award it a Best of IFA gong a few years back. 2020 will see the range expand to include the Oasis, a little Google-powered bedside number.
Available in black and grey fabric wraps, the Oasis, like all good alarm clocks should, sneaks into the background with an understated, rounded design.
In terms of connectivity and playback, it’s about as well-featured as you could hope for. As well as standard Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, the Oasis can playback tunes via Apple AirPlay and Google Chromecast, and can take voice input thanks to its built-in mic and support for the Google Assistant helper.
A smart wake up
As such, not only can you talk to the Oasis to organise alarms, but you can also ask it for information on all manner of topics in Google’s cloud-based brain, ask it for specific radio stations and have it control any smart home devices you’ve got hooked up to Google’s eco-system.
Being a clock, of course, the Oasis has a small front-facing display that will show you the time and other information relating to what you’re doing with the speaker. But its tricks don’t just end there. On its top side, where you’ll also find a range of playback controls, also sits a wireless charging matt. Pop a compatible smartphone on top, and you’ll wake with a fully-charged phone in the morning, saving you a plug socket and valuable bedside real estate.
We took a look at the Citation Oasis at the Bristol Hi-Fi show in the UK, where unfortunately the unit we saw was not set up for music playback. However, in terms of raw specs, it appears to have a healthy 12W power output, and support for 24Bits / 96 KHz HD audio streaming playback.
There’s no set release date for the Harmon Kardon Citation Oasis yet, but we’ve been told to expect a Q2 2020 launch. As for pricing, only US numbers have been released, weighing in at $199.95. That translates to close to £155 or AU$300, but we’ll keep you posted on confirmed local pricing when we receive it.
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