If you’ve ever seen a pair of transparent desktop speakers and thought, “What are those?”, chances are you were looking at the Harman Kardon SoundSticks. They’ve been around for over two decades and have become a bit of a design classic, originally launched in collaboration with Apple. Now, the company is rolling out updated versions of both the SoundSticks and the dome-shaped Aura Studio speaker, bringing them into the streaming era with support for high-res audio over Wi-Fi.

Both models—the SoundSticks 5 Wi-Fi and the Aura Studio 5 Wi-Fi—are set to launch globally starting in March 2026, priced at €379.99 / £349.99. U.S. pricing hasn’t been announced yet.

From the outside, not much has changed—and that’s on purpose. The SoundSticks 5 still feature the signature transparent satellites and subwoofer, but this time with a white-tinted dome and a polished metal center plate. The Aura Studio 5 also keeps its familiar dome shape, but adds deeper black fabric and some updated silver accents around the base.

What’s new is mostly behind the scenes. Both speakers now come with built-in Wi-Fi for streaming music directly from services like Spotify Connect, TIDAL Connect, Apple AirPlay, Google Chromecast, Qobuz Connect, and Roon Ready platforms. That means you can skip the Bluetooth connection if you want—and stream high-resolution audio straight from your favorite app or smart device.

Both the SoundSticks 5 and Aura Studio 5 now come with ambient lighting that reacts to your music or can be set manually. There are six preset lighting themes available, but if you want to change the brightness or color, you can do that through the Harman Kardon ONE app.

The Aura Studio 5 takes things a step further with a dome-shaped light projection, giving it a visual presence that goes beyond just playing sound. If you like your speakers to double as a conversation piece—or if you’re setting up a vibe in a living room or bedroom—this might be a fun bonus.

Both speakers use a three-way driver design that’s meant to provide full-range sound.

• The SoundSticks 5 Wi-Fi is a 2.1-channel system with a dedicated subwoofer and two satellite speakers. Each satellite has three 1.6-inch midrange drivers and one 1-inch tweeter, while the sub uses a 5.25-inch woofer for bass.
• The Aura Studio 5 Wi-Fi uses a similar setup in a single-unit design. Inside, you’ll find six 1.5-inch midrange drivers, two 1-inch tweeters, and another 5.25-inch subwoofer.

Both are tuned to deliver a wide soundstage and enough volume to fill a small or medium-sized room. While Harman Kardon hasn’t shared detailed power specs yet, the internal components are similar to what we saw in previous Bluetooth models—so performance should be in the same ballpark.

The addition of Wi-Fi means more than just better sound quality. These new models also support Bluetooth 6.0 with Auracast, which lets you group multiple speakers together for synchronized playback. That includes using two Aura Studio 5s in stereo, or setting up multiple SoundSticks across different rooms for whole-home audio.

You can also self-calibrate each speaker to the room it’s placed in. The built-in microphones and Harman Kardon ONE app work together to analyze the acoustics and adjust sound settings accordingly.

There’s also a “Moment” button built into both speakers. You can program this to start your favorite playlist or song with a single press—handy for when you want music without pulling out your phone.

Most of the controls happen through the Harman Kardon ONE app, where you can tweak audio, lighting, and connectivity settings. Physical buttons are still available on the speakers themselves for basic functions like volume and playback.

What’s missing? At this point, there’s no mention of voice assistant support, so if you’re hoping to control these with Alexa, Siri, or Google Assistant, you’ll need a separate device for that. And while earlier versions of the SoundSticks included HDMI ARC for TV use, there’s no word yet on whether that’s still part of the setup.

The SoundSticks 5 Wi-Fi and Aura Studio 5 Wi-Fi will be available starting March 2026 through Harman Kardon’s website and other retailers in Europe and the UK. Pricing is set at €379.99 / £349.99. We’re still waiting on details for a U.S. release.

If you’ve been using older versions of these speakers, like the Aura Studio 4 ($250 at Amazon) and SoundSticks 4 ($330 at Amazon)—or just want something with a unique look and modern connectivity—they could be worth keeping an eye on. The addition of hi-res streaming, multi-room audio, and custom lighting brings them up to speed with today’s connected audio systems, while keeping the distinctive designs that made them stand out in the first place.