Today Harman announced the launch of its first two Lightning-compatible speaker docks. The docks will be released under the JBL brand, and will offer owners of Apple’s latest iOS devices direct connector support for the first time.
The two speaker docks include the OnBeat Micro ($99.95) for the iPhone 5 and other small devices, and the larger OnBeat Venue Lightning ($199.95) supporting the full line of Lightning devices including iPad, iPad mini, iPhone 5, iPod touch, and iPod nano.
Engadget published a brief review of the new speaker docks, giving generally positive marks to both.
The review notes that the Venue LT sounded very full and clear, with no indication the speakers were having any trouble pushing out a high level of volume. The Micro did sound tinny, but given its small size, the review noted that was to be expected.
Both systems are compatible with the JBL MusicFlow app allowing for extended EQ tweaking.
Engadget also remarked on the inability of the docks to work with many common iPhone cases, and that the connector on the docks did seem somewhat wobbly.
JBL was highlighted by Apple during the Lightning connector’s introduction back in September as one of the vendors that had received advance access to the new connector information.
