Netgear Orbi Voice Review: our opinion, our laboratory measurements

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In the absence of a wired connection and a Bluetooth module on the Orbi Voice, we cannot publish acoustic measurements.

The Orbi Voice is not just a simple Wi-Fi repeater and has claims about sound rendering. Netgear promotes its Harman / Kardon partnership, a name we know well in the audio world. We must admit that the result is relatively successful, even if everything is not perfect.

The Orbi Voice offers a fairly rich sound rendering and has a nice power reserve given its size, sufficient to listen to music at a good volume in a room of 20 to 30 m² (depending on the configuration and acoustic). The distortion remains fairly well controlled when you push more seriously on the listening volume, but you still feel some weaknesses at very high volume (significant compression of the dynamics in particular). The speaker exhibits very good extension in the extreme extremes. The bass is therefore deep and the sound base solid – again, given the size of the speaker. The sound rendering proposed by default is also particularly focused on the bass, which gives a round, soft and particularly warm appearance. Although we appreciate the good definition in this area, this highlighting is sometimes a little excessive, especially since the reactivity of the membranes is not exemplary. This is particularly the case with mixes that are already subdued or heavily loaded with sources operating in this frequency band (bass, large percussion, double bass, cello, piano, etc.): the bass is as if confined, and there are mask effects on mediums. A small passage on the custom equalizer or by the “Rock” preset reduces this behavior and allows a slightly more balanced and clearer reproduction. The equalizer is also interesting to compensate for the timidity of the high mids, which also contributes to the warm side of the overall rendering. This significantly improves clarity and the presence of sound. Voices are also more intelligible.

The extension in the treble is correct, but we expected more. The treble lacks a bit of air and detail. We can correctly perceive certain coin effects, even if they are still shy. The Orbi Voice being very directive in the treble, this feeling is reinforced as soon as we shift a little from the axis of diffusion of the tweeter. Better to direct it to the usual listening point to get the best possible rendering. The Orbi Voice delivers a mono rendering, which is far from being surprising and harmful given its format. The monophonic summation, on the other hand, is a little surprising: the elements at the center of the scene (voice, solo instruments) are found more forward than usual and the elements at the ends are conversely a little more attenuated. Rest assured, there is nothing unacceptable here.

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