From the small, silver remote control to the space-age smooth surface of the speaker enclosure and the additional passive bass speakers hidden within the structure – the Edifier e25HD speakers are an attractive proposition.
Available in black, white and red (with a possibility of orange and blue in the future?), getting a pair to match your décor will be simple – whether you choose to make them blend in or stand out.
Set up is straightforward, even if the cable that links the speakers together is a bit fiddly. The touch control on the speakers fits in with the design, but a dial would be much easier and more satisfying. The tiny front-mounted LED lets you know if the speakers are on – and the colour changes from green to blue when you go wireless.
The audio quality is good and AV aficionados will appreciate the optical connection. Connecting the speakers to an iPhone 8 using Bluetooth was simple and the connection was stable from across the room – a distance of just over 6 metres.
Going back to Edifier’s 3 original claims of style, power and flawless audio reproduction, the E25HDs score high on looks and reproduction, but are slightly anaemic when it comes to delivering on power.
The E25HD speakers are expected to retail around the £160 mark and that’s the only real challenge. The new HD version has optical support.
Our side-by-side comparison was done with a set of Wavemaster Moody speakers. This 2.1 kit will set you back around £69 and they gave the Edifiers a serious run for their money in all of our comparisons.
According to the packaging, the Moody speakers offer 65w RMS (2x15w plus a 35w sub-woofer) while the Edifiers boast 74w RMS (2x15w treble and 2x22w bass speakers). In reality, the 2.1 configuration packs a significantly larger punch across most of the music and films we used for testing.
All the time we were testing, we kept pivoting back to the price. There are a lot of products that pack more punch for less money. Creative’s Sound BlasterX Kratos S5 also includes RGB that will extend the lighting set up you have in your rig. There are others that have a similar feature set. But then you need to consider the additional features and design on offer from Edifier.
These units are seriously stylish, the audio reproduction itself is excellent and while it might not have the out-n-out punch of a good 2.1 set up, it does offer an optical connection and Bluetooth – arguably making the E25HD a better all-round home speaker system. The DRC/DSP combination worked and there was no clipping or distortion, even at maximum volume.
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Pros
- Styling.
- Connectivity.
- Clarity.
Cons
- Needs more presence for the price.
KitGuru says: Worth buying if style is important to you and you listen to music, TV and games at regular volumes.