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Edifier's e25 Luna Eclipse Bluetooth speakers sound as good as they look
Edifier makes some amazing Bluetooth speakers, and the latest to come out of the company are the Edifier e25 Luna Eclipse Bluetooth speakers. The US$199 speakers are smaller and less expensive than the striking Spinnaker speakers we reviewed in 2012, but still deliver solid sound and good looks. We're also giving away a pair of these gorgeous speakers, so read the review and make your entry. If you're not the lucky winner, you can still get a deal on the Luna Eclipse speakers: just use coupon code TUAWLunaEclipse420 when checking out of the Edifier online store and you'll not only get 20 percent of a pair of the speakers, but free shipping as well! Specifications Price: US$199 Dimensions: 8.74" high x 4.8" wide x 8.35" deep (22.2 x 12.2 x 21.2 cm) Weight: 7.9 lbs (3.6 kg) Power Source: AC (adapter included) Connection: Bluetooth, can also use 3.5 mm stereo jack Drivers: 3-inch bass driver and 19 mm silk dome tweeter, plus a 3-inch passive bass radiator in each speaker Frequency response: Right/Left: 6.1 - 20 KHz, Subwoofer: 30 Hz - 1.58 KHz Also included: 3-button remote Design Highlights Maybe it was the fact that I was listening to Daft Punk while reviewing the Luna Eclipse speakers, but the curved shiny plastic of the speaker cases reminded me of some futuristic helmets that the French house duo would wear. The reviewed speakers were bright red, but also come in a shiny basic black and a nice glossy white. A proprietary cable runs between the two speakers to connect them, with a six-pin connector on the back of each speaker. The right speaker includes a small LED to indicate power and Bluetooth status, as well as touch controls on one side for power and volume. Functionality Highlights Whether I'm reviewing plug-in desktop speakers like these or battery-powered portable speakers, I look for two things -- how easy the speakers are to set up and how good the sound quality is. Once I removed the speakers from their protective bags, setup was a piece of cake. You just plug the AC adapter into the wall and a DC plug into the back of the right speaker, then connect the two speakers with a long cable. Tapping the touch-sensitive power button on the right speaker makes an unobtrusive red LED light up, at which time you can pair the speakers to your device of choice. I connected it to my iPhone, waited for a confirming "bloop", and then started pumping tunes through the speakers. These are definitely loud speakers, and the sound quality is impressive as well. I enjoyed watching the bass drivers visibly move when listening to bass-heavy music, and the speakers easily filled a room that usually falls acoustically flat. Any complaints? No. The speakers compliment any Mac, they have great sound, and they're reasonably-priced. The Luna Eclipse speakers will give you years of solid sound. Conclusion I love it when a manufacturer makes it easy for me to give their product a good rating. Between the futuristic design of these shiny speakers, the ease of setup, and the quality of sound provided, the Edifier e25 Luna Eclipse speakers definitely earned their four-star rating. Rating: 4 stars out of 4 stars possible Giveaway One of you readers is going to win this pair of Edifier e25 Luna Eclipse Bluetooth speakers! Here are the rules for the giveaway: Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older. To enter, fill out the form below completely and click or tap the Submit button. The entry must be made before March 11 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time. You may enter only once. One winner will be selected and will receive a pair of Edifier e25 Luna Eclipse Bluetooth speakers valued at $199.00 Click Here for complete Official Rules. Loading...
Edifier's iF335 Bluetooth speaker pumps up the volume for $99
Looks like Mr. Eddie Fier, the man we hope is CEO of Edifier, is planning to wade into the Jambox-wars with this Bluetooth speaker-cum-speakerphone. The iF335 Bric Connect bonds with your devices over Bluetooth and auxiliary inputs, pumping out 12 watts of RMS power over a pair of 70mm drivers. It's available from today for $99.99, assuming you can still type after the unremitting hilarity of our Eddie Fier / Edifier gag earlier.
Edifier e10 Exclaim PC speakers punctuate the air with 36W of sound
Computer speaker design rarely sits in the middle: it tends to be dry on creativity or go over the top. Edifier is sometimes known for testing the limits itself, but its new e10 Exclaim speakers might strike just the right balance in taste. The 2.0-channel system trades on its exclamation point imagery without falling too far into gimmick territory. It might even sound good at the same time -- the dot in each satellite's punctuation helps pump out a reasonable 36W of sound across two amplifiers and allows for separate woofer and tweeter sections with their own passive radiators. The speakers are available today for $100, and only leave us wondering if a higher-end model would demand an interrobang.
Edifier releases the Esiena and Bric Bluetooth speakers for iOS devices
With the arrival of the iPhone 5 and its legacy-wrecking Lightning port, this holiday season is likely to be the last that heavily features the now-obsolete dock connector. Two products caught in the wrong turn of history are Edifier's new pair of iOS device docks for home and on the go. If you need a "big" sound in a modest package, then the Esiena Bluetooth offers 3-inch full-range drivers and a class D digital amplifier -- and it's also packing Auxiliary, USB, SD card inputs and a digital FM radio. If you're more the adventuring type, then the portable Bric Bluetooth offers 2.75-inch full range drivers and the same class D amplifier in addition to a traveling pouch to keep the hardware safe on your travels. The Esiena will set you back $300 and the Bric a slender $100, with both arriving in the US and Canada from today.
Edifier Spinnaker Bluetooth Speaker System: Striking appearance, amazing sound
Edifier is an international manufacturer of a number of electronics accessories, including iPhone/iPod docks like the Tick Tock Dock. While I was less than impressed with the sound and design of that retro alarm clock dock, Edifier's e30 Spinnaker Bluetooth Speaker System (US$349.99) looks like it's going to be a winner for the company. Let's take a look at these visually striking (and great-sounding) speakers. Design The first thing that hits you when you see the Spinnaker speakers is the design, which is unique amongst Bluetooth speaker systems. These gently curving cones look either like rhinoceros horns or fully deployed spinnakers on a sailboat. Available in black or burgundy, the speakers stand about 16 inches tall. %Gallery-161887% Each Spinnaker includes three amplifiers pushing a 10 W tweeter, a 10 W 2-3/4" midrange speaker and a 25 W 4" downward-firing bass speaker. The Spinnaker set includes a small dome-shaped Bluetooth remote -- and what I mean by that is that it's a manual remote that communicates with the Spinnaker via Bluetooth. You turn it clockwise to turn up the volume, just like a volume knob, and the bottom glows red to let you know that it's communicating with the speakers. The control also works to skip to the next or previous track, mute and unmute playback, and adjust the volume. The remote is rechargeable via an included USB to micro-USB cable. Not only can you bump your tunes to the Spinnaker speakers over Bluetooth, but the speakers also include an AUX input and an optical audio input (cables included) for connectivity to gaming consoles and multimedia systems. For extra bass, there's a separate subwoofer output. The two speakers are tied together via a proprietary cable, and there's a 5 V power brick that supplies juice to the active speaker. Functionality As with all speaker and headphone reviews, it's important realize that sound reproduction methods and the sounds perceived by the reviewer are very subjective, so your results may vary from mine. I found the sound quality to be excellent, as one would expect with three separate amplifiers and three decently sized drivers per speaker. If you use the speakers next to a Mac (the Edifier site shows one Spinnaker on either side of an iMac, for instance), expect to be blown away by the volume and clarity of the Spinnaker system. One interesting note: when I played music from my iMac (late 2009), the sound quality was often choppy. Playing the same tunes from a late 2010 MacBook Air, iPhone 4S or third-generation iPad resulted in amazing sound quality and additional volume. My guess is that it's the Bluetooth 4 capabilities of the newer Mac, the iPhone and the iPad that work so well with the speakers. So that's a warning to potential purchasers -- pairing with a fairly new Apple product will get you best sound quality over Bluetooth. Conclusion If you want more than the plain box shape on a good-sounding Bluetooth speaker system, then you'll definitely want to take a look at the Edifier Spinnaker. The speakers look great and the sound is hard to beat. Audiophiles with recent Bluetooth devices who want to beam tunes to these speakers will be quite happy. Pros Great sound quality and volume for a Bluetooth speaker system Very striking design that is definitely out of the ordinary AUX and optical audio input make Spinnaker speakers usable with other devices Price is reasonable for an audiophile product The hemispherical remote is a brilliant idea for setting the max volume level of the speakers, then using the volume control of the device (iPhone, Mac) to control the relative level. Cons Price is high for mass market Who is it for? Audiophiles who want a pair of Bluetooth speakers that make a statement, both in terms of their sound quality and design.
Edifier's Spinnaker Bluetooth speaker system promises not to hurt you, sells for $350
Despite what you might be thinking, what you're seeing above isn't a pair of sleek and very polished viking horns -- instead, you're gawking at an eccentric set of Bluetooth speakers. Adequately dubbed "Spinnaker," the rig measures in at a whopping 16.5 inches in height, and Edifier says the uncommon figure is specifically designed to "project sound toward the listener with front facing tweeters and mid-range drivers." The Spinnaker's compatible with nearly every Bluetooth-equipped (2.1+ EDR) device you may have laying around, but you'll have to shell out a mighty $350 if you're planning on adding these beasts to your sound setup. In any case, Edifier's got 'em up for grabs now on its website, where you'll also find the rest of the audio spec sheet along with some additional press shots.
A pair o' docks: Edifier Tick Tock Dock and XtremeMac Luna Voyager II
Alarm docks are one of the most popular genres of charging docs for iOS devices. They not only charge your device while you sleep, but help to wake you up to tunes from your device, FM radio, or auxiliary sources such as chimes. I received a couple of docks over the past month that caught my attention, and here's a full review of both the Edifier Tock Tock Dock and XtremeMac Luna Voyager II -- two very different products that do the same thing. %Gallery-153166% Edifier Tick Tock Dock I'm old enough to remember the good old wind-up alarm clocks. They had several really annoying habits, like ticking way too loud and scaring the crap out of me when they went off, but in a lot of ways they had some charm. They always had two bells on the top sticking out like ears, and a round face with a dial clock. Now Edifier has come up with a fun retro-styled dock for the iPhone and iPod touch called the Tick Tock Dock (US$79.99) that brings the old round alarm clock into the future. Edifier is all about design, and this clever product is not only fun to look at, but works well as a alarm clock, as a charging speaker dock for your iPhone or iPod touch, and as an FM radio. The round face of the clock (which, alas, is digital) hides a big speaker as well as the dock for your iOS device. With a touch, a secret door pivots around to show the dock -- once you grab your iPhone, you can close the dock to make the Tick Tock Dock look more like a clock. Those two "bells" that stick up from the top appear to hide two smaller speaker ports. On the top of the unit is a navigation pad for your Music app, and a toggle button to switch between functions and inputs (you can hook in an external input). On the back of the Tick Tock Dock are a 9V DC IN port, the AUX IN port, and four more buttons -- mode, set, down and up. Setting the time and date on the clock is easy; you just dock your iPhone or iPod touch and it's done. But here's where the design begins to get a bit wonky. If you're like me, you like to be able to check the time at night, and with your iOS device plugged into the dock to charge, you can't see the clock face. Sure, you could hit the Home button on your device and check the time, but that kind of defeats the purpose of having a large time display on the clock, doesn't it? Once you've set the alarm -- on the dock, not on the iOS device, it will start up the music at the appointed time, with the volume gradually getting louder. That navigation pad serves as a snooze button, which gives you a brief respite (10 minutes) before you have to wake up and face the day. The sound of the Tick Tock Dock is pretty good as "clock radios" go, providing amazingly good stereo separation. It can definitely get loud enough to wake almost anyone -- with the possible exception of one of my college roommates who could sleep through a direct hit by a meteor. XtremeMac Luna Voyager II The next dock I looked at was the XtremeMac Luna Voyager II ($69.99), a larger dock that can accommodate the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad -- although not simultaneously. The Luna Voyager II has a nice demarcation of device and clock, so you can actually see the clock when your iOS device is docked. In case you were wondering, that was a not-so-subtle jab at the design of the Tick Tock Dock. XtremeMac refers to this as an "app-enhanced" accessory, meaning that when you dock your iOS device, you'll get a request to download and install an app. The app is the self-named "Luna Voyager II" app, and it's what you use to set up and use the alarms. For setting dual alarms (one at 7:00 AM and the other at 8:30 AM, for instance), you just use the app. Tuning the radio? Use the app. Selecting a song to listen to when you wake up? The app. The Luna Voyager II app is, however, quite flawed -- especially when used with an iPad. The dock works well with an iPhone or iPod touch, with the phone sliding right onto the Dock Connector and working with the app to synchronize alarms you have set with the actual dock. With the iPad, the app doesn't provide controls for setting the time of the alarm -- a major issue. I even tried XtremeMac's other app -- Alarm Clock -- but it's not designed to work with the dock. So while you can recharge your iPad with the Luna Voyager II and play tunes through the speaker, it doesn't work well as an alarm clock with an iPad. The Luna Voyager II works well with the iPhone and iPod touch, but not so well with the iPad due to the lack of full app integration. I also found the iPad a bit difficult to dock on the Luna Voyager II. Some positives for the dock are that the company includes an FM radio antenna for better reception, and there's a small plastic stand for holding up your iOS device, especially important with the iPad. I felt that the sound quality of the Tick Tock Dock was actually better than that of the Luna Voyager II, but if you're looking at buying the dock primarily for the purpose of using it as an alarm clock, it's going to do the job. Conclusion and Giveaway Both the Edifier Tick Tock Dock and XtremeMac Luna Voyager II are nice-looking products with some subtle flaws. The Tick Tock Dock is one of the happiest-looking iPhone docks I've ever seen, although the design makes it impossible to see the time on the clock when an iPhone is docked. I found the lack of an integrated app to be somewhat odd, but the superior sound quality of the Tick Tock Dock more than made up for that. The XtremeMac Luna Voyager II is more traditional looking and includes an integrated app that works quite well with the iPhone and iPod touch. The dual alarm capability is wonderful for couples with different wake-up times, and since all settings are made through the app, there's no complicated dance to do with a bunch of buttons to get things to work. Here's your chance to win one of these two docks and make sure that you wake up on time every morning. To enter, just fill out the form below completely and press the submit button. Follow the rules, get your entry in early, and you can be the happy owner of one of these two docks. Here are the rules for the giveaway: Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older. To enter, fill out the form below completely and click or tap the Submit button. The entry must be made before April 15, 2012, 11:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time. You may enter only once. Two winners will be selected. One will receive an Edifier Tick Tock Dock valued at $79.99, while the other receives an XtremeMac Luna Voyager II valued at $69.99. Click Here for complete Official Rules. Loading...
Edifier packs 7-inch LCD into iF380 stereo, shows off Rainbow IR audio system
We're used to large quantities of "me too" design and product from most smaller manufacturers -- with China hosting some of the worst offenders -- but Edifier is breaking the mold with a couple of new home audio products. The Chinese company has put quite a bit of thought and design into its "Active IR" Rainbow wireless audio system, which uses a wide IR spectrum for ultra-low-loss uncompressed digital transmission. All it takes is a 3.5mm input and you're set, with transmissions from the base station to receivers working at up to 15 meters. The sound is supposedly CD quality, and it certainly sounded good to our ears. The other item of note is the iF380 iPod dock (pictured), which includes a 7-inch LCD, SD card and USB inputs, and some 25 Watt speakers. The €350 pricetag might be hard to swallow when this rolls around in July, but the unit is certainly quite a bit sexier than its competition.%Gallery-17419%
Edifier M0 iPod alarm clock comes with cartoon faces?
We're not exactly sure what to make of the new Edifier M0 iPod alarm clock speaker. All we know via AVING and a Google-translated PCHome article is that this iPod alarm clock apparently has a nine minute snooze button. (Don't you just hate those? Why not 10?) Further, while we're not entirely sure on this, M0 appears to come with optional faces for one side (see next page for examples), and PCHome claims that the Edifier M0 has "authorization from Apple, designed specifically for iPod." Yeah, we're a bit skeptical on that front too unless they're talkin' Made For iPod, in which case they paid Apple for that "authorization." What about pricing and availability? Ha, good luck.[Via AVING]
