The Edifier MP230 is a portable Bluetooth speaker but surely doesn’t look like one. What you get instead is a classic design inspired by the vintage radios from the 1950s and 1960s and it’s no wonder that it was a CES 2022 Innovation Award Honoree product. This is a speaker that wants to be displayed, either at home or at the office, and one that you would be proud to show off. It really is unlike a lot of what’s in the market right now and honestly one of the best-looking speakers I’ve seen in a while.
The first thing that catches your eye about the Edifier MP230 is its retro styling. The use of an MDF wooden enclosure along with the bronze-colored mesh weave and classic piano key buttons gives the MP230 a classic vibe that will mesh well in any room. You can’t deny the beauty in the construction and the perfect mix of colors that complement the wood so well. My favorite design element has to be those piano key buttons as they not only look really good, but they’re also really easy to press down on making them so easy to use.
Of course, looks aren’t everything and the Edifier MP230 can back up its gorgeous looks with amazing sound quality to match. It’s a stereo speaker setup with two-48mm full frequency driver units, coupled with an integrated large-size dual passive radiator. Not only will you get crisp-sounding mids and high, but also deep and punchy bass. On top of that, these have no trouble filling up a room with your tunes as they can get pretty loud. That’s due to the Texas Instruments TAS5822M amplifier chipset which supports power output up to 25W*2.
Other notable specs include Bluetooth 5.0, a 2600 mAh rechargeable lithium-ion battery (good for up to 10 hours per charge), and multiple inputs such as an AUX, sound card and TF card.
So how does the Edifier MP230 sound? Very good. In fact, I now use it on my work setup at home. I have it set up where I have my PC plugged into it via AUX jack, and my phone is hooked up to it via Bluetooth. I only use my phone with it if I want to listen to some music when my computer isn’t on. Otherwise, I use the MP230 as my default computer speaker setup and it sounds so good. Audio through it is so crisp and clear and the bass is definitely there, sounding nice and deep. It’ll playback any genre of music so smoothly with zero distortion. I also use the speakers for gaming when I don’t want to use my headset and I gotta say, despite it not giving me that 360-degree feeling, they work quite well for gaming.
I also like the fact that these charge via USB-C. That means I can use the cable I normally use to charge my phone with, I can use it to charge this speaker and when it is charged, just run it using battery power. You can keep it permanently plugged in, but I don’t really advise that since it seems like you’d be continuously charging the battery at all times, and that’s usually not good. I also like how the speaker shuts itself down after about 10-15 minutes of inactivity. Basically, if there’s no audio running through it, it just shuts itself off. That helps conserve power.
So the Edifier MP230 has a lot going for it. It looks fantastic with its retro styling, it sounds really good too with the 2-48mm drivers and passive radiators, plus, it has multiple ports which allow for different ways to enjoy your tunes. Most may only use Bluetooth, but it’s nice to have options. Overall though, you’re going to just love how this little speaker looks, and while it may look small, it provides huge sounds.
