Since setting my desk up about a year ago, I’ve been trying to find some speakers that will fit under my monitor and not take up too much space, because I am quite limited in my little office. Well, Edifier must have heard me, because they’ve released their M60 compact speakers, and they tick all my needs, perfectly.
Out of the box, alot smaller than I imagined. You sometimes read through the features and sizes of products when browsing online, and I did for these, before they came, and I read the size,e but it didn’t click how small they were until I got them out. That size is 168mil high, 100mil wide and 147mil deep. They come in three finishes: white, like I have here, black or classic oak, where they have a black face and what I assume is an oak veneer, wrapped around the sides.
To the front of the speakers are the tweeter and driver, bare, there is no mesh grille, which I’m ok with, as I prefer the modern, open look. The right speaker is the master, the left the slave, so on the back of the right speaker are the inputs, and they include USB C and 3.5mil aux. Power also into the right, plus the speaker cable connection from the right to the left. If you don’t want to use a hardwired connection, these do have Bluetooth too.
Watch the video to see the speakers in action!
There are four small rubber feet on each speaker, but you also get these very sleek metal stands included too, so you can mount the speakers on the stands so they direct the audio up slightly towards your ears, when set up on a desk. They’re well built, they feel sturdy, and they have a nice weight to them too, so they certainly have a premium feel to them, and so they should, as the retail price on these is £160.
It’s a 2.0 system, so two speakers, no subwoofer and no option for adding a subwoofer at a later date if you wanted to either. These are active speakers, so they have a built-in closed-loop class D amplifier from Texas Instruments and have a total output from both speakers of 66 watts. Each speaker has a 1” silk dome tweeter and a 3” long-throw aluminium mid to low driver. Full digital signal processing with two-way active crossover and DRC. Hi-res audio and hi-res wireless certified. This means LDAC and SBC codecs, and upto 24 bit 96kHz processing.
The setup was very straightforward, and for me, as I placed these on my desk, I’ve opted for the USB C route, so I’ve connected the speakers directly into the back of my PC. First time turning them on, my PC recognised them and when I go into the audio settings, they come up as Edifier M60 speakers. If I didn’t have a spare USB port, I would have gone for the Aux input, and if I wasn’t plugging them into my pc and instead having them in the living room or somewhere else, I’d go with Bluetooth. So very versatile and should cater for most circumstances. I should say, you get all the cables you need in the box, so power and speaker cables, which are a must, are included, but also aux to aux, aux to RCA, and USB C to C as well.
In terms of performance, I went in with managed expectations, as these are small speakers, small drivers, but I am pleasantly surprised and they offer a bigger sound than their size. Low to mid volumes, very enjoyable, well balanced, clear vocals, the low end cuts through and actually gave a nice little rumble to my desk. Turn it up a little bit more, it’s fine, but as the volume hits the higher end, the quality drops off a little bit. Surprisingly, the bass is somewhat retained, but the sound becomes a bit muddled, some clarity is lost and those little 3inch drivers are working overtime. I went through the different sound profiles or EQ’s via the app and generally stuck with the music option, as I felt that was the best all-around based upon the country and rock music I listened to. Watching content was really good as well and better than I expected. There’s no Dolby or DTX available, but I really enjoyed watching movies and series with them, the bass delivered, and there’s a nice home cinema experience vibe to them, so you could even plug these into your TV.
The controls are very simple, you’ve got touch-sensitive buttons on the top of the right speaker, and what I really like, is that the lights of the buttons turn off, until you move your hand close to the speaker. So, without touching anything, just hover your hand nearby and the buttons will illuminate so you can use them, which is pretty cool. Three buttons in total, an on/off symbol, then plus and minus, and it’s a matter of touching those buttons in various ways and watching the colours they turn into, to control the speakers. A single press on the power on button will cycle through source, so Bluetooth, USB and Aux. Up and down to change tracks, volume control and so on. It’s quite easy to work out yourself, or all the commands are detailed within the instructions. The buttons work well, I didn’t use them too much as I controlled everything via my PC but the touch sensitivity seemed positive and they were very easy to use.
The app, now you can pair the speakers to the Edifier Connex app, but only if you’re using the speakers via Bluetooth, or so that’s what I thought at first. For me, with these connected to my PC, I couldn’t access the app, there is no Windows software available, only iOS and Android, so I thought I was pretty much locked out. Well, I wasnt. Instead, you need to connect to the speakers via Bluetooth, then within the app, change the source to USB or Aux. Then back to the PC to control content. This then meant I had access to the app, connected via Bluetooth but playing music through my PC and USB port. Options are limited in the app; you’re given the choice of 5 EQ options or sound effects, music, monitor, game, movie and customised, where you can use sliders on the app to adjust the sound. You can also adjust volume and change a couple of minor settings.
Overall, the M60 have delivered and ticked all the boxes for me. Perfect shape, size and appearance. Audio quality is very good, great for music, loved watching stuff from Netflix with these. The controls work well, I really like it when you hover close to the buttons, they illuminate. I like the input options; it should be enough for most people. The app is ok, I wanted more from it and gaining access while plugged into my PC was a bit faff. The price is steep at £160, and Edifier themselves have alot of bookshelf speakers available for less than this, and potentially bigger and maybe better. So if you’re not so limited on size, it may be worth checking out some of Edifier’s other speakers as well.
For more info, head over to the official Edifier website.
