Edifier R1700BT Bluetooth equipped computer speakers review

Edifier seems to have some kind of dual personality. Remember the cool modern looks of the Lunar Eclipse speakers I reviewed recently? Well, I have been living with a pair of R1700BT and they are much more classically speaker-y – but how do they sound?

The Edifier R1700BT bookshelf speakers still pack in Bluetooth connectivity but are more likely to suit more family homes than their more contemporary stablemates. Not that the R1700BT look old-fashioned, far from it.

The R1700BT look and feel sturdy just as you would expect speakers to, but the price might surprise you.

Edifier R1700BT speakers design

The R1700BT speakers look how a pair of wooden-cased speakers are expected to look like. They measure in at 154mm x 254mm x 214 mm and weigh 6.6kg (14.5 pounds), so they fit in the bookshelf/stand speaker category which are generally favoured by those not over-endowed with space in their listening room.

I did say that they looked like wooden-cased speakers but they’re not wooden. Not even veneer. Edifier describes the finish as ‘hand picked walnut vinyl’ which basically means that someone chose the roll of wood effect plastic to cover something else that isn’t wood. Squint though, and it does look like wood – it even kind of feels like wood.

Personally, I like how they look. They don’t shout “look at me!” but they are still clean, classy and yet modern. I particularly dig the way the speaker’s front panels are set at a ten degree angle to direct the sound up to your ears from a desk – which is where I think the main domain of the R1700BT will be.

Both speakers are almost identical with the main difference being that the right speaker’s right side is fitted with a recessed control panel for the bass, treble and volume knobs.

As you may have guessed by the positioning of the controls, the right speaker acts as the alpha out of this pair. The power supply feeds it directly from the mains, and all the inputs and outputs live around the rear of righty. These feature PC in and Aux in, both of which use RCA/phono connectors and then there’s a coaxial cable that brings lefty in to the party.

Edifier have kindly bundled in a 3.5mm jack to RCA cable so you can hook-up your phone or computer to the R1700BT straight away. Alternatively, you could go wireless and use Bluetooth.

Yup, looking at the R1700BT you could be forgiven for forgetting that these are modern speakers with modern ways.

To bring the speakers in to the 21st century all you have to do is select the Bluetooth mode by using the included, tiny remote and then pair them with the smart device of your choice.

Edifier R1700BT speakers performance

I’ve been using the R1700BT speakers for a few weeks whilst sat at my desk and have had them paired to my Ultrabook and NVIDIA Shield tablet.

Edifier seem to be able to get pretty good audio quality from their speakers which are quite inexpensive for how they sound.

The R1700BT are loaded with a 4-inch driver and 19mm “Eagle Eye” tweeter and utilise DSP and DRC tech.

They manage to operate at well with a nice balanced sound and limited distortion and they are certainly not lacking in the volume department either.

Bass is solid and on more low-end led tracks full of presence.

I really became fond of these speakers and, when plugged in to my computer, they did pretty well and really shone with movie soundtracks.

I have been spoiled by my computer set-up, even more-so as I am also in the process of reviewing some rather nice kit from Schiit Audio (yes, that’s what they’re called), so it would be unfair to compare the Edifier R1700BT with that.

However, apart from a bit of audible noise coming from them when paired but without any music playing, they performed a lot better than I expected, especially at this price point.

Yes there could be more sparkle in the mids, and clearer, warmer bass but, if you generally listen to Spotify for free or have a digital catalogue of mp3s ripped at a variety of bit rates then, chances are, you’re not likely to want to spend £100s on your PC speakers.

If you are on the look out for some great looking and great sounding speaker system though, you could do a lot worse than choosing the Edifier BT1700BT.

Edifier R1700BT speakers availability

You can grab a set of Edifier R1700BT right now for less than £80 from Amazon.co.uk.