Edifier GM6 Review

Here’s my Edifier GM6 Review. It’s been a while since I’ve reviewed some gaming oriented headphones made by Edifier. The last ones were the wired Edifier GM3SE. So, this is the first time I’m checking out some totally wireless earbuds completely designed for gaming.

The GM6 are completely wireless in-ear earbuds that come with environmental noise-canceling technology and dual microphones. Those dual-microphones make sure you’ll be able to hear with great clarity everything that’s going on in your game.

According to the spec, you’ll get around 10-hours of playback time per charge and they’ll work with consoles and most mobile devices / tablets. They sound good on paper then, but let’s get into the review and find out just how good these are in the real world.

After I’d ripped open the packaging it was fairly clear that the outer box should have probably followed the same design and manufacture methodology of the TWS NB’s.

The dark matt black box the GM6’s came in amplifies every feint scratch and mark, it didn’t look great. But, let’s be real here, it won’t affect the overall performance of the headphones, but it’s something that would annoy me as a customer, so it’s worth pointing out.

It may be because the box I received is a review sample. The consumer versions of the box are quite possibly wrapped in an outer plastic layer, so it’s probably not an issue at all! But, I like to point it out in the interest of transparency.

You can see what I mean in the main blog image, you’ll notice a heavily scratched outer box which would bring the unboxing experience down slightly.

The Edifier GM6 look great next to the other items on my desk.

Opening up the box then you’re greeted with a great looking charging case, it’s quite chunky and looks really robust, which I like. In terms of styling, you could keep the charging case on your desk and it won’t look out of place.

Single Use Plastic

One thing that was really obvious was the lack of almost any single use plastic. The only plastic I could see after opening up the outer packaging box was the plastic hook on the box and the thin plastic tray that houses the charging case.

I know I’ve mentioned it in most of my tech reviews, but I do think manufacturers have an obligation to reduce their consumption of single use plastic. The Edifier GM6’s use far less plastic in their packaging than previous products, so I’m pretty pleased so far.

Let’s check out the sound quality and find out how they perform when playing some games. Onto the sound quality.

Sound Quality

There are three different audio profiles you can switch between. This makes certain that you’re really isolating the relevant frequencies of environmental noise to totally engross yourself in your game, video, or podcast.

You can select the audio mode with a tap of the touch activated individual earbuds. I was a little confused by what each mode meant, as I couldn’t find any literature to explain the difference included in the box. But, I did find this article that explains each audio profile.

For the sound test, I thought I’d listen to Yelawolf’s album called Trial By Fire and I also wanted to play a bit of Grand Theft Auto V and watch a movie. So, the album’s up first.

When the first track played, I was really quite surprised to find that the bass response on the Edifier GM6 is really quite punchy and is very clearly the dominant frequency.

Now, don’t get me wrong the mid-range is well rounded and Yelawolf’s vocals sound great with great separation of each instrumental element clearly defined. The high-range is fantastic and well tuned, each high-hat and snare sound is loud and crystal clear.

The ENC (environmental noise control) does a decent job of minimising background environmental noise, but it’s not quite as good as true active noise cancelling in higher end devices, but that’s to be expected to be honest.

Low Latency

I watched Fury staring Brad Pitt. I love that film and these earbuds performed perfectly at reducing the latency by so much, that there were no lip-sync issues at all, the actors open their mouths and the sound was there. No delay what so ever which is great!

But, unfortunately, when playing GTA V there were a few latency issues, especially in the cut scenes. So I’m not sure if this was as a result of my PC outputting the sound or the GM6’s picking up the signal. It happened 3 times on each cut scene I watched. So, I was slightly disappointed by that.

I restarted my PC and tried again but, was unable to rectify the problem. So, it’s inconclusive, if the issue was my PC or a latency problem with the earbuds. As always, I want to mention it for transparency.

The sound quality is fine for music and watching movies, but I just couldn’t resolve the gaming latency issue.

For gaming orientated headphones I’d have expected the highs and mid ranges to take center stage, so in-game footsteps and enemy position indicators may be interrupted by the over-bearing bass of gunshots, explosions etc.

Let’s hope the build quality lives up to Edifiers usually high standards.

The Edifier GM6 charging case looks fantastic.

Build Quality & Design

These are really great looking headphones and they’re housed in an even better looking charging case. The black and silver theme look brilliant and combine well. The blue LED lights, whilst slightly ‘in your face’, aren’t excessively over the top, it’s just under the limit of being a bit tacky but I can see the appeal. LED’s and RGB are in right now.

The back of the charging case features the micro-USB charging port. I’d have preferred Edifier to have given us a USB-C port for future proofing. I firmly believe USB-C will be the new standard in a year or so. Speaking of charging, the cable is laughably small.

The short charging cables have been the case with previous Edifier devices too. It’s not a deal breaker though, it’s just an ever so slight annoyance. Longer micro-USB cables are readily available online. It’s worth pointing out, if you don’t have a longer cable already, it’d be worth buying one.

Edifiers typically strong build quality is present in the GM6 and I feel like they’ll hold up to a decent amount of abuse, throw them in your bag or chuck them down onto your desk and they’ll be just fine. The only worry I have is that the ‘lid’ of the charging case doesn’t feel all that strong. If we compare the opening to the Apple AirPods or the TWS NB’s, the GM6’s opening feels a bit weaker. In the real world though, I’m sure it’d be fine.

The charging case has a 500mAH battery which will give you 21 hours of total playback time, which is outstanding! Perfect for those super long gaming sessions where hours blend into each other and you forget what time (or even day!) it is.

As usual, I performed my scratch test, this time with a Christmas present; it’s my new pen knife. And, it’s super sharp! I gently ran the blade along the charging case, it didn’t cause any scratches which is great news and it’s what I expected to be honest. When I first held the charging case I could tell it’s well built and would stand up to some abuse.

The matt finish on the case is a magnet for greasy finger prints though, so keep a microfibre cloth to hand.

How Much & Where To Buy

The Edifier GM6 Gaming Headphones can be found for around $59 using our Affiliate link on Amazon. Hit the link here to check them out. You’ll also probably be able to find them used on eBay for around the same price. So it’s probably worth buying new.

Edifier GM6 Review Summary & Verdict

Score: 6.5 /10

Now it may seem harsh, but I’m scoring them on what they claim to be- Gaming Earbuds. If I was purely reviewing them for generic wireless headphones I’d probably give them a 7.5/10, but I’m afraid they over promise and ever so slightly under-deliver.

I think the music playback quality is good, as is the latency for watching movies, but for gaming it’s nothing special which is a little odd, considering they are made for gaming.

I was also a little confused to find out that these have IPX5 rating for water resistance, they’re marketed towards gamers so I’m not sure this is needed. By all means this doesn’t make them a bad pair of wireless headphones, but there are better gaming audio devices out there for your hard earned money.