Edifier MP230 Review
Review Tech

Edifier MP230 Review

Spoiler alert, the Edifier MP230 is amazing. There, I’ve said it, you don’t need to read the rest of this review now. But, if you do want to hear my thoughts on this portable Bluetooth speaker, stay tuned and read on below.

I’ve not reviewed a portable Bluetooth speaker by Edifier in a while, the last time was the Edifier D12, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The D12 is much larger than the MP230. I think the MP230 is a true portable speaker when you consider it’s size.

  1. First Impressions
  2. Build Quality
  3. Sound Quality
  4. Where To Buy
  5. Summary

So, let’s get into my review and find out why I think this is amazing.

Edifier MP230 Review

As has become customary on the blog, we’ll start my review with my first impressions and then move onto looking at the build quality and last but not least, the sound quality.

But first, what is the Edifier MP230? It’s a retro looking table top speaker designed for long lasting portable playback.

First Impressions

I opened up the padded envelope to be greeted with quite possibly the greatest looking product box I’ve had the pleasure of opening in quite some time. The box colour is similar to ‘British racing green’ and I really like it.

The box is really sturdy and Edifier haven’t used excess amounts of plastic packaging. It seems they have listened to past criticism. I say this because when I inspected the packaging further, it’s clear to me that it’s mainly cardboard.

Removing the outer sleeve, you can see a box that’s patterned with images of the MP230. It looks brilliant, the box design department have done a wonderful job. I’m almost running out of different words for good, great or stunning!

Even the insert that stops the speaker from rattling around inside the box is made of cardboard. A great improvement.

Once I’d removed the speaker from the box, the thing that struck me right away was the classy wooden finish and bronze buttons. It’s the perfect combination of colours and looks sublime.

It’s also got quite a bit of weight to it, it tips the scales at almost 1 kg which is quite surprising when you consider how small this thing is.

Overall, my first impressions have left me feeling really excited, I can’t wait to turn this thing on and get to experience the sound. But, before that let’s take a look at the build quality.

Edifier MP230 Review
Edifier MP230 Review

Build Quality & Features

I’m trying not to become complacent when reviewing Edifier gear. The build quality part of the review is something that 99.99% of the time, Edifier excel at. And, today is no different.

To put it simply, the MP230 is beautifully made.

At the front of the unit you’ll find an amazing retro looking speaker dust cover. Below that you’ve got the function buttons. Edifier describe them as piano keys which is a bit of a stretch, regardless of what they’re called, they look great and work well.

Pressing a button is pleasing, you get satisfying tactile feedback. Because they protrude from the body of the speaker I was worried they’d be a weak point, but they’re not. They are in fact pretty strong.

To test how strong I decided I’d forcibly press one down as hard as I could. I didn’t cause any damage and the button worked as normal.

I’d normally perform the scratch test but the wooden finish on the enclosure looks superb, I’d almost feel guilty attempting to scratch it. So, I decided I’d go one further, I’d perform a drop test.

I took the speaker, stood up and dropped it onto my office floor. The floor is carpeted but it didn’t half make a loud bang when it hit the floor. The good news is, that the drop onto the carpet didn’t cause any damage or scratches.

It’s built with MDF so in hindsight, a drop of 1.5 meters onto carpet shouldn’t have caused it any problems anyway. But, it’s a good test none the less.

At the back of the speaker is where you’ll find a micro SD card slot, USB-C charging port and a aux in port. Aswell as these physical ports, if you didn’t know by now, it connects via Bluetooth too. There’s connectivity option for everyone.

The native Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity is a nice touch. It allows for seamless, super fast connectivity aswell as being able to pause, skip and play tracks directly from the unit it’s self.

At the bottom of the speaker you’ll find 4 rubber feet which are robust and help to prevent pass-through vibration. They also help prevent the MP230 from sliding around.

I really like the design of this speaker, it’s what I’d describe as being ‘clean’. The rounded edges look great and It’d definitley look at home wherever you place it. I wonder if there’s a travel case available for it? If I find one I’ll come back and update this review with a link to it.

You’ll get around 9.5 hours of playback from a full charge which is plenty for a weekend camping trip with the family.

Overall I’m thoroughly pleased with the build quality. If I was rating this speaker on this measure alone, it’d get a 10/10. But, before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s read through my thoughts on the sound quality.

The back of the Edifier MP230.
The back of the Edifier MP230.

Sound Quality

To test the sound quality I wanted to listen to an Elvis album. I chose Elvis 30, which is a greatest hits compilation album.

The first song on the album, Heartbreak hotel was a real test of the midrange because Elvis comes right out of the gate with his booming vocals. Initially, I thought it sounded quite ‘tinny’, but it’s just the natural sound of the recording. I double checked this by using my Eris HD10BT as reference headphones.

Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not the greatest mid-range I’ve ever heard. It’s perfectly adequate and sounds good.

So, the mid range offers ‘true to life’ sound, what about the bass? For that I skipped ahead to ‘Conversation’. It’s got a great booming bass track and the MP230 handled it with ease. I couldn’t quite believe how much punch was being emitted by a device that’s less than 20cm wide.

The same track was a good test of the high end too. The background snares and cabasa sounded fantastic and I was easily able to identify the individual elements. I was taken aback at just how good the detailing is.

Turning up the volume the top end does cause some issues with quality, so try and avoid that. Listening at more reasonable volumes is where you’ll get the most out of this Edifier portable speaker.

When I first saw the size of it I wasn’t convinced the sound would be up to much. How wrong was I?! To put it bluntly, the sound quality is good for it’s size. Dual 48mm full-frequency drivers are to thank for this great sound quality.

Overall then the sound quality definitley punches above it’s weight.

The box pattern is great.
The box pattern is great.

Where To Buy

You’ll find the Edifier MP230 for sale on Amazon and other good retailers. It’ll set you back just under £100 / $100 which is fairly reasonable for such a stylish and capable unit.

If you want to check if there are any deals or sales currently on, hit the button below.

Edifier MP230 Review Summary & Verdict

It’s the perfect combination of retro looks and strong audio performance. Granted, it does look rather odd for a portable speaker but I like it. Yes, it’d be more at home on your bed side table but it’d also perform great when taken outside.

Score: 9/10

It isn’t waterproof but I’m not sure it needs to be, it’s perfect for the home garden, under a gazebo or in a tent. I for one will be replacing my cheap Anker speaker that I take camping, with this one.

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Disclosure:

The Amazon links in this article are affiliate links. This means that if you go onto buy something from Amazon after clicking on them we may get a small commission. It won’t cost you anything extra but it helps us pay towards the running costs of the blog. It allows us to bring you great content! Thank you so much for your support.

CodeWithMike is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to www.amazon.co.uk.

CodeWithMike is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to www.amazon.com

The Edifier MP230 was sent to us in exchange for an honest review. We have not been paid for our opinions.

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