Edifier R1010BT Review
Review Tech

Edifier R1010BT Review

I’ve been after a pair of stylish, compact and great sounding bookshelf speakers for a while. And when I got the chance to write an Edifier R1010BT review I just couldn’t say no.

These 4″ bookshelf speakers from Edifier are exactly what I’ve been looking for. I said on a recent review of the Edifier S350DB‘s that I wanted a bit more of a contrast in colours from Edifier, they’ve delivered just that. Check out the bright yellow drivers.

So just how good are these things? Let’s get into our Edifier R1010BT review and find out.

Edifier R1010BT are really stylish, they do look fantastic.
Edifier R1010BT are really stylish, they do look fantastic.

Edifier R1010BT Review

Wireless Bluetooth bookshelf speakers do have their place, but for me there’s nothing better than mains powered speakers. For one, you don’t have to worry about re-charging them every so often and secondly they just sound so much better.

The Edifier R1010BT has built-in Bluetooth. This gives you an easy way of streaming music from your smart devices. The combination of the Bluetooth and dual line in jacks means you’ll be able to connect up to three devices at a time, which gives you plenty of options for music playback.

First Impressions

Unfortunately I can’t comment on the packaging as they came in a generic postal box. I’m sure the retail packaging carries Edifiers usually high standards. Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt and hope they don’t use too much single use plastic in retail versions, there wasn’t any in the ones I received.

Unnecessary packaging has become a bit of a pet hate of mine recently.

Upon opening the box I was greeted with two rather small bookshelf speakers, I assumed they’d be a bit bigger. But, on closer inspection and sizing them up to see if they’d fit on my desk I was pleased with the size.

Here’s what you get in the box:

  • 1 x Active Speaker
  • 1 x Passive Speaker
  • RCA to 3.5mm Cable
  • RCA to Female 3.5mm Cable
  • Basic Interconnect Cable

The offering in terms of accessories is slim. It doesn’t come with a remote control, but interestingly on the front of the active speaker, it does look like there’s an IR sensor.

It’s a good job I have a plug socket nearby, as the power cable is quite short. So think carefully about where you want to position these. Setting them up was simple enough though, I wanted to connect these to my PC.

Simply clip the speaker cable into the active speaker and run it to the passive speaker. The speaker cable is a decent length at 3m, I’ve got a 2m desk, so it’s handy having such a long cable. Then, connect the RCA to 3.5mm jack to your PC and you’re set.

So on first impressions, I like them. But let’s take a closer look & listen at the sound quality.

Edifier R1010BT Review: Plenty of line in options.
Edifier R1010BT Review: Plenty of line in options.

Sound QualityEdifier R1010BT Review

The total power output from these is only 24 watts. But don’t let that fool you, there’s more than enough power here. It’s also great to see proper stereo separation on bookshelf speakers at this price point, it adds an extra string to the R1010BT’s bow.

One thing that did stand out was the bass. They’re really bassy and when you consider their size, it’s really rather impressive. I did feel that on some genres of music, particularly hip-hop where a good bass response is paramount, it felt a little flat.

Adjusting the bass level helped improve things a hell of a lot. Listening to Logic’s “Under Pressure” album the bass sounded tight and there is a good amount of detail to each bass note.

Overall the R1010BT’s bass is vibrant and well textured.

To test things further, I decided I’d play some PC games. Games are great for testing audio, as there is a real mixture of sounds on offer.

I started with FIFA 17, which for the record is a lot better than the recent releases. Check out my FIFA 20 Review if you want to find out why.

The FIFA sound track sounded great, but the crowd noises, commentary and general game sounds were brilliant! The flat bass I mentioned above seemed to allow the other frequencies to shine through and this meant everything I mentioned crowd, commentary etc all sounded crystal clear!

I moved on to play some Overwatch and again the same experience, everything sounded super clear. I haven’t positioned them to point towards my ears or paid particular attention to the sound stage, they were just plonked on my desk facing forward, so the clarity was a nice surprise.

The mid range elements are good enough. And the treble is fine, the tweeter is really small but manages to produce a good high end.

Overall the Edifier R1010BT provide quite a full sound. They are still more of a close up speaker. And what I mean by that is they don’t really have enough oomph to fill anything larger than a small office or living room with sound. The 24 watts of power is more than enough to make them a perfect match for a computer or simple turntable setup.

Edifier R1010BT Review: The tweeter is really rather small.
Edifier R1010BT Review: The tweeter is really rather small.

Build Quality & Style

In terms of build quality, the speakers are solid with some decent weight to them. They’re built with MDF, plastic and vinyl. They don’t sound hollow and overall they are well built.

After I set up the speakers on my desk I removed the mesh covers to reveal a bright yellow woofer which really does liven up my boring white and black setup. The dome tweeter above has a plastic protector over the top of it, so it won’t get damaged if like me you want to remove the mesh cover.

In terms of the the styling, they’ll fit perfectly within a computer/laptop setup due to their small size and somewhat subtle design features (apart from the bright yellow woofer).

The edges of the speakers are all rounded, soft and fit together well. I’m not sure if it was damaged in the mail or if it’s a result of poor quality control, but one of the edges does have some damage to it.

Another downside is that the input button and other controls are on the back of the active speaker. This means reaching around the back to adjust the levels, if these came with a remote control that’d be much better.

On the bottom of the speakers are 4 foam feet. These provide a stable platform for the speaker and help to protect the surface you put them on. They grip well and it’ll help stop the speaker moving about if you crank the bass up.

The speakers are well finished with an aesthetic that matches their price tag.

The build quality is rather good. They lack a hard wearing vinyl layer.
The build quality is rather good. They lack a hard wearing vinyl layer.

Where Can I Buy Them?

The Edifier R1010BT are available to buy direct from Amazon.

Summary and Verdict

These might not be the best bookcase speakers on the market, but they do deliver high-quality audio through the small drivers. They’re really good, but there is just one thing I’m not too keen on.

The vinyl finish that is covering the wooden structure of the speakers is far too thin. I understand this thin finish may be to keep the costs down, if that’s the case then maybe use a cheaper material that won’t wear away so easily.

It wouldn’t put me off recommending them though! They’re easily a solid 7/10. And, if they continue to impress in terms of audio performance I’ll revisit this review and update the score.

Score: 7.0

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