Bluetooth speakers normally focus on their sound quality. It makes sense, after all, since they are speakers. But there's a ton of these speakers that sound great that look like a boring black box at best or are downright visually appealing at worse, and sometimes you want something that's going to mesh with your furniture and other electronics.
With the rise of vinyl and record players lately, Edifier has taken a crack at crafting a great sounding Bluetooth speaker that also hits on that old-school aesthetic. The MP230 will fit in just fine next to your turntable and stacks of records, but does its sound match how cool it looks? Let's find out.
Old school design
The first thing anyone's going to notice about the MP230 is its vintage design. The speaker uses a wooden enclosure to achieve that look, and the MDF wood also enhances the sound of the speaker, too. It's a good trade-off from real wood from a price and functionality perspective, and looks great, too.
The mesh grilles on the front and back of the speaker are color-matched in bronze to match that wooden enclosure, and the buttons to turn the speaker on and use it are made to replicate piano keys. It's all really stylish for a speaker in this price range and is easily one of the best looking Bluetooth speakers we've reviewed on Talk Android.
But don't worry about the vintage design taking away modern features. The MP230 still has everything you need to get going with your phone, including quick Bluetooth 5.0 pairing, a USB-C charging port, 3.5mm output, and a microSD card slot if you want to play things without compromising sound quality on wireless connectivity.
This speaker demands volume
Edifier likes their bass-heavy sound profiles on all of their products, whether those are headphones or speakers. That's still the case with the MP230, but the design overall really screams to be played at a high volume.
When it's turned up, it sounds great. You get a lot of thump from the large dual passive radiator, and the two 48mm drivers in the speaker deliver a smooth midrange and sharp treble. There's plenty of clarity whether you're listening to music or podcasts, and it gets loud and has that sound profile you want for a party or get together.
The soundstage is also surprisingly wide for a small Bluetooth speaker, easily filling a room with sound. It's a speaker with big personality, but it loses some of that magic when you do turn the volume down.
Sometimes building a small portable speaker with a bass-heavy tuning in mind causes some problems, and that's much more apparent at lower volumes. At a bedroom level, the MP230 still sounds good, but its sound profile is significantly overpowered by its low end. What sounds good and powerful at 80% volume turns into a much less focused and more muddled sound when you're trying to listen to music in a calmer setting. The thumps and heaviness really get away from the speaker and don't let the rest of the music properly stand out.
Worth it?
Edifier hasn't cut many corners here, and you're getting a fast Bluetooth 5.0 connection, multiple ways to connect your phone, and the USB-C port for charging can also double as a way to play music through a cable from your phone or computer. The 2500mAh battery also runs for about 10 hours, so you're sure to squeeze an entire day's worth of playback out of a single charge.
But oddly it doesn't seem to work with any of Edifier's own apps to tweak the sound and EQ of the speaker, and it doesn't handle multiple devices or multipoint pairing very well. These aren't huge deals, but at $149 you do start to expect some more of these bells and whistles to round out the whole package.
But that price point is still pretty solid for how good the speaker sounds, so long as you listen to it loud enough frequently. If you need something that delivers at high volumes, and the 60's aesthetic fits in with the rest of your sound gear and living room furniture, the MP230 is a good choice. But for quieter listening levels or something with a more modern design, you might want to keep looking.
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