Edifier MP280 Portable Speaker
A premium quality portable speaker with an impressive 10 hours of music playback. The Edifier MP280 features a cylindrical design that produces 360° of high-end sound.
Highlights
- 360° rich and spacious sound
- MicroSD, Bluetooth 4.0 and AUX playback
- 10 hours battery life
- Built in portable phone charging
Pros and Cons
Where to Buy?
| Edifier MP280 Bluetooth Speaker |
Amazon Marketplace | Unavailable | view |
Intro
Could there be a better time of the year to test a portable speaker than at the height of Summer? I don’t think so. Over the last week, the Edifier MP280 has been with us in the garden, the park and for bike rides alongside the river. I certainly didn’t need to keep taking the MP280 out with us, it just seemed to end up coming along. I put this down to a couple of its design features. Firstly the carabiner, which makes it so easy to clip it to a bag or suspend it from a line. Secondly, it’s cylindrical shape is ideal to drop into your bike’s water bottle holder.
1Design
The Edifier MP280 comes well presented in a good quality display box. It’s available in matte black, light blue or this slightly faded red tone. The majority of the speaker is made from a premium quality metal grill that feels extremely sturdy. In contrast, the top surface and ends are made from a soft silicone that’s great to touch and resistant to surface marks.
| Metal and Silicone | 80mm (7.1 inches) | 60mm (2.3 inches) | 420g |
There are three main control buttons positioned on the side of the speaker. These include volume/skip tracks and a play/pause button. This button is also used for handsfree calls and to display the remaining battery life.
Above the buttons are three small LED indicator lights, these flash during charging and remain constant when fully charged.
On the top of the speaker are a further two buttons. The central one is the power on/off and the one above will cycle through the available audio sources.
Looking at the design of the speaker with its integrated control buttons and ports cover, I’d assume it has a good level of protection against the elements. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any official IP-rating or mention of water resistance inside the user manual. Until I could clarify this, I’d be a little reluctant to expose it to rain or use it around the pool.
Aside from this uncertainty, I really like the design and build quality of the Edifier MP280. The carabiner has proved extremely useful and its cylindrical shape is ideal for carrying and storing the speaker.
2Features and Specs
All of the physical inputs and outputs are found under a tight fitting cover on the base of the speaker. These include a 3.5mm auxiliary input, a MicroSD slot, Micro USB input and a regular USB output port.
The standard type-A USB port will provide an emergency charge to your mobile device. While it certainly doesn’t fast charge, it’s definitely a handy feature to have.
The MicroSD slot is also a really great addition to this speaker. It will accept cards up to 32gb and play MP3/WMA and WAV music formats.
The MicroSD, AUX and Bluetooth playback modes are indicated by the colour of the LED next to the Edifier logo. Red indicates the MicroSD mode, green is for a line-in and a blue light for a Bluetooth connection.
| 4.0 with NFC pairing | 10m (32 Feet) | 8 -10 hours | 3 Hours |
Bluetooth pairing of the Edifier MP280 can be achieved by NFC tap-to-pair or by selecting the speaker from a list of available devices. The specified range of 10m is fairly accurate and I’ve experienced no issues with interference.
The battery is said to last 10 hours, I’ve been getting slightly less than that. It’s been more like 8 to 9 hours for me. I’m guessing the 10 hours is probably at a moderate volume or via the MicroSD card or Aux cable, rather than Bluetooth. I did notice the Edifier MP280 has an auto-off battery saving feature, which comes in very handy.
3Audio Quality and Performace
The Edifier MP280 features two 4W speakers and a passive bass radiator. The sound quality is most definitely one of its stand-out features. The sound is warm, balanced and spacious, certainly not what I was expecting from such a compact unit. For its size, the MP280 produces a respectable volume which remains distortion free at its maximum level.
I did some A-B testing against some other similar sized Bluetooth speakers for a direct comparison of the audio quality. In a blind test against one of my favourite small portable speaker (Creative’s Muvo Mini), I have to say, the Edifier MP280 trampled all over it. Both put out a similar volume, but the MP280 produced a considerably richer sound quality.
With most Bluetooth speakers there’s a front and back. This typically means that you need to point the speaker in one direction. The Edifier’s cylindrical design does a far better job of evenly filling a room with sound.
As well as the solid performance of the speaker, the Edifier MP280 also does a great job during hands-free calls.
I made a call using the inbuilt microphone at a respectable distance of around 1 metre. Usually, I’m told that I sound quiet or tinny, but not on this occasion. I came through as clear as if I were talking directly into the handset.
4Verdict
The Edifier MP280 Portable Bluetooth speaker has really impressed me. The cylindrical design with a carabiner attachment is ideal for taking outdoors. Its finely detailed grill gives it a premium look which is matched by its high-end sound quality. The optional MicroSD and AUX playback modes make the MP280 a very versatile portable speaker.
Until I can get clarification on the IP rating, I’d only be comfortable taking it out in good weather, but judging from its design elements I’m fairly confident it would be fine in less than perfect conditions.
| Edifier MP280 Bluetooth Speaker |
Amazon Marketplace | Unavailable | view |
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