Edifier MP250 Portable Speaker - Sound To Go bar Review

Ricardo Trejo Mar 16, 2011 Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Us Accessories, Audio, Exclusive, Gadgets, Hardware, Okay Geek Review, Reviews

Great looking speakers for your laptop or portable audio device can be hard to come by, but what’s even rarer are great looking speakers that also perform superbly well. Edifier does a fantastic job at designing audio products with unique looks, however how does this migrate into quality? Today we’re going to look at their “Sound to Go” portable speaker.

Edifier MP250 Portable Speaker — Sound To Go Review

Features

• USB powered & USB streamed speaker system housed in an aluminum tube
• Two channel stereo speaker with two 1.25inch drivers on each channel
• 3.5mm Auxiliary input port
• Soft Carry pouch and USB cable included

Right out of the box you’ll find very few items within; documentation, a double sided audio 3.5mm cable, as well as a mini-usb to usb connector for power, along with the actual “Sound to Go” bar inside a carrying pouch. Setup is easy and quick, requiring nothing but plugging in a few cables.

Simply plug the sound bar into a USB port from a PC, gaming console, or even a USB hosting wall plug adapter for it to power on, then plug the audio cable into any MP3 player, iPod, or audio device. When plugged into a computer to be used as an external speaker our PC was able to detect the Sound to Go bar and even automatically switched it as our default audio device, which was convenient.

As a speaker it does an average job, with its strongest point coming from its look. With that being said, it’s easy to brush it off considering you could simply just plug in some better external desktop speakers for whatever your means. The reason for this is due to the fact that the Sound to Go bar must be plugged into a USB port for power, meaning you’re going to have to be near one at all times, which undoubtedly will have an effect on its mobility and where you can use it and where you can’t. The Sound to Go bar doesn’t have any internal power of any kind, so there’s no way to insert batteries or even charge it up.

Another one of the downfalls is its clunky volume button. While its blue LED light is a nice touch, the volume button takes some getting used to. It’s strange since you’ll instinctly want to turn it left or right to adjust the volume, and so here in lies the problem. To set the volume higher you press the button in increments, and to lower the volume you hold the button down. It’s a little confusing at first but as you use it you’ll get used to it. However, it feels like a problem that shouldn’t have existed in the first place.

And finally, in terms of audio quality it’s nothing special to write home about. When plugged into my iPod and set to the highest volume I felt as if the iPod could’ve handled that exact same loudness on its own, without the need of the extra speaker plus all its cables and its required, anchored connection to a USB port.

Overall

The Sound to Go bar by Edifier may be that great looking audio device I spoke about on the outset, however its mediocre performance is a little disappointing. For everything that it appears it can do, once it’s turned on you begin to see how much it’s an unnecessary product. Needing to be tied to a USB port is its biggest flaw, and second is its inability to crank up the noise to a reasonable level, which means for large engagements this simply won’t do.

Pro’s

• Speaker design is visually pleasing
• Ability for use with many audio devices

Con’s

• Limited mobility
• Clunky volume button
• No internal power supply
• Not loud at all

Price: $49.99 - $56.99
Where to buy: Edifier, Amazon

Photos:

This review was done by Ricardo Trejo, who was given a Sound to Go by Edifier.