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Edifier MR5: Two-minute review
Active monitor speakers were at one point the near-exclusive haunt of the audio professional, casual listeners leaning more to desktop computer speakers or to hi-fis of their own design. A recent deluge of more accessible, feature-rich monitor designs has attempted to bridge the gap, often at the expense of practical utility to the people they were first designed for – but the Edifier MR5, in my opinion, does a great job at bucking that trend, making them some of the best stereo speakers I’ve tested recently.
For the low low price of $349.99 / £279.99 (approx AUS$570), you get a delightfully demure set of desktop-friendly speakers that achieve remarkable neutrality, incredible high-end clarity and a satisfying low end that trumps the capabilities of many larger competitors.
This is possible by virtue of Edifier’s smart new three-driver design, incorporating a downward-facing woofer, a bi-ported chassis and a tri-amped, active-crossover architecture. The results speak for their balanced, broad and crystal-clear selves.
There’s a shedload of tech backing up these fundamental smarts too. Digital EQ controls and customization are available via the Edifier ConneX app, including some one-click acoustic tuning options that compensate for corners of your desktop. I feel like these features sometimes get in the way of the MR5’s essential excellence, but that’s just me.
With Bluetooth 6.0, LDAC support for hi-res streaming and four options for analog inputs, it’s understandable that their design budget couldn’t stretch to including the kitchen sink.
Edifier MR5 review: Price and release date
- Released on July 1, 2025
- $349.99 / £279.99 (approx AU$570)
Edifier is a Chinese brand that’s had its mitts in the monitor market for a long time, and has consequently made a reputation for itself as one of the best budget brands going. Its products are often inexpensive and in possession of unusual cheer, particularly for the quality of sound they offer against the MSRP they’re able to pitch their products at.
This pair of active monitors, the MR5, is the latest in the still-quite-new MR series, and every bit an improvement on the prior models with which it shares an umbrella. Against the Edifier MR4, they add dual-device Bluetooth 6.0 connectivity – and, more importantly, a daring new three-way driver design.
The Edifier MR5’s price is $349.99 / £279.99, which coverts to roughly AU$570 in Australia although the speakers don’t seem to be releasing there.
Between these and the expanded digital control of EQ settings and other features, suffice to say there’s a great deal crammed into these unexpectedly-dinky active monitor speakers. Can they stick the landing, though?
Edifier MR5 review: Specs
|
Drivers |
5” woofer, 3.75″ mid driver, 1″ silk dome tweeter |
|
Analogue connectivity |
Dual XLR, dual TRS, RCA, 3.5mm aux; 3.5mm headphone out |
|
Digital connectivity |
Bluetooth 6.0 (two devices) with LDAC support |
|
Power |
110W RMS |
|
Frequency range |
46Hz – 40kHz |
|
Extras |
x1 3.5mm to 3.5mm aux cable, 1x RCA to 3.5mm aux cable |
Edifier MR5 review: Features
- Three-way active crossover
- Four analog inputs, dual-device Bluetooth 6.0
- App control for voicings and room EQ
The Edifier MR5 monitor speakers are a veritable bag of nifty cross-disciplinary tricks, with features and fripperies that speak to casual listeners, young-buck music producers and burgeoning professionals building a versatile control-room setup.
On the connectivity front, there’s balanced XLR inputs and TRS inputs, plus RCA inputs and a front-facing 3.5mm aux port, for a total of four analogue connectivity options and the absolute elimination of any roadblocks to integrating the MR5 with your studio. Couple this with dual-device Bluetooth 6.0 (and LDAC-supportive) connectivity for ease of passing the digital aux, and you’ve five powerful ways to get what you want out of these – plus a 3.5mm headphone output for quiet-time.
For the pros, there’s the extensive 46Hz – 40kHz frequency range and flat frequency response out of the box, alongside manually-adjustable high- and low-shelf filters for adjusting to the acoustics of your space. Speaking of which, there’s the option for further DSP customization via Bluetooth using the proprietary Edifier ConneX app, including more granular low-cut control, and room compensation algorithms for better performance in reflective spaces.
For everyone else, there’s expressive hi-fi-leaning options for speaker voicings, and digital control of both those voicings and audio playback via the same proprietary app. In short, there’s a boatload to discover – and the discovery doesn’t stop here either. These speakers are also trend-buckingly maximalist with how they approach their core modus operandi.
Smaller bookshelf style monitors like these traditionally have two drivers – a mid-woofer and a tweeter – and use smart chassis design or an optional subwoofer output for low-end coverage. Here, though, Edifier’s somehow managed to squeeze in three drivers in a tri-amped, active-crossover system, comprising a 3.75″ mid driver, 1″ silk dome tweeter and a side-ported, downward-facing 5” woofer for low-end coverage.
The result is a small set of desktop-friendly active monitor speakers, with an outsized feature-set and a smooth sound output that seriously challenges the demureness of its form – more on which right now, actually.
Edifier MR5 review: Sound quality
- Controlled bass with body
- Detailed and dimensional high-mid range
- Limited by size, despite smart crossover design
The Edifier MR5 have three distinct voicings you can switch between, at a press of the single knob on the front: ‘Monitor’, ‘Music’, and ‘Customized’. For the uninitiated, ‘Monitor’ mode would attempt as neutral a frequency response as possible, for a clinical representation of sound as recorded. ‘Music’ adds a hi-fi sheen, sculpting the EQ for a more exciting representation, and ‘Customized’, as I’m sure you’ve surmised, is a do-it-yourself mode for saving your personal EQ settings (dialed in via app).
For this review, I spent the vast majority of my time using the ‘Monitor’ voicing. As someone who frequently uses monitor speakers in a professional capacity more so than a personal one, the neutral frequency response is far more useful to me day-to-day. I have some thoughts about the other settings later on, but until then you’re getting my impressions of these monitors at their essential best.
Small caveat for the bargain-seeking audio pros amongst you, too: my listening environment was not that of an acoustically-treated studio control room, and as such my observations should be taken with a pinch of semi-casual salt. It’s a hard line to tread between the exacting expectations of the career-minded and the vibey sensibilities of the rest, and yet it’s a line both this reviewer and these speakers are determined to tread.
Given that unique downward-facing driver design, you might be expecting an avalanche of desk-shaking bass. It is my utmost pleasure to report that no such misrepresentation occurs – at least, unless you push the MR5 to the upper limits of their volume range, at which point you can immediately quell it using the helpfully-named Desktop mode.
Instead, that bold woofer is put to use in delivering body over boom. There’s a little bloom with more outrageously-arranged pieces – Falle Nioke’s Falle Le Le Le features a low end that sounds like it’s already blown the speakers it was blasted through, and even that edgy, crunched-out kick and bass synth is presented with a level of welcome restraint. Distorted,…