If one thing has become clear to me in recent times having reviewed a couple of Edifier headphones such as the STAX S3 and NeoBuds Pro 2, it is that Edifier know how to produce audio products that deliver excellent sound quality, maybe not immediately out of the box without some fiddling with settings, but excellent nonetheless.
2024"s QR65 desktop active monitor speakers are no exception to the trend, coming in with a compact form factor and a slew of modern features that could be of interest.
These tiny active monitors are only a bit taller than an open hand, yet come specced with multiple USB fast charging ports, two of which are Type-C PD spec, Bluetooth with LDAC support (more on this later), subwoofer output and RCA line input.
The QR65 also interfaces with the Edifier app to allow customisation of the LED colour, as well as controlling other functions of the speakers.
Technical details
| Total Power (RMS) | 70W total (Treble 15W x 2, Mid-low 20W x 2) |
| Driver units | Silk dome tweeter: 1.25-inch, Aluminium alloy mid-low: 2.75-inch |
| Frequency Response | 55Hz - 40kHz |
| USB charging | TurboGaN 65W max (shared) |
| Signal-to-Noise Ratio | ≥ 85dB (A) |
| Inputs | Bluetooth 5.3, USB-A, RCA |
| Outputs | Subwoofer output (3.5mm to RCA cable) |
| Bluetooth CODEC support | SBC, LDAC (24-bit/96kHz) |
| Dimensions | 130mm x 213mm x 212mm |
| Weight | 5.3KG each |
| Price | £329.99 / $369.99 |
Unboxing
These things are quite heavy for such compact desktop speakers, which is often a good sign because the last thing you want is tinny hollow sounding audio from speakers that don"t have much heft. Not so here. The QR65 feels very premium, the finish of this review unit is in the white colour, the other option available being black. Even without being plugged in, the floating effect of the two drivers through the mirrored surround frame gives a cool first impression.
Although I immediately noticed that they are a dust magnets, it"s a good thing Edifier includes a good quality microfibre cloth in the box.
Also included are a pair of angled desk stands, essential for aiming the sound directly at ear level. These are Aluminium and carry some heft of their own and are supported by rubber anti-slip strips on both sides.
There is no power brick with the QR65, just a standard figure-of-eight power cable, all the power gubbins is built into the right-side speaker where the connections reside. The left speaker is solely passive, the only connection being the multi-cord going from right to left.
On the backside of the right speaker, we have solid terminations with no wobble or material quality issues. Everything feels premium here. The USB charging outputs support GaN technology for fast and efficient charging up to 65 watts. These outputs are of course shared, and the breakdown of this is as follows:
| USB-C 1 (65W max) | 5V⎓ 3A, 9V⎓ 3A, 12V⎓ 3A, 15V⎓ 3A, 20V⎓ 3.25A |
| USB-C 2 (65W max) | 5V⎓ 3A, 9V⎓ 3A, 12V⎓ 3A, 15V⎓ 3A, 20V⎓ 3.25A |
| USB-A (60W max) | 5V⎓ 3A, 9V⎓ 3A, 12V⎓ 3A, 15V⎓ 3A, 20V⎓ 3A |
| USB-C 1 and USB-C 2 | 20W max. + 45W max |
| USB-C 1 and USB-A | 15W max |
| USB-C 2 and USB-A | 20W max. + 45W max |
| USB-C 1, USB-C 2 and USB-A | 15W max. + 45W max |
Other than a USB-A to USB-A and a 3.5mm to RCA cables, not much else is included in the box. No remote control features here, the idea being that the QR65 is a set of desktop speakers, so always within arms reach, although the Edifier app can control volume and inputs too.
The left side of the right speaker has a screwed down plaque, I thought maybe each QR65 was being serial numbered for an extra special touch, sadly this is not the case. The plaque simply quotes the same line found on the front of the angled stands, re-quoting Edifier"s passion for sound.
There"s an app for that...
Here"s what I have learned since I"ve reviewed several Edifier connected audio products. The app situation is quite tedious and annoying. There are three Edifier apps, Edifier ConneX, Connect and Home. They all support different audio products... Why? Why are other brands able to manage all their products under one app whilst all three need to be installed if you have a number of Edifier products? It makes no sense and frustrates me as the type of user who likes to run a well-organised ecosystem of tech.
With that out of the way, here"s what the app looks like once you pair up the QR65:
It"s cool that you can view the charging rates of anything connected to the USB outputs, as well as customise a 6-band EQ instead of using the presets. This seems to apply your own EQ to all the inputs which is quite nice. I found the default presets to be too held back and as such boosting both the high and low end offered the best balance in a near V-shape.
If you will be using Bluetooth with the QR65 then the app is a must, because by default, and just like with other Edifier audio products, high resolution audio is not enabled. Given that these are marketed as high-res, I"d have expected that they default to this mode out of the box. The process for this is also quite tedious depending on what device is connecting.
First, LDAC mode needs to be enabled as shown above, then, LDAC also needs to be turned on in the Bluetooth settings for the speakers on the connected phone, otherwise the phone will only be outputting using SBC when playing media through the speakers.
If you are connecting these via Bluetooth to a Windows computer, then you will need to faff around with a third party A2DP driver which I have covered in my previous reviews in great detail, otherwise once again, you will only be using lower res Bluetooth audio out of the box.
Performance
Thankfully the performance of the QR65 is excellent and goes some way to make up for the app-based tomfoolery.
Whether beaming music over copper or airwaves, the sound characteristics of these compact speakers really is magnificent for their size. If someone blindfolded me and walked me into a room with music playing through these then I"d never guess the sound I was hearing was coming from something this small.
The bass kicks down low without becoming a distorted mess or being too boomy. It"s quite hard to describe, although Edifier hase a neat graphic showing how they designed the interior of the MDF cabinets to be chambered for each driver, so the air pressure from the highs, mids and lows don"t interfere with each other:
Couple that with long-throw main drivers and you get an excellent bass response, much bigger bass than what the size would otherwise give a visual impression of. The design resembles a transmission line (T-line).
To give you an idea of just how much excursion those drivers have, here"s a GIF to demonstrate whilst playing the Dolby Cinema demo video on YouTube.
The sound is different in both tonality and signature compared to other bookshelf speakers that I have heard or owned, but not in a bad way. Just like headphones with planar magnetic drivers versus traditional dynamic drivers, there is no right or wrong, just a different flavour to experience, and some may prefer one over the other. The speaker driver configuration and cabinet internals makde a big difference, too, and it seems that Edifier have nailed it with these.
Whether I was gaming, watching a movie or just chilling with ambient music whilst editing, the stereo imaging in a desktop near-field setup was immersive. Having said that, the QR65 doesn"t become truly invisible in the room like my KEF Q300 passive speakers do where the tweeter and wave guides are directly in the middle of the main driver in a coaxial configuration which eliminates timing issues that traditional component speaker configurations can have depending on where they are placed in relation to the listener"s ears and how central they are to the speakers. The KEF speakers are much bigger cabinets of course, but the price range between them (relative to time of release) is very similar.
The KEFs are also being driven by a Topping MX3s, a compact stereo amplifier capable of 62W x2 RMS power output, quite a bit more power than the 70W total of the QR65 (assuming the speaker sensitivity of both systems is similar), which I admit is a fairly uneven comparison, but a reference point to detail what I"m used to against the QR65"s sound.
The infinity bit
I"ll be honest, the first time I saw the QR65 was as a stock photo. My first thoughts were "here we go...", I expected something gimmicky geared towards those who like RGB everything, but having investigated them a bit further, and reading what others have been saying about them, I felt a little comfort, and now that I have them on my desk, that comfort has turned into appreciation.
The lighting brightness can be dimmed or turned off entirely, the mode of lighting can be changed from pulsing, to fading, to various other effects, or just a static infinity mirror effect. This can all be done directly using the bottom dial on the right speaker, or via one of the three Edifier apps that works with the QR65.
I opted to leave the lighting on, but with a static effect and only two notches above the lowest brightness. Tasteful, and like the display-back of a mechanical watch, a casual glance every so often was quite pleasing.
A neat feature I didn"t expect was that when connected to a PC using Bluetooth, adjusting the volume via the dial on the speaker will adjust the Windows volume as that"s the master volume control. The same applies if connected via the app and the volume is adjusted, you will see Windows volume level change as you change the volume remotely from the app.
However, connect via USB and the volume level is independent of Windows, which means you will have to keep Windows master volume at 100% and adjust the QR65 volume directly via the dial or app.
I also found that the default sound presets can result in bright high frequencies and introduce sibilance on human vocals. Setting a custom EQ to try to mitigate this does help, although not eliminate. There are only so much those tweeters can do at this size I"m afraid, but still, whilst the QR65 is not aimed at audiophiles, sonic enjoyment is still possible.
Conclusion
Before this, I"d never have considered speakers of this size. Past experience had always shown me that anything so small wasn"t able to keep up with bigger speakers, but Edifier has shown otherwise with an imaginative cabinet design and tasteful styling available in two colours, black and white.
App-gate aside, the QR65 is an excellent set of desktop speakers that will impress anyone who listens to them even for just a moment. At £330 they aren"t exactly cheap, but they offer enough features that will add a lot of convenience to a typical workstation, as well as immerse the room with good quality sound.
My only concern really is the amount of dust that collects around the glossy fascia and the need to constantly whip out the microfibre cloth. I already have a tedious ritual of de-dusting my workstation every few days and this only adds another element to tend to.