Alexa, what’s new with Edifier’s latest smart speakers?

Edifier The matte black panels joining the lateral wooden siding make for a sophisticated a a great-looking design.

Edifier's latest bookshelf speakers and smart home theater system support Amazon Alexa for ultimate at-home convenience. While the company traditionally provides listeners with no-frills setups, its transition toward smart home speakers seems a safe, calculated move. Edifier also steps out of its comfort zone with its debut true wireless TWS2 earbuds, demonstrating that its a company ready to roll with the punches.

See: What makes a good smart speaker?

Alexa-enabled smart speakers

Edifier Listeners are afforded an array of connectivity options with the S1000A bookshelf speakers.

Media playback is made easy with the S1000A Alexa-enabled smart bookshelf speakers, and Bluetooth audio quality remains perceptibly lag-free with aptX support. Housed beneath its wooden panels is a 5.5-inch aluminum bass speaker adjacent to a Class D amplifier. It wouldn't be an Edifier product without a sophisticated matte black finish which adorns the center and back panels.

Edifier Listeners can stream over Wi-Fi and use Alexa to make voice commands with the B8A system.

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The B8A, on the other hand, is a more comprehensive home theater system with a Wi-Fi enabled soundbar and separate subwoofer. Both are designed to mitigate internal resonance lessening frequency distortion. Just like the S1000A, users can make commands via Alexa.

A 25mm tweeter unit and 70mm aluminum driver rest in the soundbar while bass is delegated to the external 8-inch subwoofer. Altogether, the system boasts a total output of 154W and features a range of connectivity options including HDMI with ARC, optical, coaxial, and auxiliary inputs. For users looking to forgo wired listening, the system comes with Bluetooth 4.1 and Wi-Fi support to boot.

The included remote offers basic playback and connectivity controls.

Listeners are afforded an array of connectivity options with the S1000A bookshelf speakers.

The wireless wooden subwoofer's finish matches the B8A soundbar.

If users don't want to use Alexa, the included remote works just as well.

Currently, little else is known regarding the S1000A and B8A systems except that both will be available in Q1 2019 with pricing to be announced.

TWS2 true wireless earbuds

Edifier The included 500mAh charging case allows for an extra nine hours of listening.

Edifier's most significant audio leap includes Bluetooth 5.0 true wireless earbuds with IPX4 water-resistance. Listeners will reportedly enjoy a 10-meter travel distance before connectivity begins stuttering. With three hours of standalone playback time, the TWS2 battery life is just okay. However, the included 500mAh charging case provides an additional nine hours of listening, and the earbuds only require 1.5 hours to complete a full charge cycle.

The TWS2 supports Bluetooth 5.0.

Users can exercise with the TWS2 thanks to the IPX4 rating.

We anticipate the TWS2 will be available in Q1 2019 with pricing to be determined. Once for sale, listeners can pick between black or white color options.

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