Edifier QD35 Bluetooth Speaker Review

The QD35 by Edifier is an all-in-one speaker unit with Bluetooth, USB and an AUX input.

It’s primarily designed for desktop use where it excels with its space saving design, great sound quality, connectivity and USB fast charging ports to keep phones and devices powered.

Edifier have aimed to provide much more than just a speaker with this new model and we think they’ve pulled it off successfully.

Pros

• Looks amazing.
• Lighting effects are high quality and plenty of adjustment.
• USB charging.
• Great sound quality.

Cons

• Narrow stereo sound imaging.
• No built-in battery.
• Volume is a bit lacking if you're expecting to party.

If you’re looking to upgrade your stereo HiFi system then this probably isn’t the product for you, but if you want to upgrade your audio experience when gaming or working at your desk, or for casual music listening, then this is a strong product so read on…

Price - £189.99

Available Here

First Impressions

The Edifier QD35 is a special experience from the moment you receive it.

The retail box is high-quality, vibrant and the unit is very well packed with the QD35 speaker safely wrapped in a black fabric to keep it protected.

It comes complete with:

• Speaker
• Power Lead
• 3.5mm to 3.5mm Audio Cable
• USB Cable
• Stickers
• User Manual

As it’s an all-in-one unit you simply place it on your desk, bedside table or wherever you’re planning to put it, plug it in with the figure 8 mains cable and turn it on.

Connectivity

Once powered up you have a few ways to connect your devices.

Bluetooth: The QD35 has the very latest Bluetooth technology with a 5.3 chipset allowing you to stream music wirelessly from your smartphone, tablet or computer.

USB: You can connect to a computer via USB-A cable and play music in Hi Res quality straight from your mac or PC with the rear-mounted USB-A connector.

AUX: You’ll also find a 3.5mm AUX jack on the rear panel for connecting to other analogue audio sources such as a WiFi streamer, turntable or media player.

You can also connect to a PC or TV with a headphone jack output.

On the left hand side of the unit you’ll also find two further USB ports.

One is a USB-A and the other is USB-C.

These ports provide fast charging for your devices, but these aren’t any old USB changing ports!

These are "TurboGAN High-Efficiency Charging ports".

OK I’d never heard of it before either but it offers;

• Full-time fast charging
• Full-time temperature control technology
• Smart power assignment technology

All in English that means it charges fast, it charges safely and it can charge almost anything.

As I’m writing this review, it's rapidly charging my iPad Air from flat.

Build Quality & Aesthetics

My guess is this will be a bit of a marmite product, you’ll either absolutely love it and want one - even if you have no where in mind to place it.

Or you’ll wonder what all the hype is about!

Personally, I absolutely love this product and they’ve replaced the Edifier G2000’s that previously adorned my office desk.

It’s a very well built product.

The main shell is made up from plastic with a very futuristic design, the best way to describe it is that of a shipping container meets a gaming PC.

It measures up at 27.8 cm wide, 16.5 cm high and 14.2 cm making it perfect for desks, bedside cabinets, bookshelves etc.

Despite being made primarily from plastic it is reassuringly heavy at 2.65kg.

The QD35 is available in two colours - gloss black and gloss white.

They both feature a large “EDIFIER” branding across the top, an LCD screen on the front and the words ‘Born For Speed, Born For Safety” across the left hand side.

The LED lighting effects can completely transform the look and feel of the product, taking it from a gaming rig to a stylish desk lamp at the touch of a button.

More on the lighting in a bit, they are so good that they deserve their own section.

Sound Quality

The QD35 has both Hi-Res Audio and Hi-Res Audio Wireless certification and supports LDAC.

It’s got a 40W class D digital amplifier with a full-digit DSP chipset that divides signals into treble and mid-bass.

The front face is home to a 3” mid-bass driver and a 1” treble driver

Edifier have used the terms “MazeTube Bass Reflex Channels” and “TurbMuff Air Noise Suppression Technology” and other buzzwords that sound great but does it actually sound good?

My experience with the QD35 is that the sound quality is very good considering it’s a small all-in-one unit.

It’s relatively powerful and has enough volume for your average room let alone your desk.

The sound is very clear and doesn’t distort even at full volume.

It has a surprising amount of depth and bass.

From standard it’s a little harsh on the treble, and at first I wasn’t convinced on the sound quality, however I encourage you to play with the EQ settings on the “Edifier Connect” app as you can fully adjust the EQ at different ranges which has significantly improved the sound quality based on my preferences.

There’s not many speakers that let you fully adjust the EQ so that’s another bonus to the QD35.

It does lack in stereo sound, so if you’re trying to replace a HiFi system then this probably isn’t the product for you.

But if you want amazing sound and aesthetics for your desk or bedside cabinet then the QD35 is a very strong contender.

I’ve been playing quite a range of music through it, from rock to drum n’ bass to pop and it handles everything effortlessly.

Ease Of Use

The QD35 couldn’t really be much easier to set up or use.

It plugs in via a UK plug to figure 8 connector on the rear panel, with no external power brick required.

The right hand side of the unit sports two control knobs and a button.

The top button turns the unit on or off with a long press, and switches input modes on a short press.

You can see on the front-mounted LCD screen which input and sound mode you’re on, along with the current time which is such a simple but awesome addition.

The middle knob allows you to adjust the volume by twisting it up and down, if you double press the unit can cycle through three preset EQ modes (Music, Movies, Gaming) and a DIY mode which you can fully customise in the Edifier Connect app to your own likings.

The lower knob controls the lighting presets.

Twisting it up and down adjusts the lighting brightness and pressing it in cycles through the presets.

That brings me onto…

Lighting Effects

The lighting effects deserve their own section of this review.

A lot of products sport RGB lighting effects, especially when aimed at gamers and desk use.

But this one is very different from the rest.

The whole front panel of the speaker has various light sources which don’t simply light up, they can “trace” which allows for great lighting effects as the lights dart around the speaker in preset patterns or in sync with the music.

Not only that but you can completely control the lighting from the Edifier connect app.

From the app you can select preset pattern modes including:

• Breathing
• Shooting Star
• Ambient Lighting
• Gradient
• Tempo
• Static

Furthermore you can then change the colour of each mode.

So if you want green lights in sync with your music you’d select “Tempo” and green and so forth.

There’s also a “Light Library” where you can import some really cool visual effects such as “Water Drop”, “Multicoloured” and “Spiral”.

You get a lot of control and personalisation with these lights which in my opinion takes it from a “gimmick” to a feature that you’ll use every time you turn the unit on.

Of course though, wind the dial down and the lights will turn off so you can go incognito if you’re listening to music in bed or don’t want to be distracted by the lights.

Edifier Connect App

The free app from Edifier called “Edifier Connect” allows you to further control the QD35 speaker.

You can:

• Adjust EQ modes including DIY
• Adjust lighting modes
• Set the clock
• Adjust volume
• Play “Soothing Soothing Sounds” - preset sound files such as “3D soundscape” and “night crickets”
• Control music playing via Bluetooth.

The app is great, it’s easy to use and allows you to achieve a lot more with your speaker.

The “Soothing Sounds” section is pretty cool too.

You get a whole library of free meditation and sleep sounds such as ocean waves, rain, birds, city life etc.

This is a great bonus addition, the only thing it lacks though is a sleep timer.

Conclusion

From the moment I got to test the pre-production unit I knew this product was going to be a bit special and popular.

Having had one on my desk for the past few weeks since our UK stock arrived I’ve grown to like it even more.

We think the QD35 is an exceptional product and works very well on a desktop in particular.

Would I swap my stereo bookshelf speakers for primary music listening for it? No.

But that’s not what this unit is designed for, this is the speaker that you find a home for because it’s so cool and you just need to have one.

The QD35 is priced at £189.99 and you do get quite a lot for your money once you consider the sound quality, connectivity and the fast USB charging.

It's in a class of its own for versatility and is ideal if you like to keep a "clean" desk setup.

All in all we’d highly recommend the Edifier QD35 as a desktop speaker.

Price - £189.99

Available Here