A wireless speaker with excellent sound quality, but not nearly as sophisticated as claimed. However, the Edifier MS50A gives a pleasing, clean performance with powerful bass when it comes to sound quality. The MS50A shares a similar look to the Edifier D12 but is much more compact.
The front has a cloth surface with a silver bar that appears to be more of a decorative accent than anything else. Like the D12, the MS50A speaker has a wood cabinet with a walnut finish that gives it an elegant, understated, and organic appearance. Other than a power connection, the cabinet is sealed, and there are no other connectors. Not surprisingly, there is no 3.5mm port, but it is strange that there is no Ethernet for a hardwired connection.
The D12 was designed to be mounted on larger pieces of furniture; the MS50A is more forgiving, although for what may be considered a compact wireless speaker, it is both larger and heavier than either the Sonos One or the Denon Home 150 at 2.26kg. In spite of being a “compact” speaker, it is extremely intimidating.
The power button is located on top inside a ring of light (blue for Bluetooth, white for Wi-Fi), and there are touch controls surrounding it for playback (pause, track skipping). The volume is adjusted by tracing a finger on the dotted circle in either a clockwise or anticlockwise direction. The only problem we have with the controls is the tiny delay in the audio responding to press-and-hold actions.
There isn’t a remote control, but since wireless communication is emphasised, you’ll use a smartphone or other mobile device in its place. Additionally, the MS50A doesn’t have many capabilities that would make using a remote control necessary.
If you have an Apple device, you can use Airplay first and second generation to cast the audio to the Edifier MS50A. The Airplay 2 has a new feature that lets you stream music to several devices simultaneously. It functions very similarly to the Amazon Multi-Room, which lets you group speakers with Alexa compatibility and simultaneously play music to them.
Support for AirPlay 2 is one of the Edifier MS50A’s key features. Setting up multiroom listening with numerous devices is simple using AirPlay 2. Through the Edifier Home app, additional MS50A speakers can also be connected to one another. The MS50A enables Bluetooth playback in addition to a 5gHz Wi-Fi connection.
