Whether you are making music, hosting parties or listening to audiobooks, there are plenty of different functions for a speaker. But with so many great bookshelf speakers out there, it can be hard to find the one that suits your personal needs. Despite all of the models out there offering similar things, when you really get down to the details, you will see that every model has its own specific features and purpose.
In this guide, we’re comparing the Edifier r1700bt and Edifier r1280t. With the information laid out for you, it should make deciding between two models just a little bit easier.
About The Edifier Brand
Edifier is a Chinese company that offers a wide range of audio tech products at a decent price. Their products certainly aren’t top of the line, however, the company offers very high quality in comparison to their competition in the affordable price range.
Comparing Edifier R1700BT vs Edifier R1280T
Design
Although the Edifier R1700BT and Edifier R1280T models perform differently, they have quite similar designs which can especially be seen in color scheme and aesthetic with the black front and wood sides.
The only real difference between the colorway of these two speakers is that the wood panels on the R1700BT model are slightly darker vs Edifier R1280T. The Edifier R1700BT is 6 x 9.75 x 8 inches while the R1280T model is 7.7 x 5.7 x 9.2 inches. This means that the Edifier R1280T is longer and taller by only one inch, but the R1700BT is significantly wider.
The extra 4 inches of width makes sense since the R1700BT has a slanted almost leaning design, in comparison to the Edifier R1280T classic rectangle speaker shape. Otherwise, as mentioned, the two speakers look extremely similar.
On the back of both of the speakers, you can see the cable terminals and power switch. Both the R1700BT vs R1280T models have the exact same line up of terminals. This includes the power switch, the AUX/PC input and since these speakers come in a set of two, the connection to the other speaker in the pair.
Features
The R1280T can connect quite easily to any device through the aux cord input terminal to any device compared to the R1700BT, be it a phone or computer, that has a 3.5mm headphone output. Seeing as the right and left speakers both have PC and AUX input terminals, you can technically plug the Edifier R1280T speakers into two separate devices at once, without needing to fully unplug the speakers to switch devices.
While this is convenient, convenience is certainly a category where the R1700BT shines seeing as it has both the dual PC/AUX input terminals, as well as bluetooth. You can easily pair any device that has bluetooth enabled to your R1700BT speakers and for any device that isn’t connected to bluetooth you can plug it in just as easily as you would a pair of headphones.
Bluetooth not only makes your speakers more convenient if you switch between devices. It also makes for a great option at parties or for sharing, essentially wherever people may switch between whose device is controlling the audio coming through the speaker.
Otherwise, both the models’ features are quite simple and limited. The only other feature of interest is that you can control either model with its remote control, meaning you can raise, lower and mute the volume from across the room.
This is a great feature for home use and a necessary feature for presentations, parties or any other shared listening experience where pausing the sound may be necessary. The R1700BT remote control will also allow you to switch input sources, while the R1280T controller allows you to control the bass and treble from afar than the R1700BT.
Sound Performance
While design and features matter, it really does come down to the sound performance when comparing bookshelf speakers. Although the R1280T’s treble driver (or tweeter) is only 13 mm, which is 6 mm smaller than the R1700BT’s 19 mm treble drive, both the models have the same 4 inch bass driver.
What this means is that to the untrained ear, both the models’ audio will sound quite similar, though someone more experienced with high quality bookshelf speakers would likely be able to tell a difference.
Overall, both the speakers offer an extremely high quality sound performance for their price range with quite clear highs, which can be uncommon in more adorable models.
Pros and Cons for Each Model
R1280T
Pros
- The 2 AUX/PC input terminals make it easy to connect to any device with a 3.5mm headphone jack and with the dual terminals can actually connect to two devices at once, making switching between the two easy.
- The remote control makes it easy to control the sound from across the room.
- The sound quality is overall quite high especially considering the price range.
Cons
- It does not have bluetooth.
- The sound is not quite as high quality as that of the r1700bt.
R1700BT
Pros
- The R1700BT has not only the dual AUX/PC input terminals, but also bluetooth, making it easier than ever to connect and switch between many devices.
- Exactly like the R1280T, with the remote control you can control the sound from across the room.
- The sound quality is overall quite high, and is not only better than many competing brands but also better than the R1280T model.
Cons
- Despite the high quality for its price, the speaker can still feel quite cheap to those used to high quality speakers.
- It is important you know that this is a lower price range speaker, although it works quite well, it cannot really compete with top of the line speakers, so do not expect that type of quality.
Identify What You Are Looking For
Before you make any big purchase, it is important to consider why you want that product, and identify why you need a speaker. Although headphones allow for privacy while also offering incredible sound payoff, there are many reasons why someone may choose to have a speaker as well.
Sharing Audio
One reason even just casual music listeners may choose a speaker is because, in the opposite way that headphones allow you to listen to your music in private, speakers allow you to share whatever you are listening to. Good quality speakers can fill a room with sound. Whether it’s music for a party or vocals for a presentation, many people pick up a speaker to project and share sound with other people in a space.
Maneuverability
Another reason many people may choose to listen to their music on a speaker, even when they are alone, is because of the ambiance and the maneuverability. If you have airpods or another type of wireless earbuds/headphones, maneuverability will not be such a concern for you, but headphones with wires will often just get in the way.
If you like to listen to music while washing the dishes or exercising in your home, you may find you often pull the headphones off your head by accidentally catching the wire. Since a speaker is playing out loud in a room, you do not need to worry about any equipment getting in your way.
However, it also means that the sound will fill the room and combine with the space’s sounds. Listening to music out loud can give you that music surrounding you, concert experience, while also combining with the other ambient sounds in a room, in a way that headphones just cannot offer.
Making Your Own Music
The last reason many people choose to purchase a speaker is because they would like to make their own music. As mentioned above, since a speaker allows you to hear how music fills a room, it will allow artists to really hear how their music sounds.
Although the finished product may sound great in headphones, listening to music while you are working on it can often skew the final product since there are no natural reverbs.
Overall there are a lot of different reasons why someone may choose to purchase a speaker and before you start comparing speaker models, it is important to consider why you are purchasing a speaker. A casual home music listener will need something different than someone looking for a speaker to make music, or someone looking to fill a room with an auditory presentation for that matter.
Every speaker offers a different auditory experience that will be better suited to different purposes, so to choose the right model it is crucial to narrow down your own personal needs and requirements.
Conclusion
If you are on the search for an affordable speaker, both the R1280T and R1700BT models from Edifier are excellent options. Before you begin comparing the features, designs and pros and cons of both models, it is crucial that you consider why you are purchasing a speaker.
Are you looking for a speaker for home use, public use, parties, making music or another reason? The reason may impact which speaker is better for you – someone who is not very experienced with high quality speakers likely won’t notice a difference between the two models’ sound qualities versus someone who is experienced with audio tech and is looking for a speaker to make music with.
After taking into account your needs, there really are only a few differences between the two speakers which are; a slightly different design, the the R1280T’s 13mm treble drive versus R1700BT’s 19mm one which means that the latter has a overall better sound quality. Finally, the R1700BT’s bluetooth feature might be a deciding factor for you. Once you take all that into account, although both models offer excellent sound quality at an affordable price, it should not be too difficult to choose between the two models.
