Edifier's new desktop speaker is treating gaming PCs as a luxury HiFi aesthetic, but it's just not doing it for me
I think gaming PCs look pretty cool. I mean, I would. I write about them for a living, I've filled mine full of all sorts of RGB goodies, and I'm nearly 38 years old—which means I lost a sense of what was actually cool over a decade ago. For me, however, its the function combined with the form that makes them visually intriguing, so I'm not entirely sure Edifier's new desktop PC-like speaker design makes much sense.
It's called the Huazai New Cyber, and it made me do a double take when I saw it in my newsfeed this morning (via TechSpot). What looks to be a slim and sleek SFF chassis housing a CPU cooler, AIO radiator, and some unrecognisable graphics card is actually a desktop Bluetooth speaker. Because... well, I'm still not sure.
Are we now living in an era where the gaming PC aesthetic is somehow aspirational? I suppose that might account for it. After all, a modern gaming desktop can be a very expensive thing, and a quick look at the Battlestations subreddit reveals a huge number of users anxious to show off their pricey, RGB-lit setups to the world.
So, aspirational = luxury, luxury = home decor. It's also a good opportunity to do an Xzibit and put a gaming PC on your gaming PC, I suppose, or at least near it. Look everyone! I've got two gaming rigs. One of them is purely for my Spotify playlist, but still.
I don't know. I feel like a 1950's businessman shaking his head at Elvis' swinging hips. Still, there appears to have been some clever attempts here to make the "components" inside this rig both reminiscent of our beloved desktops, and functional, too.
According to machine translation, what looks like water cooling tubes are actually speaker cables, while the GPU is actually a power supply. It's also got a 2.8-inch colour screen that's reminiscent of some of the displays we've seen mounted onto water blocks over the past few years. For what it's worth I'm not really a fan of those either, but as we've already established, I am tragically unhip.
As for the substantial lower half? Yep, you guessed it, that's for the speaker units themselves. There's a 4-inch subwoofer for bass duties, alongside two 52 mm drivers for the mids and treble. It's probably quite a nice-sounding setup, actually, as Edifier is known for creating a good speaker set or two.
That being said, it reminds me of the ill-advised gifts well-meaning relatives will get children with specific interests for the holiday season. You're into cars are you, little Timmy? Well here's a car-themed bedspread, lampshade, and cutlery set. An actual car? No, of course not. Whaddaya think we are, made of money?
Speaking of money, it's priced at 1,4999 yuan, which is roughly $210, and doesn't appear to be available for purchase in western markets. Yet, at least. Still, it's a darn sight cheaper than even the most budget of rigs on our gaming PC deals page, but, y'know, without any of the functionality.
Whether you want one will be a personal taste thing, I would imagine, but I can't think of a time I looked at a regular set of speakers and wish they looked like something else. Yes, even if they resembled a gaming PC. Just call me an old fuddy duddy, I guess. I'm overdue for my afternoon nap, and the dog has run off with my left slipper. My goodness, is that the time?