Not solely does the Edifier ES300 sport deliciously retro-styled attractiveness, nevertheless it additionally affords nice connectivity. You’ll be able to play tunes by way of Bluetooth, hook up exterior sources by way of USB or a 3.5mm jack, and even stream hi-res audio at as much as 24bit/96kHz. And with discreet lighting and a built-in battery, it is a terrific companion for night entertaining, even within the backyard.
Execs
- Beautiful, retro-styled design
- Able to 24bit/96kHz hi-res audio
- Extra reasonably priced value
Cons
- Much less convincing sound, particularly within the bass frequencies
- Shorter (though respectable) battery life
- Lacking some sensible options
The Sonos Transfer 2 could also be dear, nevertheless it makes up for that by way of superior audio and razor-sharp options. It is able to punchy, dynamic sound with hefty bass, whereas retaining adequate poise for lighter mixes. In the meantime, glorious options like Automated Trueplay room compensation and an epic battery life give it compelling utility.
Execs
- Fulsome and detailed sound with loud volumes
- Nice battery life in real-world use
- Premium-feeling construct high quality
Cons
- A bodily deal with could be preferable
- Excessive value for the audio high quality
- Stereo sound is not very efficient
The Edifier ES300 is an interesting retro-themed wi-fi speaker that undoubtedly made a sizeable impression on me once I first obtained it. There’s one thing undeniably charming about its premium, old-school radio vibes, with its monochrome coloration palette and gold accents, and built-in lighting. Whereas many audio merchandise swing for this type of aesthetic, far fewer efficiently hit their goal bang on.
Nonetheless, there’s one thing else that struck me about it, one thing that gave me a bit little bit of gadget deja vu. The Edifier is a cumbersome Wi-Fi speaker – sometimes one thing you’d set and neglect in an acoustic candy spot in your lounge, kitchen or bed room – however, unusually, it additionally has a battery for listening on the go. This instantly jogged my memory of one other entry within the annals of the finest wi-fi audio system: the Sonos Transfer 2.
The unique Transfer was thought of a little bit of an oddity on its launch. It was a chonky boi, extra at residence on a shelf or counter than slung in a backpack and brought tenting, and could possibly be used as a part of a multi-room speaker system. But, it had a built-in battery and IP56 ingress safety, which means it might simply address the nice open air for those who had the means to move it.
However the Transfer undoubtedly recognized an ecological area of interest for itself and the Transfer 2 that adopted it, a significantly sensible speaker providing high-end audio and fashionable connectivity that might simply do double responsibility spinning tunes at a picnic or a pool celebration. And that’s a distinct segment that Edifier has seized on with the ES300. So which of those moveable Wi-Fi audio system thrives finest on this house?
Edifier ES300 vs Sonos Transfer 2: value and availability
The Edifier ES300 was first launched on June 20, 2025, whereas the Sonos Transfer 2 was launched again on September 20, 2023. The ES300 has a listing value of $349.99 / £299.99 / AU$399, and the Sonos Transfer 2 has a listing value of $449 / £449 / $799. Nonetheless, offers exist on each: for instance, on the time of writing, you’ll find the ES300 on Amazon UK for £247.76, whereas the Sonos Transfer 2 is obtainable from $432.49 at Amazon US.
There are a number of variations of every speaker accessible. The Edifier ES300 is obtainable in white and gold or black and gold colorways. In the meantime, the Sonos Transfer 2 is available in three hues: black, white and ‘olive’ (which, on the danger of sounding pretentious, I’d describe extra as artichoke).
Edifier ES300 vs Sonos Transfer 2: specs
| Header Cell – Column 0 |
Edifier ES300 |
Sonos Transfer 2 |
|---|---|---|
|
Weight |
8.2 lbs / 3.7kg |
6.61 lbs / 3kg |
|
Dimensions |
10.9 x 6.5 x 6.5 inches / 277 x 165 x 165 mm |
6.3 x 9.5 x 5 inches / 160 x 241 x 127mm |
|
Battery life (quoted) |
12 hours |
24 hours |
|
Connectivity |
Bluetooth 5.4, Wi-Fi, USB, 3.5mm jack |
Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi, USB-C |
|
Drivers |
4-inch (116mm) mid-bass, 2x 1.25-inch (33mm) tweeter |
2x angled tweeters, 1x midwoofer |
|
Aux-in |
Sure |
Sure (by way of USB-C adapter) |
|
Charger port |
AC energy cable |
Sonos charging base or USB-C |
|
Microphone |
No |
Sure |
|
Waterproof ranking |
None |
IP56 |
Edifier ES300 vs Sonos Transfer 2: options
Wi-fi audio system have a tendency to sit down on the bleeding edge in relation to options, usually rocking extra progressive performance than their wired or Bluetooth contemporaries. Neither the Edifier ES300 nor the Sonos Transfer 2 is an exception to this, though I discovered that one was appreciably smarter than the opposite.
The ES300 options you’ll most likely use most are its sound profiles and EQ settings. Edifier supplies 4 preset profiles: Traditional, Monitor, Recreation and Vocal. A few of these felt like odd decisions to me. Neither Monitor nor Recreation actually match the overwhelming majority of customers; I’d have thought that together with a Bass mode as a substitute would’ve been a no brainer. Happily, it has a six-band EQ that allows you to tailor the sound a bit extra to your liking, though many cheaper audio system supply a extra granular nine-band EQ, such because the Tribit StormBox 2.
At first, the Sonos Transfer 2 could seem much more restricted than this, its essential adjustable EQ settings within the app solely permitting you to regulate bass, treble and loudness. However its smartest characteristic is that, for probably the most half, you shouldn’t ever have to get your palms soiled massaging frequency bands to get higher sound. That’s as a result of its Automated Trueplay algorithm recurrently assesses the speaker’s environment, calibrating its audio output for the form of the house it’s in. And it really works astoundingly nicely; I by no means actually felt the necessity to tinker with its output to rebalance the sound.
One characteristic that the ES300 has over the Transfer 2 is its built-in lighting modes. There are three patterns on supply: Static, Respiratory and Water-flow (a fairly grandiose time period for lights that simply cycle counter-clockwise). And it’s also possible to choose between two colours: a cool white and a hotter yellow. Whereas I’d argue this isn’t a radical departure by way of options, I do discover the general impact pleasing, and I loved it sufficient that I stored it on even once I wasn’t listening to music.
Every system offers you number of choices for controlling it. The ES300 options some aesthetically pleasing touch-sensitive controls on its prime floor, together with two dials for setting its quantity and the brightness of its built-in mild, commonplace playback controls, and supply choice. In the meantime, the Edifier app supplies additional choices, together with configuring the Wi-Fi community, switching sources, organising the stereo channel, EQ customization and light-weight impact settings.
The Transfer 2 options controls on its prime floor to deal with play/pause, skip, replay, regulate the amount, and group or ungroup merchandise. Its app affords you the flexibility to manage a number of options, together with community settings, its Automated Trueplay characteristic and toggling on loudness correction. You’ll additionally discover one setting right here that you just gained’t see within the Edifier app: voice management. The Sonos affords you the choice to manage your speaker utilizing both Sonos Voice Management or Amazon Alexa, one thing sorely lacking from its rival.
On the subject of connectivity, neither speaker precisely reinvents the wheel, however they each include vary of choices. As you’d anticipate from a wi-fi speaker, they each supply Wi-Fi, whereas the ES300 supplies Bluetooth 5.4 and the Transfer 2 has Bluetooth 5.3. Each gadgets mean you can play instantly from streaming apps like Spotify and Tidal, or you possibly can push out audio direct out of your gadgets by way of AirPlay 2. By way of bodily ports, the Edifier has a USB port and three.5mm enter, whereas the Sonos rocks a USB-C port.
There’s a slight distinction within the audio decision every system can muster. Whereas the Sonos Transfer 2 is able to lossless, CD-quality sound, the Edifier ES300 can stretch to 24-bit/96kHz hi-res sound from suitable sources. Naturally, this implies you’ll have to both stream from an LDAC-compatible system, stream ALAC over AirPlay 2, hook up a service able to hi-res audio like Tidal or plug instantly into its 3.5mm jack.
As I remarked once I began this piece, maybe probably the most notable characteristic of both of those Wi-Fi audio system is their built-in battery, one thing that’s nonetheless vanishingly uncommon available in the market.
Each items have respectable longevity. I performed music constantly on the ES300 over AirPlay 2 at 50% quantity with the sunshine off for six hours – throughout that point, its battery solely dropped all the way down to 60%, which means it might probably final 15 hours whole, considerably greater than the 12 hours Edifier predicted. However the Transfer 2 nonetheless blew previous this, lasting over 24 hours, which means it would nonetheless be swinging lengthy after its opponent is out for the rely.
Edifier ES300 vs Sonos Transfer 2: sound high quality
Given its pricing and styling, it is secure to say that I had sure expectations of the Edifier ES300 going into my testing. And but my preliminary impression of its sound was actually fairly lukewarm. It’s okay, however I really feel like as you enter the mid-range of the Wi-Fi speaker market, you’re entitled to anticipate higher than simply okay. Compared, the Sonos Transfer 2 is dearer however sounds each bit the type of speaker I’d anticipate for its value.
Admittedly, once I performed Otomo by Bonobo on the Edifier, the woody-sounding percussion was actually tightly expressed, whereas the tribal, choral vocals rose above every part clearly. However it’s when that bassline drops that the specifics of the ES300’s sound profile are laid naked. There’s sufficient higher bass which you could hear the bass swell – it’s not fully AWOL, happily – however for those who’re hoping for something extra tangible than this, you’re going to be left wanting.
Conversely, the Sonos Transfer 2 brings way more low-end guts to the identical drop, giving the observe a much more steady basis. Occasionally, it really might sound a bit overblown, with the sub sounding overly resonant and swamping the decrease finish of the combo. Nonetheless, I quickly found that this was an artifact of the speaker’s loudness correction – issues sound rather a lot clearer with it off, though this does come at the price of some bass presence at decrease volumes.
I used to be a bit extra impressed with how the ES300 handles vocal-heavy mixes. Sticking on How Does It Really feel by London Grammar, I used to be pleasantly shocked by the wealthy timbre of the vocals and the way they rose above the remainder of the combo. However when making an attempt the identical tune out on the Transfer 2, I might see how a lot I used to be lacking out on – Hannah Reid’s honeyed vocals one way or the other felt much more rounded and held extra gravitas, whereas the heat to the observe’s low-end and pump to its kick added some much-needed glue that held the combo collectively.
A private pet peeve of mine is when speaker producers pump up the treble to compensate for a scarcity of dynamism within the decrease frequencies. The Edifier, happily, doesn’t fall into this lure. Fleetwood Mac’s Go Your Personal Method is a good observe for exposing a very vivid and glassy combine, and but the ES300 manages to keep away from these jangling guitars sounding too sharp. It does pull its punches a bit too a lot in comparison with the Transfer 2, although, which gave the transients of the drums a lot crisper edges and enabled them to puncture by way of the combo with out ever sounding over-exposed.
The Edifier ES300 can sometimes rally, although: at louder volumes, a few of these truant frequencies begin to labor a bit tougher. Whereas I used to be listening to Reflection by Ben Böhmer & Wooden, its swelling sub really put in a correct shift, serving to to assist its thumping kick. The end result wasn’t what I might name balanced, although – naturally, the mids are boosted too, so could be fairly intense – and the Transfer 2 reveals it is doable to nonetheless acquire spectacular efficiency with no need to crank issues as much as 11.
Maybe the one space the place I felt the ES300 took a palpable lead over the Transfer 2 is in instrument separation. Listening to Claire de Lune by Kamasi Washington, it gave every aspect room to play, with the layered brass playfully dancing across the bass and piano.
Conversely, whereas Sonos’s speaker provided fuller, extra cohesive sound, this sometimes felt prefer it got here on the expense of extra discrete expression of various devices. This might nicely be the work of Transfer 2’s Automated Trueplay algorithm, although, with it barely compressing the dynamic vary to forestall subtler parts getting misplaced within the house.
All advised, I discovered the Transfer 2 affords much more constant, genuine sound in comparison with the Edifier ES300. It appears able to a wider frequency vary, outdoing its rival at each the excessive and low finish, giving much more depth and context to a variety of genres. Sure, the latter rallies a bit at greater volumes, however I’d anticipate a speaker at this type of value level to be extra constant at totally different loudness ranges.
Edifier ES300 vs Sonos Transfer 2: design
One space the place the Edifier ES300 shines is in its design. In some methods, I really feel that this can be a speaker designed extra to be seen than heard. Significantly in its white and gold colorway, it effortlessly nails that retro vibe so many speaker manufacturers have aimed for and but not often hit.
Wrapping the ES300’s handcrafted picket speaker case is a ‘leather-like’ coating in both cream or black. Regardless of being a crunchy veggie, I’m not at all times eager on this type of leatherette end – fairly than feeling classic, it usually comes throughout as low-cost and a bit cheesy – however right here it feels pleasingly tactile and premium. Woven from braided cloth, the speaker cowl is available in both beige or black, whereas the plastic grille beneath is picked out in gold throughout each fashions. Cumulatively, this all helps the ES300 stand out in a market crowded with boring black containers.
The Edifier’s built-in lighting is the cherry on prime. Admittedly, the 2 hues and three lighting modes it affords aren’t precisely a scintillating aurora, however there’s no finish of celebration audio system on the market that may drench you in a cocktail of kaleidoscopic coloration, so in some methods the extent of restraint proven here’s a breath of recent air. Wave a hand over the Edifier’s prime floor and its buttons mild up as nicely, albeit in a chilly white tone – it certainly would not have been arduous to have this shift with the hue of its essential mild, however that’s a minor nitpick.
Compared, the Sonos Transfer 2 defines itself extra by its brains than its magnificence. It’s an elliptical cylinder, with a mild curve towards the bottom the place it nestles into its cradle. That is additionally a pleasant contact, as fairly than having to plug in an influence cable to juice up its battery, you possibly can merely plop it down in its little nest to recharge.
The underside quarter and management panel on prime of the Transfer 2 are fabricated from matte plastic – this feels gorgeously clean to the contact, with the olive/artichoke inexperienced coloration on the mannequin I examined including extra visible curiosity than the plain black or white colorways. In the meantime, the remainder of the system is roofed in a nice metallic grille. Total, it’s a sexy package deal, nevertheless it’s undeniably fashionable and gadgety in comparison with the extra retro vibes the ES300 goals for.
For probably the most half, which system takes the lead for you is probably going a matter of non-public style. Nonetheless, one clear space during which Sonos unarguably leads is weatherproofing. Whereas the Edifier has no safety in opposition to both splashes or mud ingress, the Transfer 2 affords IP56 safety, which mustn’t solely stop grit and dirt from interfering with its workings however may also face up to highly effective water jets from any route. So if you’d like a poolside companion, the Sonos is the plain champ.
Provided that each audio system are designed to be semi-portable, their comparative bulk will probably be an necessary consideration. With the ES300 weighing in at 8.2 lbs (3.7kg) and the Transfer 2 at 6.61 lbs (3kg), neither of them is what I’d contemplate mild, however they’re each movable sufficient that you just gained’t wrestle carting them from room to room or out to the backyard. Finally, although, the Sonos takes the sting for me by way of maneuverability – it has a helpful carry deal with constructed into its again, which the Edifier lacks, making the previous extra handy for shifting as you drift from room to room.
Edifier ES300 vs Sonos Transfer 2: worth
There’s a fairly main caveat to every part I’ve stated to date: value. Whereas I’d argue the Edifier ES300 and Sonos Transfer 2 are each firmly mid-range audio system, there’s nonetheless a noticeable distinction of their price. The ES300 has a listing value of $349.99 / £299.99 / AU$399, and the Sonos Transfer 2 has a listing value of $449 / £449 / $799, which means the latter prices a good slice extra. And this hole is barely widened when you consider gross sales costs on the ES300, which, on the time of writing, was discounted all the way down to £247.76 at Amazon UK.
Nonetheless, value doesn’t essentially translate on to worth. And once you have a look at all the extras you get with the Sonos Transfer 2, that value immediately appears much more justified. Not solely is the Transfer 2 filled with sensible options like Automated Trueplay and voice-assistant assist, it additionally affords superior sound with better-sculpted bass. Whereas I do marginally give the Edifier ES300 the sting in relation to appears, the Sonos is a little more moveable, and its IP56 ranking makes it way more usable open air.
Finally, for those who’re searching for a wi-fi speaker with a built-in battery, you’re going to get much more mileage out of the Sonos Transfer 2. That further $99.01 / £201.24 / AU$400 isn’t small change, however I do really feel it’s value saving for a bit longer and making the funding in smarter options and extra expressive, well-rounded sound.
Edifier ES300 vs Sonos Transfer 2: verdict
Perhaps I ought to have sprinkled some spoiler warnings all through this versus piece, as a result of I’ve most likely already given away the ending. Regardless of a sexy design, the odd novel characteristic, and its capability for hi-res audio, the Edifier ES300 simply can’t fairly KO the champ of moveable Wi-Fi audio system.
Essentially, the Sonos Transfer 2 is smarter, with each its computerized audio-tuning and voice management operating mental rings across the Edifier. Moreover, its sound covers a broader vary of frequencies, providing crisper treble and whomping bass – it has a confidence that its rival can’t fairly muster. Add in that IP56 ingress safety and prolonged 24-hour battery life, and also you’ve received a set of specs that few mid-range wi-fi audio system can problem.
Except you’re head-over-heels in love with the ES300’s appears otherwise you merely don’t have the additional dough to stump up for Sonos’s pricier speaker, the Transfer 2 is the one you’re gonna wish to put your cash on right here.
