Not solely does the Edifier ES300 sport deliciously retro-styled beauty, but it surely additionally gives nice connectivity. You may play tunes through Bluetooth, hook up exterior sources through 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’s an ideal companion for night entertaining, even within the backyard.
Execs
Attractive, retro-styled design
Able to 24bit/96kHz hi-res audio
Extra inexpensive value
Cons
Much less convincing sound, particularly within the bass frequencies
Shorter (though respectable) battery life
Lacking some good options
The Sonos Transfer 2 could also be dear, but it surely makes up for that by way of superior audio and razor-sharp options. It’s able to punchy, dynamic sound with hefty bass, whereas retaining adequate poise for lighter mixes. In the meantime, wonderful 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 isn’t very efficient
The Edifier ES300 is an interesting retro-themed wi-fi speaker that positively made a sizeable impression on me after I first obtained it. There’s one thing undeniably charming about its premium, old-school radio vibes, with its monochrome shade 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.
Nevertheless, there’s one thing else that struck me about it, one thing that gave me a little bit little bit of gadget deja vu. The Edifier is a cumbersome Wi-Fi speaker – usually 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 one of the best wi-fi audio system: the Sonos Transfer 2.
The unique Transfer was thought-about 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 may simply address the good open air when you had the means to move it.
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However the Transfer positively recognized an ecological area of interest for itself and the Transfer 2 that adopted it, a severely good speaker providing high-end audio and trendy connectivity that might simply do double responsibility spinning tunes at a picnic or a pool occasion. And that’s a distinct segment that Edifier has seized on with the ES300. So which of those transportable Wi-Fi audio system thrives finest on this house?
(Picture credit score: Future)
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 an inventory value of $349.99 / £299.99 / AU$399, and the Sonos Transfer 2 has an inventory value of $449 / £449 / $799. Nevertheless, offers exist on each: for instance, on the time of writing, you will discover the ES300 on Amazon UK for £247.76, whereas the Sonos Transfer 2 is offered from $432.49 at Amazon US.
There are a number of variations of every speaker obtainable. The Edifier ES300 is offered 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).
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Edifier ES300 vs Sonos Transfer 2: specs
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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 (through USB-C adapter)
Charger port
AC energy cable
Sonos charging base or USB-C
Microphone
No
Sure
Waterproof ranking
None
IP56
At the moment’s finest Edifier ES300 offers
At the moment’s finest Sonos Transfer 2 offers
(Picture credit score: Future)
Edifier ES300 vs Sonos Transfer 2: options
Wi-fi audio system have a tendency to sit down on the bleeding edge relating to options, usually rocking extra revolutionary 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 offers 4 preset profiles: Basic, Monitor, Sport and Vocal. A few of these felt like odd decisions to me. Neither Monitor nor Sport 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. Fortuitously, it has a six-band EQ that permits 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 appear much more restricted than this, its foremost adjustable EQ settings within the app solely permitting you to regulate bass, treble and loudness. However its smartest function is that, for essentially the most half, you shouldn’t ever must 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 properly; I by no means actually felt the necessity to tinker with its output to rebalance the sound.
One function 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 reasonably grandiose time period for lights that simply cycle counter-clockwise). And you too can 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 saved it on even after I wasn’t listening to music.
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Every system provides you a superb number of choices for controlling it. The ES300 options some aesthetically pleasing touch-sensitive controls on its high 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 offers additional choices, together with configuring the Wi-Fi community, switching sources, establishing the stereo channel, EQ customization and light-weight impact settings.
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The Transfer 2 options controls on its high floor to deal with play/pause, skip, replay, alter the amount, and group or ungroup merchandise. Its app gives you the power to regulate a number of options, together with community settings, its Automated Trueplay function and toggling on loudness correction. You’ll additionally discover one setting right here that you simply received’t see within the Edifier app: voice management. The Sonos gives you the choice to regulate your speaker utilizing both Sonos Voice Management or Amazon Alexa, one thing sorely lacking from its rival.
Relating to connectivity, neither speaker precisely reinvents the wheel, however they each include a superb vary of choices. As you’d anticipate from a wi-fi speaker, they each supply Wi-Fi, whereas the ES300 offers Bluetooth 5.4 and the Transfer 2 has Bluetooth 5.3. Each units permit you to play instantly from streaming apps like Spotify and Tidal, or you may push out audio direct out of your units through 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 must 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 after I began this piece, maybe essentially the most notable function 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 repeatedly on the ES300 over AirPlay 2 at 50% quantity with the sunshine off for six hours – throughout that point, its battery solely dropped right down to 60%, which means it may doubtlessly 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 is going to nonetheless be swinging lengthy after its opponent is out for the depend.
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Edifier ES300 vs Sonos Transfer 2: sound high quality
Given its pricing and styling, it’s 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 truthfully 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 sort of speaker I’d anticipate for its value.
Admittedly, after I performed Otomo by Bonobo on the Edifier, the woody-sounding percussion was actually tightly expressed, whereas the tribal, choral vocals rose above every little thing 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 can hear the bass swell – it’s not completely AWOL, thankfully – however when you’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 secure basis. Every now and then, it really may sound a little bit overblown, with the sub sounding overly resonant and swamping the decrease finish of the combination. Nevertheless, I quickly found that this was an artifact of the speaker’s loudness correction – issues sound quite a bit clearer with it off, though this does come at the price of some bass presence at decrease volumes.
I used to be a little 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 combination. However when attempting the identical tune out on the Transfer 2, I may see how a lot I used to be lacking out on – Hannah Reid’s honeyed vocals in some way 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 combination collectively.
(Picture credit score: Future)
A private pet peeve of mine is when speaker producers pump up the treble to compensate for an absence of dynamism within the decrease frequencies. The Edifier, thankfully, doesn’t fall into this entice. Fleetwood Mac’s Go Your Personal Means is a good observe for exposing a very brilliant and glassy combine, and but the ES300 manages to keep away from these jangling guitars sounding too sharp. It does pull its punches a little bit an excessive amount of in comparison with the Transfer 2, although, which gave the transients of the drums a lot crisper edges and enabled them to puncture via the combination 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 little bit more durable. 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’s doable to nonetheless acquire spectacular efficiency while not having 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 properly 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 gives way 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 way more depth and context to a variety of genres. Sure, the latter rallies a little 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.
At the moment’s finest Edifier ES300 offers
At the moment’s finest Sonos Transfer 2 offers
(Picture credit score: Future)
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 it is 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 hardly ever 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 – reasonably 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 uninteresting black bins.
The Edifier’s built-in lighting is the cherry on high. Admittedly, the 2 hues and three lighting modes it gives aren’t precisely a scintillating aurora, however there’s no finish of occasion audio system on the market that may drench you in a cocktail of kaleidoscopic shade, so in some methods the extent of restraint proven here’s a breath of contemporary air. Wave a hand over the Edifier’s high floor and its buttons mild up as properly, albeit in a chilly white tone – it absolutely wouldn’t have been onerous to have this shift with the hue of its foremost 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 delicate curve towards the bottom the place it nestles into its cradle. That is additionally a pleasant contact, as reasonably than having to plug in an influence cable to juice up its battery, you may merely plop it down in its little nest to recharge.
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The underside quarter and management panel on high of the Transfer 2 are made 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 effective metallic grille. Total, it’s a beautiful bundle, but it surely’s undeniably trendy and gadgety in comparison with the extra retro vibes the ES300 goals for.
For essentially the most half, which system takes the lead for you is probably going a matter of non-public style. Nevertheless, one clear space by which Sonos unarguably leads is weatherproofing. Whereas the Edifier has no safety towards both splashes or mud ingress, the Transfer 2 gives IP56 safety, which mustn’t solely forestall grit and dirt from interfering with its workings however may also face up to highly effective water jets from any route. So if you would like a poolside companion, the Sonos is the simple champ.
On condition that each audio system are designed to be semi-portable, their comparative bulk will probably be an vital 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 think about mild, however they’re each movable sufficient that you simply received’t battle carting them from room to room or out to the backyard. In the end, 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.
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Edifier ES300 vs Sonos Transfer 2: worth
There’s a fairly main caveat to every little thing I’ve stated up to now: 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 value. The ES300 has an inventory value of $349.99 / £299.99 / AU$399, and the Sonos Transfer 2 has an inventory value of $449 / £449 / $799, which means the latter prices a good slice extra. And this hole is simply widened when you think about gross sales costs on the ES300, which, on the time of writing, was discounted right down to £247.76 at Amazon UK.
Nevertheless, value doesn’t essentially translate on to worth. And whenever you take 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 good options like Automated Trueplay and voice-assistant assist, it additionally gives superior sound with better-sculpted bass. Whereas I do marginally give the Edifier ES300 the sting relating to seems to be, the Sonos is a little more transportable, and its IP56 ranking makes it way more usable open air.
In the end, when you’re in search of a wi-fi speaker with a built-in battery, you’re going to get much more mileage out of the Sonos Transfer 2. That additional $99.01 / £201.24 / AU$400 isn’t small change, however I do really feel it’s value saving for a little bit longer and making the funding in smarter options and extra expressive, well-rounded sound.
(Picture credit score: Future)
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 beautiful design, the odd novel function, and its capability for hi-res audio, the Edifier ES300 simply can’t fairly KO the champ of transportable Wi-Fi audio system.
Essentially, the Sonos Transfer 2 is smarter, with each its computerized audio-tuning and voice management working 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 obtained a set of specs that few mid-range wi-fi audio system can problem.
Until you’re head-over-heels in love with the ES300’s seems to be 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.
At the moment’s finest Edifier ES300 offers
At the moment’s finest Sonos Transfer 2 offers
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