Despite their looks, the Edifier Hecate G5000 gaming speakers are surprising and offers something different to the table when it comes to gaming peripherals.

“A passion for sound” is Edifier’s slogan. The audio equipment maker prides itself on its roster of products, but the Hecate G5000 has a lot to live up to. Having browsed other outlets for some background information on the company, Edifier seems to have picked up a reputation for great speakers, but only in certain markets.

Edifier’s attempt to enter the gaming market has gone down well well, but within the circles we populate, they’ve been a relative unknown. It’s why the G5000 is interesting to us. A speaker system that wants to work within the confines of the gaming industry, with the backing of a reputable audio company?

Edifier’s Hecate G5000s then, have to do something to stand out from an overcrowded market that is desperate to one-up each other.

Key specs

• • Frequency: 70Hz – 40kHz
  • Noise level: i>
  • Audio input: Bluetooth, AUX, USB, Optical, Coaxial
  • Bluetooth version: 5.0
  • Audio decoding: APTX HD, APTX, SBC
  • Digital sampling: Up to 24bits/192kHz

Design

Upon first glance, the Hecate G5000 didn’t get a positive response from us. The garish gamer aesthetic, with the sickening rainbow RGB made for something that we just didn’t want to position around our setups.

We get why they chose to go with this look, as it is what everyone else is doing. However, looking at their other offerings in the high-end speaker department, made me yearn for that wooden paneling and elegant aesthetic. Something where you wouldn’t be embarrassed about having them on your shelves.

After a few weeks with them around us, the design never grew on us. Turning off the lights helped, and with winter setting in, the darkened room helps disguise them.

We loved that they’re quite chunky though, which only made us want that typical speaker design. It frustrates us that these companies dive into the industry, expecting that these rather ugly designs are what’s wanted. While we’re sure a marketing department somewhere has done the research, having some ‘grown-up’ equipment would have been appreciated.

Features and audio quality

The G5000s frustrate further through its design, because the feature set and actual performance from them are really good. From having onboard Bluetooth, AUX, COAX, and optical options, nothing was spared in giving full access. In fact, the optical cable – while tiny – was included, which is always a bonus.

There’s also a delightful, very broken English voice that mispronounces every mode as well, which is something that we see Edifier improve on in the future.

Edifier Hecate G5000 Music mode

Edifier has fitted the speakers with different modes, focused on music, movie, and games. Music is the best overall, offering thick bass and a comforting, warm sound that fills the room.

Music tracks we tested for this review included:

• • • Weird Al’s UHF and Now You Know
    • Mick Gordon’s BFG Division
    • David Bowie’s The Man Who Sold the World
    • Pink Floyd’s Money and Brain Damage
    • Dethklok’s Murmaider
    • Brendon Small’s Prophecy of the Lazer Witch
    • Run the Jewels’ Love Again

Each song we chose was intended to attempt to cover a few bases in terms of how far we could push the speakers. Weird Al, Bowie, and Pink Floyd’s older mixed tracks – played over Spotify and Apple Music – felt rich, as the speakers brought each stereo mix to life.

The harder, more intense sounds of metal from Mick Gordon’s DOOM 2016 soundtrack and Brendon Small’s Dethklok and Galakticon projects benefitted from the all-encompassing hardware inside, but felt as if they could have been assisted by a dedicated subwoofer. The same went for Run the Jewels, although not to the same degree.

Movie mode with the G5000

Heading into movies, YouTube, and TV, we tested the following:

• • • RedLetterMedia’s Ninja Turtles review
    • Bleach
    • Classic Doctor Who
    • Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
    • Wednesday
    • Gudetama: An Eggcellent Adventure

It is during our testing of this type of media, that we found these speakers aren’t supposed to be running solo. Movie mode takes away the bass so that you’d reroute it to your subwoofer and other devices.