Edifier Hecate G5000 gaming speakers review: "A fine set of speakers"

The Edifier Hecate G5000 are fantastic sounding speakers with great features. In a nutshell, they are easy to recommend if you have the space on your desk or the budget in your bank balance when considering options in your search for the best computer speakers. However, the only problem is they have to be within arms reach or they can become rather useless, and the price tag might be a hurdle too high for some folks. Let's dig into them further.

Design & Features

Getting them out of the box I was immediately impressed with the build quality and the fine line they walk on the design front. When I turned on the various great RGB lighting effects (that emanate from the Aluminium side panels) the speakers helped to transform my boring office desk into a real gaming destination. However without the RGB lights on they blend in more than you would expect. Moving the speakers around my house for testing, the slightly understated futuristic look seemed to work everywhere. If you want speakers that don’t scream 'GAMER' every time you look at them, be assured the G5000s can blend into any room - once you turn the RGB off.

However, getting them to fit onto your work or gaming desk might be more of a challenge. When I set the G5000s up on my desk there was no room for anything else - so make sure you have lots of space. But, on the other hand, there's no extra subwoofer or amp or power brick to contend with either which helps to alleviate the space demands and keep the setup nice and simple when teaming them with a gaming PC or gaming laptop setup.

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The G5000’s connectivity options are solid too: they offer Bluetooth 5.0, audio aux, USB, Optical, and Coaxial so I was able to set up my work computer, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and mobile to switch between them throughout the day depending on what I was doing. This made a bunch of inferior speakers throughout my house immediately obsolete. For the right person with the right set up these could be the only set of speakers you need. That person however needs to have a studio apartment (and can afford $500 for speakers) or arms like Stretch Armstrong.

That's because the buttons  - which are the only means to control the speakers - are located on the top of the speakers. However, these do cater to most needs and cover volume, input selection, audio preset selection, and lighting - these are all well finished and feel premium and intuitive. 

However, as the only means of control, even if you have these set as close to you as possible, naturally they have to sit on either side of your monitor. So each button press means you potentially have to stand up and reach over. If you’ve just finished working and want to get in a quick bit of gaming you’ll want to switch over to the gaming audio preset as it really does make a difference. However, this does change the volume which will then, in turn, need adjusting. Oh, and if you also need to change the input to switch from work to play then you’ll need to press that button too. I’m aware that I'm complaining about having to push a button (oh, what a hard life I lead) but it's important to highlight that even simple changes will have you shackled to your speakers, physically.

This makes the G5000 speakers even more frustrating for watching movies or a bit of Netflix. Due to the size and capability of the speakers I was really looking forward to hearing them fill my living room with an explosive action movie or the clarity with the volume low while watching some Netflix in bed without waking anyone else up (both of which they did admirably, by the way). However, when I wanted to tweak the volume slightly between shows or change the audio preset it involved a trip from the sofa / bed that slightly dented the experience. It made me feel like a kid again, before remotes were commonplace.

This helped to cement the fact that these speakers were best left on my desk, which is probably what Edifier had intended in the first place. I can't shake the feeling that these speakers would be great as multifunction bookshelf speakers that are overkill for desktop gaming - but also, at this price point, you could at least get a remote.

Performance

Anyway, slight design caveats aside, the important thing to report is that these speakers sound amazing. When I tested them against my professional sound mixing studio monitors the sound out of them was pretty honest and true to the correct frequency. The great sound comes from a 3/4-inch tweeter and a 4-inch mid-bass driver (but no subwoofer) with an audio chip enabling 24bit playback at 192Khz. This means they can play Hi-Res audio files for all you gamers who are also audiophiles. For music, the preset is a little bass-heavy, as with most speakers, but it still sounds good and Edifier hasn't pushed the balance as far as some do to make the bass messy. 

For gaming, the Edifier G5000 speakers do a great job with a wide range of games. From the frenetic gunfights of Warzone - where you can hear explosions and pinging from teammates at the same time - to the haunting subtleties of Elden Ring's background score and diverse voiceovers, these speakers handled most of what I threw at them and made me forget there was no subwoofer too. The directional sound was pretty good for what two speakers could manage but at $500 not being able to tell where someone was when I could feel they were sneaking up on me was frustrating. I found myself switching to my surround sound gaming headset after a few deaths (that were definitely not my fault). I mean, I still died with the headset on but at least I knew from where I got killed.

The audio presets do a decent job which is handy as there is no way to play with the frequencies yourself in an app or remote - if you personally like a little more bass or want to play around with the sound then you’re out of luck. Edifier has a great app I have used for other audio products that is really well thought out and comprehensive but not having the speakers integrated into it too is rather confusing.

Should you buy the Edifier Hecate G5000?

With a budget of $500, there is a lot of competition for the G5000s, and many have more features and functions at far less money. Just take a look at the rest of what we consider the top computer speakers. You can get whole speaker systems with 5.1 Surround Sound, easier-to-fit soundbars with a subwoofer, or great little RGB desk speakers. 

I feel that Edifier has added these to their lineup so they have some real clout at the top of their gaming speaker range. However, will the average gamer buy the G5000s? Probably not - they’d be better off buying Edifier’s own G7000 with a soundbar and Sub-Woofer at half the price. Or, at the other end of the spectrum, the cheaper Edifier Hecate G2000 speakers remain worthy of consideration too.

However, if you want the best two-speaker system you can buy and you have space in both your bank balance and desk then the Edifier G5000 is a fine set of speakers and could trump a lot of the competition.

How we tested the Edifier Hecate G5000 speakers

I used the Edifier G5000 speakers in a variety of situations around my house. Primarily for gaming speakers on PC, PS5, and Nintendo Switch across a variety of games to test out their flexibility. In my office, they were used while working from home for meetings and listening to music. I then set them up as my dedicated gaming TV speakers in my living room to see how they fared in the dedicated ‘movie mode’ preset. Finally, I installed the speakers under my bed while linked up to our bedroom TV to test the sound quality while at low volume. I tested the speakers for three weeks, intensely testing them every day with all inputs, modes, and volumes.

You can read more about our hardware approach to all kinds of gear that we get our hands on in our full GamesRadar+ Hardware Policy.

If you're looking for a visual upgrade to go with your audio upgrade that these can offer, then check out our best gaming monitor, best ultrawide monitor, and best curved gaming monitor guides.