China-based audio company FIFINE Microphone has been quietly expanding over the last few years. Primarily focusing on microphones, as the name may suggest, they also have a range of products covering audio interfaces, gaming headsets, and wireless kits.
More recently though, they have branched out into audio output to further woo the gaming crowd. The release of their AmpliGame A20 speakers is an intention to try and make a splash in a competitive market — but is the quality going to be good enough for the hardcore gamer? Let’s take a look.
Box Contents
The A20 box contains the speaker pair and a short manual covering everything you’ll need to know. The USB power and 3.5mm output cables are attached to the speakers themselves. This is very much a no-frills product, but it’s priced fairly high comparatively for a 2.0 speaker system at just shy of £50.
Aesthetic
Given they are relatively inexpensive, the speakers feel weighty and of decent build quality. They measure up at 5.1”(H) x 3.8”(W) x 3.4”(D) so aren’t going to take over your desk. The USB connection (5.9’ in length) draws power from whichever laptop, PC, TV, power bank or other device you plug it into. The 3.5mm jack (4.9’ in length) is used for output, while the weight is around 1.2kg which means they aren’t unwieldy to transport.
The main draw of the A20’s design will be the RGB strip lighting on each speaker. This comprises seven modes: six which cycle through different patterns, and a seventh which allows you to choose a solid colour of your choice from the seven available. They look sleek and unobtrusive, but the best part is the colour modes are operated by a touch button on top of one of the speakers. The last setting you use is retained in memory, so you won’t have to constantly cycle through to find your preferred pattern each time you disconnect them or switch off the power. Pressing the touch button for a few seconds will turn off the lighting entirely.
Furthermore, the speakers have a power button on one of them (which acts as a mute with a quick press) and a volume control on the other. The buttons are rubberised and allow you to quickly drop or increase the sound level or switch the volume off entirely while retaining the RGB colour. There are also rubberised feet to protect surfaces you place them on. The speakers can be placed horizontally as well as vertically, though the protection is only there when used vertically.
Connectivity
The A20 isn’t Bluetooth enabled, which is a surprise at the price point, and the lack of a USB-C connection is likely to be an issue for newer laptops which no longer have USB-A slots. Both of these options can be found on other speakers in a similar price bracket.
Sound
They may look pretty, but the purpose of a speaker is, of course, sound. Here, the A20 struggles. They can output at significant volume, so they are great for casual listening such as a lot of games, podcasts, and TV shows which don’t rely on intense music. This is a 2.0 system after all, but the lack of a subwoofer is a real kicker for audiophiles and is likely to put many off buying them. Elden Ring just isn’t the same without thundering bass.
What the A20 could be more suited for is things like improving your Switch audio experience: the portability of the speakers would make them a fairly reasonable addition to your luggage if you found yourself in a hotel room for a week and wanted to amp up the Switch’s sound. For rhythm games or anything which needs decent bass to appreciate it though, the A20 isn't going to cut it. FIFINE seems to have realised this, however, since it also sells a bundle which includes a subwoofer for under £20 less. For a full 2.1 experience, this is likely to be a better option for a lot of gamers.
Even so, the quality of the A20 sound is pretty impressive for such a compact pair of speakers. I didn’t experience any distortion, even at the loudest levels. The same can’t be said about a slight underlying whining noise I heard which seemed to be related to the RGB cycling. On the sixth mode, when sound was muted from the computer there was a distinct, low-level hum emitted from one of the speakers. Unplugging them and plugging them back in stopped it, but it started again when the problem mode was selected. It wasn’t loud enough to overpower any actual sound output and it didn’t seem to affect any other mode either, but it was definitely present — although it may just be specific to the review unit we received.
Overall
FIFINE has built a solid pair of speakers in the AmpliGame A20. They look and feel premium and the range of lighting states should sate any aesthete. However, they fall down in a few areas. The connectivity is lacking, especially if you consider for just over a tenner more you can pick up the Creative T60 speakers which include both USB-C and Bluetooth. Conversely, they don’t fare well price-wise against much cheaper 2.0 options, or even against Creative’s Pebble Plus 2.1 bundle which is £15 less and comes with a subwoofer. On a positive note, they are distortion free and can blast out sound at significant volume. At a lower price point they could be a far more competitive option, but currently the A20 might struggle in its price bracket.
You can subscribe to Jump Chat Roll on your favourite podcast players including:
Let us know in the comments if you enjoyed this podcast, and if there are any topics you'd like to hear us tackle in future episodes!
.jpg)
