First look: A new desktop speaker combining the look of a gaming PC with the features of dedicated audio gear is hitting the Chinese market. Dubbed the "New Cyber," it puts its insides on display, featuring RGB lighting and a full-color mini screen housed inside a transparent casing.

While its design clearly targets gamers and PC enthusiasts, Edifier's Huazai New Cyber suggests a broader ambition. By blending the visual flair of custom-built gaming rigs with serious audio hardware and flexible connectivity, the company is testing whether desktop speakers can be as expressive as the computers they accompany. Its success – and any release beyond China – may depend on how many consumers value performance that looks as bold as it sounds.

The Huazai New Cyber is priced at 1,499 yuan, or about $210, and comes in aurora white or phantom black. Edifier has not confirmed whether it plans to release the speaker outside China. The speaker connects to devices via Bluetooth, USB, or an analog audio cable, offering flexibility for different setups.

Inside, the speaker balances technical design with capable audio hardware. A 4-inch subwoofer handles bass, supported by three passive radiators that deepen low frequencies without extra powered drivers, while two 52mm mid-high drivers provide clarity in higher ranges. These components sit behind a fabric screen in the lower section of the speaker, and the upper portion is transparent, displaying amplifiers, a power supply, braided wiring, and a signal processor arranged to resemble computer parts such as a graphics card or memory slots.

The standout visual feature is a set of five circular RGB lights that simulate spinning cooling fans, shifting through colors in animated patterns to emphasize the PC theme. A built-in 2.8-inch display serves both decorative and practical purposes, showing custom images, animations, or messages. When connected to a computer via USB, it can display live system information such as CPU, GPU, and RAM activity, and when paired with a smartphone or other audio source, it can display song lyrics in real time.

The Huazai New Cyber is similar in size to many bookshelf speakers commonly used with desktop PCs, taking up noticeable space on a desk. To make the most of that footprint, Edifier added USB-A and USB-C ports that can charge connected devices, turning the speaker into a small desktop hub as well as an audio system.