Fender ELIE Portable Speakers and Mix Headphones Now in Malaysia

Fender, renown maker of guitars with nearly 80 years of experience are now exploring beyond musical instruments. Following in the footsteps of Marshall, the guitar specialist has launched a series of consuder audio products, including portable speakers and headphones.

Firstly, we have ELIE, Fender’s latest range of portable bluetooth speakers. Short for “Extremely Loud Infinitely Expressive”, the speakers come in two models: E6 and E12. Both speakers to feature the world’s first Waves system-on-a-chip implementation, which Fender claims will provide more power at a higher efficiency.

The ELIE 12 speaker has 120W of claimed power, double that of the ELIE 6’s 60W claimed rating. But the smaller ELIE 6’s battery lasts longer at up to 18 hours, compared to 15 hours for the ELIE 12.

But perhaps what’s most interesting is the fact that both models offer wired connections through a combined XLR/6.35mm input, so you can actually plug a Fender guitar in and rock out. Hi-res audio is also supported up to 24-bit/48kHz and there is also a 3.5mm auxiliary output.

You can also link two ELIE speakers in stereo mode, or up to 100 speakers in multi mode. The feature isn’t exactly new as other brands have done so before but it’s still quite a neat party trick.

Then there’s the Fender MIX over-ear wireless headphones. They have a neat little FWD Tx USB-C transmitter which enables lossless (LHDC-V), low-latency (LC3), and Auracast transmission modes when plugged into source devices for higher quality wireless playback of up to a claimed 24-bit/96kHz quality in lossless mode.

Inside are 40mm Graphene drivers, and the cans have active noise cancellation (ANC) and support 360-degree spatial audio technology. The headphones also support wired listening via USB-C and even in ‘passive’ mode via 3.5mm. Meaning you can listen to music via 3.5mm even if the cans aren’t charged up.

The headphones promise a battery life up to 100 hours without ANC, although this number halves to 52 hours with ANC turned on. They’re also modular, so you can easily swap out parts to replace them without having to buy a whole new pair.

The Fender ELIE 6 retails for RM1399, the ELIE 12 will go for RM1899 and the MIX headphones will cost RM1399. All three products will be available from March onwards.