Tuesday, September 15th 2020

Genesis Announces Helium 100BT Wireless PC Speakers with RGB Illumination

Genesis Helium 100BT are computer speakers, which divert from design patterns the manufacturer is known for. Those compact speakers are equipped with LED illumination. RGB rings encircle the speaker membranes so users can express themselves better and create a unique gaming station. The illumination should be clearly visible through perforated masking.

You can also see the venting opening, which is part of the Bass Reflex system. So you can be sure that the compact size comes equipped with lower tones. The manufacturer says that the Genesis Helium 100BT provide high quality sound. Sound source can be connected with a mini-jack 3.5 or through Bluetooth 5.0 interface.
One of the fronts includes an in-built control panel. It allows users to switch the device off and on, control volume, change the illumination mode, also including an additional speaker port. And how much does this set cost? Genesis Helium 100BT cost around €34.

Technical specification:
  • RMS: 10 W (2 x 5 W)
  • frequency: 120 Hz - 20 kHz
  • communication: wired (mini-jack 3.5 mm), wireless communication (Bluetooth 5.0)
  • audio: power (USB), sound (mini-jack 3.5 mm)
  • size: 200 x 85 x 105 mm
  • cord length:
    • between speakers: 150 cm
    • power: 150 cm
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23 Comments on Genesis Announces Helium 100BT Wireless PC Speakers with RGB Illumination

#1
bonehead123


seems like a LOT of wires for a "wireless" set of speakers.....

f/A/i/L......
Posted on Reply
#2
Vulcansheart
bonehead123

seems like a LOT of wires for a "wireless" set of speakers.....

f/A/i/L......
They are optional. You can cut them off.
/S
Posted on Reply
#3
P4-630
bonehead123seems like a LOT of wires for a "wireless" set of speakers.....

f/A/i/L......
Antennas.
Posted on Reply
#4
Chrispy_
Nothing is spared the RGBLED blight.
Posted on Reply
#5
TheUn4seen
Ah, yes, bright blinking lights right next to your screen. With blackjack and hookers Bluetooth latency and starved for power. Are cheap, no name speakers really a newsworthy thing?
Posted on Reply
#6
FreedomEclipse
~Technological Technocrat~
TheUn4seenAre cheap, no name speakers really a newsworthy thing?
They seem to be a fairly big company that do a lot of stuff from gaming chairs, peripherals and microphones etc etc

I think their parent company is Natec -- a polish company. I dont know when they started operating but the whois info tells me the website was created on 2013-05-23 so they've been around for a while.

Their products seem to have some decent reviews, even from Kitguru.

So id say they are a pretty well established company.

The Genesis domain was created on 2012-12-06. So they could well have been a gaming peripheral company first before branching out into doing peripherals for offices and other products.


Never heard of the brand or the company myself. but Maybe they are more well known in Poland or that side of Europe the same way that some Asian companies/manufacturers only distribute within Asia only.

If their products were crap. I doubt they would still be in business to this day so they must be doing something right.

Maybe you need to calm down and carry on googling.
Posted on Reply
#7
Sp33d Junki3
bonehead123

seems like a LOT of wires for a "wireless" set of speakers.....

f/A/i/L......
Did you actually say that? Name says it all.
Power wire and wire to connect each speaker together.
Posted on Reply
#8
lexluthermiester
Sp33d Junki3Did you actually say that? Name says it all.
Power wire and wire to connect each speaker together.
While they were being sarcastic, their point is valid. Wireless speakers generally DON'T have wires unless they're being charged. Seems like you're the one that needs help with the context..
Posted on Reply
#9
TheUn4seen
FreedomEclipseThey seem to be a fairly big company that do a lot of stuff from gaming chairs, peripherals and microphones etc etc

I think their parent company is Natec -- a polish company. I dont know when they started operating but the whois info tells me the website was created on 2013-05-23 so they've been around for a while.

Their products seem to have some decent reviews, even from Kitguru.

So id say they are a pretty well established company.

The Genesis domain was created on 2012-12-06. So they could well have been a gaming peripheral company first before branching out into doing peripherals for offices and other products.


Never heard of the brand or the company myself. but Maybe they are more well known in Poland or that side of Europe the same way that some Asian companies/manufacturers only distribute within Asia only.

If their products were crap. I doubt they would still be in business to this day so they must be doing something right.

Maybe you need to calm down and carry on googling.
The thing is I actually know the company. They made the first decent TKL keyboard I ever bought (and ended up selling it to someone because in the end I can't live without the numpad). It's no secret they sell rebranded chinese products, as many such companies do. They seem to choose good products to sell under their name, which is how they stay in business. I have no problem with the company, I'm only referring to the product at hand which is, in the end, a set of cheap, made in China speakers with blinking lights being their only claim to fame. Hardly an important product.
Posted on Reply
#10
micropage7
bonehead123

seems like a LOT of wires for a "wireless" set of speakers.....

f/A/i/L......
that face o_Oo_O
Posted on Reply
#12
Valantar
lexluthermiesterWhile they were being sarcastic, their point is valid. Wireless speakers generally DON'T have wires unless they're being charged. Seems like you're the one that needs help with the context..
There's a difference between a portable bluetooth speaker and a non-portable bluetooth speaker though. The latter is more akin to whole-home audio stuff like Sonos and the like (though obviously without the whole-home aspect), all of which need a power cable. Relying on a battery for a set of desktop speakers would be ... quite dumb, after all. They're not meant to move around.


As for the speakers themselves ... meh. Looks completely run-of-the-mill, I'm guessing it's a rebrand of some OEM's stock design. The RGB just makes it a no-go. I'm actually looking for a compact set of active desktop speakers, preferably with BT and USB, though I'll probably go for something higher end than this - you know, something that prioritizes audio quality over RGB.
Posted on Reply
#13
spectatorx
TheUn4seenAh, yes, bright blinking lights right next to your screen. With blackjack and hookers Bluetooth latency and starved for power. Are cheap, no name speakers really a newsworthy thing?
If i am correct genesis is "gaming" brand of mediacom, polish company which makes cheap but pretty decent quality peripherals. Genesis is a fairly fresh company but mediacom is old and pretty well known at least in Europe. We can compare it to what "bloody" is to "a4tech".
Posted on Reply
#14
Chrispy_
spectatorxIf i am correct genesis is "gaming" brand of mediacom, polish company which makes cheap but pretty decent quality peripherals. Genesis is a fairly fresh company but mediacom is old and pretty well known at least in Europe. We can compare it to what "bloody" is to "a4tech".
So we're looking at RGBLED decorations that serve as compromised speakers that are probably sound good enough for non-discerning users.

I used to use plastic speakers when I was a kid - I didn't know any better and they sounded okay, but everyone who ever comes to my house is blown away by my sound systems and they're not particularly flashy or expensive; They're just carefully-selected budget audiophile stuff that has been setup properly and room-calibrated (something anyone can do for themselves if they have time and a decent microphone they own or can borrow for a day).

If these cost anywhere close to €100 then you can definitely buy vastly superior speakers for the same money and spend a little bit more on some adhesive ARGB backlighting strips to wash the wall with stupid unicorn-vomit lighting effects behind your speakers.
Posted on Reply
#15
Valantar
Chrispy_So we're looking at RGBLED decorations that serve as compromised speakers that are probably sound good enough for non-discerning users.

I used to use plastic speakers when I was a kid - I didn't know any better and they sounded okay, but everyone who ever comes to my house is blown away by my sound systems and they're not particularly flashy or expensive; They're just carefully-selected budget audiophile stuff that has been setup properly and room-calibrated (something anyone can do for themselves if they have time and a decent microphone they own or can borrow for a day).

If these cost anywhere close to €100 then you can definitely buy vastly superior speakers for the same money and spend a little bit more on some adhesive ARGB backlighting strips to wash the wall with stupid unicorn-vomit lighting effects behind your speakers.
Top post says €34.

A bit OT, but what speakers are you using? And what software (hardware?) did you use for room calibration?

Back to the topic, I would really like for someone to take one of these pairs, not connect them to anything, then crank up the volume and record the sweet, sweet sound of the RGB circuitry adding interference to the sound signal.
Posted on Reply
#16
TheUn4seen
spectatorxIf i am correct genesis is "gaming" brand of mediacom, polish company which makes cheap but pretty decent quality peripherals. Genesis is a fairly fresh company but mediacom is old and pretty well known at least in Europe. We can compare it to what "bloody" is to "a4tech".
Yes, they do sell some decent entry level stuff. These speakers, however, may be decent only to a least discerning user, they are a blinking plastic speaker made in China and sold as a rebrand by several companies for quite some time already. Someone already pointed out they are available under "Elegiant" brand as well as some others - you can easily find exactly the same speakers on Banggood, even slightly cheaper. They do, of course, have a place in the world, but come on - these are speakers you see on a discount shelf in a "big box" store and just grab for your mother without giving them a second thought. There are, quite literally, thousands of such rebranded products being introduced to market very day. Even Genesis themselves have some much better and not much more expensive speakers.
I honestly would not say a word if they were actually made by Genesis, but this is just a run of the mill rebrand. Decent speakers which are not yet another Chinese rebrand are getting fewer and further between.
Posted on Reply
#17
lexluthermiester
ValantarThere's a difference between a portable bluetooth speaker and a non-portable bluetooth speaker though. The latter is more akin to whole-home audio stuff like Sonos and the like (though obviously without the whole-home aspect), all of which need a power cable. Relying on a battery for a set of desktop speakers would be ... quite dumb, after all. They're not meant to move around.
The point seems to have been missed. The claim is that the speakers are wireless, yet we can see wires? That doesn't jive. If they wanted to say Bluetooth speakers then that is what they should have said.
Posted on Reply
#18
Caring1
Lots of chatter about the wires, but nobody questions Helium speakers?
Why not Nitrogen? :rolleyes:
Posted on Reply
#19
Chrispy_
ValantarA bit OT, but what speakers are you using? And what software (hardware?) did you use for room calibration?
Presonus Eris E5. Simple, no-nonsense studio monitors.

RoomEQ Wizard (REW) and Equaliser APO are the two pieces of software you'll want to try (look for a guide, it's not intuitive!)

For hardware, I used a Yamaha YPAO monaural omni-directional mic I had from my HDMI amp in the other room. Any simple mono mic will do, as long as it's able to provide raw input without any hardware noise-cancelling, compression, or other 'enhancement' shenanigans.

The other room is decent quality separates but definitely at the lower end of the possible price range. The heavy lifting is actually done by the Yamaha receiver that comes with that detachable microphone for automatic room calibration and DSP correction. The speakers are good, but compensating for the room is more important than speaker choice, as long as your speakers aren't garbage.

Receiver
Front / Center / Rear / Sub
Posted on Reply
#20
Valantar
lexluthermiesterThe point seems to have been missed. The claim is that the speakers are wireless, yet we can see wires? That doesn't jive. If they wanted to say Bluetooth speakers then that is what they should have said.
I guess we're really diving into semantics here, but again, "wireless speakers" doesn't necessarily have to mean "entirely wireless speakers" - that just depends on which and how many wires you see as key to the speaker's operation. With the possibility of wireless audio transfer - IMO one of the key determinants of something working as a speaker - they can obviously qualify as some degree of wireless, regardless of there also being power and channel-to-channel wires. I mean, an automatic gearbox in a car still needs you to set it to Drive, Reverse, Park, etc., which by your standard here would seem to make it not qualify as automatic.
Chrispy_Presonus Eris E5. Simple, no-nonsense studio monitors.

RoomEQ Wizard (REW) and Equaliser APO are the two pieces of software you'll want to try (look for a guide, it's not intuitive!)

For hardware, I used a Yamaha YPAO monaural omni-directional mic I had from my HDMI amp in the other room. Any simple mono mic will do, as long as it's able to provide raw input without any hardware noise-cancelling, compression, or other 'enhancement' shenanigans.

The other room is decent quality separates but definitely at the lower end of the possible price range. The heavy lifting is actually done by the Yamaha receiver that comes with that detachable microphone for automatic room calibration and DSP correction. The speakers are good, but compensating for the room is more important than speaker choice, as long as your speakers aren't garbage.

Receiver
Front / Center / Rear / Sub
Thanks! Those are cheap enough that I could even live with the lack of a built-in USB DAC. Nice. I'll have to make a note of them. And the software too, obviously :) Living room speakers are likely coming first, but I'm definitely going with something smaller simpler than your setup - I dont' want a receiver cluttering up the living room, and there's no need for surround sound. A good pair of active bookshelf speakers should do nicely even there. I've been considering System Audio Saxo 7s (possibly with a small sub) as I know their sound profile well and really like it, but they aren't the best value overall, and I'd definitely like a USB DAC option for the HTPC. Nonetheless, thanks for your input!
Posted on Reply
#21
Chrispy_
ValantarThanks! Those are cheap enough that I could even live with the lack of a built-in USB DAC. Nice. I'll have to make a note of them. And the software too, obviously :) Living room speakers are likely coming first, but I'm definitely going with something smaller simpler than your setup - I dont' want a receiver cluttering up the living room, and there's no need for surround sound. A good pair of active bookshelf speakers should do nicely even there. I've been considering System Audio Saxo 7s (possibly with a small sub) as I know their sound profile well and really like it, but they aren't the best value overall, and I'd definitely like a USB DAC option for the HTPC. Nonetheless, thanks for your input!
I wouldn't go smaller than 5" drivers for desktop, unless you're really keen on a sub. I moved away from a sub setup years ago because I couldn't blend the transition from the sub to the satellites smoothly enough, no matter how much I tweaked, and even after upgrading the satellites. I rocked the classic Klipsch promedia and it was good and punchy, but not refined in terms of even frequency response so some genres sounded amazing on them and others sounded bad; I'm a full convert of flat frequency response now - hear all music the way it was mastered, not coloured by your speakers.

5" is big enough that I don't miss the sub, provided you buy decent quality. Those Eris hit 53Hz on paper, anyway and unless you have several hundred $€£ to drop on a decent sub you're probably only going to get to 30Hz anyway; You want down to 60Hz, flat, without a sub. For a living room at your typical 10-feet you might want to step up to 6" or 8"; not for the volume - the 5" will probably be enough to make the neigbours complain, but for the lower frequency response that action movies and gaming have. 5" will do that at desktop range but they'll probably distort trying to do the same thing much louder for a larger room and you don't want that distortion muddying up your sound quality. When the living room was just a pair of bookshelf speakers I had a pair of M-Audio BX8 monitors and they hit the spot at sub-40Hz without problem.

Before I bought the Eris 5, I bought the Eris 4.5 (down to 70Hz) and it simply lacked enough low end to feel like a complete sound. The shop exchanged for the E5 pair and I was happy. Many of the best/popular studio monitors with built-in front panel volume dials stop at 4" (M-Audio AV-42, Behringer Media40, KRK Rokit, etc) but there are exceptions - Alesis Elevate and Mackie CR5/CR5X are both designed as a pair rather than sold seperately - so the unit with the amps in it also has a volume knob for the pair.

My recommendation though is to buy the best 5" monitors you can afford (M-Audio BX5, Eris E5, K5K Rokit 5, classic, JBL LSR305 are all great affordable options) and pair them with whatever DAC you can get with the leftover change. Even a $25 USB DAC, T-Amp, or headphone amp off Amazon's Chinese flea market will do fine because it won't have to do any heavy lifting, you just want an external USB sound card that works with the basic Windows Audio API and has a volume control knob. Also avoid Bluetooth in active studio monitors. You don't want any radio equipment in the same cabinet as your analogue amplifier because you'll hear the EMI it causes, amplified.

Anyway, PM me if you want advice - I've gone very OT but I've been messing with audio gear going back 30 years now, back when 'PC' meant Amstrad, Commodore, or ZX Spectrum.
Posted on Reply
#22
lexluthermiester
ValantarI guess we're really diving into semantics here,
If you think it's semantics, you clearly have a differing opinion.
Valantarbut again, "wireless speakers" doesn't necessarily have to mean "entirely wireless speakers"
To you maybe. To many, "Wireless" means no wires for general operation.
Valantarthat just depends on which and how many wires you see as key to the speaker's operation.
If something wants to qualify as "Wireless", zero. If the speakers have wires which connect them to each other and/or power, then they are not wireless, regardless of how they derive their source of input.

This is not a difficult concept to understand. "Wireless" means no wires. Anything with wires for operation but uses a form of wireless source input needs to be described as such. So instead of Genesis describing the above as:
Helium 100BT Wireless PC Speakers with RGB Illumination

They should be described as:
Helium 100BT Bluetooth PC Speakers with RGB Illumination

Otherwise it is a literal case of false advertising.
Posted on Reply
#23
Valantar
lexluthermiesterIf you think it's semantics, you clearly have a differing opinion.

To you maybe. To many, "Wireless" means no wires for general operation.

If something wants to qualify as "Wireless", zero. If the speakers have wires which connect them to each other and/or power, then they are not wireless, regardless of how they derive their source of input.

This is not a difficult concept to understand. "Wireless" means no wires. Anything with wires for operation but uses a form of wireless source input needs to be described as such. So instead of Genesis describing the above as:
Helium 100BT Wireless PC Speakers with RGB Illumination

They should be described as:
Helium 100BT Bluetooth PC Speakers with RGB Illumination

Otherwise it is a literal case of false advertising.
Well, you're entirely welcome to that opinion. There's enough leeway in the meaning of "wireless speaker" for either definition to be applicable.
Posted on Reply
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