There was a time not that long ago when nearly every computer monitor was bookended by a pair of computer speakers. A lot of them were very ugly. But my favorites from that bygone era were the Harman Kardon SoundSticks (note, they’re still in available in their fourth iteration); the clear jellyfish subwoofer with a pair of elongated speakers presented itself as much a sculpture as a sound system.

But as many folks ditched desktop rigs for laptops and computing evolved into an “anywhere, everywhere” reality, headphones and wireless earbuds became increasingly the way we’d listen while typing, mousing, or even swiping away behind our screens. That makes the Drop BMR1 Nearfield Monitors announced at CES 2023 an interesting throwback proposition, a pair of Bluetooth 5.0 speakers that can be rotated in horizontal and vertical orientations intended to park itself right back on the desk like it was the year 2000.

The ability to rotate these speakers addresses an issue anyone with a smaller desk often runs into: placing speakers to the sides can eat up valuable (or non-existent) real estate. But with the ability to turn these horizontally, sliding these speakers underneath the screen becomes an option.

Sonically, the BMR1 Nearfield Monitors deliver sound via technology revealed by its namesake. The wide-bandwidth drivers operate using Balanced Mode Radiation (BMR) to deliver powerful audio. Monitors versus regular bookshelf speakers are engineered to deliver audio optimally immediately to the ears of someone seated right in front rather than at a distance.

Noting users may still want to plug in headphones occasionally/regularly, there’s also a 3.5mm headphone jack and aux-in line, and if an extra bit of oomph is desired, plugging in an external subwoofer is an option with a dedicated sub jack.

The industrial design is… well… inarguably industrial, maybe even a shade brutalist. These monitors definitely steer closer to a gamer’s aesthetic, but situated under a monitor turned to its sides, its visual imprint merges parallel to the screen, like two miniature sound bars. Now just imagine how clear and loud everyone will sound on your next Zoom call.

The Drop BMR1 Nearfield Monitors will be available for preorder on January 31st for $129.

Gregory Han is Tech Editor of Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.

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