A good set of PC speakers can make a huge difference for gaming, listening to music and watching videos, so we’ve come up with a list of recommendations based on our in-house testing. This article includes speaker and soundbar recommendations for desktop PCs, laptops and consoles across a range of price points, with higher-end options tending to offer more numerous and diverse connectivity options and richer audio reproduction.
For reference, we’re classifying a budget speaker as being under £50/$50, while a mid-range option is £100/$100 and a high-end choice is underneath £250/$250. Beyond this, we do have further recommendations at the £500/$500+ mark, although as always diminishing returns make this kind of expenditure unnecessary for most people. It is possible to spend a lot more on speakers of course, with more audiophile-grade options pushing far beyond our current structure.
Here are our favourite computer speakers we’ve tested across a wide range of prices, designed to offer an upgrade to your PC’s audio at a reasonable price.
Best budget computer speakers: Creative Pebble PlusBest mid-range computer speakers: Creative T100Best high-end computer speakers: Edifier MR5Best premium computer speakers: Edifier S3000PROBest 2.1 computer speakers: SteelSeries Arena 7Best RGB computer speakers: Edifier QR65Best gaming soundbar: Creative Katana SEBest premium gaming soundbar: OXS Thunder ProFrequently asked questionsTo see this content please enable targeting cookies. Best budget computer speakers: Creative Pebble Plus
The best cheap computer speakers we’ve tried are the Creative Pebble Plus. These speakers are an affordable inclusion in any PC gaming setup, yet they provide surprisingly good audio with full bass thanks to their dedicated subwoofer. These aren’t the loudest speakers in the world, or even at this price range, but they make up for it by keeping distortion to a minimum and providing a good level of clarity. The speakers are small too, ensuring there’s more than enough desk space left over for your favourite mouse pad and one of the best gaming keyboards. Spending a little more will get you a substantially better experience, but if you’re on a limited budget these are a great choice.
Check price at Argos UKCheck price at Amazon USBest mid-range computer speakers: Creative T100
The Creative T100 are our second pick, dominating this category thanks to their long feature list, great audio quality and convenient remote. Connectivity is a strong point here, with options for optical (S/PDIF), 3.5mm and Bluetooth (aided by NFC pairing). We tested them with a smartphone connected via Bluetooth, a PC via optical and a record player via 3.5mm, all of which worked flawlessly. A USB input is also provided, if you want to play music directly on the speakers without need for a source device.