I’ve been more than happy with my ageing pair of Creative speakers. They crackle whenever you change the volume, the cable has to be taped a certain way to the back to make a connection, and they have an infuriatingly large plug that never fits the right way around into the socket. But they work. And for over ten years that’s all I’ve ever asked of them.
That was until the Logitech G560 speakers came along. Suddenly, my dull black pair of speakers seems drab, and frankly mundane. I’ve been enlightened to the ways of all-singing, all-dancing, Bluetooth-controllable swiss-army speakers sat on my desk, fully equipped with RGB lighting that needs a strobe warning and a subwoofer heavy enough to get the environmental agency out for a house visit.
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But soon I will be forced to give the Logitech G560s back, and while I’ve enjoyed my time with this 240W 2:1 speaker set, $200 / £209 is a lot of money to ask for a set of speakers you didn’t know you needed until two paragraphs ago. So, let’s get into what you get for all that dollar.
In the box you get two speakers, one subwoofer with power cable, one USB cable, and a manual. The speaker duo connects up to the subwoofer through two independently wired, and extremely chunky cables, that are almost certainly impervious to the wear-and-tear they’ll encounter on most desktops. The right speaker has three buttons on the top, two for volume and one macro programmable within the app. On the back are two more buttons, one for bluetooth connectivity, and another for power.
Before we get to all that aesthetic, let’s talk sound. The downfiring subwoofer completes the 2:1 trio, and acts as the hub for the system with single USB and aux 3.5mm outputs. All together the system offers a frequency response from 40Hz up to 18KHz, and is capable of dealing with 240W peak and 120W RMS. They are ear-splittingly loud – to a fault. The G560 both won’t and can’t keep the noise down, and sharply ramps in volume from system volume 12 to 14 in an extremely noticeable way.
That subwoofer, even out of the box, doesn’t play around. Bass is titanically weighty from that fairly sizeable and nondescript black box, and it hits you like a ton of bricks even when the system volume is only in the single-digit range. Even with the ‘drop the bass’ equaliser in place within the Logitech Gaming Software selected, bass is such a key characteristic of the G560’s audio profile that there’s no escaping it.
But that doesn’t mean that the G560 is lacking when it comes to treble and detail in the upper frequencies. The pair of satellite speakers offer vivid, dynamic, and very focused audio straight off your ear drums. While only 2.1, the G560’s audio is punchy and spacious on all counts, and I was really blown away by the wide, expansive soundstage from just two desktop speakers.
The Logitech Gaming Software also offers 7.1 virtual surround for those in need of a little more in-game auditory aid. It’s not all that heavy handed either. I’m not normally a fan of the harsh and steely profile these workarounds often cause, but as far as virtual surround goes, Logitech’s implementation isn’t half bad.
So onto RGB. The G560 is stunning… when it does what you want it to. Each speaker features two individual LED lighting zones – one on the rear of the speaker and another within the teardrop plastic exterior that’s accentuated by an alternating line pattern on the interior of the case design. Both zones are controllable through the Logitech Gaming Software, incredibly vibrant, and also occasionally change colour at their own free will.
It’s certainly a software issue, and the G560’s app integrations need some work, stat. Even when the PC is in sleep mode, the RGB lighting continuously rotates through rainbow settings. This is especially frustrating if you intend to sleep in the same room that your PC is located without needing to reach behind and turning off your speakers independently every time.
Occasionally my PC boots up and one of the two lighting zones on both speakers light up in entirely the wrong colour. Strangely, I can’t figure out how to do this within the software even if I wanted to. Lighting cannot be saved to device, and even when the software is set to boot at Windows start within settings, the app often simply doesn’t start up.
Logitech’s game integration and screen sampling is a nifty feature too. I’ve never actually managed to get it working on my own machine, but I saw it at a Logitech G event one time. Yay, software.
It’s incredibly frustrating to have run into these issues because the product is so well put together on all other counts, and when functioning correctly, the lighting is phenomenal. Logitech has fantastic product quality assurance, and the G560 is no outlier. But the software just gets convoluted, and often simply fails to work entirely. Some features I set simply just ‘didn’t take’, and realistically, sound system functionality needs to be quick and easy to use for anyone to actively use it. I want to be able to set and forget.
Software bugs aside, the Logitech G560 still leaves a lasting impression. The build quality is superb – as expected from $200 / £209 speakers – sound is punchy and detailed, and the twin speaker combo offers more than enough delineation across the range for competitive gaming – even in quick-paced audio-centric titles such as Rainbow Six: Siege.
I’ve gone through countless pairs of headsets and never settled on a single pair for long, but with my speakers I was more than happy to settle down without a second thought. But, as Logitech’s G560 speakers prove, there’s more to good gaming audio than a pair of quality cans.
The Logitech Gaming Software’s lack of finesse holds back what is otherwise an excellent product. If Logitech can grapple with the bugs, it will have a genuinely impressive and standout product in the Logitech G audio lineup.