Creative Pebble X Plus review: A desktop 2.1 speaker system for all seasons

Creative’s Pebble PC speakers have long been favourites here at Expert Reviews, with the Pebble V3 being praised for its compact size, sound quality and excellent value.

Earlier this year, the Singaporean brand released a couple of new range-topping models; the Pebble X (£85), a 2.0 system comprising two satellite speakers, and the Pebble X Plus, which adds a subwoofer and costs £135. It’s the latter I’m pumping my tunes through today.

Creative Pebble X Plus review: What do you get for the money? 

It’s worth mentioning at the outset that you can’t buy the Pebble X without the sub and then add it later because the sub-less satellites lack the connector for the subwoofer.

The Pebble X speakers are larger than any of their forebears at 140 x 145 x 136mm (WDH) but the basic shape is the same. Each satellite is spheroid with an upper and lower portion sliced off to provide a base and a surface for the 2.75in driver angled upwards at 45 degrees. Each plastic module weighs 575g and has an RGB LED array built into the left and right sides of the housing.

The right-hand satellite has two 3.5mm jacks on the side to connect headphones and a microphone, while at the back you’ll find an auxiliary 3.5mm jack and two USB-C ports. It also supports Bluetooth 5.3 but is only compatible with the basic SBC codec.

On the front of the same satellite is a volume control with a built-in power button, a button that controls the RGB lighting, and one that switches the input mode between Bluetooth, USB, or auxiliary. There’s no way to fiddle with the sound profiles using the physical controls.

The subwoofer is impressively compact at 156 x 156 x 158mm (WDH) and weighs 1.7kg. That makes it smaller but heavier than the sub that comes with the Creative Pebble Plus system. It also makes it small enough to place under or behind a monitor, a feature I like as it means the bass comes directly at you rather than from near your feet if you have it on the floor under your desk.

The satellites and the sub have rubber feet to ensure they don’t move about on your desk. The feet on the sub come covered in plastic so make sure you remove it before use – doing so makes a dramatic difference in the sound it produces. The satellites also have tripod screws on their undersides so you can set them up at ear level on some small tripods.

The two satellites are connected by a fixed cable which is only 1.2m long. That was long enough for me, but if you have an ultra-wide monitor like the 1.2m wide Philips Evnia 49M2C8900 OLED and want your speakers on either side, that length will involve some placement compromises. The connecting cable should have been made 2m long or have a 3.5mm jack at each end.

The cable that connects the main (right) satellite to the sub is only fixed at the satellite end and is the same 1.2m length but that’s less of an issue. There are also two 1.5m USB-C to USB-C cables in the box and a 1.2m 3.5mm audio cable.

READ NEXT: Best PC speakers

Creative Pebble X Plus review: What do they do well?

No matter what power source you use, maximum volume levels will impress. If you draw power from your PC’s USB-C port, the system generates up to 15W RMS, but if you connect the USB-C PD port to a 30W or higher PD charger then that doubles to 30W RMS with another 15W RMS from the woofer.

I’ve got numerous PD chargers lying about the office so grabbing one for the Pebble X Plus was not an issue. However, Creative does not bundle a PD charger, so many people will have to budget for something like the Amazon Basic 30W PD charger to make the most of a system they’ve already paid £135 for.

Swapping from USB to PD power doesn’t do much for absolute system volume; I measured it to register at 85dBA against a pink noise source at a 1m distance regardless of the power source. However, the increased power saw the sub start pumping like a fiend, with the 3.5in flat-cap driver and dual passive radiators adding a visceral wallop to gaming sound effects.

No matter how it was powered, the rig impressed me with the levels of detail and stereo separation it produced, despite the limited physical distance between the speakers. Meanwhile, the sub delivered a composed bassline to add extra depth to proceedings. As I’ve alluded to above, having a sub small enough to sit on the base of the stand below my monitor worked wonders for the sense of presence and immediacy of the soundscape.

Does the LED light show add to the user experience? It’s subjective, but I like how the system pulsed in time to the music. You can also adjust the brightness to suit your surroundings. During all my hours of testing, I was never once inclined to turn the LED show off which tells you all you need to know.

The final strength of the Pebble X Plus is the plethora of connection options, both wired and wireless. It makes the system supremely convenient and adaptable, though I’d have liked to see support for the aptX codec for improved Bluetooth audio performance. That’s not even close to a deal-breaker, though.

READ NEXT: Best Bluetooth speakers

Creative Pebble X Plus: What could be improved?

The biggest drawback with the Pebble X Plus system is the length of the cable that connects the two satellites; it limits the system’s useability for anyone who has an ultrawide 32:9 monitor or wants that extra bit of space between their speakers. My desk is hardly massive but I still need 2m of cable to put a speaker on each corner.

Another issue for anyone who fancies the Pebble X Plus but uses a Mac or Linux machine is that Creative’s desktop app is only available for Windows users. The Creative app hosts a wide range of sound and communications optimisations that add to the user experience. I’ve got a set of Creative T60s hooked up to my PC and I regularly use the Creative app to change my sound settings.

There is a mobile app for both Android and iOS but that only lets you update the firmware and control the RGB light control system, admittedly on a much more granular level than the desktop app.

Something else the Pebble X Plus system lacks is support for Creative’s SmartComms tech, If you want this, consider Creative’s highly recommendable (and much cheaper) T60 2.0 set.

Creative Pebble X Plus: Should you buy them?

I can’t think of another 2.1 PC speaker system that combines such a long list of features with such high-quality sound and such a small size. The sound quality and volume the system generates are very impressive given the relatively compact nature of all three components, especially the diminutive subwoofer.

Add to that the wide range of inputs, the fancy LED light show and handy features available via Creative’s desktop app and you’ve got a versatile and very capable desktop package. You should probably get a PD charger in the box for this sort of money but even at its not-insubstantial price, it’s impossible not to award the Pebble X Plus the Best Buy award for PC speakers.