The best computer speakers are a worthy investment for people who demand more from their PCs and laptops. Rather than using the tinny inbuilt-speakers of laptops and monitors, the best desk speaker gives you far richer sound quality. This is essential for creatives working with audio and video, but a great pair of office speakers can be great for video calls, or listening to music while you work.
Here at Creative Bloq, we've been using the best computer speakers for years, hooking up Macs and PCs, as well as laptops, to help us work, so we know what a good pair of speakers sound like. We've used most of the speakers on this page while video editing, making music or just to have music playing while we work, so you can trust us to give you the best buying advice when you're looking to buy the best desk speaker for your setup.
Below, you'll find our hand-picked list of the best computer speakers you can buy right now to pair with the best laptops for video editing and more. And if you're building up your perfect home office, you'll want to check out the best desk lamps to sit beside your speakers. And for our money, no home office is complete without a quality ergonomic chair.
Razer's winning streak of producing excellent PC peripherals continues with the Razer Nommo V2 Pro 2.1 speakers. The two stereo speakers and beefy subwoofer produces excellent sound quality that can handle all kinds of audio, from immersive movie soundtracks, to pretty much any music genre you can think of.
With THX Spatial Audio support, you get a soundstage that feels wide and spacious, and can even rival some surround sound setups when it comes to making you feel like you're part of the action.
Razer is a brand that's heavily associated with gaming, so as you may expect, the Nommo V2 Pro work particularly well for playing games, though they are versatile enough to handle all kinds of audio. This means they are a great choice for non-gamers as well, though the design - especially the RGB lighting - is very geared towards gamers, and that may put some people off (as would the high price).
If you're looking for the best budget computer speakers to place on your desk, then we recommend the Creative Pebble Plus. These compact speakers look great, so they can sit unobtrusively in any office or home, and they are a great choice for people with not a lot of space.
Despite their small size and low price, the sound quality is very good, and are a massive step up from the tinny built-in speakers you find in laptops and monitors. Of course, there are some compromises - these aren't going to give you the pure cinematic punch of larger, more expensive, desk speakers, but they offer excellent highs, mids and lows, and they don't distort at high volume. The latest models also offer Bluetooth support and USB-C connectivity, as well as an audio jack, and you can pair them with a subwoofer if you'd like a fuller sound.
The Creative SXFI Carrier is our pick for the best premium PC speaker you can buy right now. In our time using this setup - which comprises of a main soundbar and wireless subwoofer, we've been extremely impressed with the audio quality. The soundbar houses numerous speakers, which combined with the wireless subwoofer offers a 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos effect for supported devices. With three front-facing speakers, two speakers on either end and two up-firing speakers on the top, you really do get an immersive room-filling sound.
It connects to your PC or laptop via USB or HDMI, and can pass through 4K@120Hz and 8K@30Hz with HDR support including Dolby Vision. An e-ARC connection also allows you to connect to a compatible TV or monitor with a single cable. This is a great setup for people serious about watching films and listening to music, but be warned: it's very expensive.
The Logitech Z407 is a great all-round package, offering very good sound quality, decent connectivity options and a stylish, compact, design that will fit into almost any office, home or studio setup.
The small speakers offer surprisingly big sound, while the subwoofer takes care of low-end bass. The results are an excellently balanced soundstage that is suitable for a wide range of uses, including listening to music or watching movies.
It also comes with a wireless dial that can be used to set the volume and skip through tracks. While it can be a bit fiddly to learn, once you've got the hang of it, it makes controlling the Logitech Z407 easy and convenient. Best of all, the Logitech Z407 is relatively inexpensive as well.
The Razer Leviathan V2 Pro is another great soundbar that's designed primarily to plug into your computer, rather than sitting beneath your TV. With five drivers in the soundbar itself, plus a powerful subwoofer, this setup can give you an immersive, room-filling, sound that rivals physical 5.1 audio systems.
One of its key features if headtracking AI, which intelligently responds to where your head is angled and adjust the sound to ensure you get the best possible experience. As this is Razer, it's a gaming-orientated device, and that means you get customizable RGB lighting, which is a nice touch. Even if you're not a gamer, it can bring a bit of color to your setup - and you can always turn it off if you don't like it. Unlike the Creative SXFI Carrier above, this soundbar doesn't support Dolby Atmos, but it has enough tricks up its sleeve, plus THX certification, to give you a great audio experience.
These high-end speakers are our pick as the best computer speakers for creatives who work with audio. While the price tag is pretty huge, the features on offer here are incredibly impressive.
Not only is there a huge range of wired inputs (including USB-C) to hook your computer up with, but there's also a large range of wireless options as well. With internet connectivity, you can use these speakers with the likes of Spotify and Tidal as well.
The sound quality is extremely impressive, with mids and highs being particularly powerful and detailed. Even low frequencies sound good on these speakers, and you can add a subwoofer to the system for even more powerful bass. Build quality and design is also impeccable, and while these won't be for everyone, musicians, video editors and music producers will likely find these an excellent investment.
For creatives looking for computer speakers to act as studio monitors for music creation and editing, but who may not be able to afford the KEF LSX II above, the Edifier MR4 are an excellent budget choice.
These are a pair of speakers that sound absolutely fantastic, and with their neutral soundstage, they are ideal for creators who want to hear every nuance and detail in the song they're mixing or the podcast they're creating, for example. They come with a wide range of analog connections, allowing you to easily hook up a desktop computer or laptop, but there are no wireless options - so you can't use Bluetooth to play music from your phone. There's no option for adding a subwoofer, either, which is a shame as the bass is a little on the light side with these speakers. However, their audio quality far outclasses many computer speakers at the same price range.
Steelseries is another trusted name when it comes to computer peripherals, so it may be little surprise to find out that it makes some great computer speakers as well. The Arena 3 is the affordable entry in its Arena lineup.
These compact speakers offer very good sound quality, offering a wide soundstage and impressive mid-range. They struggle a bit with providing truly punchy bass, but that's to be expected with compact speakers such as these. There are two analog inputs, allowing you to connect multiple devices, and you can switch between them with a press of a button. Using Steelseries' software, you can also fine tune these little speakers to sound how you want them, giving them a versatility that other budget speakers lack.
How we test
Testing computer speakers can be a very subjective thing. With many of the speakers on this list, we used them in our day-to-day lives, listening to music, watching movies and playing the odd game.
For the computer speakers we were not able to use ourselves, we consulted experts on our sister publications, including TechRadar and PC Gamer, to help us identify the best computer speakers in 2023. We also looked at the price and features of each speaker system, which are important considerations when buying a new office speaker.
What's the best quality computer speaker?
When it comes to pure audio quality for a computer speaker, we have to give the award to the KEF LSX II. They are extremely expensive, but they offer exceptional sound quality that blows other computer speakers away.
What's the best brand for computer speakers?
There are plenty of great brands that make computer speakers, but one of the most respected is Creative Technology (also known as Creative Labs, or simply Creative). It has been making sound cards (such as its iconic Sound Blaster range) and speakers for computers since the 1980s. Despite its age, the company continues to release innovative new products.
