Creative Pebble X Plus review: Good on Mac, amazing on Windows

When Creative offered to send me three of their products for review, I was surprised to find the Creative Pebble X Plus in the package. In the box next to modern-age SXFI headphones and xMEMs earbuds are….. desktop speakers?

I didn’t think desktop speakers are still a thing. Speakers are built in to everything nowadays – heck, even my smartwatch is capable of playing music in a pinch. I’ve been connecting a portable bluetooth speaker to my PC, and it’s…. well, portable. So what can I possibly say about something that had its day in the sun back in the 90’s?

Turns out, I’m dead wrong. For one, people still want desktop speakers. Secondly, this is my favorite product out of the bunch.

The Creative Pebble X Plus is small in size, big in sound

Well, “small” is relative. These are definitely bigger than portable speakers like the JBL Go, but take up less space than a soundbar. Similarly, the subwoofer is (at its widest) a 6.24 inch cube that won’t take up much legroom under your desk.

Despite it’s size, these things pack a punch! I found the sound to be clear with a nice balance between the highs, middle and lows – bordering on warm. The subwoofer also delivers enough boom without overpowering everything else. You will enjoy 99% of the songs that play through these speakers.

However, this pleasant balance doesn’t work for some songs that require more dirt and grittiness like Rammstein’s Moskau or Molotov’s Dance and Dense Denso. For these, it feels like there’s a sound itch that just isn’t being scratched. I actually found a way to scratch this itch, which I’ll get to in a bit.

Now, what I haven’t said is that this is what the speakers sound like on regular power. By default, the speakers get up to 15W RMS with up to 30W peak power. If you plug this thing to a 60W adapter, what you get is worth the price of the speakers AND the adapter. The sound is fuller, the soundscape is more pronounced, the bass is punchier. It’s like I’ve just gotten a magical upgrade.

Unfortunately, a 60W adapter isn’t included in the box. If you don’t already have one I’d call it a compulsory buy if you’re getting these speakers.

Creative says pebble, I say egg

Overall, I find the design tastefully understated. I appreciate the lack of aggressive gamer or technohead styling, because this makes the Creative Pebble X Plus fit in to any setting. Even the RGB is sufficiently muted (though you can make them brighter).

While Creative stylizes it as a pebble, I think it looks more like an egg. Even the bronze drivers resemble a yolk. In fact, I’d say the drivers are the most visually striking part of the speakers.

The casing is all-plastic, with a softer satin feel in the indent. The right speaker holds the control knob (doubling as a power button), two buttons to control connection options and RGB lighting, and an status indicator light. Behind, you have a USB-C connection port, a USB-C power delivery port, and an auxiliary port. There’s also a microphone and headphone port, though I didn’t have much use for them.

Overall it feels solid, although the plastic used in the indent will catch finger oils pretty easily.

Although these are bluetooth speakers, they aren’t wireless. For one, they have to be plugged in to a power source. Secondly, there are cables connecting the speakers to the subwoofer. Some cable management is needed if you’re a neat freak.

On that note, I have to point out that this means the maximum space you can have between the three components are limited by the length of the cables. The left speaker and subwoofer cables are built into to the right speaker, so you can’t swap them out for longer cables. Here are the cable lengths if you need to plan ahead:

• Right to left speaker cable – 1.2m
• Right speaker to subwoofer cable – 1.8m

Given that these are desktop speakers, I don’t think cable length is too much of an issue but I thought I’d point it out.

You need Windows to get the most out of the Creative Pebble X Plus

As a Mac user, it pains me to write this part. Remember that gritty sound I was craving for in some songs? Well, the fix for that is in the Creative App via adjustments on the Equalizer and Acoustic Engine.

The problem is that it only works with Windows. On Android, the app only allows me to change the RGB lighting. On Mac, nothing. And no, there’s no on-board memory to save the settings.

So what this means is that, with a 60W adapter, I’m getting really good sound on my Mac. But this comes with knowing I could be getting amazing sound when on Windows. Unfortunately, I spend most of my time on the Mac, with the PC only for gaming.

It’s just strange to me that the Creative Pebble X Plus is putting me through some kind of RPG experience to progressively unlock better powerups. Anyway, PC master race, amiright? (sigh).

Here are some other small, but fixable niggles I came across.

The speakers support bluetooth connectivity as well as auxiliary and a direct USB-C connection. On Bluetooth, there’s a minor split-second delay. It’s almost imperceptible – I’ve played FPS games without noticing it – unless you’re watching mouth movements on videos. I don’t think it’s that big a deal, but you might want to switch to a cabled connection if it bugs you.

The effectiveness of the subwoofer is also completely dependent on where you position it. Ideally, it’s best between some sort of crevice. It’s sufficiently less effective when in an open space or – if you’re some kind of deviant – on a table. If you don’t have a nook to stash it in, the early 2000’s taught me that surrounding it with something solid like a short cabinet or a wooden footrest will give the bass a boost.

For RM509, are the Creative Pebble X Plus speakers worth it?

I was wrong about desktop speakers being irrelevant. Many of my colleagues and friends own or are open to getting a good set of speakers or soundbar. The majority of budgets range between RM300 – RM600, if not upwards of RM1,500 (for much fancier setups).

Based on my straw poll, at USD$109 (RM509), the Creative Pebble X Plus are on the higher end of the majority range. But if you’re on a PC and have a 60W adapter lying around, I think you’ll get the full value out of them. If you’re on a Mac or planning to play music from your phone… maybe not so much. At least until Creative updates their mobile and MacOS apps to support the same features and settings.

The next comparison would be a soundbar. I think it mostly boils down to aesthetic preferences. A soundbar has less cables and could fit the look of your desk better, but at the cost of adjustment. With speakers, you can individually adjust the placement of each speaker unit and the subwoofer to get the sound you want.

My money is on the speakers.