Review: Logitech G560 Lightsync Speakers

Logitech are a brand known in the tech space for their mice, keyboards, headsets and webcams. Now they’ve also dabbled with speakers, but never like this. Never like the G560’s. I say “dabbled’ but really they have about 10 different speaker products, the most affluent of these however are the G560’s and there’s a very good reason for it.

The good

Amazing sound quality.
Bluetooth & Aux audio at the same time.
Software is incredibly easy to use.

The bad

LED screen sampling isn’t effective.
Price might not be justified for some.

The verdict

With the G560’s, a lot of the price is in the lights. Logitech have a wide range of speakers that (at the top end) would put out a very similar sound. However having said that, the lights do look exceptional on the desk and if you already have logitech accessories the sync up is beautiful. These are a set of speakers that simply look elegant on the desk. At $279.95, it’s your call whether the aesthetic is worth the extra ~$100.

Working in the radio industry and being a studio producer, I deal with a lot of speakers, headphones and an unbelievable amount of audio files every day. So if there’s a domain I know something about, it’s this one.

Sound Quality

There is unquestionably a limit to what the average punter is able to hear in any audio file. Some geeks will tell you they can hear every instrument, tear or production piece in audio if the quality is up to scratch – and while audiophiles exist and can actually hear these differences, they’re a highly trained 0.01% of the population.

So in the case of the G560’s, the audio quality is similar to that of most of Logitech’s high-range speakers that sit around the $150/$200 mark. All of these speakers will produce a quality of audio that the vast majority will find exceptional. If you’re an elitist, go double your budget and head somewhere else.

LED Lights

The beautiful RGB LED’s on the back of the two tweeters in this kit are highly effective. The promotional images are a little exaggerated as far as how powerful they are, but the pictures included here are an accurate representation of what are still very bright lights.

An expected but nonetheless still brilliant feature of the G560’s is the ‘active sync’. If you’ve any other Logitech products such as the G910 keyboard (pictured), the RGB lights can be synced up! Now whether you sync them as a fixed colour or cycling through the rainbow, it’s one of those features that makes your setup seem that much nicer.

Screen Sampling

A big portion of the LED’s purpose and a relatively important sale point for the G560’s is their ability to do screen sampling. For the uninitiated, screen sampling is where your monitor is processed for the colours on screen, so that they can be represented by the lights. This works in such a way that if you’re looking at a picture of blue sky, the lights behind your monitor will turn blue. While playing a game set in the dark red depths of hell, the lights will turn a deep red.

Now theoretically this is an incredible and immersive experience. In practice, the G560’s are attempting to screen sample an entire rectangle monitor and represent the whole colour pallette in two small locations either side of the screen. It’s like trying to do surround sound with only two speakers, while it’s a nice attempt it really isn’t what it promises to be.

One part of the sales pitch here is that the screen sampling can be used for gaming. Getting shot? Lights flash red. Running out of ammo? Lights begin to flash/dim/whatever you see fit. And while I so desperately wanted this to be practical and useful, I found it either non-effective or otherwise non-functional. The setup for each game was difficult and simply not that exciting. Which is a shame because there is a serious market for a product that effectively can represent in-game statistics in a beautiful, external method.

Subwoofer

As a young bloke with a subwoofer in the boot of my car, I have a great appreciation for bass. I’m the guy at the red light with his car shaking… I can be heard coming from about 3km away… you get the point. So when I got my hands on the enormous subwoofer (and I mean enormous) that comes with the G560’s, naturally I was ecstatic – and boy does it deliver.