Creative Pebble X Plus Hands-On Review

Today, we managed to get our hands on the Creative Pebble X Plus 18. It’s a set of speakers coupled with a subwoofer slated to complement your desktop space.

As a disclaimer though, these speakers lean on the pricier side. With that, we’re here to see if it’s worth it within just a day of use. Let’s dive right in to see if it’s a great audio solution for your bedroom or home office!

Design and Construction

The speakers have a spherical, sloped design and are made up of black plastic. On the bottom, these speakers have what feels like a rubber coating. My only gripe with it so far is how the cables feel a bit shorter than expected.

Since they stand pretty well, we assumed the coating helps a bit with grip. Funnily enough, it can still get tipped and rolled around on surfaces.

The bottom of either speaker also has a tripod mount should users prefer to place them on an elevated surface. I feel like it’s a bit intuitive from Creative’s end. Users should take note of this if they have a small table and want both speakers leveled properly.

On the exterior, the speakers have RGB lighting. Colors change slowly by default, but users can tinker with the Creative app to personalize this.

As for the subwoofer, it’s slightly larger and basically looks like a cube. It certainly feels a bit weighty and more durable compared to the speakers. Personally, it’s a bit odd that build quality isn’t similar.

For context, subwoofers are usually meant to be tucked away in a different place. I just think that the speakers situated in a more open space would have benefited more from build quality.

They glow in slowly changing colors by default and can be set via an app or software to shine in one color, change color patterns, sync with the sound or with other Creative gadgets.

Ports and Connectivity

The speakers come with a 3.5mm audio port and a couple of ports for analog headphone and microphone. Of course, these are for when connecting the speaker system to your personal computer.

To set it up, you just need to use a USB cable to connect. Notably though, you may either use a USB Type-C or USB-PD cable. From what we’ve gathered, users can get the most sound out of using the latter.

For buttons, the power switch and volume control can be found on the satellite-like surface. There’s also a button for controlling the RGB lighting. There’s even one for switching between input modes which include Bluetooth, USB, or auxiliary.

For adjusting the sound output itself, users will have to use Creative’s platform on the desktop. We’ll get to that in a bit, but these basically cover the speakers’ ports, buttons, and connectivity options.

Sound Quality and Apps

Time to address the elephant in the room—how does the system fare in terms of sound quality?

From experience, the sound stage has notable strengths in sound stage clarity and great detail in treble and mids. To put it simply, it can fill a sizable room with great audio.

As for cons, it seems to lose quality once the volume reaches about 85-90 percent. If maxed out, the punchiness may or may not irk a few users. The subwoofer is also a point of contention. It delivers mids well, but dies down a bit at lower frequencies.

If how they sound out of the box feels a bit lacking, worry not. Creative has a program on the desktop where users can play with an equalizer, balance, and mic input. While we know that there’s also an app for mobile, it’s not as flexible feature-wise.

Sadly, the Creative app mainly works so that users may upgrade software and customize the RGB lighting on the speakers.

All things considered, the speakers are pretty good. I don’t think any user would ever push the volume too high. In my opinion, staying around 50-70 percent should warrant an immersive listening experience.

Final Thoughts

Overall, we’ve found that the Pebble X Plus is a great find for users that want a desktop speaker system. It’s got a compact and stylish design in spite of the plastic material and has good audio quality in moderation.

Of course, it has its cons. Cables feel short and control via Creative’s mobile app is limited. There are also some points where it’s subjective.

For example, the RGB lighting may or may not be welcomed depending on user preferences. There’s also the matter of users who may want to blast the volume levels to max. Sadly, I feel like users will find it a bit lacking in quality when applied.

For those interested in the Creative Pebble X Plus, feel free to check it out via Creative’s official website. We’re plugging this because we don’t have the pricing and availability ready in the Philippines just yet. But worry not, we’ll update the article once we do!

Creative Pebble X Plus specs:
2.75-inch full range speaker drivers (dual)
3.5-inch flat-cap subwoofer driver with dual passive radiators
3.5mm audio port
Bluetooth 5.3
45–20,000Hz (frequency response)
2402–2480MHz (operating frequency)
10m / 33 ft (operating range)
USB Type-C (audio and power, up to 5V 3A)
USB PD Input (power only, up to 15V 2A)
RGB lighting, volume, Bluetooth pairing (controls)
Sound Blaster Acousting Engine
BassFlex
EQ
Dialog+
Creative App support
156.4 x 156 x 158.5 mm (subwoofer dimensions)
139.5 x 145 x 136 mm (speaker dimensions)
1700 grams (subwoofer weight)
575 grams (speaker weight)
Black (color)