Logitech Laptop Speaker Z305
by Dustin Sklavos on December 1, 2010 1:10 AM ESTConclusion
Credit must at least be given to Logitech for ingenuity: a clamp-on, USB speaker bar for laptops is a great idea. While sharing a laptop for viewing movies runs into all kinds of problems (like those dire notebook screens Jarred, Vivek and I are only too fond of griping about), at least with the Z305 sound isn't going to be an issue.
Actually, the funniest thing about the Z305 is the way it outclasses the pricier Z515. All the Z515 has going for it is wireless connectivity, and for a notebook replacement speaker (among other things), where the heck do you put it? To the right of your laptop? To the left? What kind of stereo listening experience is that? The Z305 winds up solving the practical issues the Z515 possessed: no need to worry about the battery or speaker placement. The Z515 winds up ultimately being the more flexible of the bunch, but jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none doesn't really cut it here.
If you need decent external, travel-size speakers for your notebook, the Logitech Laptop Speaker Z305 is basically the only game in town. Mercifully, that's not necessarily a bad thing: while sound quality left something to be desired, it's still reasonable for the size of the speaker bar and the price. I listen to a lot of music and don't like being tethered to headphones, so I'm reasonably certain when I go to meet most of the cast and crew of AnandTech at CES in a month I'll be packing the Z305 to fill my hotel room.
That said, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the price tag. While the sound quality is generally commensurate with a $60 pair of computer speakers, and you do get the bonuses of portability and a generally smart design, it's still not the kind of deal Ron Popeil or Willy Mays would be screaming at you about. At about ten bucks less the Z305 would be a lot easier to recommend, but Logitech seems to be putting a bit of a premium on their portable speakers these days.
At the end of the day, if you have a use for the Z305, you're not going to feel ripped off by parting with sixty bucks to get it. I'm just hoping that with the holiday season hanging around a sale will bring it from the realm of "reasonable exchange of funds for goods" to "excellent deal." [Ed: A quick search indicates that TigerDirect now has a $15 instant rebate, bringing the total to around $50 shipped.]
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JarredWalton - Wednesday, December 1, 2010 - link
Take it in the context of laptop speakers, though. Sure, you can have excellent audio from something that's only 5" or so. Try getting that same sort of quality from 2.5" and you're going to run into problems. Now shrink that down to the typical 1" (or smaller!) laptop speaker and you're definitely at the stage where "bigger is better" is absolutely factual. If this were a review of regular desktop speakers and someone said that, yes, it would be misguided and ignorant, but for the product/market in question it's absolutely true.techcurious - Wednesday, December 1, 2010 - link
factual? hardly! They way you and Evil_Sheep make it sound is that you can judge the performance of a speaker by it's size alone. THAT is what I am dissagreeing with. While a bigger size "can" give the designer of the speaker more room to develope a better speaker, it most certainly does NOT make the speaker. By making my earlier point, I am trying to explain that speaker design and quality is the ultimate decider of a speaker's performance, not it's size. You can't buy any big speaker and expect it to outperform a better designed and quality small speaker. Get it? But naturally, when design and quality is equal, then size can be a factor.big JBL > small JBL (or logitech or creative, etc)
big Bang & Olufsen > small Bang & Olufsen.
But.. small Bang & Olufsen > big JBL or creative or logitech.
Get it?
A bigger Size allows for the potential to design something awesome within that space, but without the skills to do so, it will be wasted space.
Evil_Sheep - Thursday, December 2, 2010 - link
I think you've misinterpreted what we've been saying -- we're not really in disagreement. There's no need to huff and puff.I was saying the same thing you are: speaker size is a design constraint. Obviously a bigger speaker isn't going to be automatically better than a smaller one. It's simply that, all things being equal, bigger speakers have an advantage because they are easier to design -- up to a certain point.
And at the really small sizes, like jarred says, size becomes a major constraint. I've personally never heard any decent sound coming from a tiny, portable set though surely it's possible. Just difficult.
It's why I'm a bit skeptical of the Logitechs (though of course I can't really judge until I've heard them.) They're really small and the sound isn't even directed towards the user. Also a lot of Logitech's recent cheaper efforts have been pretty forgettable.
So when the conclusion said the Z305's are the only game in town, I thought I'd make some suggestions because that really isn't true. The Edifier MP300's are fully portable speakers: the sats can sit in your palm and the sub is smaller than the Z305. The Gigaworks might not be marketed as portable speakers but I don't think it's unreasonable at all to consider carrying them around. And my experience is they sound pretty good for the size/cost (and a lot of people must agree since they've been on the market for years.) There's probably some others out there too but those two are the ones I know of.
JarredWalton - Thursday, December 2, 2010 - link
Agreed. Let's not take things out of context or set up straw men. Yes, we "get it", but why are you so set on trying to prove size doesn't matter, particularly when you then provide a list that says otherwise? All other things being equal, size matters, especially at the small end of the spectrum. Sure, you can make some large speakers that sound like garbage, but what's the point?At the extreme, a large subwoofer alone sounds like crap compared to a full set of speakers, but that's a silly comparison. If you go out and buy an average set of speakers with 3" drivers and compare those to an average set of speakers with 1" drivers, though, bigger would almost certainly be "better".
No one is trying to say you can judge speakers by size alone--just like you can't judge a power supply by weight alone! All I'm saying is that in the context of this article (a review of a clip-on laptop speaker tube), it's no surprise that a couple of ~1" speakers on the ends of a "subwoofer tube" can best nearly any laptop.
If Dustin brings the Z305 to CES, I'll see if I can get an XPS 15 to compare it with... that's my new benchmark for decent sounding laptop speakers.
As another point of reference (and a little anecdote), I've got what most people consider pretty average desktop speakers: Logitech Z-640s from around 2004 (along with some newer X530 speakers from 2006 I think). They're nothing special, but they work for games well enough. More to the point, while merely decent for the $60 I paid way back when, I still prefer the sound of these "budget" speakers to that of every laptop I've used. $60 from more than six years ago and I'm pretty sure they sound better than the Z305 today at the same price. How's that for longevity?
JManning - Thursday, July 16, 2015 - link
The edifiers are decent, a little bit outdated though.. I've always been fond of Creative Gigaworks, but ended up jumping ship when I found the JBL Pebbles here http://www.pricenfees.com/category/speakers in their "best computer speakers under one-hundred dollars" guide. They're not specifically designed as laptop speakers, but they're small enough and sound great - Not too expensive either!jabber - Wednesday, December 1, 2010 - link
Tomorrow - Testing an old roller ball mouse I found behind a cupboard.jaredtrobinson - Wednesday, December 1, 2010 - link
Hey I like these quick little blurbs of a review. In fact I just ordered this product, so was quit pleased that they reviewed it :)jabber - Wednesday, December 1, 2010 - link
Yeah was only kidding.Sometimes its nice to see an odd product reviewed with a quick answer to "is it worth it or not?"
jaredtrobinson - Wednesday, December 1, 2010 - link
it was funny though :)Hrel - Wednesday, December 1, 2010 - link
For years I've wanted portable speakers that clip onto a laptop screen; these seem good. But I really don't want them behind the screen, for the reasons you listed. I want them to clip onto the sides, be very thin and have a port to plug in an optional Subwoofer; that would obviously require an outlet so you could only use the subwoofer in a limited number of situations but it'd still be nice to have the option. And for travel use the two clip on speakers ON THE SIDES OF THE SCREEN would work great.Something like the S-220 is EXACTLY what I'm looking for sound wise. For the size/price I'm amazed by the quality of those speakers. So If I could get those exact same 3 speakers (2 speakers and 1 subwoofer) I'd be willing to pay 50 bucks easy. Considering they cost 28 bucks right now I think 50 should be enough of a premium to satisfy the accountants at Logitech.
PLEASE LOGITECH MAKE THIS DREAM OF MINE COME TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!