Creative T60 review

Our Verdict

78%

A great set of features and solid sound quality, but you’re paying for convenience over sound quality.

The venerable Creative T20 speakers have been around for many years and remain an excellent option on a budget. However, their design and feature set are showing their age, which is where the new Creative T60 PC speakers come in, hitting the same affordable price with an updated design and convenient Bluetooth and USB connections.

The new design sees the T20’s bright yellow drivers ditched in favour of smarter-looking, gold-coloured ones, while the speaker grilles have been dropped completely. The result is a cleaner, more modern design, though you need to take care not to scratch the glossy plastic exterior.

A single knob on the right speaker provides a slightly weird-feeling volume control. It feels like it should be an analogue control (it doesn’t spin freely or have detents), but it’s a digital control that responds with just enough delay that you often overshoot the level for which you’re aiming.

Below the volume dial sit three buttons. On the left is the power button that turns the speakers on and off with a long press. Tap this button while the speakers are on and it will cycle through the various inputs, indicating which is selected via the above LED.

A tap of the middle button switches between stereo and a somewhat-useful emulated surround sound mode, while a long press will switch between the speakers and any connected headset/headphones. The latter lets you keep a set of headphones connected via the speakers and choose which device to use, rather than automatically muting the speakers when headphones are connected, as on the T20.

The final button turns on the surprisingly effective ‘clear dialog’ mode, which boosts the upper mid-range frequencies associated with speech. This and the surround mode are only available when in speaker mode, not headset mode.

Round the back of the right speaker is a headphone port, a microphone port (enabling headset passthrough via the USB connection), a USB Type-C port, a 3.5mm jack aux input and the output to the left speaker (the left speaker’s cable is tethered rather than removable). You can also connect via Bluetooth, with pairing initiated by the left front button.

The T60s aren’t tiny, portable units but they’re far from desk-hogging either. Despite their reasonable size, though, they only sport a single 70mm driver per speaker – a downgrade from the two-driver setup of the T20s. A rear bass port also means you shouldn’t set these speakers against a wall.

Creative T60 sound quality

As a result of the above driver downgrade, the T60 is quite as sonically accomplished as the T20. Unsurprisingly, neither speaker set provides huge, booming bass, but the T20 has more top-end detail. The T60s can also sound a little overwhelmed when there’s a lot happening in the sound mix.

There’s still plenty of power and warmth to make for a satisfying listen at your desk or kitchen party volume levels, but sound quality is clearly compromised in order to add the extra digital connections and hit the same price as the T20. You can get a little more detail by connecting via the aux input, but that rather defeats the point of buying these speakers over the T20.

Creative T60 pros and cons

Pros

• Useful USB and Bluetooth connections
• Convenient controls and headset passthrough
• Plenty of volume with a warm sound
• Good value

Cons

• Lacks high-end detail
• Lacks sub-bass
• Audio compromised for convenience

Creative T60 specs

The Creative T60 specs list is:

Creative T60 price

The Creative T60 price is $70 at the time of review, making this a mid-range set of PC speakers.

Price: Expect to pay $70 (£70)

Creative T60 review conclusion

The Creative T60s offer USB and Bluetooth connection, a smart design and entirely adequate audio quality for their price. They’re a huge step up from any monitor speakers or smaller, cheaper units. However, you’re paying for those extra digital connections and similarly-priced pure analogue speakers, such as Creative’s own T20, can offer better sonic performance for the same price. Nonetheless, the combination of features, design, sound quality, and price means the T60 make it onto our best computer speakers list.

Meanwhile, if you own a set of the Creative T60 or are tempted to buy some, let us know your thoughts and questions via the Custom PC Facebook page, Twitter page, or by joining our 400,000+ member Custom PC and Gaming Setup Facebook group.