Apple releases iOS 11.4.1 beta 1 and watchOS 4.3.2 beta 1 updates

Now that iOS 11.4 is available to the public, it's time for Apple to begin beta testing its next iOS update.

iOS 11.4.1 beta 1 is now available to registered developers. If that's you, then you can download this update by going into Settings > General > Software Update on your device or by going to Apple's Developer Center on the web.

There's no word yet on what changes might be included in iOS 11.4.1. Considering that it's an x.x.1 release, though, we can likely expect bug fixes and under the hood improvements rather than any major new features.

Also released today is watchOS 4.3.2 beta 1. Like iOS 11.4.1, this update is likely focused on squashing bugs and improving performance.

Apple

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Google's Project Fi adding Moto G6, LG G7 ThinQ, and LG V35 ThinQ

Google's Project Fi is gaining three new non-Google smartphones.

The Moto G6, LG G7 ThinQ, and LG V35 ThinQ are all coming to Project Fi. You can pre-order the Moto G6 right now, and the LG G7 ThinQ and and LG V35 ThinQ will be available next month.

Here's how the pricing breaks down for these three new Project Fi phones:

• Moto G6: $199 or $8.29 per month for 24 months
• LG G7 ThinQ: $749 or $31.21 per month for 24 months
• LG V35 ThinQ: $899 or $37.46 per month for 24 months

It's great to see more phones coming to Project Fi, giving customers interested in the service more options. What's more, these options range from the affordable but still solid Moto G6 to the pricier but flagship-tier LG G7 ThinQ and LG V35 ThinQ. 

LG G7 ThinQ

Google

LG

Motorola

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Asus ROG Strix Scar Edition

Following in the footsteps of the Asus ROG Strix GL502, which received our high praises for combining portability with power, the Asus ROG Strix Scar Edition has all the makings of a solid gaming machine. And, we mean that both literally, with its hefty built, and figuratively, with its gaming performance.

Unfortunately, it’s also inherited some of the GL502’s shortcomings, the worst of which is its battery life. Compared to Alienware 17 and the Gigabyte Aero 15’s batteries, the Strix Scar Edition’s battery life is pretty unimpressive.

Thankfully, the laptop makes up for that with sleek, subtle gaming style, lots of gaming firepower, a fantastic keyboard and surprisingly robust sound. That package ain’t too shabby, and makes it easier to overlook the underwhelming battery in exchange.

Price and availability

With the exception of the new incredibly slim gaming line of the ROG Zephyrus computers, starting at $2,399 (about £1,979, AU$3,549), the ROG Strix Scar Edition is among the more expensive in the ASUS gamer-centric line, coming in at $1,599 for the 15.6-inch GL503V model. Though honestly, for that price, the computer packs quite a punch.

In fact, comparing it to the MSI GE63VR Raider at $1,999 (about £1,129, AU$1,989), which does have double the RAM, the ROG GL503V is able to otherwise go pound-for-pound, including a higher refresh rate (144Hz versus 120Hz) and its multifaceted gaming center. Unfortunately, it also shares the Raider's poor battery performance.

The Gigabyte Aero 15, another alternative coming in at $1,999 (about £1,499, AU$2,639), is a step up price-wise. However, it also features the 8th generation Intel Core i7 and smaller form factor. Alas, a slightly less powerful GPU in the 6GB Nvidia GeForce GXT 1060, less storage and similar other features like 16GB RAM don’t do it any favors. Depending on your needs, it's a toss up between the Aero 15 or the ROG GL503V for a better purchase.

Design

Asus has managed to find that sweet spot between that aggressive, in-your-face gaming form and the look of a typical laptop just by toning down the design. Don’t get us wrong; the Strix Scar Edition’s aesthetic is definitely inspired by the first-person shooter (FPS) games it’s specifically created for. 

According to Asus, the gunmetal grey finish of its lid mimics an assault rifle, the slashes carved across the lid and on the right palm rest of the keyboard imitate the trajectory of a bullet, and the area around the keyboard boasts a a woven Kevlar design. In addition, users are able to personalize the colors of keyboard backlighting for a more immersive gaming experience.

Still, Asus managed to incorporate all these elements in the design in a more subdued way, so that users can still take this laptop to a coffee shop looking a bit more ready for business. It’s a look that we’re definitely into, even if there are a few small things we don’t quite appreciate about the overall design.

One minor point of contention we have is the fact that, while the gunmetal and woven kevlar finishes give it that sleek, stylish look, they do retain fingerprints like no one’s business. A few games with the the Strix Scar Edition, and you’re already looking at obnoxious finger and palm tracks that make it look oily and less attractive. If you’re a tad anal about that sort of thing, you’re going to find yourself constantly polishing this gaming laptop.

One major design flaw we have to mention is the trackpad. First of all, the trackpad doesn’t always feel accurate. For example, when changing your point of view in a game using the trackpad, it doesn’t always pick up the continuous movement. As a result, you end up having to do a few more swipes to your target position. 

Secondly, there’s a lot of travel on the trackpad buttons. This not only makes them feel like they’re made of cheap material, but also demands harder presses from you. When you’re in the middle of a game that requires fast responses, you either end up pressing too slowly or you don’t press down far enough to even elicit a response.

To be fair to the Strix Scar Edition, there’s more to love about its design than not. Despite the two hard drives and a graphics card, for example, it only weighs 2.6kg. And, it does feel like it’s built with the sturdy stuff, giving it that heft every gaming laptop requires. 

Lastly, to support its more challenging tasks—gaming, for example—the laptop boasts a three-way cooling system. Essentially, it’s made up of three fans that automatically adjust depending on how hard the CPU, GPU and VRAM are working, intake vents above the keyboard and under the chassis for great airflow, a trapezoid-cut lid that’s specifically designed to allow the underside to breathe.

Made for gaming keyboard

The Strix Scar Edition’s keyboard is indeed made for gaming, as Asus claims, what with its responsive, fast actuating keys with a shorter travel distance and a higher firing point on them, a nice 0.25mm-deep keycap curve that cups your fingers in place, and the N-Key rollover for precision pressing.

We also like the fact that they intentionally separated the volume, mic/mute, and ROG Gaming Center hotkeys to prevent accidental presses during games, as well as the alternate uses of the function keys that are very much tailored for gaming.

The only thing to complain about is the weird placement of the arrow keys. They’re wedged between the number pad and the right control key with no space to isolate them, and it just feels a little crowded, especially when you’re using them for gaming. It’s not a big deal, but it is a tad annoying and it takes some getting used to.

Dedicated access bay

On the back of the Strix Scar Edition is a dedicated access bay for convenience when you need to upgrade your RAM or a second hard drive. This easy-to-access compartment gives you immediate access to two storage and two RAM slots without having to remove the entire back panel. 

You can pop open this panel with just a few quick turns of the Phillips Head screwdriver, as it’s locked in place only by a single tiny screw hidden behind a rubber lid.

The Strix Scar Edition is undoubtedly a souped up gaming machine, with a lot of flexibility and enough power to hold its own against many gaming PCs. That’s all thanks to its incredibly powerful internals. That not only means that regular everyday and multitasking demands are almost a no-brainer to this laptop, but it’s also got enough juice to play any game like butter – even at the highest graphic settings.

The laptop has a 1080p, IPS display powered by the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 with a 144Hz refresh rate for smooth, beautiful visuals and sharper, crisper graphics, even if the color representation is a tad off at default, leaning more towards a yellow-green tinge. There’s no stutter or discernible lagging in gameplay, which is pretty impressive for a non-PC gaming machine.

In Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, there are no stutters or noticeable frame rate drops. It is easy to tell that the laptop can easily keep up. That’s more than impressive considering the game is visually demanding, has an extremely high frame rate at around 120 frames per second (fps), and it has all these environmental effects going on at the same time. 

It’s a similar, immersive gaming experience to what we had with Tom Clancy’s The Division. This is a pseudo multiplayer game with a detailed, post-apocalyptic New York setting and a plethora of environmental effects, so you know there are many things going on. However, you never notice the graphics exhibit and loss of crispness, texture drops, stuttering or lags.

Battery life

We can’t say we’re impressed by the Strix Scar Edition’s battery power. Like the GL502VS, this only gets a 62Wh battery, which means the battery life is pretty short. When the computer is on battery mode while playing Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, the frame rate does drop significantly and has trouble reaching 30fps. Additionally, at full charge, it only had enough power to play Guardians of the Galaxy in full once at 50% brightness plus about 15 extra minutes into a second run of the movie.  

Considering this is a gaming laptop capable of handling complex graphics and physics, space is prioritized for those parts over battery.

Side-firing speakers

Asus designed the Strix Scar Edition with side-firing speakers, intended for not just clearer and more accurate audio output but for a more immersive soundstage. It’s also designed to boast 2x more volume, 3x extra bass power, and 1.5x increased dynamic range.

We must admit that, for a set of laptop speakers, these are impressively loud and powerful. And, because of their placement, they have a really good soundstage that could almost emulate the immersiveness of surround sound. The actual sound quality is decent, with a good bass presence for gaming, albeit not enough for music, and compressed-sounding mids so voices come out load and clear.

It’s not audiophile quality, and some audio details are missing in movies and music, but it’s good enough for gaming.

ROG Gaming Center

Pressing the fourth hotkey with the ROG logo on it brings up the very involved ROG Gaming Center. This Windows 10 app contains important information about the laptop (processor, GPU, hard drive), the system (CPU/GPU individual core clocking speeds, temperature and amount of memory being used), and storage usage that includes a Free Up Memory button that allows you to free up some space.

Most importantly, the software allows you to set and select gaming profiles as well as adjust other settings for backlighting, fan, pictures modes, certain keys and the touchpad, to name a few. Each Game Profile—there are only three—essentially lets you assign a specific application to it and set the backlighting, fan overboost and picture mode, as well enable/disable the ROG key, Windows Key and touchpad. This way, when you select a profile in the Gaming Center, it will automatically open that application and switch settings. 

Additionally, there are four extra programs accessible through this Gaming Center that are worth noting. There’s the XSplit Gamecaster, which allows you to stream the game you’re playing; Sonic Radar wherein you can adjust the soundstage and virtual surround sound settings; Sonic Studio where you can adjust the EQ and other audio settings; and GeForce Experience, which allows you to optimize game settings, get drivers and capture and share your gameplay.

That’s a lot of access for a nifty app you can quickly access with just the press of a hotkey.

Final verdict

There’s no doubt you’ll find the Asus ROG Strix Scar Edition as impressive as we do. The performance and speed of this gaming laptop can rival some of the most powerful gaming PCs in the market. As nice extras, Asus also slapped on a decent pair of side-firing speakers, a very responsive gaming keyboard, and an effective cooling system to keep the heat down, to name a few.

This gaming laptop has its share of inadequacies (e.g. the battery and the trackpad), but many of its strongest features make it a powerful gaming machine worthy of its price tag.

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Moto G6 now available through Amazon's discounted Prime Exclusive program

Amazon's Prime Exclusive family of devices is growing again.

The Moto G6 Prime Exclusive is now available from Amazon. It's sold unlocked and is compatible with AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon.

Like other Prime Exclusive phones, buying this model will get you a bit of a discount compared to buying a regular Moto G6. In exchange for getting that discount, your Moto G6 will come preloaded with Amazon apps like Prime Video, Amazon Kindle, and Amazon Music.

When it comes to specs, the Moto G6 Prime Exclusive is just like the standard G6. That means that it's got a 5.7-inch 2160x1080  screen, dual 12MP and 5MP rear cameras, an 8MP front-facing camera, 32GB of storage, and a microSD slot. There's also a Snapdragon 450 processor in there along with 3GB of RAM and a 3000mAh battery.

Other notable features of the Moto G6 include a front fingerprint reader, a USB-C port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Like other devices in the Moto G family, the Moto G6 looks like a solid device for consumers in the market for an affordable smartphone. The Moto G6 is even more affordable with Amazon's Prime Exclusive program, so if you're in the market for a new device that'll offer you solid bang for your buck, the Moto G6 is worth a look.

Amazon

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LG V35 ThinQ official with Snapdragon 845 and 6GB of RAM

Less than one month after announcing the LG G7 ThinQ, LG has introduced another high-end Android phone.

The LG V35 ThinQ is now official. It's got a design similar to the LG V30, but its internals have gotten an upgrade. For example, the V35 ThinQ is packing a Snapdragon 845 processor and 6GB of RAM, up from the Snapdragon 835 chipset and 4GB of RAM in the LG V30.

Also of note is that the LG V35 ThinQ boasts dual 16MP rear cameras like the LG G7 ThinQ. This includes a 16MP standard angle lens with f/1.6 aperture and a 16MP wide angle lens with f/1.9 aperture. The front camera has gotten an upgrade to an 8MP wide angle lens.

LG has included its camera software features in the LG V35 ThinQ as well. AI CAM will analyze the subject in front of your camera and recommend the optimal shooting mode of the 19 that it's got available. There's also a Portrait Mode to add a blurry background to your photos and a Live Photo feature to record the scene before and after you capture a shot.

Other features of the LG V35 ThinQ include a 6-inch 2880x1440 OLED display, 64GB/128GB of storage, a microSD card slot, a rear fingerprint reader, and a 3300mAh battery. There's a USB-C port for recharging that battery as well as wireless charging support, an FM radio, and IP68 water and dust resistance. When it comes to audio, LG has thrown in a Hi-Fi Quad DAC for better sound when you use a pair of high-end headphones as well as DTS:X for virtual surround sound.

The LG V35 ThinQ is powered by Android 8.0 Oreo and will available from AT&T in the U.S. for $30 per month for 30 months ($900 full price), with pre-orders starting June 1st and a launch scheduled for June 8th. The V35 ThinQ will also be offered in "limited markets" in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

LG

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LG V35 ThinQ

The LG V35 ThinQ looks exactly like the LG V30S ThinQ, a phone that looked exactly like the LG V30. Yes, it’s the same phone, but a little different – just as the LG V30S ThinQ was to the LG V30. It’s easy to see that LG has made a bit of a mess of its V-series phones. 

While this isn’t the sweeping overhaul you might have been hoping for, it treads forward by improving on a phone that has aged well with refreshed specs almost across the board. The cameras appear to be better, and it houses the Snapdragon 845 with 6GB of RAM, to name a few changes.

What does this mean for the LG G7 ThinQ, which recently released across the world? LG has now made a mess of that, too, because if you want the best, latest specs in an LG phone, you’ll only find them in the V35 ThinQ right now. 

Given the big push for the G7 ThinQ, the timing for this phone’s release couldn’t be more strange. We’ll soon be putting this phone to the test for the final review, but as far as first impressions go, regardless of how you may feel about a thrice-recycled design, adding more power to last year’s excellent LG V30 can only be so bad – though the third time around, it can only be so good.

LG V35 ThinQ price and availability

As far as we know, the LG V35 will be a US-only affair, coming to AT&T as a carrier exclusive. Looking for a price? LG said that it will be close to the price of the LG V30, around $700, but hasn’t shared an official number yet. 

For those open to switching carriers, you’ll also be able to buy and use it on Google’s Project Fi carrier in the US. Whether Google will sell it directly or simply be compatible with the phone hasn’t been made clear, though there hasn’t been a Fi-ready phone yet that hasn’t popped up for sale by Google. 

While the AT&T and Fi-ready versions of the phone may seem identical, the Fi version hosts compatibility with a few more 3G and 4G bands, so be careful which one you invest in.

If you’re hoping to have this phone in your hands soon, you’re in luck. Pre-sale starts on June 1 and the V35 ThinQ will officially launch on June 8.

Design

On the surface, this phone’s design hasn’t changed at all since the LG V30 released in September of 2017. You still have the all-glass design, fastened together with a aluminum frame that provides military-grade integrity capable of withstanding bends and drops, and IP68 protection against the elements.

The dimensions are exactly the same to the V30, meaning any LG V30 case you bought or are considering will work on this one as well.

Unlike the G7 ThinQ, LG hasn’t imposed a Google Assistant hardware key on its left side, nor is there a power button on the right. Things are right where the company left things with its original V30 design.

Fortunately, that’s a good thing, but may take some getting used to. Say what you will about the rear-mounted fingerprint sensor that doubles as a power button, but the V35 ThinQ holds true to the V-series tradition of including a 3.5mm headphone jack, bolstered by a Quad DAC that greatly enhances the sound delivery when using wired headphones.

The V35 ThinQ will be available in two colors: black and grey. LG hasn’t shared the official names for these colors, but we’ll update this article once we know for sure.

Specs and performance

On the inside is where you’ll find all of LG’s new handy work. The LG V35 ThinQ is a proper refresh internally, swapping out last year’s Snapdragon 835 for a new Snapdragon 845, and its 4GB of RAM for 6GB, putting it slightly above the Samsung Galaxy S9 and in direct competition with the OnePlus 6 and HTC U12 Plus.

During our hands-on, the V35 ThinQ didn’t feel particularly faster than the V30, though we’re reserving judgment for the final review, where we’ll have the opportunity to test out the latest Android games and apps.

With 6GB of RAM and a new chipset in tow, this phone will be ready for whatever you have to throw at it for a few years to come, and thanks to the return of its 2,880 x 1,440 QHD OLED display that’s fitted to an 18:9 aspect ratio, your visual entertainment, be it movies, games or virtual reality via Google Daydream, will look excellent while strapped into the Google Daydream View.

Camera and battery

We had a bit of time to play with the camera app, which like the LG G7 ThinQ, features Google Lens built-in, handy for real-time object recognition and copying text. This model features enhancements over the original V30’s camera hardware and software, boosting the wide-angle lens to 16MP over 13MP. 

The selfie cam is now a solid 8MP with f/1.9 aperture versus 5MP and f/2.2 aperture seen last year. We’re seeing big improvements here. Photos are no longer visibly blurry, which was a huge oversight that LG seems to have finally fixed.

LG has also added 4K HDR video recording to the V35, now putting LG’s phone in a rather lonely (but growing) pack of phones that can record in HDR alongside the Sony Xperia XZ2 and the LG G7 ThinQ.

Regarding battery performance, LG has opted for the same 3,300mAh battery capacity that we found in the V30, complete with wireless charging. 

There’s some concern that a more powerful chipset could put more drag on the battery performance, though the Snapdragon 845 is said to be quite a bit more efficient than the Snapdragon 835. Just how efficient is it? We’ll find out soon.

Early verdict

LG seems pretty smitten with the V30, as this is technically the third phone to be released using the same design. It’s hard to blame LG though, as even after nearly a year of its initial release, it still feels fresh and more than able to take on this year’s flagship all-stars.

With the introduction of the LG V30S ThinQ, LG surprised us by updating the V30 with some of the newer phone’s biggest selling points. While it’s not possible for LG to do the same this time around, at least for the hardware improvements seen here, it’s hard to say if the company could add Google Project Fi support to the older model. 

Last year, I described the V30 as “a smartphone that doesn’t put the squeeze on useful features, filled to the brim with useful utilities”, and that sentiments rings true here, albeit with a little less clarity since it’s this phone’s third go around the track. 

A lot has changed in the world of smartphones in the past six to eight months. So, it should be interesting to put it up against the very latest devices for the full review.

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CyberLink Power2Go 12

You’re only ever one ransomware infection, theft or accident away from catastrophic data loss, so it’s always a good idea to back up your more valuable files to physical discs. CyberLink Power2Go 12 is a comprehensive burning and backup suite that contains everything you need to back up your most important files to physical media   –  whether they're videos, photos, music or any other kind of data. 

CyberLink Power2Go's interface is clear (with just a couple of exceptions – more on those later) and well organized, so you’ll be at home instantly – even if you’ve never used dedicated burning software before.

Power2Go can burn to CDs, DVDs and Blu-rays, with preset options for data, video, music and photo gallery discs, taking the guesswork out of choosing the right formatting options.

Selecting files to burn is a simple matter of dragging and dropping from one panel to another – much as you would with a traditional FTP client. You can browse your PC for files, perform searches, and apply filters to help track down specific file types within mixed folders. The ability to preview files before selecting them would be a welcome addition, but that's a minor quibble. 

It also would be helpful to have full descriptions of some of the burning software's more technical settings(a new user might be unfamiliar with ‘buffer underrun protection’, for example), but the process is otherwise simple to configure.

Among the many options are the ability to add tags, auto-run a particular file, split content by disc capacity, and make multiple copies. Your settings will be saved as a Project, so you can return to them and make more copies later.

Security is also a consideration, with options to encrypt the entire disc or create a smaller password-protected area – a cost-effective option if only a few of the files you want to back up contain sensitive data.

Burning large files can take a long time, so there’s the option to shut down your PC automatically once the process has finished. Otherwise, the disc will be ejected once burning is complete.

Back up online videos

With CyberLink Power2Go, you can also back up data from online sources like YouTube, so you don’t lose them if you forget your login details, the service ever goes down, or your account is hacked. You can back up data to a writable disc, or your PC’s hard drive.

Before you begin, the software warns you to pay attention to YouTube’s terms of service before downloading and burning content. It’s only intended to make it easier to back up your own videos. You can also back up your videos from Facebook, Flickr or Vimeo.

Thumbnails make it easy to find the videos you want, as does the search bar at the top right (it's a little hard to notice at first, but functions just like YouTube's own built-in search).

Once you’ve found the video you want to save, simply drag it into the download area at the bottom of the interface. You can mix and match videos from different sources, and add as many as the capacity of your disc will allow.

When you’ve added all the videos to be burned, the process is much like making a disc from files on your PC, with a few important differences. You can set a ‘retry’ limit, which will attempt to re-download a video if the connection is interrupted, and choose the number of threads used to download the files.

Burning the disc might take a long time, depending on both the speed of your drive and your internet connection, but it’s extremely easy and an great way to back up your videos to physical media.

Backup and burning extras

CyberLink Power2Go also includes a set of other backup and burning tools, including an excellent disc copier. You could easily pay good money for this alone, and although it won't remove DRM from copy-protected discs, it's an extremely useful tool to have around.

Power2Go also offers a comprehensive media file converter, with preset profiles for mobile devices, and options for both video and audio files. Again, a premium tool like this could easily cost several dollars/pounds.

You can also erase a disc’s contents, make a recovery disc or USB stick (always a good idea in case you ever find yourself unable to boot to Windows), and save money by combining audio files and data backups on a single recordable disc.

The interface would benefit from being a little more self-explanatory in places, but CyberLink Power2Go is otherwise a brilliant backup and burning suite, and the price makes it extremely good value. An superb tool for protecting your most important files.

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Logitech MX Sound

Earlier this year, we selected the Logitech MX Sound as one of the best computer speakers for a reason: not only does it deliver powerful audio despite its small body, it also offers wireless connectivity for flexibility.

At $99 (£89, AU$149) a pop, it doesn’t include a sub or any of the extra frills other great speaker systems might have. But with versatile connectivity, a fairly well balanced sound and motion-activated controls, not to mention a beautiful yet simple design, it’s definitely worth the commendation.

Design

It’s hard not to love the Logitech MX Sound’s design. The unique circular shape of their cabinets, each fringed with a silver accent ring and covered with high-end fabric, make them look sleeker and less bulky. At 6.30 x 6.30 inches, it’s also the perfect size for a desktop set-up, and its 3.28-inch thickness only makes it even more ideal.

As it isn’t designed as a gaming speaker system, it makes sense that it doesn’t have those extra gaming frills like customizable LEDs and a separate dial. However, it does boast a nice little treat that is also utilitarian: the backlit touch controls on the right speaker are motion-activated. They automatically light up as soon as they sense movement and turn off after a few seconds of inactivity. These controls are sensitive so that a light touch is all it takes to turn the volume up/down and activate the Bluetooth for pairing.

Lastly, it has an automatic standby mode that’s activated after 20 minutes of inactivity in order to save power.

Features

While simplicity is king with the MX Sound, it does have a few nifty features that we found very useful. 

There are, of course, its motion-activated controls that we discussed in the design section. These three controls—the Bluetooth button and two volume buttons—are located right on the front of the right speaker behind the fabric cover. Since the speakers are so light at 3.90 lbs, they are made to respond to the lightest touch so that you don’t push the speaker out of place every time you adjust or pair a Bluetooth device.

Speaking of Bluetooth, these clever speakers may be paired with up to two devices at once, which eliminates the need to disconnect and reconnect different devices. It might not be much, but it’s a practical little feature for couples as well as single users who often flip-flop from one device to another.

Setup

Like its  minimalist style, the MX Sound’s setup is also simple and very straightforward… so much so you almost wonder if you’re missing something. It’s so simple, in fact, there’s not even a user’s manual included in the box—just a four-step process printed on the inner box flaps.

You just need to connect the power cord to the right speaker, connect the left and right speakers with the speaker cable, choose your output, and plug it in. There are no power buttons or additional steps. Bear in mind that the speakers do need to be three inches away from the computer, as recommended.

There are three inputs—Bluetooth as well as the PC and Aux jacks you’ll find in the back of the right speaker. The headphone jack serves is the only available output.

Performance

Let’s start with the good stuff. One of the things we love about the MX Sound is that it produces a beautifully balanced sound, its mids and highs are particularly great. Even when turned up all the way, the sound comes out loud without getting blown out or distorted. Considering that all that power is coming from a compact body, that’s saying something.

The soundstage is good – not excellent, but there’s a decent separation of left and right, which makes these speakers more than adequate for gaming as well as watching movies on your PC. And the output through the headphone port is controlled well, so personal audio is also balanced and not overwhelming, even at full volume.

Of course, at $100, you can’t expect the best, and these definitely have their share of inadequacies. It doesn’t have a sub and it doesn’t have a lot of low end—despite the rear-facing tubes that’s supposed to extend the bass range. This means that it lacks that punch and rumble you’d expect from actual 2.1-channel speakers. While it works well for gaming and action movies, the pivotal moments and actions scenes won’t have that same impact.

That missing punch is even more obvious when you’re using the PC or auxiliary ports. The volume through these ports tend to be half as loud compared to connecting over Bluetooth. In general, the high end rolls off a little, resulting in a slightly muffled top range.

There’s also that weird compression that happens when you connect your phone via Bluetooth and play music. Somehow, the speakers try to boost the low end to compensate for the fact that it doesn’t have a lot of it in the first place, compressing everything else in the process. The result? It’s as if you’re listening to your favorite tunes while someone’s turning the volume up and down really fast.

This is not an issue when you’re playing music from your computer, so we’re thinking that the speakers are more specifically designed for PCs and laptops. Still, since its Bluetooth connectivity is supposed to give users the flexibility to connect and use it with different devices, it’s definitely an issue.

Final verdict

Despite these flaws, we’re still impressed by the Logitech MX Sound’s performance. Remember, this is not designed as a gaming speaker system and it only costs $100. It might not have a lot of punch and weird compression issues when you’re using your other devices. But as a PC (or laptop) speaker, it’s pretty great, producing well-controlled and well-balanced sound as well as a minimalist design that helps reduce clutter on your desk. 

If you’re used to a speaker system with good bass or a sub, you might find it lacking. But for a small, even portable setup, it’s a nifty set. 

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