Creative Stage Air Portable and Compact Under-Monitor USB-Powered Soundbar for Computer, with Dual-Driver and Passive Radiator for Big Bass, Bluetooth and AUX-in, USB MP3, 6 Hours of Battery Life

I purchased Creative Soundbar, as I need a reasonably-priced speaker for my new desktop, and I don't like cheap-looking speakers. This one sits perfectly under my HP LCD monitor (see the picture), and the speaker looks good (I also like the blue/green LED lights). Looks much better than cheap speakers from (probably Chinese) brands that we never heard of. I know Creative, and indeed my MB has a Creative chip to take care of the sound, so I thought I can trust Creative in terms of quality. I think the speaker looks good, especially considering the price. This speaker is advertised as dual purpose of using with a desktop or taking it out as a portable speaker, since it has a battery. You can connect either with Bluetooth or usual Audio connector. I tried Bluetooth with my iPhone and I can play music in my iPhone without any problem. So I could take it out for a picnic, relying on its battery, if I want, although I am not sure if I ever do it. I basically use this as a desktop speaker, always powered, connected to desktop with an audio cable. Because it is also marketed as portable speaker, there is auto power off after 15 min of inactivity. This is inconvenient if you use the speaker with a desktop computer and want to leave the speaker on all the time. Every time you do not touch the computer for more than 15 min, you need to push the power button to turn the speaker on. Otherwise the speaker doesn't work. However, as some reviewer mentioned, I found Creative provides a firmware which disables auto power off. I installed it and now there is no longer auto power off. Well done Creative! Sound-wise, I am by no means an expert, but it sounds much better than your typical two-small speakers. Bass is much stronger, and I enjoy watching movies more with this speaker, than other (cheap) speakers I have. of course there's no comparison with my serious speakers in terms of sound quality, but for a speaker to be used with a desktop PC, with this price point, I am super happy.

Very good sound for size and price though nothing like audiophile quality. Mids and base surprisingly good but highs can be a bit muffled-sounding at times. Not much stereo separation. Good build quality. Blutooth works well. A bit clumsy as computer speakers--no option to connect through usb so both a usb charge cable and an audio cable (or blutooth) are required. Creative recommends against leaving charge cable plugged in full-time. It's absolutely required to go to the Creative site to get the updated firmware which will allow the device to stay on for 6 hours instead of 15 minutes. Even with that update the soundbar will need to be turned on once or twice a day. If using strictly as stationary computer speakers and sufficient space is available, a more traditional pair of speakers may be preferable. If portability with battery operation is desired this soundbar is a good choice.

Let me preface this review by saying that I purchased this for a friend whose speakers in his laptop died, but I did play with it for a couple of days before he came over to get it. The price was nice considering it was a Creative product and had a good set of features. I thought the audio could be a little brighter, but overall it is a solid product. The Bluetooth connection is sometimes a little janky, but that could be due to the older version being used. I had read a few professional reviews that said it wasn't loud enough, but honestly if you can't hear it, I have to question what kinda of noisy hellscape they tested it in and whether they needed to have their hearing checked. This is not going to be the soundbar you want for pumping music out for a giant party, but it certainly doesn't whisper either. The size could be a bit smaller but it isn't huge, nor is it heavy. All in all it is serving it's purpose, it sounds decent enough for what it is designed and being used for and most importantly, my friend is happy with it!

Overall I'd say this speaker is ok but not really worth the price. The main problem I have is that when I'm trying to watch a movie or show on my computer the sound will be really low coming from this speaker even when the volume on my computer is at max so I have to increase the volume on this speaker and I can't just hold the button to increase it I have to get mashing it which is a problem since the buttons are so close together I could be hitting the Bluetooth button or the volume down button at the same time. So after doing that if I adjust the volume for my computer even by a little bit the sound will default back to what it was before I turned it up. If I have my computer at max volume shouldn't my speakers also be at max?? Also, this speaker has a voice that will tell you if your speaker isn't connected which can kinda get annoying if your having connection issues or just, in general, it's annoying after awhile

3 year update: charging port fell out, can't charge. I WOULD GIVE IT ZERO STARS IF I COULD!!! I DO NOT like the recorded voice announcing "pairing mode, waiting for device to connect" every time it's switched to bluetooth mode. The blue/green LED is a sufficient indicator by itself. The voice gets really annoying really fast, and is totally redundant if you're not visually impaired. And don't try falling asleep with this speaker on battery power or you may wake up to that same voice repeating "battery low... battery low..." until you get out of bed to stop it. INCREDIBLY ANNOYING!!! Why make it do this? My phone doesn't do this. Nothing else does this. Why does the voice inside this soundbar think I need to divert my full attention to it as soon as its battery is low??? That being said... the 4 buttons could be easier to use without looking at them. They are covered by a single piece of rubber that makes them hard to distinguish by feel. Otherwise, I like the simple appearance of this soundbar and the sound quality is good enough. I've used it inside and outside, with bluetooth and aux and I haven't had any real trouble with it. Creative needs to put out a firmware update that kills the voice. Would be a big improvement. Initially I gave this soundbar 4 stars, but living with the voice inside of it for awhile has changed my opinion.

I received this soundbar as a used/return item. Out of the box is was flawless. No scuffs or marks. Included original paperwork and cables. Manual and warranty card was included. Original wrap on unit as well. Paired up to bluetooth in a blink of an eye. Great sound quality over a Spotify stream. Then plugged it into my desktop pc, for which is why I purchased it. Was not disappointed. Sound bar is loud. Clear. Minimal distortion at max volume. Very good bass response. Crisp highs. Wife heard it at half volume in master bathroom upstairs. For the ones saying the sound isn't great... go into your settings and adjust your sound stage, equalizer, etc. This bar sounds fabulous. Would not hesitate to purchase this again if the need be.

I've been using this soundbar for more than a year now, and honestly I'm pretty dissappointed. 3.5 jack mode should be the best one to use it on a computer, right? Well, it has this heavy, increasingly worsening static noise every time I have both the (originally provided with the product) charging USB-A cable and the 3.5 audio cable. So I have to keep it on battery mode and plug it everytime the voice alert "battery low" sounds. But it also has a bluetooth mode, and my PC got bluetooth, so why not? Because every single time you turn your computer off, it's gonna yell "Pairing mode, waiting for device to connect". That really comes in handy when you worked until late night, your sleeping wife is gonna love it. You cannot disable it in any way, as you can see on every support forum request. No updates released by the manufacturer yet. Otherwise the bar sounds good and loud for its size, looks sturdy, and would have been the perfect sound device for a minimal desk, but these quality/usability issues make it a nuisance. I wanted a discrete soundbar on every way possible, aesthetically and on its daily use. But I have to do stuff everyday for this soundbar to work as per my needs, which aren't that crazy or specific either.

I previously owned the Creative Pebble 2.0 speakers, which I actually quite enjoyed. The problem I have with those is that the non-detachable cable between the two satellites is laughably short and made setting them up to use on my desk difficult. I decided to go with a soundbar, since that would eliminate the need for a satellite cable altogether and ultimately would just be a simpler setup. For reference, I use my desk primarily for work, which also includes videoconferencing and sometimes I'll listen to music as I work or take a break to view something. What I wanted was a clear sounding, decent volume and bass-that-I-can-at-least feel speaker. The Creative Air delivers on that front. It's not going to blow your socks off, but it's more than capable to fill office/entertainment needs for anyone who's not an audiophile. If you're happy with the Creative Pebble's sound, you'll be happy with these, although I feel that there's just a very small amount of less bass and obviously having stereo separation the Pebble's can sound more full if you're able to position them properly. If I had to nitpick anything, the glossy finish isn't my favorite (I have fingerprints), but it's not a big deal since it's not like I touch the soundbar often anyway. Also, turning the speaker on is a bit counterintuitive because it tries to default to bluetooth first (I'm using it via AUX). When you power it on, it will search for bluetooth. To stop it, you have to press the power button again and it'll switch to AUX. Personally, I think this just isn't a smart approach to handling how you power on a device, but it's also not the end of the world. For the price, I can live with the shortcomings.