Review: Creative Sound Blaster Axx SBX20

Unique designTouch controls goodGreat microphoneFree app for iOS and AndroidUSB poweredDesign won't be to everyone's tastesSound quality isn't the bestAwkward placement of the Bluetooth button

The monolithic Creative Sound Blaster Axx SBX 20 certainly has a unique look. The idea behind it - apart from making it stand out in your living room - is that the two speakers inside the Creative Sound Blaster Axx SBX 20 are stacked on top of each other but pointing towards opposite sides in a bid to improve stereo coverage.

While the single tower does a good job of filling a medium-sized room with sound, it doesn't perform as well as two separate stereo speakers spaced apart.

Of course, the Creative Sound Blaster Axx SBX 20 is designed to be compact and attractive, so some compromises have had to be made regarding stereo coverage. The sound quality itself is good, though not great, and a lack of bass leaves some music feeling a little flat.

While it doesn't excel in the sound department - somewhat disappointing, considering it's a speaker, and considering Creative's pedigree - we can't fault it for the wealth of features it packs.

It features Bluetooth connectivity for phones, and the results were very good.

Our test iPhone 4S found and connected to the Creative Sound Blaster Axx SBX 20 quickly, though it required pressing and holding the small Bluetooth button that's located at the back of the speakers at the bottom.

This could prove a little fiddly, depending on where you position the speaker. The touch interface on the top of the speaker, on the other hand, is elegant and responsive.

The built-in microphone provides excellent sound quality, and with some fancy Creative technology it does a good job of eliminating background noise. So you can talk into the Creative Sound Blaster Axx SBX 20 in a busy room, and your contact will have no trouble hearing what you're saying.

The Creative Sound Blaster Axx SBX 20 is powered entirely via USB, which is hugely impressive in itself, so it can be used as a PC speaker and even an external sound card.

An adaptor is also included that enables you to plug it into a power socket as well, if you want to use it as a standalone speaker. A free app can be downloaded for smartphones and tablets to enable you to tweak the sound quality, which is a nice touch.

The Creative Sound Blaster Axx SBX 20 is a striking looking speaker that has a lot of features, though we'd have liked a bit more attention spent on sound quality as well.

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Review: Creative Sound Blaster Axx SBX10

Great noise cancelling and Voice focusEasy to setupPoor sound qualityUnresponsive buttonsSome bugs remain

The first thing you'll notice about the Creative Sound BlasterAxx range is that it looks distinctly sci-fi, like a cross between the crystal structures in Superman's fortress and the control panel of a futuristic starship.

Actually, the first thing you'll notice is that it has a slightly silly name, but after that you'll notice the cool design thing. But it's not just the looks that feel like they're from the future here: when the Sound BlasterAxx performs its party tricks, it has the same kind of eye-opening effect as the first time we used an iPhone.

The feeling that you're seeing the way everything should be from now on. It's just a shame that the rest of it's a bit dodgy.

Let's take a step back for a second. Essentially, the Sound BlasterAxx is a Bluetooth speakerphone. You connect your iPad or iPhone to it over Bluetooth, and then you can use it for calls (whether that's phone, Skype or FaceTime), or to play music or to access voice apps, including Siri.

The first issue is the music part - the speakers are really just not good. They're shrill and grating at the top end, lacking any depth in the middle, and with a bizarre popping bass that sounds like the drivers are made from MDF.

Still, they're plenty adequate for phone calls, and the SBX10 can go really alarmingly loud (and there's a bigger one, the SBX20, in the range…).

The trick is in the phone calls part. Turn on the Voice Focus option using the touch controls on top and the Axx creates a kind of noise force field, cutting out any sound that doesn't come from a small cone immediately in front of it.

The Noise Reduction option, meanwhile, can cut out just about any ambient noise, even when it's really quite loud. They both work just astonishingly well. As we said, like using Multi-Touch for the first time, you just feel that anything that lacks these options just won't be right from now on.

Alas, there are other issues. The touch controls aren't that responsive, and the volume can be a little unreliable, sometimes firing itself up to its neighbour-annoying maximum for no apparent reason when you invoke Siri, for example.

And it certainly isn't cheap considering its lack of audio quality. As a speakerphone only, then, it gets our approval, provided you've got the cash to splash - it isn't cheap.

But let's say we're more excited about seeing the Axx's tech in other Creative products that we are about the Axx itself.

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