Whether you have a high-end PC gaming rig, the trusty desktop in your home office or a laptop on your dorm room desk, you’ll want to use a pair of the best PC speakers to make the most of your setup. Though a set of desktop speakers won’t be quite as immersive as a pair of noise-canceling headphones, they’re still a great way to improve the audio quality when you’re chatting on video calls, streaming movies or catching up on some online lectures. Plus, they allow you to stay aware of your surroundings and hear the doorbell, kids, pets or any other kind of chaos that may be happening in your home.
If you’re looking to bypass your laptop speaker and take audio experience to the next level, you should consider investing in external speakers. I’m not talking about a major stereo system: A small or portable desktop speaker can pick up the slack. Even budget or small speakers can boost sound quality enough that you’ll be shocked by your laptop speaker’s comparative quality.
You can also pair your PC with a Bluetooth speaker to augment the sound, but this list highlights the best in powered external speakers. That means they’ll need to be plugged in to power their built-in amplifiers.
Some of the desktop speakers on this list have analog connectivity, but most offer some kind of digital connection so you can plug them right into a computer with a USB cable. Others have Bluetooth, which lets you easily pair them with all your devices, including tablets and smartphones. As you might expect, better connectivity options add some cost to the speakers, but a few moderately priced offerings have excellent connectivity options too, in addition to more-than-decent sound quality with a surprisingly deep bass. Some of these computer speakers can even be positioned for surround sound.
Note that CNET hasn’t fully reviewed many of the items on this list, but I have listened to all the selected models. If you’re on the hunt for great sound from quality speakers, keep reading — the right speaker for your computer is sure to be here. Also, we’ll update this list of the best computer speakers periodically as new laptop and desktop computer speaker options hit the market.