Page 4 - Conclusion
How does the Stage Air V2 hold up when compared to other Creative soundbars? For starters, there are many things to appreciate about this product. The build quality feels solid, even with a mostly plastic build. The light weight of the Stage Air V2 truly lends credit to its name. I also like it can be connected via the USB, 3.5mm analog, and Bluetooth 5.3 interfaces. The included cables are reasonably long, allowing you to connect to the speaker to your computer without trouble. When it comes to sound quality, the Creative Stage Air V2 sounds exactly like it looks. The bass was unremarkable, although we recognize there are limitations with this speaker in both its physical size and technical limitations. The midrange and treble had some standout areas, but were ultimately average in performance overall. The same can be said for all other sound aspects, whether it be layering, frequency separation, cohesiveness, and balance. The soundstaging had very little width or depth, but once again, there is only so much you can do for the size and budget. I appreciate Creative's accuracy with their rated wireless battery life and range, as my test numbers met the rated numbers quite well. When it comes to improvements, a less glossy finish would be appreciated. As good as it looks, this will only get worse over time due to it easily leaving fingerprints and dust marks. Some portions of the midrange were lacking, although it was generally still serviceable. Like with the Stage V2, it would be nice to see Bluetooth support for AAC and aptX codecs. At a retail price of $45 USD as of time of writing, the Creative Stage Air V2 offers a lot of value, especially considering its features and performance. Overall, I would recommend this soundbar for users looking for a relatively affordable speaker that sounds reasonably well and can be doubled as a portable speaker.
Creative provided this product to APH Networks for the purpose of evaluation.
APH Networks Review Focus Summary:
8/10 means Definitely a very good product with drawbacks that are not likely going to matter to the end user.
7/10 means Great product with many advantages and certain insignificant drawbacks, but should be considered before purchasing.
-- Final APH Networks Numeric Rating is 7.3/10
Please note that the APH Networks Numeric Rating system is based off our proprietary guidelines in the Review Focus, and should not be compared to other publications.
The Creative Stage Air V2 is a solid performing soundbar for your PC that doubles as a portable speaker at a very reasonable price.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware
3. Subjective Audio Analysis
4. Conclusion
