MusicMonday - Speaker Review - Bugha $10 Computer Speakers From Five Below

Thought it would be fun to do this #MusicMonday a little different. What's good music if you can't hear it on decent speakers? I recently bought a new computer and I've been searching for the perfect speakers. I didn't need anything that was going to shake the windows in the house. I listen to a lot of EDM so bass is important to me. I also wanted to keep it in a reasonable budget. My needs consisted of a nice sounding speaker system with some bass response that could be played at a "reasonable" volume, purchased at a "reasonable" price. (I know, "reasonable" is a bit subjective.)

I ended up buying two different sets of speakers. I needed one set for my home office and the other set was going to be for my Chromebook that I keep next to the bed. I originally was looking for speakers in the $50 to $60 dollar range. This post is going to be a review and also a comparison to another set of speakers I purchased in the same price range.

Let The Hunt Begin

My journey for new sound began on Amazon like so many online shopping adventures. Nothing in my price range really jumped out at me. I then checked out NewEgg and they had pretty much the same stuff Amazon had with a higher price tag. Finally I went to Ebay and again nothing really jumped out at me.

I comparative shop all the time and this went on for about a week. I was just about ready to give up and save a little more money for something in a higher price range when I found something in the "Related Items" section on Amazon. It was a wired speaker system for under $20 with about 1500 mostly 5 star reviews. Most of the reviews were really good and touted how great these speakers sounded for $20. I figured what the hell... Why not try them. Worst case scenario I'll use them for the Chromebook or send them back if they suck.

Image taken from Amazon. They plug into a USB for power and the headphone jack for sound. Here they are installed on my office desk.

Honestly, these are great little speakers. They were ALMOST perfect. For the price, I can't complain. I see why everyone gave these great reviews. They sound fantastic, have ALMOST enough bass for me, and they play at a reasonable volume. Still, they lacked punch! These would be perfect for the bedroom computer, but I wanted a little something more for my home office. Still, I can't stress this enough. For a computer speaker under $20, these are pretty good!

Here's a picture of them plugged into my Chromebook. I love them for this computer and they match perfectly.

I generally listen to EDM, jungle, breaks, trip hop during the day, and blues, jazz, and classic rock at night when I sleep. These are perfect for the bedroom computer and sound great with that style of music! For dance music, they could use just a pinch more punch in the bass department!

SURPRISE

I had almost given up on finding computer speakers I'd like in the under $60 range. As a last resort I went to YouTube looking for reviews. One of the first hits was somebody reviewing $10 speakers from Five Below. (I'm not sure if this is a strictly US company. Five Below is like a dollar store but everything is under $5 and geared towards high school and college age crowds). The kid doing the review couldn't express in words how awesome these speakers were for ONLY $10. I live literally five minutes from a Five Below so I grabbed my backpack and hopped on my motorcycle to see if these $10 speakers were everything this kid said they were... I'm happy to report, I'm pleasantly surprised. WOW!

Apparently Five Below has just started a new line called Five Beyond, and these products are anything above $5. Inflation I guess 🤣 They must of had a hard time finding cool dorm room products for under $5 in these inflationary times. Anyway, back to the speakers. One of the new Five Beyond product lines is gaming computer components endorsed by the gamer BUGHA. I don't know much about him personally other than his name is on this awesome set of speakers.

Here's a picture of them connected to my trading station! Fits perfectly on the desk and I also like the way they match my desktop components.

I have to admit, I wasn't expecting much in the $10 range. I really wanted LED lights to go with my gaming computer. I don't do a lot of gaming, but the computer is used as a trading station for crypto and I'm on it all the time. I need a powerful computer to handle all the trading windows. So far this gaming computer is working perfectly.

So let's start with the bass... These speakers pack the perfect punch! They actually vibrate the desk a little when listening to bass heavy dance musice. The sub-woofer has a small bass tube in the back about the size of a half dollar. The other speakers have it too, but that hole was about the size of a quarter. Both sub-woofer front speakers are the same size though. This sub-woofer packs a lot more base than the Amazon speaker. It's a HUGE difference.

The front of the sub-woofer has a volume knob and knob to adjust the bass. Keep in mind these speakers sit on the desk directly in front of you. For me they're loud enough. At full blast they fill the room with sound and are loud enough that I'll probably rarely play them at full blast while working on my computer. I went to the apartment below mine to hear how loud it was at full blast and I'm happy to report that they're probably just loud enough to NOT annoy the neighbors.

These $10 speakers go above and beyond anything that I'd expect from speakers in the $50 dollars or below range. If I had paid around $40 or $50, I'd be perfectly happy. This was exactly what I wanted I can't believe I found them for $10!

In the above picture you can see the output on the back of the sub-woofer. Both speaker systems boasted the same specs. The BUGHA sub-woofer is 6 watts, the Amazon sub-woofer is 5 watts. I don't know if it's the 1 watt difference or the design, but the volume is also much louder compared to the Amazon product. The bass response is on a whole other level!

Honestly if you didn't tell me these were $10 speakers, I'd guess they were considerably more expensive! They are available online with an additional shipping fee. Depending on where you live it would still keep the purchase under $20 and IMHO is a steal for these speakers.

My quest has ended. I now have the perfect sound I was looking for! I'm listening to music now as I write this, and I just can't believe I found speakers that sound this good for ONLY $10! If you're looking for decent speakers on the cheap and you have a Five Below near you, I'd highly recommend checking these bad boys out. For me, they were the perfect solution!

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steevc (78) 3 years ago

Good to hear you got some good buys. I think with speakers the design is very important as well as the actual components. Obviously these will have budget components, but it seems they got the design right to make the most of them. A few watts can go a long way if it's just on your desk. Mind you I am sitting between a couple of 120W powered monitors at my desk. They never get turned up really loud, but they sound good. I have used one as a PA system at some pub gigs and it's plenty for that.

Rock on!

!PIZZA !BEER

$0.03

1 vote

the-bitcoin-dood (71) 3 years ago

I was looking at PA systems. Had I not found these, that was probably the route I was going to take after saving a little more money for speakers. I was having a hard time justifying it for my usecase though. You do a lot of recording with your guitar posts. Being able to use them for the occasional gig is a huge bonus too.

The next two things I'm looking into is a webcam and a really good microphone for podcasting and also recording the acoustic guitar. I've been trying to add new parts each month as my budget permits. I've been considering a podcasting project next.

Thanks for the Pizza... I need to look into those this week.

!BEER

$0.08

I actually have a proper PA system here now that I am storing for our open mic sessions.

For audio I would recommend getting a decent interface. Two channel may be enough. You can plug in whatever mic you like. I have found it convenient to have a small mixer so I can use different sources as my interface only has two channels. Also allows a mono mic to go out as stereo. I'm not sure what the latest is in webcams. I have a Logitech that does okay.