Review: LG UltraGear GP9

Soundbars are generally something you'd associate with a home theater. They offer most of the benefits of an elaborate sound system, but in a much more convenient package. It's a concept that seems like it would lend itself well to a desktop gaming rig, but few companies have even tried. LG's attempt is the most ambitious yet, but if this is an indication of where the market's at, there's a long way to go.

LG's UltraGear GP9 is a 20-watt mini soundbar, just under 15 inches across. It packs two 20-mm tweeters and two 2-inch woofers. It also includes a 2,600-mAh battery, allowing it to act as a portable Bluetooth speaker. Most notably, it includes a built-in microphone for chatting with teammates in-game, which might be the most shockingly well-implemented feature present here. 

On paper, the LG UltraGear GP9 seems like the perfect soundbar. It can plug into your computer via either USB-C or an optical audio cable, and switching inputs is as easy as pressing a button on the top. Right next to those buttons, you'll find a giant volume knob that controls the speaker's internal volume, with a large mute button in the middle. That means even if you can't find which app is making noise, you can turn the sound down real quick.

This is especially useful when the GP9 is being used as a Bluetooth speaker, one of its neatest tricks. Since it has a built-in battery, it can be unplugged from the wall. It's powerfully freeing to know that the sound system I'm using for my desktop could just as easily go with me to the beach or, more likely if I'm being honest, downstairs for board game night. I'd usually need an entirely separate device, and that's a huge factor when considering the price. Sure, $500 would be a lot for desktop speakers, but what about desktop speakers and a portable Bluetooth speaker? Okay, that's still a lot. But the value is getting closer to reasonable.

On top of that, the GP9 pulls another trick out of its hat: It can also be used for team chat. How in the world can it manage that, you ask? Pure magic is my best guess. The microphones are inside the same soundbar that's blasting audio at your face. That's normally a recipe for feedback, echoes, and noise. Yet the intelligent echo and noise cancellation is able to distinguish your voice from the audio that the soundbar itself is putting out. 

I tried it out and was told by teammates that I sounded clear, with no major audio problems, which feels like nothing short of a miracle. Being able to chat with your team while listening to game audio, all without a single piece of hardware on your head, is the kind of futuristic feature that would normally sell a device all on its own.

But unfortunately, it's at this point that the reality of the UltraGear GP9's performance comes crashing back to earth. As many great ideas as this little soundbar packs into a single package, it has one job to do over all others. That's where the problems started.

Photograph: LG

Close to two decades ago, I walked into a Micro Center and dropped just shy of $100 on a 5.1 surround sound Logitech desktop speaker system. It wasn't the highest-end option, even at the time, but it came with five speakers with some really, really long RCA cables and a reasonably hefty bass that everything plugs into. I've long since given up on using the rear speakers, and I have made no attempt to update or even marginally improve this system since I first bought it.

And yet the audio quality of these old speakers rivals LG's modern, $500 sound bar. 

This highlights a core problem with developing new sound devices: We can add more speakers and more elaborate ways to design audio soundscapes, but fundamentally speakers still work by moving large volumes of air. On the bells and whistles front, the UltraGear GP9 excels, providing innovative features that are genuinely useful. But it's still limited by size, weight, and basic physics. 

Put larger or more powerful speakers into the GP9, and it might be too heavy or consume too much power to be a very good portable speaker. If it outputs the kind of sound that shakes the table, the noise cancellation on the microphone might not be as effective. When given the choice between keeping those features and sacrificing sound quality or eliminating a feature for better sound, it's clear which way LG decided to go. The result wasn't great. 

When I first tried to use the UltraGear GP9 to listen to game audio, I thought I must be doing something wrong. The sound was tinny and lacked depth. Bass wasn't absent, per se, but compared to even a decent pair of headphones, it was stunningly lacking. In fact, while watching one music video, I tried swapping from the GP9 back to my ancient Logitech desktop speakers and discovered that I'd missed the sound of a giant dragon flapping its wings. It's not just that the sound wasn't quite as rich as it could be. It's that I couldn't even tell the sound was there unless the volume was turned way up.

I tried every combination of inputs and every setting I could find to tweak the sound to get something better. Unsurprisingly, using an optical audio cable yielded better results than Bluetooth, and the mobile app allowed me to play with some EQ settings that boosted the sound quality a bit, but it was rolling a boulder uphill. This speaker just wasn't going to sound amazing, no matter what I did. The fact that I could get more robust audio out of speakers I purchased a million years ago was only salt in the wound.

That said, it's a bit unfair to compare this soundbar to my old system. Not very unfair, mind you. The GP9 is five times the cost and has two more decades of technology behind it, but it's trying to accomplish something very different—multiple things, in fact. 

The UltraGear GP9 is designed to be a set-it-and-forget-it style soundbar, but for gaming. It works impressively well as a team chat device, despite not being a headset. It's also a portable Bluetooth speaker. Oh, and did I forget to mention? It has customizable RGB lights. That's pretty cool. But I don't think it's too much to expect that it sound better than it does, especially at this price point.

That said, I'm a bit in love with the vision it represents. I've already switched to a soundbar in my living room. Even though the quality could be better, every audio system is an exercise in compromise and capability. I'd be willing to sacrifice a bit on quality if it meant I could have one device that serves as desktop speakers, gaming headset, and portable Bluetooth radio. I'm just not willing to sacrifice this much. 

At least, not for $500. Hmmm. Maybe when it goes on sale.