Final Fantasy 14 Panasonic SoundSlayer Speaker Review - A Weird But Wonderful Audio Experience

thegamer.com:

Panasonic is continuing its lucrative partnership with Square Enix with the recent release of the SoundSlayer Final Fantasy 14 Wearable Gaming Speaker. By wearable, I mean that this slender little device slips right around your neck and provides an audio experience that is surprisingly immersive given the absurdity of it all.

As gamers, we are used to bulky headsets and fancy gadgets to help enhance our favourite hobby, whether it be through improved audio, flashier visuals, or simply ways to show how much we just really love gaming. This neck speaker definitely belongs in the latter category, given it isn’t something you’d bring to a LAN party or want to be seen wearing by friends and family due to how silly the general design and practicality happens to be.

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That being said, during my testing over the past couple of weeks I’ve been quite enamoured by the Panasonic neck speaker, finding it easy to use and relatively inoffensive when slipped into my existing console setup. It can be used across a selection of platforms so long as they boast a method of USB connectivity and compatibility for similar devices. For example, I was able to plug it into my PS5 and immediately have it be recognised and take over my TV audio and existing headset. Suddenly, all sound was being blasted through the speaker around my neck with a clarity I didn’t expect. Ease of use here is very strong, meaning that even casual players can pick this up and not feel overwhelmed - if they can afford it anyway.

Retailing for £199.99, it occupies a similar space as other high-end headsets with superior audio quality alongside greater comfort and compatibility. It very much feels like the neck