Specifications

• Box Dimensions: 7.25 x 6.75 x 4.75 inches  
• Item Weight: 2 pounds  
• 5mm audio cable jack
• USB powered
• 0 channel stereo sound
• Power Consumption: 5 Watts (each speaker)

Whats in the box:

• 1 set of Anvil GS520 speakers with 3.5mm audio interface and USB power cord integrated
• Instruction Manual
• Redragon decal

Redragon has been building a reputation of offering amazing products at more than reasonable prices, and with the presentation of the Anvil GS520 2-Channel speakers, they keep the tradition alive.  These speakers are attractive in design and easy on the ears.

When you go to use these speakers for the first time, you will notice that the only power option for these speakers is through USB.  There is no A/C power plug or brick option.  That means for phones and most tablets with standard 3.5mm headphone jacks, yes these speakers will hook up, but you will require access to a USB port.  While the website and included book do not mention it, I did hook power up to a usb port on a phone charging station and it worked fine.  In this regard, hook up of these speakers is about as straightforward as it gets.  Plug into any 3.5mm headphone jack, supply USB power and you are set.  Note: The manual mentions bluetooth, but there is no bluetooth functionality.

As with most 2.0 channel stereo speakers, there is a right and a left channel.  On the Anvil GS520, the speaker with the volume controls is the right speaker.  I only mention this because I swear I could not find the "R" and "L" marks on the speakers themselves.  The cord between speakers is around 36 inches in length, so if you are looking to put these on both sides of double monitor setups, you may need to adjust your plans.  The power/usb wire is roughly 48" which does allow them to be placed a fair good distance from the pc tower.

So now you have them hooked up.  Now what?  Well let's fire them  up!  Give the power button a quick press and the speakers will illuminate with the beautiful RGB lighting that Redragon provides on their products.  A silky smooth full spectrum rainbow effect flows through the angled lines on the front of the speakers in a chase effect.  If you wish to change this, there are 6 total RGB modes available.  three are solid colors, one is this rainbow effect, another is a fade in and out, and the last is a pulse effect from the bottom of the speaker upwards. In the image below, the pulse effect you will notice is mostly blue but has a small reddish-orange glow at the bottom.  It will "jump" high into the blue producing a pseudo flame effect.  The top of the right speaker has a touch control with a small symbol on it that switches between these modes.  No software required.

Pretty lights are one thing, but the sound is what speakers need to deliver.  The Anvil GS520 speakers do this exceedingly well for a budget speaker set.  The sound from these speakers is crisp, clean and packs a small punch in the bass arena.  You are not going to shake the house down with the bass coming from them, but you will have a satisfying low range sound.  The volume controls on the right speaker provide a nice way to adjust volume with a press of a button so you don't have to exit games or applications to adjust.

For the basis of this review, I tried the speakers on nearly anything I could get them plugged into.  Starting with my Google Pixel phone (used a USB power brick from an old phone for power), I popped my favorite playlist from Spotify on and let it blast.  Literally. These speakers seemed to default to a very loud level.  So be warned, there is no apparent sound memory so each time these speakers are turned on, they are at or near max volume levels.  This made me aware that on whatever device I was using, I had to make sure the volume on that device was set low.  For the record, after the phone, I attached these speakers to a PC, a MAC, Chromebook, and I tried the Xbox, but really this isn't practical because the headphone jack is on the controller and isn't practical. Across all of these devices, the sound was amazing to me from such a lightweight, small speaker set.

As I expected with a lightweight speaker such as these, the sound was far better on the high end than the low end.  Voices, guitar and the raps of drums are snappy and clean through most of the range of the speaker volume.  I say most because there was an odd static sound at max volume but only on some devices.  I chalked this up to potentially a power supply difference in the USB from that device possibly couldn't adequately supply the needed power.  On devices that had permanent A/C power, such as a gaming desktop, the sound remained clear.  Switched to a tablet with USB (like MS Surface) and I noticed the "fuzzy" sound ONLY at the highest volume level.  I would expect most speakers to lose a little fidelity at the high end at this price point.  Redragon was far more stable in delivering clean sound than other similarly spec'd speakers I have.  

The midrange sound output on the GS520 is solid to a fault.  It is rich in sound and has an adequate punch when it gets closer to the low end of tones.  Jazz music is a dream played through these speakers, falling right in the range that the Anvil likes to live in for sound.  Rock does well also, but techno/dance/hip-hop tends to flounder a little.  The bass range on the speakers is very narrow.  You will get a little "bump" when a bass drum hits, or low tom-tom drum.  Maybe a small hum from 60Hz bass lines in some songs, but don't expect a room shaker.  This is partly due to the housing of the speaker.  While it is solid in design and feel, it is a thin plastic. Sound has to bounce off of solid surfaces inside the speaker case to generate deep, rich sounds.  The thin walls of these speakers don't allow for deep sound resonance.  Having said that, anyone who is buying these speakers likely isn't looking for thundering bass and screaming high end vocals. So to me, this is not a deal breaker.

Final Thoughts

The Anvil GS520 is, in the end, a gaming speaker set.  Audio presentation for music is good, well great really, but the gaming sector is what these speakers are aimed at.  I played games on at least five different gaming formats and each time I was impressed by the sounds.  Gunshots ring out with force, enemies' shouts are eerily clear, and the roar of engine sounds is convincingly deep in sound. For a speaker set with no active subwoofer, no equalizer controls, or any sort of amplifier, the sound was remarkable.  Apart from the fuzzy sound at max volume on lower powered devices, I was extremely pleased with the sound coming from these colorful speakers.  For sub $40 dollar speakers, the Anvil GS520 speaker set from Redragon.com is a fantastic solution for those looking for entry level gaming speakers.