My Nintendo Switch is better than ever thanks to this cheap but brilliant accessory
Do you know how to instantly make your Nintendo Switch as least portable as possible? Connect a pair of the best Bluetooth speakers to the little handheld. Not that I’m claiming these budget Majority DX30 speakers are the absolute cream of the crop. But they are miles better than listening to the Switch’s tinny audio output.
The Majority DX30 PC speakers won’t put much of a dent in your bank balance, with the manufacturer selling these for waaaay less than $100. Loud, reasonably punchy and bundled with a relatively compact subwoofer that still brings the bass, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed testing them paired with my Nintendo Switch OLED over the past week.
These cheap but effective speakers are plug and play, so they’re incredibly easy to set up through either their 3.5mm headphone jack or USB cables. Majority also throws in a little remote to make dialing the volume up or down easier, while also providing a handy switch for adjusting subwoofer levels. Clicking the power button twice on the remote switches between plug and play and Bluetooth, and I’ve primarily been listening/gaming on these speakers using the latter connection, with minimal fuss.
Majority D40 Bookshelf Speakers: available for $89 @ Amazon
Sadly the DX30 model I’ve been testing isn’t available in the U.S. right now, but these larger 60W amplified speakers are — and they're just as cheap. Capable of playing MP3 files from a USB or SD card, it supports TV, PC and optical connections. Majority also includes a 4-inch remote to let you tinker with your audio settings from afar. View Deal
As is common with many Bluetooth speakers, there’s an ever so slight delay in the audio — I’m talking fractions of a second here — but my ears quickly stopped being distracted by the issue while playing Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD.
I don’t want to say too much about this newly releassed remaster, as my review should go live next week, but damn does the lesser Mario brother’s haunted house sequel squeeze the best out of the Majority DX30.
Every bump in the night, crack of lightning or crash of a sword from a ghostly chainmail guard is delivered with real oomph by these desktop speakers. Solid bass levels are instantly appreciable once you crank the sub up a little, delivering far richer, more rounded audio than I was expecting from a product that costs less than ￡50 in my native United Kingdom.
Alien nation
Do yourself a favor, though. Don’t play Alien: Isolation on the DX30. If you do, as we said in our review back in the day, “everyone will hear you scream.” The brilliant survival horror game was treated to an excellent Switch port back in 2019 that not enough people talk about. It’s remarkably handsome on my OLED model in Handheld mode, and I’d argue it remains the best looking game on the system five years on. The Xenomorph can totally pull off “handsome,” right?
The Creative Assembly’s masterful fright fest also sounds sensational. Trying to evade the Xeno while listening to the DX30’s pulsating output has been a trip. And not one my tattered nerves want to repeat.
I’m pretty conditioned to dealing with jump scares in stride, yet the unrelenting cavalcade of genuinely disturbing sounds that occur in any given minute in Alien: Isolation are beyond unnerving. Constant heaving and distant (but not nearly distant enough) screams echo from pipes constantly; Amanda Ripley’s petrified breathing becomes a character in itself; while even unleashing the mid-game flamethrower is nerve-rattling, thanks to the iconic weapon from 1986’s “Aliens” incessant hissing.
My ears quickly stopped being distracted by the issue while playing Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD"
Though the DX30 hog most of the space on my coffee table — they're best suited as a set of computer speakers — I’ve quickly become fond of these budget-friendly speakers. From my perspective, they over-deliver on quality considering their price. The difference between playing the best Nintendo Switch games with them is night and day compared to what the little machine is capable of through its in-built speakers.
Obviously Majority isn’t targeting this product at folks who constantly take their Switch on the go, but if you’re like me and mainly play Nintendo’s console in Handheld mode at home, the DX30 speakers are easy to recommend.
