Panasonic also has its own stand at IFA 2023. Few news for the manufacturer, but it presented the SC-GNW10, a neck speaker dedicated to video games. We were able to try it for a few minutes: here’s what we thought.
The IFA is the meeting place for major brands, for household appliances, television, but not only. Panasonic shows it, not with yet another razor or a new hi-fi system (although these products are present), but with a neckband speaker, the Panasonic SC-GNW10. This is the logical continuation of the Panasonic SC-GN01, a gaming speaker… that you wear around your neck. The recipe had rather convinced us and it seems to be refined this year.
No more cables, but still as much fabric
This Panasonic speaker has the features of the previous version: a U covered with fabric on top (and plastic below), with rubber in the middle, to adapt to all necks (and shots !).
The finishes are good, but the biggest change is the end of the cable. The device works entirely wirelessly, which eliminates this unsightly cable: now you have to go through a USB-C recharge. On the side, a small wheel allows you to adjust the sound volume precisely.
A choker that is positioned quite easily on the shoulders and that starts quickly. On the left side inside the device, three buttons: one to turn the Panasonic SC-GNW10 on/off, one to mute the microphone and another to change the audio mode. Cutting the microphone also changes the LEDs from green to red (LEDs that cannot be deactivated).
Finally wireless sound on this Panasonic speaker, although it lacks bass
The audio is wireless, since the Panasonic SC-GNW10 connects at 2.4 GHz to a small hub that you plug into USB-A on your computer. It is therefore impossible to use it on a smartphone: it is still unfortunate not to have Bluetooth on it. According to Panasonic, this allows you to benefit from lower latency: the interest is commendable, since we are talking about a product dedicated to video games.
At the same time, we benefit from a greater range than for Bluetooth in theory. The hub also has a small LED that can light up red when you mute the microphone. It would have been nice to make it a sort of USB hub, with USB-A / USB-C ports for example: but that may be too much to ask given the range of this product.
Regarding the audio quality, the sound is relatively clear and can be pushed quite far: remember that these are four speakers stuck close to the ear. What is most damaging is the lack of bass: for video games, this takes away some immersion. At least, the spatialization of the sound is quite good: the four speakers are not at all placed in the same place in relation to our ears. Several sound modes are available: we have the classic cinema, voice, music, but also some dedicated to video games: RPG and FPS. You can add other modes that you configure yourself. The only parameters these modes change is the EQ setting.
Panasonic SC-GNW10 price and availability
No release date has been advanced by Panasonic: we just know that the product will be released at the end of the year. No price either unfortunately. For comparison, its big brother was launched at 179 euros.