Parents who want something cheap, but decent that they can slap on their kids’ heads to avoid the sounds of gunfire filling their home. The Logitech G432 is made primarily of plastic, with a single strip of metal running through the band, and boy, does it feel flimsy. The metal in the band does a decent job creating a good amount of tension for keeping the headset on your head, but the plastic feels pretty cheap. I struggled to get a decent seal even when wearing a ball cap while using the headset, and it barely interacted with the ear pads. The headset offers DTS:X surround sound support via the company’s G Hub app, as long as you’re plugged into a PC with the USB attachment, but otherwise it’s just a plug-and-play affair. The USB adapter is also a good idea if your PC’s 3.5mm jacks are improperly grounded, as this can cause a layer of static in the headphones.
Playing games like Overwatch and Halo: The Master Chief Collection on PC, I ran into no issues whatsoever and found the surround function worked very well. All the same, if it’s something you feel really strongly about, the surround sound included with the Logitech G432 works well, and it’s a set it and forget it kind of feature—check the box in G hub once and you don’t need to go back into the app again.
In game, this means things like explosions, gunfire, and particularly deep swells of background music might have a slight issue with drowning out other kinds of sound. In Forcefield Lifts over Neon City by Daikaiju, the low-end whir that sits in the background of most of the song runs over a lot of its fainter string parts. That means turning up the volume is your best bet for drowning out even the typical noises of apartment life, like a TV in another room or the whirr of the fridge in the kitchen. There’s a huge de-emphasis in the bass and mid range, up to around 600Hz, which means people with deeper voices are going to sound pretty distorted.
If you’re a PC gamer looking for something cheap headsets like the Razer Kraken X and Corsair HS60 Pro Surround both offer equal sound, sturdier frames, and cover the same features. In fact, the Turtle Beach Recon 70 runs for half the price of the G432, and it’s a better gaming headset in pretty much every way (minus the surround sound).
Its follow-up sounds good, but its mic has clipping issues, and the whole thing feels pretty flimsy.
Logitech G432 Gaming Headset Review
Also, their bass delivery varies noticeably across users and is sensitive to the quality of fit, seal, and whether you wear glasses.
Logitech G432 Gaming Headset Review
They’re all black with a pop of the same Logitech blue color found on the G430, although now only as a ring around and on the interior of the ear pads. The G432 are a wired-only headset, so they’re compatible with PC, Mac, Xbox One, PS4, Switch, and mobile devices with 3.5mm connections. The cable is 6.5 feet long, so it offers plenty of slack if you don’t have front connections on your PC or are connecting directly to your console that sits by the TV.The in-line volume controls found on the G430 have been moved to the back of the left ear cup, which eliminates the extra weight on the cable that can pull at the headset. Admittedly there aren’t many variables for the G432 since it doesn’t have lighting, but what is there is clear and self-explanatory.Comfort is an important gauge for headsets. They are a little plastic-y, but it didn’t feel like they were on the verge of breaking like some sub-$100 headsets.That great sound is evident in games with large dynamic ranges like Battlefront II and Destiny 2. In both Destiny 2 and Battlefront II, I had an easier time accurately hearing where blaster fire was coming from when NPCs weren’t directly in front of me than I did on older DTS Headphone: X headsets.
It sounded like there was an extra push to the bass with surround turned on that the drivers couldn’t quite handle, resulting in some slight low-end distortion.
Logitech G432 Wired Gaming Headset Review
The G423 fits in line with Logitech’s other numbered G series headsets from a design perspective, with chunky, trapezoidal black plastic earcups. The earcup also holds a volume wheel on the back edge and a six-foot headset cable ending in a four-pole 3.5mm connector. The earcups are mounted on a sturdy metal headband with a black plastic shell that features additional fabric-wrapped foam padding on the underside. The sound card is a simple black adapter consisting of a USB plug, a short length of wire, and a plastic enclosure with a 3.5mm port.
If you want to stream or record podcasts, a more expensive headset like the HyperX Cloud Mix or the Turtle Beach Elite Pro 2 will provide a higher-quality boom for your purposes. When the electric bass kicks in, it gets enough presence to stay prominent in the track, but it lets the guitar strums and high-hat stand out in the mix instead of pushing them to the background.
I played Apex Legends on a PlayStation 4, and the sounds of combat came through full and punchy, with gunshots ringing out with plenty of power despite the relative lack of bass response. The game’s stereo mixing was suitable for making out the direction of fighting, and the strong high-mid and high-frequency response let me pick out the sounds of footsteps in the grass as I was being ambushed.
The Bottom Line The Logitech G432 is a capable wired gaming headset that includes a 7.1-channel USB sound card for use with a PC, but its design and performance lag behind the competition.
Logitech G432 Review: A Budget Gaming Headset Improvement
Remember the Logitech G430: plasticine and light, with loud blue highlights and a flexible steel headband? There’s a flexible, nonremovable boom mic on the front of the left ear cup and a volume dial on the back. I’m not sure it was strictly necessary to include both of these connections, since the splitter and the USB adapter both work well for gaming PCs, but it’s always nice to have more options.
The first time I took the G432 off my head, I was surprised to find sweat beads not only on the ear cups but also on the foam headband. The headset provided rich, programmable sound for PC games like Destiny 2, World of Warcraft and StarCraft: Remastered, with an excellent bass/treble balance and a soundscape that felt close rather than distant. Gunfire in Destiny 2, the techno music in StarCraft; and the sounds of battle in World of Warcraft all came through crisply and clearly. The sound wasn’t nearly as loud or nuanced on a PC when compared with the USB adapter, even when I played the exact same game. On a Nintendo Switch, however, the audio came through just fine, providing a reasonable balance between voice work, sound effects and music.
The headset provided rich, programmable sound for PC games like Destiny 2, World of Warcraft and StarCraft: Remastered, with an excellent bass/treble balance and a soundscape that feels close rather than distant. In addition to DTS 7.1 surround sound, you also get equalization sliders, noise reduction and a handful of other features.
Four years later, the G432 is a much better product than its predecessor, featuring much-improved audio drivers and a few smart tweaks in design.
Customer Reviews: Logitech G432 Wired DTS Headphone:X 2.0 Surround Sound Gaming Headset for PC with Flip-to-Mute Mic Black/Blue 981-000769
That’s the difference between listening to others advice and simply reading the technical specifications of the manufacturer and knowing EXACTLY how the product is going to perform based on those specs. They had the best processor for Dolby II, DTS & 2.0/5.1/7.1 Surround and the sound was clean, not muddy, not brash or too bright, and the frequency response was good enough to drop some bass through. So I salvaged them for a very long time, even using duct tape to keep them together… but like all good things, they come to a final end. A frequency response of 20-20,000, (with companies like Sennheiser always advertising 12-44,000Hz, ranges that most studios neither use at either end as they are both inaudible, unusable and could damage 95-99% of the rest of speakers out there).
Before I even installed their G-Hub software (which enables all of the DTS surround features, as well as graphic equalizers and more) I tested these plugged directly into Windows 7 to listen to the flat response with no EQ. Installing the G-Hub software was easy, intuitive and worked without any conflicts (which is usually a finger crossing experience on a Windows 7 for most people… but my machine is lean and clean and free of bloatware or Microsoft’s mitts on it).
They tried listening again, this time with high quality speakers in a special soundproof room and with equipment that picks up electrical hum and other sound phenomena.
Logitech G432 Review
Just a quick search and you’ll find an endless ocean that will drown you in discontent and leave you uncertain of the choice you’ve made. They feel a little loose when worn, but the square shaped earpads provide some nice air inside for your ears. Attached to the headset is a fixed, flexible boom microphone and a volume dial on the back of the left ear cup.
It’s not that they aren’t pleasing to the eyes, it’s just that we’ve seen this design on countless other gaming headsets. It has a slightly higher emphasis on bass, a common occurrence in gaming headsets. It provides a nice thud when playing games with loud explosions and guns firing. If you’re a fan of dance music or Hip-Hop, you might enjoy the louder bass, other than that it might not be your cup of tea. Not to mention if you wear glasses, some pairs might interfere with the isolation, which can actually cause a decrease in the low-end frequencies. Testing the headset proves that they sound great in modern FPS shooters like Destiny 2 or Call of Duty.
On the console, you’ll have to make do without the surround sound by plugging in the 3.5 mm jack directly into the controller.
Other than that, the voice recognition is spot on with the mid- and high range frequencies sounding true to life and very detailed. Your friends will have no trouble hearing you over the bellowing booms of explosions and thousands of bullets flying past your eardrums.
And it’s fine for parents who want to buy a cheap headset for their gamer child who just wants something to play Fortnite with. If you’re looking for a great gaming headset and don’t care about music at all, the Razer Kraken X will do a better job and is more durable.
If you would prefer a more general purpose pair of headphones, take a look at our reviews of the SteelSeries Arctis 7 and the V Moda Crossfade M 100.
The Sony WH 1000XM3 and the Bose QuietComfort 35 II are also superb options well worth considering if you’re thinking of spending a bit more.
With a flimsy, outdated design and average sound quality, they prove that cutting too many corners in a bid to save money can sometimes be to the product’s detriment.
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