The ear pads are thick, and covered in soft leatherette, which makes for a decent seal, but the headband is very tight. After a few days of consistent use, it either loosened or my head got used to it, and the discomfort went away—regardless, expect a breaking-in period if you have a slightly larger noggin. You can use the app to switch between EQ presets, adjust mic monitoring volume, and even check the battery level. However, if you’re a PC gamer, and you’ve decided this is the headset for you, you’ll have to buy an Xbox Wireless Adapter, which runs for around $25 USD.
This has been the status quo for a long time now, but it’s still ridiculous to need to spend that much more money just to let your headset work wirelessly on your computer. However, this Xbox gaming headset is a little less hamstrung by its connection method than most, offering a few alternative options if you don’t want to pay the dongle toll.
For starters, the headset supports wired audio via its USB-C port, so you can plug it into your PC to charge and continue to use it. At a consistent output of ~75dB(SPL), this headset lasted 19 hours, 18 minutes—not nearly the longest life on the market, but nothing to sneeze at. The headset’s big volume knob makes adjusting your audio on the fly a cinch, which is great if you’re doing something you can’t pause.
The headset handles the mix of orchestral music and hectic in-game sound of Final Fantasy XIV on PC without any issue, and everything comes through similarly clearly playing a shooter like Apex Legends.
The headset doesn’t offer much in the way of bells and whistles, but it supports Windows Sonic surround sound, which as well here as anywhere else. The increased mid-range output means nobody’s voice will struggle to come through, but you may that high-range sounds are occasionally pretty hard to hear in bass-heavy moments.
This increased mid-range response should ensure dialogue or players over voice chat don’t get totally lost amid the din of battle. Basically, you shouldn’t have any issues most of the time, but you might find it a little hard to differentiate between sounds when things get really hectic. It still looks like a gaming headset, but avoids a lot of the gaudier design elements typical of the product category, which means with won’t stick out in a work Zoom call. Headsets like the Razer BlackShark V2 and HyperX Cloud Alpha work everywhere (including Xbox Series X/S) and are better in almost every way—you won’t even need to recharge these ones.
The Razer Kaira Pro and SteelSeries Arctis 9 (there’s a specific Xbox version) both offer better audio, microphone, battery life, and Bluetooth experiences, and they’re both very comfortable.
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Xbox Wireless Headset review
We’d expect to pay triple the price to experience this sort of sound quality, particularly from a wireless headset, though there is a caveat you need to bear in mind. We found that to get the most out of these headphones, you’ll need to spend time tweaking the EQ in the Xbox Accessories app to dial in exactly how you want them to sound. You’ll probably get a richer, slightly fuller tone from the boom mics found on competing headphones, but the Xbox Wireless Headset’s microphone sounds great, and has clever technology like auto-mute to eliminate background noise when you’re not speaking.
The overall design of the headset is also superb, with a premium feel that completely belies the cheaper price point Microsoft has managed to achieve. The all-black design is embellished with tasteful touches, such as the thin green rings that surround the outside of each earcup and the embossed Xbox logo on the right-hand side. The inside of the earcups, which are handily marked with large ‘L’ and ‘R’ letters, also have a faint green hue that seeps through the mesh, as the driver’s are also coated in Xbox’s familiar brand color.
Adjusting volume or balancing game and voice chat is nothing short of a pleasure on the Xbox Wireless Headset thanks to the rubberized dials that we’ve seen in another of Microsoft’s audio products, the Surface Headphones. The Xbox Wireless Headset wasn’t prone to any creaking during our testing, and the overall clamping force was more than reasonable to ensure a comfortable fit. You can also comfortably crank up the volume with room to spare thanks to the headset’s 32 Ohm impedance, and the speaker response of 20Hz – 20kHz should mean no audio details you’ve come to expect in your go-to games are missed.
But while that’s all well and good, having a purely bass-driven pair of headphones isn’t ideal when you’re playing competitive shooters or even more cinematic single-player experiences. Too much bass can overpower and muddy the other frequencies that are equally as important, leaving you with a muffled sound that won’t do you any favors in online multiplayer games. We’re used to a flatter soundstage overall, so headed to the Xbox Accessories app to dial back the bass to a point where it could still provide a satisfying thud, but not cannibalize every other frequency as a result.
If you don’t own Dolby Atmos, simply connecting the Xbox Wireless Headset will give you six months access for free, so there’s no excuse not to experiment with the wonders of spatial audio. Despite being a closed back pair of headphones with great noise isolation, we were pleased by how clear and detailed the best Dolby Atmos Xbox Series X games sounded. It’s astonishing to think that you can get this type of audio performance for less than $100, and Microsoft deserves a great deal of credit for including a pair of 40mm drivers that are so responsive to changes from the user.
Xbox, do more Microsoft’s wireless headset not only nails the audio quality and microphone, but it comes with some desirable features that are usually reserved for higher end headphones.
We found that on the high setting the Xbox Wireless Headset did a fine job at isolating the music we were playing off our phone once we stopped speaking.
Microsoft’s Xbox Wireless Headset is a mic-drop moment
Next to the Series X, it looks the part with a touch of glossy green detailing around the ear cup dials, covered in matte black plastic. The little holes in the recessed areas between the faux leather ear pads and the dials seem to be there just for cosmetic reasons, but it looks fantastic nevertheless. And while I wish this model had a bungee-style headband and swiveling ear cups like most SteelSeries headsets, not having these features didn’t equate to comfort issues here. In addition to how the headset looks, its functionality is similar to the Surface Headphones, with twistable dials on the outside of each ear cup for adjusting elements of the audio.
The left dial acts as a chat and game audio mixer, so you can tune your playmates down a bit during a dialogue-heavy cutscene or vice versa. Most gaming headsets require days of continued use to fully learn their respective button layouts, but this one’s dead simple. During my tests, I listened to Spotify, and the music sounded good enough to stick with this headset instead of automatically reaching for my Sony 1000XM3s. The soundtrack and all of the various hellish sound effects have an adequate amount of crunch and punch, and I was head-banging to the music while I played.
When there’s a lot happening in the mid and high frequencies, the sound can lack clarity if you’re listening closely. Microsoft claims 15 hours per charge, and both times I ran the non-replaceable battery down during testing, it lasted for about that long. There are three levels (low, medium, and high), and Microsoft says each step up will increase how aggressively the mic mutes things that aren’t your voice. Two other small but cool features in the Xbox Accessories app let you tweak how bright the mute light is, making it easier to see in your peripheral vision.
Up until now, the $150 Razer Kaira Pro was the Xbox-specific headset I told people to get because it’s comfortable, and it supports Bluetooth in addition to the Xbox Wireless protocol. Microsoft’s new Xbox Wireless headset is well ahead of that model in terms of design, ease of use, and functionality — all in a more affordable package. If Microsoft is to be judged compared to Sony on how well it designed a headset to accompany its latest consoles — as it inevitably will be — this one handily edges out the Pulse 3D even though they’re the same price. Sony’s model is comfortable and looks equally dashing next to the console it was made for, and it has a 3.5mm headphone jack and 3D Audio support in its court.
Xbox Wireless Headset Review
As our unit came with a trial of this app that would expire, we marked Virtual Surround as ‘Windows Sonic Spatial Audio’ since this headset is compatible with it out-of-the-box, and it’s also free to use.
Xbox Wireless Headset Review – Strakke koptelefoon voor je Xbox
Met de Xbox Wireless Headset heb je dat laatste in huis voor slechts 99 euro. Niet handig, gezien de Xbox Series X en S er maar drie hebben. De beide oorkussens zijn lekker ruim en gemaakt van ademend nepleer waardoor de headset zelfs na een sessie van een paar uur aangenaam op het oor blijft aanvoelen.
De beugel die op je hoofd rust is voorzien van een kussen waardoor ook dit aangenaam blijft aanvoelen tijdens lange gamesessies.
De microfoon is voorzien van een wat dikker, buigbaar stuk dat stevig aanvoelt. Dit komt vooral goed tot uiting als je een shooter als de Xbox Game Pass games DOOM of Gears 5 aan het spelen bent, maar ook tijdens Gears Tactics merkten wij dat de bassen erg sterk tot uiting kwamen zonder daarbij overdreven tegen je trommelvlies op te gonzen.
De pairing-toets fungeert ook meteen als een aan/uit-knop en verder zijn er twee grote draaischijven, op elke kant één. Tot slot heeft de Xbox Wireless Headset nog een fysieke mute-knop.
Een klein lampje geeft aan of het geluid uit staat, zodat daarover geen verwarring kan ontstaan.
Microsoft Xbox Wireless Headset review
And if you look closely between the sizeable faux leather ear pads and the dials, you’ll see lines of little sunken holes, which don’t appear to do anything but, again, look nice. They work fantastically well, with the right dial allowing you to precisely adjust the volume, and the left your connected audio feeds (more on that in the next section). Unlike the Surface Headphones, though, you won’t find any touch-sensitive controls here, so there’s no way of play/pausing music or skipping a track, or taking a call on the headset.
Xbox Wireless Headset review: our new top recommendation for Xbox
Of course, having two connection methods available also provides a great degree of flexibility – I’m using it now, listening to chilled hip-hop beats in the garden while hammering on a mechanical keyboard, and later I’ll be using it to play Rocket League and Tetris Effect in the living room. The actual sound quality is better than I was expecting too, with a boosted low end that’s just right for playing immersive single-player titles or listening to bassier genres of music. This headset could sound even better if it supported wired 3.5mm or a higher-quality Bluetooth codec like apt-X, but this would require added complexity or additional license fees, respectively, so again the capabilities chosen here make sense.
The headphones provide reasonable imaging in their stereo mode too, making them a good choice for Call of Duty, Fortnite and other competitive multiplayer titles. The clamping force here is a touch gentler than what I’m used to, so it’s less suitable for active use – say, for working out in the gym or going for a jog, as the headset can slip off easily. Still, given the aggressive price point and the gaming focus, it’s easy to understand why these features didn’t make the cut, and the overall comfort levels are excellent.
There’s also an auto-mute function, where the mic is deactivated if it doesn’t detect you speaking, to prevent your family conversations being broadcast to your public Call of Duty lobby. The SteelSeries Arctis 7X provides a more comfortable “ski google” design with a better microphone and slightly better audio, plus PlayStation 5 support, but these headphones do cost more at around £160/$150 and don’t include Bluetooth. I’d even suggest that this headset is a little unfair for Microsoft’s peripheral partners like SteelSeries and Corsair, who are now facing much stiffer competition than we’ve previously seen from a first-party product. (That’s not to say that, for example, Sony’s Pulse 3D headset is bad, but there are certainly a greater number of good alternatives at a similar price point.)
If you’re after a gaming headset that will play well on your Xbox with the versatility to also work on a Windows PC or a smartphone, this is a great choice.
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