SteelSeries Tusq - In-Ear Mobile Gaming Headset – Dual Microphone With Detachable Boom Mic – Ergonomic Suspension Design Earphones – For Mobile

Disclaimer: I don't like gaming headsets.I own several pairs of superb headphones for music, and reference - and every time I don a set of "gaming" headphones they tend to feel like a toy - that said, I felt these warrant a review.The build quality on the Arctis 9X are great - the sound quality is also very nice, but at this price point - you expect that. Different pre-sets subtly change the sound from more natural, through to some that are more bassy which are good for movies - but on the whole, they don't have any gimmicky features like my old turtle beach set, which branded "saturated midtones that make my ears bleed, as a trade off for hearing footsteps louder" as "Superhuman hearing" or something similar.Connectivity:On my Xbox One X - I don't think these have ever dropped out other than one time I forgot to charge them.Whilst my One. was being repaired, I temporarily re-used my old regular Xbox one. I noticed a fair few dropouts, needing me to turn the headset off and on again.- This was an issue I had read in some reviews after buying the headset, and I was concerned - I was never able to recreate the issue until I used an OG Xbox One, so in my personal experience. Perfect on the OneX - frustrating on a standard Xbox One.Volume: 10/10They are not deafeningly loud, (except in COD - which has the worst sound mix of a game ever.) but they definitely dont suffer with being too quiet. If they don't go loud enough for you, then you've probably already done some damage to your hearing.Sound Quality: 8/10Comparing them to a set of high end reference headphones is unfair, they don't reproduce a huge wide soundstage, with intricate highs mids and lows, however... after burn in - ive found that they perform better than most closed back headphones I own, the mids are far clearer on these for example, than on HD25s, HD280Pros, or aiaiai DJ headphones.Overall - I was surprised at how good these sound.Comfort: 10/10Aside from a pair of AKG702s i own - which is like wearing a pair of pillows on your head - these are the most comfortable headphones I own. I can play games in them for hours on end, and then settle into a movie before taking them off. Being over ear they are comfortable as they dont put pressure on you, the elasticated headband makes a clever snug fit to your head, without being tight - and they are heavy enough that you trust them not to fall apart, but not so heavy that they induce fatigue.Sound isolation: 8/10No complaints here, the isolation is really good, so if someone is sleeping next to you, and you are watching tv - you probably wont disturb them unless you have it cranked right up, or take them off to break the seal to your head.Battery Life: 10/10Incredibly long battery life. Since covid kicked in and we've all been working from home, ive had these on all day every day almost - as they pair to your phone to be a bluetooth headset too. There is an indicator light that changes colour depending on how much battery you have left.Connectivity: 9/10Being able to play games and listen to music off your phone, or take phone calls whilst gaming is almost seamless (with 1 caveat ill address in the downsides).Microphone: 10/10I've had several people join parties and query what mic I have because its so clear, they assume im using a dedicated mic like streamers use. It's also very easy to mute the mic with the button just behind your right ear, and the mic has a light on it so you can see in your peripheral vision if you are muted.Price: 6/10I paid £130ish for these on Amazon in the sale. There are better "headphones" available for that pricerange, but in terms of gaming headsets, I dont know. they are feature rich, with a long battery life, and great reliability, but for £190 that they are currnetly listed at, Id rather they were more than just a gaming headset, which they could have done with some aesthetic changes - which would have pushed this score up to a 9 or 10.Ergonomics: 7/10On either headset cup at the back,there is a jogwheel, the left one changes chat+game mix (very useful when your super loud friend crashes the party) and the overall volume on the right one. The chat mix also has a marker point for the mix at 50:50 that you can feel without looking. The power button is convex, and the bluetooth/answer call buttons is convex. Without looking, you can easily feel exactly what is what.In principle - everything about the design is perfect.. Until you lean back against the sofa/pillow, and the jogwheel catches the seat/pillow behind you, and either turns the sound off, or cranks the volume to the max.Placing these controls under the earpieces, or on top of them instead of at the back would have made them perfect.Aesthetics: 6/10They nearly got this perfect, the earcups are minimally styled, and the matte black looks sleek - however they have a truly gharish green pattern to the headbands that makes them look a bit childish. It is also a real shame that the microphone doesnt sit flush when it retracts into the headset. This would be the difference between them being a set of headphones that never leave the house, and being a set of headphones that never leave my side... I just dont want to be on the tube in a set of headphones with a boom mic, and a gharish pattern on the headband.Charging: 7/10The problem I have with the charging isnt that it takes long, they seem to charge really fast! The issue is that if you are using them and put them on charge without turning them off, I dont really understand what they do.. but it doesnt seem to charge. Ive found that once i finish using them I either have to turn them off, then plug them in, or plug them in, and immediately remove the charger, and plug them in again. This could be by design so that when you first plug a usb in it works to connect to a PC or something, but it does mean that occasionally if you forget, you can plug your headset in - but it doesnt charge. Once you realise you need to see the slow pulsing light to know its charging, then you'll probably be ok.Overall: 9/10My first headset from this company, due to the build quality I cant see myself replaceing them any time soon, and if in the same position again I wouldnt hesitate to get these. If you are looking for a great gaming headset thats comfortable to wear, these are my shout.If you want a set that doubles up as something you would use as wireless headphones out and about - the non-detachable/hidden mic might put you off, as it did me. If you are less vain than I am, then youll have a nice sounding set of headphones for your travels too. :)

This is perhaps one of the most versatile headsets I have ever owned. Not only does it use lossless wireless, it also supports a bluetooth connection so you can connect directly to your phone or laptop without needing the transmitter base.It is very comfortable thanks to the strap that at first I almost did not want to buy it due to the strap. However, strap was easy to adjust (far easier than I expected) and it only took me two attempts to get it just right. The strap also makes the headset feel a lot lighter on the head as you do not have anything hard pressing resting on the top of your head. The earpads bend all sorts of ways so you can get that perfect angle you want to have it on your ears to suit the shape of anyone's head.Comfort aside, the hot swap batteries work so well, shockingly I do get the advertised +-10 to 9 hours of usage per charge per battery. The batteries charge very fast in the transmitter base and tend to be fully charged long before your current charge is empty on the battery you are using (fun fact: the design of the batteries is pretty much identical to that of the much loved G7 Logitech gaming mouse, so if you have used that then this will feel all too familiar!)In terms of sound quality this is far better than any headset I have ever owned and I think you actually will not be able to find a headset that can beat the sound quality on this device!The reason I say that is that the drivers in this headset are clearly designed to perform well regardless what you toss at them - music, movies or games it just can take it and then some!Using the official SteelSeries software you can get the most out of it though and can setup mutiple set sound profiles so if you prefer it one way for one game or for music and then another way for a different game or for movies for example you can just rightclick on the SteelSeries app and select the profile you have setup in advance.The sound really changes drastically depending on the settings you put in the app but regardless of settings you can really hear how well these drivers perform. The output is just such a high fidelity regardless of what you are listening to that nothing can outperform this headset.There is also a clear distinction when you enable and disable the surround sound not just in games but also even in music. If you are listening to any music that has an orchestral background for example the surround really helps you hear the depth of the orchestra versus the surround off it will sound a lot more bland.This is also why this headset shines in that any audiophile headset a- will not have a built in microphone (which all my friends on Discord say sounds extremely clear) and b- will not perform equally good on all sound usage. Audiophile headsets tend to perform best at music but then if you give them a game or a movie their performance just is not as good as a gaming headset.But where previous gaming headsets failed at music, this one really shines especially with the simulated surround sound using DTS X v2.0 it just somehow processes the stereo sound in such a way that your ears perceive it as being far deeper than a regular stereo headset.I have used other surround headsets but DTS-X v2.0 just is a massive improvement in the technology over previous surround headsets.The specs speak for themselves if you compare them to audiophile headsets you really see how great the drivers are in this headset added on to this what DTS X v2.0 can get out of them is why so many people rave about this product.

Giving it a solid four stars.Great headset, sounds great, works great, feels great, it's easy to use, controls aren't too finicky.I use it for my Xbox Series S and the connectivity is good enough for me to walk to and from the bathroom with minimal connection issues.Now the reason I give it four stars is because a few of my friends have had this same headset about a year longer than me and have had nothing but issues with it. The charging cable breaking, the usb slot breaking the actual plastic housing that attaches the headband to the speaker cracking.To note, I've experienced nothing like this but about 3 months into me owning my headset, it just wouldn't turn on this was solved by a quick 20 minute google and repair (I had to remove the padding around the ear and jam a needle into a hard reset switch) which was a little annoying but my friends had theirs under warranty and I believe they haven't had any issues with their new ones.Aside from their issues, I can't complain, I would still recommend this headset, the battery life is amazing I've never had it die on me, as long as you charge it overnight you should have no issues either. 8/10