Trying to find the perfect headset to fit your needs, can be an ordeal – companies are dishing them out left and right and just when you think you found the you were looking for – another one drops making you second guess your first choice. When it comes to choosing a headset a lot of questions come into play like, can it be used for all of my systems? Is it lightweight? Can I use it for my mobile devices? After testing numerous headsets, I made sure to consider the features I’m most commonly asked about and some of you might be looking for and composed a holiday gift guide of the top 5 gaming headsets you should get this season.
Astro A40 + MIXAMP M80
Astro Gaming is always looking for ways to upgrade their headsets, that’s exactly what they did with their classic A40’s. The company made a few improvements to the headset – designed for professional gamers, but, can be used for the causal gamer. A40’s has a new lightweight design, players won’t have to constantly remove the headset because it’s too heavy, and this also makes it perfect for long gaming sessions.
One of the most important features to any player, is of course sound – the headsets deliver remarkable sound with Astro audio – and with the Astro Mixamp M80, you can choose from 3 different EQ modes. The company still offers players customizable speaker tags, so now gamers can have their team’s logo, or favorite character on their tags.
Price: $200
Platform: Xbox One, PC, Mac
Logitech G633 Artemis Spectrum
The G633 may look heavy, but looks can be deceiving. The Artemis Spectrum is designed with long gaming sessions in mind, the ear cups as well as the headband are designed with sport mesh, this allows for sweat to be absorbed and give players supreme comfort. The mesh on the headset can be removed and washed. Comfort isn’t the only feature the G633 has to offer, Logitech has their very own audio drivers called the Pro-G, and this is what they used combined with 7.1 Dolby Surround Sound – players will be able to hear their enemies coming a mile away.
Just like the company’s keyboards and mice, the G633 allows players to customize their headsets – with 16.8 million colors to choose from your RGB lighting, and with programmable G-Keys and the headset – you can control your music, take phone calls and control your audio profile all on your headset. Getting tired of friends telling to keep the background noises in the house down? Well, with the G633 the mic offering noise cancellation you won’t have to, and if you need to mute the mic for whatever reason – all you have to do, is lift the mic up.
Price: $149.99
Platform: PC, mobile, PS4, Xbox One
Plantronics RIG 500E
Made by Plantronics, endorsed by one of the biggest eSports companies ESL, the RIG 500E has a lightweight design so players won’t have to keep adjusting the headset during game-play. Now, even though the RIG has a lightweight design – the headset can take a beating, so they are perfect to take on the road with you. You can easily adjust the headset to your liking, with 3 different adjustment levels – players will have no problem finding a comfortable fit. This eSport Edition headset comes with Dolby 7.1 surround sound, giving you superb sound that allows casual and pro players to hear every little detail in the game.
The RIG comes with two leather on the ear cups, in addition to the mesh, so if you’re not a fan of the mesh material, you can easily switch them. The ear cups are designed to block out any background noise that may distract you, and cost you your game. Use the USB Dolby adapter and download the Dolby drivers (for PC), this is a nice little bonus to the amazing sound quality you already have. With the flexible noise cancelling mic being detachable – you have other options, such as using the headsets when you want to listen to music.
Price: $149.99
Platform: PC, Xbox One, PS4, Mobile
SteelSeries Siberia X100
The SteelSeries Siberia line has always been available exclusively for PC, but the company has branched out and made it available for the console systems. Known for their pro-gaming audio – the Siberia X100 offers the same quality as its processors. The one big difference this headset has that sets them apart from the rest is an invisible mic. Now, just because you don’t have a mic you can see doesn’t mean it will affect the quality of your broadcast, you will no longer have to fix your mic to make sure your teammates can hear you.
For years the Siberia headset line has been synonymous with eSports champions. Now it’s time for you to get in on the action and finally experience Siberia gaming audio. Previously a PC exclusive, the Siberia X100 brings amazing audio to your Xbox One and mobile devices. Ear cups are covered with mesh allowing for a better feel around the ears – as well as being able to soak up all that sweat from those intense games. Controlling the X100 audio is pretty simple because everything is right at your fingertips, if you want to mute, adjust your volume, or change your chat levels – you can do so all on your adapter. Set-up is really simple, connect the Xbox One adapter to your controller – plug in the headset into the 3.5mm slot, and your good to go.
Price: $79
Platfrom: Xbox One, PC, Mac, PS4 ($59)
Turtle Beach Elite 800
The wireless Elite 800 offers players noise cancelling, this comes in handy when you are trying to hear your teammates, and not everything else happening in the background. The headsets are powered with DTS Headphone:X 7.1 Channel Surround Sound, this means you can literally hear everything that goes on in the game. Gameplay can become louder than your teammates at time, especially during intense battles – so instead of you constantly having to adjust the volume the headphones do that themselves. The volume will automatically rise so you will never miss a teammates command.
Designed with comfort in mind – you will notice the extra cushion on the ear cups and on the headband, making sure players are kept comfortable while playing. You can easily remove the swappable speaker plates to put in different designs that are offered through the Turtle Beach website. Yes, the Elite 800 are wireless, but the battery life on the headset, once its fully charged is 10 hours, that’s a lot of gaming in one day. All of your controls – are on the headset, this makes it easy to control volume, answer a phone call, and mute.
Price: $299.95
Platform: PS4, PS3, PS Vita, Mobile
