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    Xbox Wireless Headset Review | TechSwitch

    Verdict

    Offering unbelievable bang in your buck, the Xbox Wireless Headset blends intelligent design with booming efficiency, at a value that’s greater than affordable. From a number of gadget help to EQ customisation, intuitive controls and a snug match, there’s lots to like right here.

    Pros

    Great sound and highly effective bassClever designEasy-to-use controlsIncredible worth

    Cons

    Plasticky buildMic monitoring could possibly be a little bit louderNo Active Noise Cancelling

    Availability
    UKRRP: £89.99
    USARRP: $99.99
    EuropeRRP: €
    CanadaRRP: CA$
    AustraliaRRP: AU$149.95

    Key Features

    Wireless help:Offers a seamless wi-fi connection to each Xbox Series S/X and PC

    Smart design: Rotating earcups allow you to modify the amount with out groping for buttons

    Integrated microphone:The built-in microphone reduces background noise to focus in your voice

    Introduction

    The Xbox Wireless Headset might simply be dismissed as a daily headset with an Xbox emblem slapped on – however it’s way over that.

    Offering a easy but sturdy construct, the Xbox Wireless Headset units itself aside by way of its super-handy rotating management dials on every earcup, and a bendable increase mic that may be tucked away when not in use, opening up a listening world past mere gaming.

    With the flexibility to attach concurrently to your Xbox gadget/PC and your cellphone, it brings the flexibleness of multi-listening to the desk, too, with stable audio capabilities as well. Throw in as much as 15 hours of use per cost and help for digital sound tech akin to Windows Spatial Sound, Dolby Atmos and DTS Headphone:X, and it guarantees to ship on all fronts, at a value that gained’t make your pockets weep.

    Having spent two weeks gaming, chatting and listening to music by way of it, it’s time to learn the way I obtained on with the Xbox Wireless Headset.

    Price and availability

    The Xbox Wireless Headset is available for purchase now for £89.99 / $99.99 / AU$149.95.

    However, there seem like inventory points proper now, because it at present isn’t available for purchase from distributors akin to Amazon.

    Design

    Plain design for the anti-RGB crowdComfortable to put on for lengthy intervals of timeMic arm could possibly be good with a number of tweaksIn a world the place most gaming equipment favour harsh angles and cheesy RGB lighting, it’s good to see a game-centric gadget that’s rather less busy for these of us who’ve outgrown the ‘Xtr3me 1337’ part of our lives.

    Sporting a easy design and wearing black, the Xbox Wireless Headset is a smooth, minimal, engaging little bit of package, regardless of its primarily plastic construct. Sure, it gained’t win a premium design contest in opposition to the likes of the extremely costly, lambskin leather-clad Beoplay Portal, however at this value, it doesn’t should. Its gaming DNA is subtly revealed by the inexperienced energy button and matching accents on every earcup, together with the versatile increase mic on the left-hand aspect.

    The mic itself could be positioned at any angle, because of the versatile arm, and could be pushed up all the best way for these events while you’re not utilizing it. It’s a intelligent trick, however it isn’t fairly as hidden as, for instance, the retractable mics you’ll discover on some premium MetalSeries headsets. It might need been even higher to have the mic itself in a curved, relatively than cylindrical, housing, in order that it might observe the curve of the ear cup when closed for maximal invisibility – however that’s simply nitpicking on my finish.

    Weighing in at 312g, the Xbox Wireless Headset isn’t the lightest headset round. However, it’s greater than snug for hours of fixed use, because of the froth padding on each the band and ear cushions. The earcups themselves are beneficiant in dimension and simply managed my bigger than common ears, making them a snug match for just about anybody.

    Given the dearth of energetic noise cancellation, they do an inexpensive job of sealing out the worst of environmental noise, though clearly can’t match as much as a pair of correct ANC cans.

    Each earcup additionally has a rotating management dial cleverly included into the design. They really feel beautiful and tactile, and have definitive min, max, and midway factors. The left dial is used to combine the sport and chat audio, whereas the correct is for quantity. Compared to tiny buttons or finicky touch-sensitive affairs, these dials are an absolute triumph of kind and performance, and are one of many Xbox Wireless Headset’s standout options.

    Rounding out the design, you’ll discover a mute button on the again of the left earcup that handily lights up an LED on the entrance of the mic, together with a inexperienced energy/pairing button. The USB-C port is the one factor you’ll discover on the correct aspect. Overall, because of the ingenious earcup controls, the general result’s a clear and minimal headset that works simply as nicely on a day by day commute as it can in your sofa.

    Features

    Multi-device pairing for added flexibilityXbox Accessories app for customising optionsNo music management shortcutsOne of the Xbox Wireless Headset’s most helpful options is its means to hook up with your cellphone similtaneously your PC or Xbox console. This is a boon if, like me, you often play crossplay video games with PC players preferring utilizing Discord above another voice-chat service.

    I performed Grounded on the Xbox Series X with a number of associates who have been on PC, listening to each the in-game audio from the Series X and the Discord voice chat from my Android smartphone, dialling within the good combine between sport and chat quantity for a seamless expertise. This twin connectivity additionally means you’ll be able to seize incoming cellphone calls throughout gaming classes with out having to faff round with pausing and eradicating the headset.

    Elsewhere, the Xbox Wireless Headset is full of the choice to tinker and tweak with the settings, all made potential by way of the Xbox Accessories app on PC and console. The first, and maybe most essential possibility is the equaliser, which helps you to tweak the degrees of lows, highs, and mids, whereas deciding on (or turning off) bass enhance. This is an important characteristic, and we’ll cowl it extra within the subsequent part.

    The app additionally lets you choose the extent of the auto-mute operate – a helpful setting that mechanically mutes your mic while you’re not speaking. You can modify the sensitivity in response to your background noise ranges, and it really works surprisingly nicely, negating the necessity to fiddle round with extra conventional push-to-talk settings, if that’s the way you roll. It works significantly nicely if, say, there’s a crying child within the background, and also you wish to save your teammates from their piercing wails.

    The subsequent possibility is the mute mild brightness, which helps you to modify the brightness of the mic’s built-in white LED, or flip it off altogether. Somewhat unusually, the microphone’s white LED is on when the mic is on, and off when muted, which appears the other of what you’d anticipate. Not solely that, however as a result of shorter nature of the mic arm, it’s fairly onerous to see the LED any means – though your view could (actually) fluctuate. Either means, it’s good to have the choice to customize it. Lastly, we’ve got the mic monitoring part, which helps you to enhance or lower how a lot you’ll be able to hear your individual voice by way of the headset itself.

    On the battery life entrance, the Xbox Wireless Headset guarantees as much as 15 hours per cost. I discovered myself having to high up anyplace between 12-13.5 hours on common with heavy use and cellphone connections, with the headset getting used as my major headset for working at my PC, in addition to gaming within the evenings. Overall, it’s a really respectable effort, particularly since a half-hour cost offers a four-hour enhance. Be warned, although: a full cost takes round three hours, which can appear fairly sluggish in the event you’re used to smartphones that fast-charge in nicely below an hour.

    Sound high quality and microphone

    Sounds nice after tinkering with the EQ settingsDolby Atmos breathes life into video games, music and moviesMic high quality is nice, though monitoring could possibly be louderStraight out of the field, the Xbox Wireless Headset serves up an extremely bass-heavy, muddy listening expertise, and it isn’t significantly nice. I’m unsure why that is the usual tuning that was chosen by the Xbox workforce, however I can solely assume it’s to feed the bass-hungry youth with buckets of increase on the low-end.

    Thankfully, the beforehand talked about equalizer simply saves the day. With minimal effort you’ll be able to slide issues round in order that the soundscape is way extra balanced, and after a couple of minutes of tinkering, the Xbox Wireless Headset sounded completely very good, particularly given its value.

    With issues in stability it nonetheless serves up a hefty (however refined) low-end, with clear mids and highs as well. Activate the six-month Dolby Atmos licence that’s included within the field by way of the Dolby Atmos PC/Xbox app, and also you’re in for much more of an auditory deal with.

    Atmos opens up the listening expertise, serving to you chop by way of the onslaught of explosions and environmental noises in a shooter akin to Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War, letting you select delicate queues akin to enemy footsteps, and the path from which they’re approaching. In one thing much less shooty akin to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2, Atmos shines as soon as once more.

    With Atmos off, the sport’s unbelievable soundtrack is form of muddied up, the sound of your skateboard clattering and grinding round numerous graffiti-laden areas. Turn Atmos on, although, and the sense of house is way extra obvious, with in-game sounds echoing off distant warehouse partitions, whereas the legendary soundtrack will get even higher with out overpowering the motion.

    When it involves mic high quality, the positives proceed. From Zoom calls to Discord, in-game chat and cellphone calls by way of Bluetooth, I’ve no complaints concerning the high quality of the microphone. If you’re related to a PC or Xbox, you can too activate the mic monitoring possibility within the equipment app, which helps you to hear your individual voice by way of the headset itself – a helpful characteristic to stop you from shouting loudly or monitoring your self in the event you’re streaming or recording.

    Monitoring works nicely for probably the most half, though it does additionally imply you’ll be listening to background noises extra usually. I’d prefer to see it get a little bit louder when cranked to max, and it might be nice in the event you might customise the earcup dials, since mic monitoring would, for instance, be extra helpful to me total than sport audio/chat mixing.

    As issues stand, you must go into the Accessories app to regulate the monitoring ranges, which isn’t perfect. On that be aware, given the Xbox Wireless Headset’s spectacular audio capabilities, it’s a disgrace there aren’t any music playback controls for simply skipping, enjoying and pausing tracks. Customising the performance of the dials would once more repair this concern.

    Conclusion

    There’s little or no to not like concerning the Xbox Wireless Headset. It affords a no-nonsense design with some very intelligent and intuitive dial controls. It pairs simply with a number of gadgets, providing flexibility for gaming and work. And – after some fast tinkering – it sounds higher than it has any proper to, particularly in the event you throw Dolby Atmos into the combination.

    My solely major gripes are the dearth of management customisation choices (it might be superb to swap out the performance of the management dials as wanted), together with mic monitoring ranges which might be decrease than I’d prefer to see.

    Overall, although, you’re getting an enormous quantity of bang in your buck, and in the event you’re courageous sufficient to enterprise out with a barely protruding mic, there’s no motive that the Xbox Wireless Headset can’t double up as your day by day driver both. Nicely completed, Microsoft.

    Best Offers

    Should you purchase it?

    You’re an Xbox or PC gamer in search of worthIf you’re workforce Xbox and in search of a high quality headset with out destroying your pockets, the Xbox Wireless Headset is a no brainer buy.

    You need one thing a little bit extra premiumIf you’re blissful to spend the money, you’ll be able to improve to extra luxurious headsets from the likes of Bang & Olufsen, MetalSeries and Audeze.

    Verdict

    Offering unbelievable bang in your buck, the Xbox Wireless Headset blends intelligent design with booming efficiency, at a value that’s greater than affordable. From a number of gadget help to EQ customisation, intuitive controls and a snug match, there’s lots to like right here.

    FAQs

    Can I take advantage of a 3.5mm headset cable with the headphones? Unfortunately not. The headset solely works with a wi-fi connection. Does it cost off a USB-C cable? Yes, the Xbox Wireless Headset could be charged by way of the bundled USB-C charger. Does the headset include with a six-month free trial for Dolby Atmos? Yes, the trial begins as quickly as you hyperlink the headset to the Dolby Atmos app.

    Full specs

    UK RRP

    USA RRP

    AUD RRP

    Manufacturer

    IP ranking

    Battery Hours

    Size (Dimensions)

    Weight

    ASIN

    Release Date

    First Reviewed Date

    Driver (s)

    Connectivity

    Colours

    Frequency Range

    Headphone Type

    Xbox Wireless Headset

    £89.99

    $99.99

    AU$149.95

    Microsoft

    No

    15

    x x inches

    312 g

    B08WJSJT4J

    March 2021

    19/05/2021

    40mm

    Bluetooth / Xbox Wireless / USB-C cable

    Black

    20 20000 – Hz

    Over-ear

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