While many elements in my gaming set-up combine to make my gaming life pleasant, perhaps the most important piece of the puzzle is my headset. While everything else I use has little impact on anyone around me, like the mouse, keyboard, controller and chair I choose to use, my gaming headset is not only the way I hear the games I play and my friend’s seemingly endless chatter, it’s also the way that they hear me.
And when it comes down to it, I want them to be able to hear my (angelic) voice despatching words of wisdom into their ears in the best possible quality because that is my gift to them. So when I was recently allowed to play around with and review the Corsair HS55 Wireless headset, I jumped, figuratively. Then when I was testing the headset I jumped literally, because the headset is wireless and I could. So I did. and best know, it was glorious.
As the name suggests, the Corsair HS55 Wireless headset is wireless and while I usually reserve these kinds of headsets for consoles, I decided to put it through its passes by testing it on my PC for my friend group’s nightly game sessions.
One of the first and most obvious perks to this headset is the fact that’s wireless, making it a dream for those looking for more freedom of movement and for those who are looking for a headset that’s easy to travel with.
There is something deeply pleasing about being able to run to the kitchen while queuing for a League of Legends game without having to worry about first taking off my headset and potentially dropping it, something that happens more often than I’d like to admit, or tripping myself over the cable, also something I’m no stranger to.
But wireless capabilities aside, there are certain things that I will always look for in a gaming headset, and they are as follows:
Sound quality. While many of my gaming friends use their headsets purely for conversation, I always play with my game sounds on and I consider audio to be a huge part of my gaming experience. Whether it’s being able to hear footsteps from afar when playing a shooter, or ambient sounds when playing an RPG, game audio is something that draws me in and keeps me engaged in the virtual world.
Now when it comes down to it, the Corsair HS55 Wireless headset offers pretty okay sound and shines with its spatial audio. While playing either on my PC or PlayStation I was able to hear all the different elements around me and identify through the audio where the sounds were coming from.
However, while I didn’t have any complaints about the sound quality at all I also wasn’t blown away by it. There is a richness and a fullness that the headset just doesn’t deliver and while it didn’t bug me while I was actively using it, once I returned to my regular headset the difference was noticeable. It is strange for the sound quality to come across as lacking, though because for R2,800 I would have expected more rumble and more wow.
The other things I look for are sort of tied together. Because of the long hours I spend playing games, either for work or for pleasure, the headset needs to be comfortable and it also needs to feel great when I’m wearing my glasses because apparently staring at a screen all day isn’t all that great for your eyes. Who knew?
Hand in hand with that, a wireless headset needs to have a decent battery life because if I have to constantly charge it in the middle of a gaming session I might as well use my aforementioned deathtrap of a wired headset.
And lastly, the mic needs to be good enough so that I don’t need to use an external mic, thus negating the convenience of having a wireless headset, to begin with.
So let’s discuss. First things first, the Corsair HS55 Wireless headset is light. It’s really light. And when combined with the soft, plush faux leather earcups it makes for a gloriously comfortable experience. There is also a great give and take with the headset’s clamping power that keeps it in place on your head, and it doesn’t rely on your delicate little ears for support but also doesn’t push so hard that wearing glasses with it becomes a headache timebomb.
However, regarding the mic, the Corsair HS55 Wireless headset does leave much to be desired, at least for my particular circumstance. Let me give you some background info on how my life operates, firstly, my PC is loud. It just is. And because of space restrictions and aesthetic appeal, my PC is also on my gaming desk, within arm’s reach from where I sit.
My gaming room/office also happens to be the single hottest room in my entire house meaning that I have a fan running pretty much constantly, otherwise my hands will be slipping around with sweat. And finally, I share this dedicated gaming space with my partner, which means when we’re gaming with friends we are both speaking within the same room.
Now where the Corsair HS55 Wireless headset falls flat for me personally is the fact that the mic is omnidirectional, and there is no background noise reduction built into the headset. Meaning my friends were treated to the sounds of my rocket ship PC, my fan, my angry keystrokes (we play League of Legends together – all keystrokes are angry in that game) and the sound of my partner’s voice echoing through my mic and directly into my friend’s eardrums. Something I took an evil kind of pleasure in at first before their annoyance started being less funny and more problematic.
That being said, my voice was still loud and clear when I spoke, but unfortunately, so were all the other ambient sounds around me, including the sounds of crickets from outside- something my friends found unforgivable.
The final thing is battery life. Here is where the Corsair HS55 Wireless headset shines. While the headset will give you a solid 24 hours of battery life, which is neither great nor terrible, it does have an impressively fast charge with 15 minutes of charge time translating to roughly six hours of game time. This is a godsend for someone like me who often forgets about needing to change wireless devices and only remembers just before game time is set to start.
The headset is also simple to a fault, with only three buttons. The Bluetooth and Power buttons are on your right earcup and the Mic mute button sits next to your volume dial on the left. While the mic is a flip-to-mute one, I found using the button to be a lot more convenient as I didn’t have the hassle of getting my mic just right again each time I wanted to quickly mute myself for a second.
Pressing down on the volume slide also lets you hot swap between four, predetermined sound profiles which are Standard, Bass Boost, Movie Theatre and FPS. Considering there is no kind of app support for the headset, this is a pretty nice addition even if I couldn’t really pick up on much of an audible difference between the profiles.
Overall, while I wasn’t blown away by the headset, I also wasn’t overly disappointed with it. If you’re looking for something lightweight and easy to throw into a bag for travel and don’t care much for sound quality or background noise reduction then the Corsair HS55 Wireless headset could be a pretty good choice, mainly thanks to its fast charging capabilities.
