For a gamer, a headset is a necessity. Yes, you get monitors or TVs with speakers, but having the sound projected directly into your ears instead of being blasted out into the atmosphere adds to that little bit of extra immersion.
So, when I get the opportunity to review a headset that could easily fit into everyone’s budget, I feel like it’s my duty to let you know if you should just keep scrolling or add this one to your list of options.
Enter the Genius GX Gaming HS-600V Headset. Try say that five times fast.
I’m sure most of you remember the Genius brand. It usually sits side by side with the Logitech equipment that you would pick up for your laptop. Portable mice, keyboards and headsets.
Well, if you didn’t know, they also have a gaming arm, where they sell budget-friendly gaming peripherals, from mice to speakers, and budget-friendly is where I’m going to start with this headset.
You can pick the Genius GX Gaming HS-600V Headset up for under R350, and while it isn’t in the same league as, say, a Steel Series Arctis 5 or a Razer Kaira, it certainly has a lot to offer for such a low price.
The headset comes standard with an adjustable leather headband, swivel mic, 40mm drivers in the cups, in-line volume control and, quite an interesting feature to have on a budget headset, a vibration function.
Personally, I found the cups on the headset to be too small for my liking. I prefer it when my whole ear is inside the cup, and with the Genius GX Gaming HS-600V Headset, they sit on top of my ears. It’s not actually uncomfortable because the headset is quite lightweight, and the cups have a decent PU leather on them that doesn’t squeeze too tightly, but I enjoy the experience more when I am wholly encompassed in my gaming.
The sound quality on the headset is ok. It’s nothing to rave about, but it does a decent job of delivering sound to my ears. It has a tinny, echoey experience, but I didn’t miss any sounds when gaming. For music, I much preferred using my other headset.
The microphone on the headset is excellent. While it didn’t do a great job at any sort of voice isolation, what it did do was pick up all the sounds accurately. My voice sounded exactly as it does in real life, like George Clooney’s. I was pretty impressed with the microphone not suffering any sort of distortion or fuzziness.
The best part of the headset, though, was the vibration function. Some of you may think it’s gimmicky, and perhaps it is, but it really pulls you further into the alternate reality of whatever game you’re playing. From explosions to crashing your vehicle, it all feels more impactful when you can literally feel it.
While it may sound like I’m on the fence with the Genius GX Gaming HS-600V Headset, I’m really not. For the price that it comes in at, it’s a really good piece of hardware to pick up. Of course, as a budget headset, it won’t have all the bells and whistles you’d expect, but the Genius GX Gaming HS-600V Headset tries its damned hardest to do the best it can, and it pays off.