My old Turtle Beach (OK 6 Month Old…) PX21 Gaming Headset fell apart… literally one night while gaming. So I put them back together with duct tape a few times. My dear wife seeing me struggle with them decided to do something about it!
On Father’s Day I received a new gaming headset as a present. The Sony PS3 Wireless Headset to be exact. I was wary over this as A) It was Wireless, and B) It was Sony. So with two strikes against it I decided to give them a run for their money. This is my review on the Sony PS3 Wireless Headset. Will it stand up to my old PX21’s? Or is it going to fall flat on its face? Your going to have to read to find out!
Why YOU Need A Headset to Win!
Well if you play any kind of First Person Shooters like Call of Duty online? A headset is a critical tool to helping you be successful online. I even wrote an article How to Play Call of Duty Like a Boss and explained it a little bit.
The reason why you need a pair of quality headset? Well the basic TV sound sucks. Even if you have a decent home theatre setup? Unless you can play it at Volume 11 it is still going to be pretty much useless.
So a decent headset gives you the volume you need to hear what you need to hear when you need to hear it. Nothing like hearing the crunch of gravel as an enemy is about to stab you in the back and being able to turn around and put a few shots in them to their surprise!
Plus… you can wear them late at night when certain 2 year olds are trying to sleep lol!
Sony PS3 Wireless Headset
What’s In The Box?
So I wasn’t impressed at first. I pulled them out of the fairly small cardboard box and went.. “That’s It?”. You will get the following in the box:
- The Headset Itself
- The “Dongle” USB Wireless Adapter for the Headset
- Instructions
And… that’s it. Not a USB Cable to charge it with. Not a thank you note for buying it. Nothing. Nadda. Zip. Thanks for your 86 bucks.
That’s It?
Look and Feel
It is important that headsets are lightweight and comfortable to wear for long hours of gameplay. Nothing is worse than a headset that is too tight on your head or cause your ears to sweat (ew!) while using them.
The good news is that this headset is very light. They feel so light that I figured they were going to fall apart as soon as I used them! But the overall build quality is pretty decent considering the light weight plastics used for the device.
Fitting it on my (very large) head was very simple to adjust and fit comfortably. The only thing I don’t like is the fact I look like that dork from the original Tron film! But the cups fit over my ears (which are also Dumbo sized…) comfortably and still allowed them to breathe so I wasn’t wanting to wring them out after a few hours.
They look… well big and bulky. They do match the overall look of the PS3 though. With both shiny and matte black finishes on the headset they don’t look bad. But I can attest that you wouldn’t want to be seen with these in public. Unless of course you like looking like a complete dork. Hmm, you would fit right in at Comic Con I suppose lol.
Setup and Volume/Voice Adjustment
Voice/Game Sound Adjuster
The other plus side to this headset? It took literally as long as the PS3 to boot up to set the headset up. I plugged in the wireless adapter, turned on the PS3 and they were found and setup. I did have to go into the menu to turn on the Wireless Headset Notification system that was introduced with a patch awhile back.
You can see from the pictures below to adjust the volume on the headset are these little sliders on the left side of the headset. You have your basic volume adjustment and the other one is the “Voice to Game” volume adjuster.
Now this takes a bit of tweaking to get set correctly. Too far down and your ears will bleed with players screaming into their microphone. Too far up and they are a faint whisper but you can hear the game better.
Voice/Sound Quality
Sound Quality
When I first put these on and turned up the volume I wasn’t impressed at all. I had lost all of that rich sound I had with the PX21’s. And they are nowhere near as loud.
But… after “breaking them in” the speakers seemed to warm up. The volume increased over time. It seemed they needed to be “broken in”. And now I actually like them a bit better. Although lacking on the low end they are better on the high end which allows me to hear sounds like opponents running across the ground and know where they are on the map.
Volume and USB Port
These are not for the audiophile though. The sound quality is nowhere near as good as say the Razer 5.1 PC Headset I have or the PX21’s but they do work.
Surround Sound
Now they do have a virtual surround sound setting just like the PX-21′s. And it is actually a must to have this setting turned on in order to really hear all of the sounds in games like Call of Duty.
Voice Quality
The microphone on the device is a piece of plastic that slides out from the device built from the same lightweight plastic as the rest of the headset. I guess you would use this feature when putting them away. But it is unobtrusive and out of the way. And it has a blue light. Who doesn’t like blue LED’s? But you don’t notice it while gaming.
Oh yea – people were able to hear me while I was playing online. Um.. and it isn’t pretty usually so I’ll forego the trash talking and reign of expletives that are usually uttered from my mouth while gaming. I dunno why but I revert to a psychotic mental patient with tourettes while playing….
Wireless and Battery Life
Lil Plastic Microphone
I was pleasantly surprised that the Wireless range is very good. No more tangled wires. No more having to wrap them up so certain 2 year old sons get their hands on them. And the range is about 15-20 feet. I know I can walk from the living room to the bathroom while still talking to my clan mates. Although gross I know – this is between two walls and a door. So no fear of losing signal from the normal 6-8 feet I usually am from the television. And I have a multitude of wireless devices in the house and there was no interference from them either. So bonus for Sony!
Battery Life
Battery life is stated at 6 continuous hours. And I can attest that these will last just about 4.5 to 5 hours before having to plug them back into the USB cable again. (Which btw uses the one that came with your PS3)
So How Do They Compare to Others?
For an entry level headset I would definitely get a set. They do work great and are probably the best in terms of quality and sound versus others in this price range. My wife purchased these for $99.99 originally but you can find them cheaper now. So for a Wireless Headset? They are a great deal. Although you will look like a dork when you wear them if you are in the market for a gaming headset you can’t really go wrong with these.
The Turtle Beach PX-21′s are definitely louder with a fuller Bass. But the build quality is junk and they are almost guaranteed to fall apart on you after you have them for awhile. Me and a buddy of mine have both gone through more than one pair I don’t suggest getting them.
Of course if you are more of a serious gamer and need the absolute best sound out there? I would spend the extra dough on a set of Astro A40 or A50′s. For the rest of us who like to frag while their child is asleep? I say go ahead and get these. Your wife and kid will definitely thank you!
You can click on the pics below and pick up a set from Amazon!
If you have these leave a comment below on what you think of them!
- $80.00
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