Cheap $25 Gaming Headset Round Up!
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2018-05-06
·
1,885 words · ~9 min read
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first you used our guide to buy the best cheapo keyboard out there then you
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complimented it with the best sub 15 mouse
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then you actually ended up replacing the original cheapo keyboard with a slightly
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less cheap but still an expensive mechanical one and now
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it's time to complete your i spent all
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of my money on dlc equipment set with
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one final piece a gaming headset for
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less than dollars because you guys love a deal
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this cyber monday mass drop will be launching 40 of their best deals along
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with flash sales which will be live on their site for just 12 hours or until
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the item sells out so check it out at the link below
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first up well i'm not gonna mince words this is our
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cheapest pair the ip ap appy
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whatever the vibration gaming headphone
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and it costs just 10 now
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i actually don't mind this personally but we're getting off to a bad start
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here vibration is just part of the product name not a feature which
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apparently disappointed at least one unlucky buyer
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with that said ap must have put the money that they saved on packaging to
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good use because their headset actually sounds okay if a touch basey and while
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exquisite is definitely a stretch for
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ten dollars the build quality on these things is surprisingly okay
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their lightweight deep and cushy ear pads and
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self-adjusting suspension style headband make for a comfy listening experience
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though they do get pretty warm while the
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long and it's weird it's kind of greasy feeling cable and included splitter make
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them convenient to use with your desktop phone or console there's an integrated
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volume wheel and mic which despite not having a boom
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or a mute button for that matter sounds on par with most of the others in our
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roundup test test test this is the appy vibration gaming headphones microphone
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sound at just 10 bucks and if you plug in the extra usb you get multi-colored
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breathing leds you can't control them but hey
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it's a bonus at this point i like this one now let's meet our next
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contestant just because your headset is cheap
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doesn't mean it has to look cheap but the gd40s from headphone ninja
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definitely do both of those things they're made of ugly cheap plastic and
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crude pleather and they don't fit well
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even on their smallest setting they don't seal on my ears properly though if
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you've got a real melon head then sure plop them on at least until the poorly
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padded headband digs into your skull on the plus side they've got a
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semi-bendy-ish what they're calling blade style
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microphone that's a boom microphone if you're not a
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ninja in your spare time and a braided cable with an inline controller that
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just looks almost as stupid as it feels in
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your hands they actually sound okay but with all these other problems who
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honestly cares next up the sadie's sa708
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for 15.99 and wait a second are these
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things actually getting worse as the price goes up these things look more
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like pretend headphones for kids to play
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gaming team house rather than an actual product i mean
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just listen to that build quality
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and fit gets a big fat fail too if you
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have large ears these are on-ear headphones with hard uncomfortable
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padding and if you have small ears then they're
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sort of on-ear headphones with hard uncomfortable padding sound
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quality at least has been pretty consistent across the headsets we've
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looked at so far but with that said the bass on these manages to stand out as
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extra muddy and it's one of the only ones that doesn't come with an adapter
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for console play and and while we're at it wait a minute this thing's got the same crappy inline
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controller as the last headset i guess at least it has
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emi shielding to ensure a good mood
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and to their credit the mic does conceal pretty nicely along with the rest of
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this thing in the garbage if your garbage can has a lid the somic
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g923 comes in white or black and advertises and not one but two places on
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the box a long hard microphone with high
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sensitivity ironically it's actually one of the few mics that stood out as especially quiet
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and distant sounding this is a test of the somic g923 stereo
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gaming headset at 17. 17.99
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to their credit they are not uncomfortable though the cups offer some
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articulation and the in-line controls are small and equipped with an
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appreciated clip but the build quality on this one is really bad like think how
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bad it has to be to stand out in this round up and look how far the mic sits
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from your mouth and listen to the headband adjustment
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mechanism they also included this inexplicable
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plastic bag is this supposed to be a carrying case
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next up then is the beaxlint gm1 at
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19.99 tons of padding actually makes this one
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reasonably comfortable despite the rigid design
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and while it sounds grating in low quality the headband offers a lot of
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steps to help you find the right fit like the 10 headset this one also has
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leds but it's just static blue all day
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and it also has inline controls but it's
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one of those ones that hangs at an awkward length and the sound of it
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dragging across my clothes is definitely not invited to my next birthday party
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i'm afraid not even bill and ted would approve of this one next the twenty
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dollar nubo entw's are kind of like a souped-up version of the ten dollar aps
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at least at first glance i can say positively that they are the first thing
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we've seen that comes close to
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premium feeling today with a soft touch finish braided cable and flexible boom
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mic but that beauty is only skin deep or in
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this case a flimsy piece of pleather deep
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the ribbon of metal in the headband digs into your
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head in a matter of minutes oh this thing
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sucks and the caliper pressure on these is unfortunately so low that small and
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medium noggin folks alike won't ever feel like they're really staying on
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making matters worse for some inexplicable reason they put the mute
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switch right on the mic meaning that you have to make a bunch of scuffling noises
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while you take off the included windsock every time you want to use it
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next we have the version tech g2000s
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which turned out to be the caution each
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whatever that means g2000s when they arrived and on the subject of
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inconsistencies while they do definitely feature analog connectivity as
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advertised on the box they're actually blue not orange
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they've got a super flexible headband though for when your mind gets blown
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watching Techquickie and after a break-in period for that stiff headband
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foam they would be pretty comfortable if the ear cups weren't so shallow that my
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ears were pressed against the for some reason convex covers on the drivers this
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is honestly enough of a deal breaker for me
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that even lighting effects can't make up for it but if you don't care about that
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then sound quality is similar to the rest and the boom mic is in exactly the
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right position to sit at the corner of your mouth if you're a catfish on to the
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uh wait a minute what's this
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a recognizable brand the nsi ds-501 have
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better build quality than their red ranger glossy plastic suggests and are
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actually among the most light and most comfortable headsets in the roundup
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today and they sound alright too with ample bass without being too over the
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top though like the rest they do become pretty distorted and muddy at high
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volumes the mic boom pivots and bends which is
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really nice but with that said even correctly
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positioned the recording quality isn't the greatest
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this is a test of the MSI ds501s for
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24.99 bringing us finally to the stylish
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patriot viper v330s these guys have got a soft touch finish
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breathable fabric ear pads a nice ratcheting headband with a braided cable
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a nearly invisible fold away mic and
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integrated controls on the left ear cup they're one of the only two sets in the
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roundup to come with a travel bag and even though it's pretty drek it's
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significantly better than the other one but with all that positive stuff said
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they're also the only set to stand out as overly tinny sounding they're not
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super comfortable and they are the most expensive one that we looked at today so
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which set do we recommend then as your new daily
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drivers well since they mostly all have
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comparable sound and mic quality it pretty much came down to comfort
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build quality and price which makes it
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really hard to beat the 10 aps whose
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multi-colored leds and construction put them way ahead in
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terms of value especially when you factor in that they cost less than half as much as some of the other ones we
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featured MSI's ds-501 does cost more but was
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significantly more comfortable to my noggin and then if you don't dig the
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suspension style headband i'd say go for the be excellent gm ones
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