[Review] Logitech G533 Wireless Gaming Headset
You may remember my UE Boom 2 review around two weeks back. Well, Logitech had also included a Logitech G533 Wireless Gaming Headset with 7.1 Surround Sound in the package! And while good quality wireless audio for gaming is still more of a luxury these days, I have to say that I am pretty impressed with the surround sound and stereo modes, as well as the wireless range of this headset.
While the Logitech G533 Wireless Headset may look pretty big when first unboxing, it only weighs around 350 grams because it is mainly made of plastic. This was a welcome relief as I really didn’t want a huge pair of earmuffs strapped to my head when at a LAN party. The padding is nice and soft and is thick enough to keep a distance from the actual drivers to your ears. And if you have a larger head, the adjustable metal sliders let you customise the size of the headset to make it fit. The ear cups can also be turned to make putting the headset on your neck more comfortable.
On the left side of the Logitech G533 Wireless Headset is a set of buttons to turn the headset on and off, a customisable G Key, and a volume slider. The G Key is able to be customised to whatever function you want it to do, from opening the calculator app on your PC to play/pausing the current music track. The default is currently set to mute/unmute the microphone, but I have it set to turn Surround Sound on and off, so I can easily choose what sound setting I want depending if I am playing a game or watching a YouTube clip.
The extendable microphone on the G533 Headset has a pop filter included as well as an automatic mute/unmute function whenever the microphone is put in its up or down position. It also incorporates noise-cancelling technology to remove many if not all of the background noises that it may pick up. A favourite feature of mine is the configurable “sidetone” that lets you tune the volume of your own voice you hear in your headset. We’ve all been there when we start shouting into the microphone unknowingly because of how immersed we are in the headset.
The Logitech G533 Wireless Headset connects to the computer via a wireless USB dongle and according to Logitech it has lossless digital audio transmission meaning it can deliver high quality sound, at up to 15 meters in range. I was able to walk down the hall and into another bedroom and the headset was still picking up audio just fine, no dropouts. I was very impressed with the plug-and-play method as upon plugging in the wireless USB dongle, the headset was able to receive sound straight away! No need to install any additional software or drivers for it to work.
As I’ve mentioned before, the Logitech Gaming Software complements this wireless headset. You have to first find the software on the Logitech support page, then after download, connect the G533 headset physically to the computer using the included micro USB to USB cable. After this initial connection, the Logitech Gaming Software will automatically connect to the headset wirelessly.
The Logitech Gaming Software has a slew of features ranging from telling you how many hours left in the battery (max 16 hours of battery life when fully charged!) to customising and assigning features to your G Key on the headset. There is a custom equalizer and me not being a true audiophile, I adjusted almost every level just to play around with the settings. On the last tab is the Surround Sound settings. As you know this headset is equipped with DTS 7.1 Surround Sound and this tab lets you change the volume on each of the 7 virtual speakers so you can adjust surround sound to your own liking. If you aren’t sure what kind of sounds to expect on a surround sound headset, you can click the “Experience Surround Sound” button and it will give you a taste of the amazing audio you can expect to hear in games.
In conclusion the Logitech G533 Wireless Gaming Headset is one of the many models offered by Logitech for gamers who want to ‘cut the cord’. It was nice being able to get up from my chair and not pull an aux cable out of the laptop! The 7.1 Surround Sound is also great for experiencing that cinematic experience in the comfort of your own computer chair.
The Logitech G533 Wireless Gaming Headset sells for $230 and more information on this headset can be found directly on Logitech’s website: http://gaming.logitech.com/en-nz/product/g533-wireless-gaming-headset
