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Hands-on review: Corsair's HS70 headphones are all about understated performance

Wed, 6th Jun 2018
FYI, this story is more than a year old

Corsair recently announced its latest iteration in its HS family of headsets, the HS70 Wireless, available in Carbon, White, or SE trim.

The company has positioned the HS70 in the sweet spot of performance and price, promising high audio and build quality without burning a hole through the wallet.

The headset is compatible with both PC and Sony PlayStation 4, but Mac users will miss out on the granularity of audio customisation available through Corsair's PC software, the Corsair Utility Engine (CUE).

What it did well

At an RRP of approximately $169, the HS70 Wireless' 50mm neodymium drivers provide surprisingly crisp surround sound audio quality while gaming.

The lack of wires also means that you feel like you're right in the middle of the action, no matter if you're gaming right in front of your desktop, in front of a projector, or from your couch.

Another area where the HS70 Wireless performed really well is in the pairing experience.

The headset connects via a dongle plugged into a USB port - less than ideal if you have only a limited number of USB ports, but the tradeoff for the ease of connection is well worth it.

It connects seamlessly and quickly and stays connected much better than many Bluetooth headsets I've tried.

In addition to not having it cut in and out on the audio, jarring the experience, the headset has a range of six metres, allowing you to stay firmly connected in-game throughout a decent-sized media room.

I found the headset's promised 16-hour battery life pretty accurate, and long enough to see me through extended gaming sessions.

What it could have done better

The HS70 Wireless doesn't allow you to control the volume via keyboard controls – instead, you need to use the physical dial on the left ear cup to toggle volume up and down.

This took a little while to get used to as a PC gamer – but on a PS4, it comes in handy as a quick and accessible way to adjust the volume.

The fit of the headset was also a struggle for me as I have a smaller than average head – I found the ear cups were extending well past my ears and pushing into my jawline.

This was slightly uncomfortable the first few hours of using the headset, but the fit of the HS70 Wireless adjusted after that and became less noticeable as an issue.

Verdict

The Corsair HS70 Wireless is a great gaming headset for its price bracket.

It doesn't carry the bells and whistles that gaming peripherals all gravitate towards, but it doesn't need them.

The HS70 Wireless gets the job of being comfortable, immersive, wireless gaming headphones giving you maximum freedom of movement done at an affordable price point.

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