ROG STRIX Wireless
I've said it before and I will say it again. Sound can make or break an experience. It is a sense that can trigger an emotional response just by a change of pitch. Throw in a gaming experience and a good headset can fully immerse you in a story or have you owning on a battlefield, yet if the sound is weak, you lose so much of the experience.
This time around from the ASUS ROG stable comes the Strix Wireless 7.1 Surround headset. I've just had a hands on for a couple of weeks and I am very impressed. I am a bit of an audiophile, to give you guys a bit of an idea, when Star Wars episode 7 was finally released on BluRay I had the stereo cranked that loud, you could feel a certain someone get run through with a lightsaber.
I tell you this to explain just how much I love good clear sound, but before we get into the review side of things lets have a look through some of the specs.
The ROG Strix Wireless boasts
- Low Latency 2.4 GHz wireless connection
- Dual antenna design for better and more stable audio transmission
- 7.1 virtual surround sound (on PC only)
- Full audio control via Sonic Studio (PC)
- Compatible with multiple platforms
- 10+ Hours battery life for extended use without interruption.
That all sounds pretty good, but just how well do they perform?
Straight out of the box you feel that quality, a good strong build and striking colour combinations hit you first. The outer shell is a matt finish durable plastic with a leather wrapped head strap and leather ear cups. Sitting inside those ear cups are the massive 50mm drivers. The ROG Strix has been designed with input from gamers with the goal of making it the most comfortable gaming headset. Unfortunately it fell short. I play for relatively short sessions now and found it to pinch when on, I do have a rather big head but I got a few people to try it on and they all said the same thing. That is one issue, the other is the weight. Those awesome big 50mm drivers do come with a price, after about 2 hours of gaming you do start to feel just how big the headset is.
While that sounds like a bad thing, really it isn't. It is a trade off for the technical prowess of the ROG Strix Wireless. The massive drivers deliver a crisp clear sound. The quality of the sound was perfect for my many trips into the Dark Zone making sure that no one could sneak up on me with the help of the directional output. Bass booms without straining the speakers, mid and high range sounds were effortless. It sounded like I had my surround sound unit on, but without disturbing everyone else in the house.
The quality build extends itself to the microphone. The first time I jumped into a chat party using it, everyone commented on how clear I was coming through. I was no longer muffled and background noise such as my air con was being shut out.
The ROG Strix Wireless has a 900mAh battery which claims a life of more than 10 hours of constant use. This is a pretty big claim, my PS3 wireless headset at best lasted 4-5 hours. In the 2 weeks that I've had my hands on them, I've had to charge the headset once. On average I game about 2 hours a night. I also used the ROG Strix to record video, listen to our podcast and tried it out wireless on the PS4 and via the 3.5mm jack on the Xbox One. I'd say the 10 hour claim is pretty spot on, I got about 12.
The ROG Strix Wireless headset is a fairly good all round package. While the size and weight may deter some, at least try them out in store first. For sound and build quality they are definitely a premium product.
