GIGABYTE is slowly building up its line of gaming peripherals, and it comes as a surprise to us that its next product is in the form of a gaming headset. Not just a gaming headset that follows the standard, however. GIGABYTE is betting big on Beryllium instead of the standard Neodymium that we’ve seen with gaming headsets of late. Let’s see how it fares.
GIGABYTE is slowly building up its line of gaming
peripherals, and it comes as a surprise to us that its next product is in the
form of a gaming headset. Not just a gaming headset that follows the standard,
however. GIGABYTE is betting big on Beryllium instead of the standard Neodymium
that we’ve seen with gaming headsets of late. Let’s see how it fares.
PACKAGING
The AORUS H5 arrives in a black, bulky packaging that
carries a familiar design signature by GIGABYTE. It’s not as heavy as it looks
upfront, it’s just big from the getgo. Once you open the box, there’s the AORUS
H5 itself encased in semi-hard plastic together with the detachable microphone,
with the cables on the other end of it. There’s also one sheet of paper that
only gives minimal and general product information, but nothing really specific
about the gaming headset.
There are no carrying cases included in the package or extra
earpads, unfortunately.
DESIGN
When it comes to aesthetics, the AORUS H5 easily wins it by
making it edgy. It’s not too flashy that blatantly makes a statement of being a
gamer, but it’s lowkey enough to make it feel not off when you’re listening
through it in the office or similar environment.
GIGABYTE’S AORUS’ brandings are located on the suspension
and on the two sides above each earcup. And of course, how can we forget its
highlight, RGB. It boasts 16.7 million colors shinging brightly on the AORUS
logo. To top it off, its RGB feature will even get a section of its own, so
we’ll get to that soon.
As far as the build quality is concerned, it’s quite
worrying because we’re seeing a lot of plastic. To top it off, the wires
passing through the suspension are very thin, and are also only protected with
more plastic instead of braided cables.
The comfort on the other hand is very much a pleasure. Its
lightweight frame reduces the overall pressure and contributes to the comfort,
and the soft cushions didn’t feel warm even after prolonged use.
The microphone on the other hand is very bendable and is
detachable, as is tradition with gaming headsets of late.
PERFORMANCE
Beryllium headphones are quite new in our quarters, and with
that said we’re rather excited to compare it with standard neodymium sets. On
the onset, headphones with beryllium drivers produce a cleaner and more
accurate sounds. The bass on the other hand is more powerful and a bit heavier
on its approach compared to neodymium, and is tame.
GAMING
Of course, GIGABYTE is targeting the AORUS H5 at gamers, and
with good reason. Well, we’re setting aside its RGB feature just in case you’re
wondering that the primary reason why you should even pick it up.
GIGABYTE isn’t exactly specifying its target market when it
comes to what type of gamers it’s targeting, so we’ll go ahead and test it out
with several titles ranging from high blasting shooters to FPS and to immersive
horror games.
7.1 channel audio, even virtual, can easily give you the leg
up in first person shooter games if you know how to take advantage of the
feature. We’ve grown accustomed to it, so it feels a bit off when hearing sound
elements on the AORUS H5 during the first brush. You’ll grow on it and over the
course of usage the sound feels more natural and cleaner, but again you’ll need
more precision on this segment.
Gaming with immersive horror titles really does bring out
the best out of the AORUS H5, as the audio as mentioned feels more natural and
cleaner with very minimal distortion even on peak volumes. Our run on Amnesia:
The Dark Descent was quite fun given the sound elements and cues were right
where it should be, plus the crisp and clear volumes from the headset took the
experience up a notch.
MICROPHONE
The microphone quality does indeed show promise when it
comes to its durability, but its sound quality leaves much to be desired. Listen
to the audio quality recorded at full volume below:
RGB SOFTWARE
I wish GIGABYTE was clear from this from the get go as we
had to look around in order to search for this as we had to try out the AORUS
GRAPHICS ENGINE to find out it’s where the controls are. Basically, you can
cycle for different RGB animations such as Consistent, Breathing, Flashing,
Dual Flashing, and Circling. Depending on your choice, you can specifically
choose which color you want. You also have the option to choose the brightness
level. As blasphemous as it may sound, we aren’t really fond of RGB, so we’ll
stick it to one color.
Unfortunately, that’s where it all ends with the software.
It’s all RGB, and no tweaks or features that can help you fine tune your
setting.
CONCLUSION
Beryllium is a new deal for us, and we’d dare say it brings a new aural
experience. We’ve grown too familiar with standard Neodymium headphones, and to
say the least we would prefer the clarity that comes with Beryllium to be honest.
The sound quality is simply superb, but
we’re still missing 7.1 channel so to speak.
On the other hand, the microphone needs some adjustment when
it comes to volume levels and noise cancellations, and build quality shouldn’t
be a compromise for comfort. Although, to its merit, the in-line analog
controls come in handy.
The RGB Feature, if it’s your cup of tea, really does bode
well for it. That’s 16.7 million colors and five different modes to choose
from, or go GIGABYTE all the way and kick it off with the orange theme. Quite
frankly, it’s either that, or white, or simply no illumination for us, but this
is more of a personal preference.
If we were to base the pricing on GIGABYTE’s XH300 and other
Beryllium headphones, we could expect the AORUS H5 to cost around $100. Should
this be the case, it’s easily one of the best cans you can get for the price.
But as a gaming headset, it needs to step up its microphone game for it to
stand toe-to-toe against other products in this price segment.
Update:
Update:
We have a price! The GIGABYTE AORUS H5 Gaming Headset comes
with a suggested retail price of Php3,750. There are many offerings at this
point that can present as a welcomed adversary, but the competition isn’t as
fierce. In this regard, headphones with 50mm Beryllium Drivers are very rare in
these parts, and most of the ones you can find themselves north of Php4,000
even. Now, the problem here still remains – the microphone needs a heft of
improvement for it to work as a proper gaming headset. We just can’t stress
enough that voice comms are very essential in esports, and that’s where the
AORUS H5 wants to be in.
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