Logitech G435 Lightspeed Wi-fi Gaming Headset Evaluation: Gentle Weight, Okay Audio

When shopping for on a funds, you must resolve which options you’re keen to chop to maintain costs in line. Logitech’s G435 Lightspeed Wi-fi Gaming Headset is sort of a stable financial system sportscar: It’s fairly fast, with a low-latency connection. It’s additionally light-weight and power environment friendly, and it seems to be fairly good for a low-priced headset. These $79.99 cans don’t have a lot in the way in which of choices, however they’re fashionable, amazingly snug, they work wirelessly with a variety of units, they usually sound about nearly as good as you’d anticipate at that value. Learn on to see in the event that they’re worthy of a spot on our greatest gaming headsets record.

G435 Lightspeed Wi-fi Gaming Headset Specs

Design and Consolation

The G435 is shockingly light-weight. We’re usually impressed when a gaming headset weighs as little as 0.6 kilos; this one weighs in at simply 0.36 kilos. Given its weight and low value, it’s not shocking that the development is light-weight plastic, with no steel in sight. Logitech says it’s licensed carbon-neutral, and has no less than 22% recycled plastic content material, so that you may take solace in realizing your buy isn’t making the world a worse place. 

My take a look at unit was a subdued matte black with neon yellow accents on the wiring and buttons. However in the event you’re on the lookout for a brighter look, off-white/lilac and blue/raspberry combos can be found as effectively. You’ll should depend on coloration for flash: There’s no RGB right here. The general design is enticing, with curves and angles on the earcups that look rather more fashionable than earlier Logitech choices just like the G733. 

The earcups have a little bit of left-and-right and up-and-down give, in order that they relaxation comfortably round your ears. Logitech says the G435 is optimized for smaller head sizes, however I’ve a slightly giant head (I take advantage of the final two notches on an adjustable cap) and I discovered the G435 match my head effectively with the headscarf absolutely prolonged. With the feather weight and comfortable, fabric-covered reminiscence foam earcups which might be well-padded and by no means really feel sizzling, these are among the many most snug cans I’ve worn. I wouldn’t hesitate to make use of all of them day, which was shocking provided that the headscarf lacks padding and has only a skinny layer of cloth over the plastic. However the G435 is so gentle, none of that made it uncomfortable.

Controls are easy, with the left earcup packing an influence button, a quantity rocker, and a button that both switches between Lightspeed and Bluetooth or mutes the microphone, relying on how lengthy you press it. A beep lets you recognize whenever you’ve maxed out the quantity; different tones affirm power-on and -off. On the backside of the cup is the USB-C port, which solely permits charging and may’t be used to facilitate a wired connection. There’s additionally no analog enter for a 3.5mm cable—audio is Lightspeed and Bluetooth solely, with no wired fallback to make use of when the battery is lifeless or a tool is incompatible. 

There’s additionally no microphone increase. The twin beamforming mics are constructed into the entrance of the left earcup. 

The USB-A dongle is color-coordinated with the headset and protrudes about an inch-and-a-half from the port. Its width is sufficiently small to keep away from blocking adjoining ports.

Battery Life

Logitech charges the G935 at 18 hours of battery life, and my expertise with the G935 bears that out. Utilizing the headphones over the course of some days for gaming by way of the Lightspeed dongle on a PC and PS5, and for music and telephone calls on an iPhone 12 Professional Max by way of Bluetooth, the headset lasted for simply over 18.5 hours earlier than it shut off.

Audio Efficiency

Logitech’s 40mm drivers pump out a good quantity degree, however the readability is pedestrian, and the general sound high quality is simply okay. That’s to not say the audio is unhealthy, it’s simply unexceptional. You’ll hear necessary sport audio components simply high-quality, and music sounds good tonally, however the bass from explosions and gunfire is underwhelming, and also you’re not going to listen to any new particulars in your favourite tunes. Taking part in Deathloop and Microsoft Flight Simulator, dialog, sound results, and environmental audio had been all clear. Listening to Child Keem’s The Melodic Blue album, the music and vocals sounded good, however bass was missing. A FLAC rip of my Pink Floyd Darkish Facet of the Moon CD sounded good, however I couldn’t make out the little particulars within the background that my audiophile-oriented Sennheiser Momentum 3 headset revealed.

As a result of the G435 lacks any bundled software program, any audio changes resembling equalization or bass enhance might want to come out of your system’s software program or audio playback instruments. 

The ethereal, fabric-covered earcups are snug and hold your ears from getting sizzling, however they do a awful job of sound isolation. Until you could have the audio cranked, you’ll hear environmental sounds, and in the event you do have it cranked, others close by will hear what you’re listening to. With my son sporting the headset and sitting six toes away, I might clearly make out the lyrics to Kanye’s Hurricane as he listened.

Whereas the audio was simply okay, the dearth of any perceptible latency was spectacular, as was the stable connection utilizing each the Logitech Lightspeed dongle and Bluetooth. Sport audio and lip-sync in movies exhibited no delays, which is predicted with a devoted wi-fi audio dongle however is usually extra of a problem with Bluetooth. Watching Ted Lasso by way of my TV’s Bluetooth connection, audio was absolutely in-sync, and the connection remained stable once I wandered about 20 toes into the kitchen. 

The headset doesn’t embody any built-in 3D options or software program, however Logitech touts compatibility with Dolby Atmos, Home windows Sonic, and the PlayStation 5’s Tempest 3D AudioTech. Whereas that’s true, the PC encompass applied sciences will work on any headset, so it’s a bit like promoting {that a} automotive helps highways. Testing Atmos and Tempest 3D, the audio feels extra enveloping than pure stereo, however when enjoying Warzone I didn’t get the sort of enhanced positional details about enemy actions and fireplace that I discovered with headsets which have particular gaming-oriented 3D enhancements just like the Inventive SXFI Air Gamer and the Fnatic React+. The 3D impact is pleasant, however not essentially informational.

Microphone

The Logitech G435’s microphone did an excellent job of choosing up my voice clearly in each on-line gaming and Bluetooth telephone calls. The voice readability wasn’t fairly nearly as good as with increase microphones on the Inventive SXFI Air Gamer or the Razer Barracuda X, however no person had any points understanding me.

Logitech says that t
win beamforming mics scale back background noise, and the important thing phrase there’s “scale back,” slightly than get rid of. My voice was certainly louder than the background noises, however the exterior noises had been nonetheless very a lot there. Sport audio, folks speaking within the subsequent room, and the clack of my typing had been all very noticeable in each sport classes and voice recordings.

This additionally carried over to Bluetooth communications. With the quantity turned up excessive on a name, the microphone picked up the caller’s voice for the earcup, as a result of poor sound isolation, and the caller reported listening to an echo. I needed to flip the quantity to the bottom degree the place I might nonetheless clearly hear the caller earlier than they reported the echo was gone.

In the event you’re going to be utilizing the G435 in a very quiet surroundings, this may not be a giant situation, however the microphone makes it a poor choice if there’s any sort of background noise.

Backside Line

The Logitech G435 seems to be good and is actually snug, and the twin wi-fi functionality allows you to simply use the identical cans together with your laptop and telephone (though not on the similar time like with Corsair’s Virtuoso RGB Wi-fi XT) . The sound isn’t going to blow anybody away, however it’s nearly as good as you’d anticipate from an $80 set of cans. 

On the draw back, the mediocre sound isolation means these aren’t going to be an ideal choice for listening in a loud surroundings, or for isolating others out of your audio in a quiet one. And whereas the microphone captures your voice clearly, it additionally captures way more background noise than related headsets that sport increase mics.

For $20 extra you would have the Razer Barracuda X, which presents related flexibility throughout units and a greater microphone, however lacks Bluetooth connectivity. Inventive’s SXFI Air Gamer presents each low-latency gaming throughout units and Bluetooth, however prices nearly twice as a lot because the G435 and makes use of a cable to connect with PCs and PlayStations. 

Logitech’s G435 has a novel combine of sunshine weight, low value, and wi-fi flexibility to work throughout a wide range of units. If these are a very powerful options for you, the G435 is effectively price your consideration. However there are higher choices in the event you’re keen to spend a bit extra.