Gaming Headsets (Worth it or a waste of money?)


A good gaming headset should deliver great audio, have a top-notch microphone, and should be durable. However, you might find your gaming headset having poor sound or breaking down within a short time after buying it. If you keep replacing your gaming headsets, you are probably wondering why many gaming headsets are of poor quality.

So, why are gaming headsets so bad? Most gaming headsets are bad because of their build quality since most manufacturers do not take time to make a quality gaming headset. Another reason is the price. The best gaming headsets are very expensive; therefore, some manufacturers make gaming headsets cheap to entice gamers.

Sometimes, you might buy a good gaming headset just to get home and find that it is a fake. Also, there are many knock-off brands of good gaming headsets that confuse gamers into buying low-quality gaming headsets.

For online multiplayer gaming, a quality gaming headset is very important. However, there is a wide range of problems that most gamers experience while using gaming headsets.

Audio is an important part of gaming; therefore, you need the best gaming headset to receive or deliver messages to other gamers. You might be in the middle of a game, and all of a sudden, one side of your headset goes quiet. It is frustrating because you might lose the game and have to go and buy another gaming headset, which may not have been in your budget.

There are several reasons why most gaming headsets are bad, and the main reason is poor quality. The price of your headset may also determine if it will perform well and last longer. Another reason why gaming headsets are bad is the availability of knock-off brands that do not work as well as their original counterparts.

Out-of-date audio drivers in your gaming machine can also determine if your gaming headsets deliver bad or good sound. Finally, how you handle your gaming headsets will also determine the quality of audio they have.

The quality of gaming headsets depends on how much work the manufacturer puts in designing and developing them. A gaming headset has a lot of components that work together to deliver quality audio. The manufacturer has to put together the microphone, speakers, cable, noise cancellation features, Bluetooth, and charging port.

If the manufacturer is not careful, the final product will be a lousy gaming headset with bad sound quality and will break down within a short time. Sadly, most manufacturers depend on quantity rather than quality to profit because the more gaming headsets they make, the more revenue they generate.

Counterfeiting is a menace in the manufacturing industry, as many top brands suffer losses from knock-off brands. Some companies solely rely on making knock-off items of well-known brands and trick gamers into buying such items. If you do not know how to differentiate between an original gaming headset and a fake one, you might end up buying the wrong gaming headset.

Knock-off gaming headsets usually look the same as their original counterparts, but they have low-quality material and will break within a short time. If you want to avoid knock-off gaming headsets, always check the price and make sure you buy them from the maker or an authorized dealer.

Having a complete gaming system costs a lot of money, and if you are working with a tight budget, you have to make sacrifices, and most gamers opt for cheap gaming headsets. There are many cheap gaming headsets that one can choose from, but it is always a gamble as to whether it will work well or break within a short time.

A low price point often means low quality, and you might end up buying a new gaming headset after a few months because something keeps breaking every time. The most common problems you will face if you buy cheap gaming headsets are faulty aux cords, ear pads falling off, battery failing to charge, and being uncomfortable when used for a long time.

Audio drivers are very important for your gaming system to deliver the best audio. Sometimes, the problem of poor sound quality from your gaming headset is exacerbated by out-of-date audio drivers in your gaming console or PC. For instance, a good-quality headset with outdated audio drivers may sound worse off, making bad headsets sound better. If your gaming system has below-par audio drivers, its internal audio processor or sound card cannot save your low-quality gaming headsets from sounding awful.

How you handle your gaming headset can also make them sound bad. Gaming headsets have delicate wiring and small components inside them that will get damaged if you do not handle them carefully. Poor handling, such as dropping, will cause the small components in your gaming headset to come apart.

Cheap gaming headsets can break at any moment; therefore, poor handling will speed up the process. If you want your headphones to last longer, you should always handle them with care and place them in areas where you cannot damage them by accident.

When you want to buy a new gaming headset, you have to read the reviews on some of the headsets in the market. There are many forums such as Reddit where you can get honest opinions on some of the best or worst gaming headsets in the market.

Once you find a headset with the most positive reviews, you can make the purchase. If you feel the gaming headset does not have quality audio, you can return it and choose another. Just ensure you buy them from a store with a favorable return policy.

What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Wired and Wireless Gaming Headsets?

When you are shopping for a new gaming headset, you will find the option of a wired and wireless gaming headset. Before choosing between a wired and wireless gaming headset, you ought to know some of the advantages and disadvantages.

The advantages of having a wired gaming headset include better sound quality, low latency issues, no interference from other devices, it is cheaper, and you cannot lose audio. However, the disadvantages of having a wired gaming headset include a lack of freedom of movement and it can easily get destroyed.

On the other hand, the advantages of using a wireless gaming headset include excellent freedom of movement, you can use it on other devices safely, and you do not have to worry about them being destroyed. However, the disadvantages include the need to charge their battery often, losing audio when low on battery, easily interfered with by other devices, and very expensive compared to wired gaming headsets.

Audio quality is the most important thing when you are choosing a gaming headset. Wired gaming headsets have better quality headsets because they have a higher bitrate than wireless gaming headsets. However, it is important to note that the audio quality of a wired gaming headset depends on the quality of your gaming machine’s drivers.

If your console or PC has poor audio drivers, then your wired gaming headset might not perform as expected. All in all, a wireless gaming headset has good quality sound, but for an avid gamer, they can tell the difference in quality between a wired gaming headset and that of a wireless gaming headset.

Low latency is what every avid gamer dreams of whenever they start playing a competitive game. A wired gaming headset will reduce latency, but if you have a wireless gaming headset, you will experience more latency. High latency can cost you or your teammates a win when playing online games.

Wired gaming headsets do not need a battery to function, all you need to do is plug in the aux cord, and your headset is ready for use. On the other hand, wireless gaming headsets require a battery and regular charging to function at optimum levels.

The battery life of a wireless gaming headset will depend on the model and how you use it. If you are a hardcore gamer, you will have to charge your headset more than once each day, which can be inconvenient. If your wireless gaming headset has a low battery, it will not function properly because some features such as Bluetooth require a lot of power.

When it comes to freedom of movement, wireless gaming headsets are the clear winners. Suppose you are using a wireless gaming headset while gaming; you can move at any angle and a wider coverage without worrying about pulling your console or PC. Wireless gaming headsets come in handy when you play online multiplayer games that require coordination and strategies.

If you need to do something like get a snack or stretch for a few minutes, you can move a short distance from your gaming machine without worrying about missing out on strategy. If you have a wired gaming headset, it will be inconvenient to other players who will have to wait for you to finish what you are doing or repeat anything they said while you were AFK.

A wired gaming headset can also be inconvenient in your house because you might trip on it while walking. People in your house also have to watch how they walk around you when gaming to avoid getting tripped by the cable.

If you have a pet such as a dog or a cat, the cable on your wired gaming headset might seem like a chew toy to them. You might come home and find your pet has chewed your gaming headset’s cable. Having a wireless gaming headset means that you do not have to worry about your pets destroying them.

Currently, most wireless electronics seem to be more expensive than their wired counterparts. A wireless gaming headset is more expensive because it supports other features such as Bluetooth. The more things a wireless gaming headset can do, the more it will cost you to acquire it. If you are on a tight budget, then a wired gaming headset seems to be the better choice.

A wired gaming headset is not a bad choice if you do not have any money to spare because it gives you a better sound quality, which is the most important thing. The main reason why wired gaming headsets are cheap is that you will not need to buy any other thing, unlike wired gaming headsets.

Even if you buy a cheap wireless gaming headset, the price of batteries will still make the device expensive to maintain. The dongles used by wireless gaming headsets can get damaged or lost, meaning that you have to spend more money to replace them.

Another good thing about owning wireless gaming headsets is that you can use them on other devices apart from your gaming console or PC. Most wireless gaming headsets come with Bluetooth, which allows you to connect them with any device that has Bluetooth.

After gaming on your console, you can use your wireless headsets to listen to music on your phone or watch a movie on your laptop. Wired gaming headsets are limited to the number of devices you can connect to because some come with a USB connection while others have a 3.5-millimeter jack.

You need not worry about any interference from other devices when you are using a wired gaming headset. Since the wired gaming headset only relies on the cable for connectivity, it will continue to deliver quality sound even if other electronics are in use nearby.

One problem with wireless gaming headsets is that any large obstruction between your console and the wireless gaming headset can cause a drop in sound quality. Obstructions can include a wall, any other solid object, any electronic device using the same technology, or the same frequency.

Wrap Up

The most common problems that make gaming headsets so bad include poor quality products, counterfeit products, audio drivers, and poor handling. Therefore, the best way to avoid purchasing a bad gaming headset is to choose one from a reputable manufacturer.

When a gaming headset breaks, it is not easy to salvage it; hence, if you keep buying bad gaming headsets, you will have to replace them after a few months. Do a little window-shopping and read reviews from other gamers to determine which gaming headset has good quality sound and lasts longer.

It is not easy to determine the best gaming headset, between a wired one and a wireless one. When choosing a gaming headset, other things such as your preference and usage also matter. If you are an avid online gamer who likes multiplayer games that involve coordination, then a wireless gaming headset is the best for you. If you are into single-player games, then a wired gaming headset is a good choice.

Bal Kang

Bal Kang is a technology expert based in the UK, with experience across a number of technology areas from phones, tablets, computers to gaming.

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