Logitech Cordless Headset
Written by John Yan on 11/19/2004 for
Xbox
More On:
Logitech Cordless Headset
The Xbox has had its share of wireless peripherals but there hasn’t been one for the Xbox Live mic. What’s the point of using a cordless controller to play online when you are tethered to the Xbox via the microphone cord? In steps Logitech, maker of many wireless components, with a cordless headset for the console.
With the Logitech Cordless Headset for the Xbox, no longer are you attached to the Xbox and combined with a wireless controller, you’ll be completely free from the console. The design of the headset is U-shaped with a hinged arm and a hinged ear clip. The mic is situated on a rigid rotating arm. Movement is restricted to rotation vertically. A soft foam pad covers the speaker and fits comfortably over the ear. There’s a rocker switch for the volume and a multi-functional button that turns the unit on/off and doubles as a mute button. All in all, it’s a very compact unit and pretty sleek looking. The only thing I might’ve wanted was a flexible mic so that I can position it more freely. You can wear the headset on either side of the head so you’re not limited to which ear you want to put it over.
The unit features a rechargeable battery that should last around six hours. To recharge the battery, you plug the headset into the included power adapter. I’ve never been a fan of big brick plugs and this product features one. In any case, a tiny plug on the power adapter plugs right into headset and a small light near the tiny socket lights up to let you know it’s charging. Documentation states that about a one and a half hour charge will give you six hours of use.
Wearing the headset, I found it to be pretty comfortable. The springs aren’t too strong and it was pretty snug on my ear. It also held on pretty well but it’s going to be dependent on the size and shape of your ear. As long as you don’t do too fast of a head movement, it does stay on well. You can still get it to fly off the ear with a nice flip of the head but it’s not like you’re going to be doing that while playing a game.
Given that a lot of Logitech’s wireless products has indicator lights on their receivers to let you know a state of the unit, I was surprised to see none for the headset. More importantly, I would’ve liked to have seen an indicator to let me know if I have the mic on mute or not. You can’t see the light on the headset since it’s on the side of your face so a natural place to put it would be the receiver. Unfortunately, there’s none there so you’re left with guessing, asking the people you are playing with if they can hear you, or taking the headset off for a quick peek. You do get a few audio cues of turning on and off and changing volume though.
Sound quality was good with the folks on Xbox Live saying they heard me really well. And the speaker broadcasted the voices from Xbox Live pretty clearly. I didn’t have problems hearing my opponents and vice versa. It took around 25 feet before my voice was breaking up and before I started to lose connection. There is some weird white noise that does come through constantly. You can really hear it when there is no voice transmission and no matter what I did I couldn’t get rid of it. I also heard a faint clicking sound every once in a while with the white noise. It’s not too annoying and I did find myself getting used to it but it’s there nevertheless.
The Logitech Cordless Headset is definitely not an inexpensive peripheral. Coming in at $80, it is on the higher range of pricing in console accessories. It does work and work well with a few minor issues. If you must become cordless, then this headset is a good pickup. The expensive price tag will probably shy a good number of gamers away though.
With the Logitech Cordless Headset for the Xbox, no longer are you attached to the Xbox and combined with a wireless controller, you’ll be completely free from the console. The design of the headset is U-shaped with a hinged arm and a hinged ear clip. The mic is situated on a rigid rotating arm. Movement is restricted to rotation vertically. A soft foam pad covers the speaker and fits comfortably over the ear. There’s a rocker switch for the volume and a multi-functional button that turns the unit on/off and doubles as a mute button. All in all, it’s a very compact unit and pretty sleek looking. The only thing I might’ve wanted was a flexible mic so that I can position it more freely. You can wear the headset on either side of the head so you’re not limited to which ear you want to put it over.
The unit features a rechargeable battery that should last around six hours. To recharge the battery, you plug the headset into the included power adapter. I’ve never been a fan of big brick plugs and this product features one. In any case, a tiny plug on the power adapter plugs right into headset and a small light near the tiny socket lights up to let you know it’s charging. Documentation states that about a one and a half hour charge will give you six hours of use.
Wearing the headset, I found it to be pretty comfortable. The springs aren’t too strong and it was pretty snug on my ear. It also held on pretty well but it’s going to be dependent on the size and shape of your ear. As long as you don’t do too fast of a head movement, it does stay on well. You can still get it to fly off the ear with a nice flip of the head but it’s not like you’re going to be doing that while playing a game.
Given that a lot of Logitech’s wireless products has indicator lights on their receivers to let you know a state of the unit, I was surprised to see none for the headset. More importantly, I would’ve liked to have seen an indicator to let me know if I have the mic on mute or not. You can’t see the light on the headset since it’s on the side of your face so a natural place to put it would be the receiver. Unfortunately, there’s none there so you’re left with guessing, asking the people you are playing with if they can hear you, or taking the headset off for a quick peek. You do get a few audio cues of turning on and off and changing volume though.
Sound quality was good with the folks on Xbox Live saying they heard me really well. And the speaker broadcasted the voices from Xbox Live pretty clearly. I didn’t have problems hearing my opponents and vice versa. It took around 25 feet before my voice was breaking up and before I started to lose connection. There is some weird white noise that does come through constantly. You can really hear it when there is no voice transmission and no matter what I did I couldn’t get rid of it. I also heard a faint clicking sound every once in a while with the white noise. It’s not too annoying and I did find myself getting used to it but it’s there nevertheless.
The Logitech Cordless Headset is definitely not an inexpensive peripheral. Coming in at $80, it is on the higher range of pricing in console accessories. It does work and work well with a few minor issues. If you must become cordless, then this headset is a good pickup. The expensive price tag will probably shy a good number of gamers away though.
It's expensive and has some minor issues but it does work and will leave you cordless.
Rating: 8.1 Good
* The product in this article was sent to us by the developer/company.
About Author
I've been reviewing products since 1997 and started out at Gaming Nexus. As one of the original writers, I was tapped to do action games and hardware. Nowadays, I work with a great group of folks on here to bring to you news and reviews on all things PC and consoles.
As for what I enjoy, I love action and survival games. I'm more of a PC gamer now than I used to be, but still enjoy the occasional console fair. Lately, I've been really playing a ton of retro games after building an arcade cabinet for myself and the kids. There's some old games I love to revisit and the cabinet really does a great job at bringing back that nostalgic feeling of going to the arcade.
View Profile