I have owned this headset for over a year and a half now and still use it regularly. In this review, I write about my experiences with the Xbox Wireless Headset along with its associated pros and cons.
Microsoft currently offers the Xbox Wireless Headset for around £90 / $100. It can be used with Xbox Series X, Series S, Xbox One and Windows PC. It competes with the cheaper, wired Xbox Stereo Headset (£60 / $70) and a variety of third party options from the likes of Turtle Beach, Razer and SteelSeries.
During my time with the Xbox Wireless Headset, I have been impressed with the comfort, features, ease of use and value for money. The sound is bold: a focus on bass and liveliness but less so on clarity – fairly typical of gaming headsets. Overall, they sound good, but the headset suffers from a distractingly high latency compared to others on the market.
Read the full review below for the details.
Our Rating: 8.1/10
Xbox Wireless Headset Long Term Review: Overview
Pros
- Connect to your Xbox and a Bluetooth source at the same time and listen to both simultaneously.
- Comfort: easy to wear for hours, even with glasses.
- Chat controls: independently adjust chat volume with the ear cup dial.
Cons
- Audio latency: once you know it’s there (sorry), it’s noticeable and frustrating.
- Powering them on automatically turns on the Xbox, even if you’re trying to connect them to a PC or phone.
Who is the Xbox Wireless Headset for?
I would recommend it for anyone looking for a comfortable, feature-rich, easy to use and dynamic sounding headset. Especially if voice chat is a priority.
Who is the Xbox Wireless Headset not for?
They are very boomy. If you are looking for a more neutral sound profile look elsewhere. The bass works well for games and voice, but makes music sound relatively muddy.
Design and Comfort
Since this is an Xbox Wireless Headset long term review, I will say the headset has withstood the test of time, they have barely accumulated any scratches, the ear pads are still intact and pristine, and they function as well as the day I started using them.
The Xbox Wireless Headset is comfortable. I am able to wear them for hours, even with glasses on, without any discomfort. They feature big, soft ear cushions and a padded headband which makes the headset a pleasure to use.
They are a little on the heavy side at 312g, but this isn’t noticeable whilst gaming.
The headphones are solidly made and the build quality is excellent, they feel sturdy and I haven’t needed to worry about breaking them.
Each ear cup has a rotatable outer surface, the left one controls the balance of chat to game audio, the right controls overall volume. There’s an LED indicator, power button and mic mute button on the left side and a USB-C port on the right side. Minimalist but effective!
The headphones feature a sleek, minimalist dark look with a characteristic green circle around each ear cup. I like the way they look and they complement the console perfectly. Understated but powerful.
Features
The headset shines when it comes to its features. It makes chatting and gaming seamless and enjoyable. Connectivity-wise, you can connect the headset to your Xbox, Windows PC with a USB-C cable or optional wireless adapter, or Bluetooth device.
One of the most useful features of the headset is that you can connect them to both an Xbox and Bluetooth device and hear audio from both simultaneously. I used this feature extensively before Discord was officially supported on Xbox, since the headset could connect to my phone and Xbox at the same time.
Nowadays, it’s still useful if you want to take a call or listen to music on your phone while you game on your console. I wrote in my Sony XM4 review that I wish Bluetooth itself would support this, it’s an awesome feature.
You also have mic monitoring through the headset which works well, you can customise the level in the Xbox Accessories app on your console or PC.
The Accessories app also allows you to customise the EQ, adjust the brightness of the mute LED, and change the level of Auto-mute.
Auto-mute, as the name suggests, mutes the headset below certain sound thresholds. It means it will mute quieter background noises so that your friends are less likely to hear them. This feature works great, background noises like fan noises or washing machines are filtered out while voice still transmits.
Xbox Wireless Headset: Surround Sound
The headphones work well with Dolby Atmos, DTS Headphone:X and Windows Sonic. It is easy to pinpoint where the sound is coming from in-game and the headphones give a very cinematic impression. However, I have noticed that these spatial sound options exacerbate the audio latency issues described later in this article. Therefore, I leave the sound setting to Stereo Uncompressed in the Xbox settings.
The controls are perhaps some of the most intuitive I have seen on a headset. The outer surface of each ear cup rotates: the left controls the balance of chat to game audio, the right controls overall volume. They are pleasantly easy to use. The headset is good at letting you focus on your game rather than fiddling with buttons.
The Xbox Wireless Headset supports Bluetooth 4.2 and SBC codec. Whilst not the newest Bluetooth technology, the connection is solid. Whilst connecting to the console wirelessly, you will be using Microsoft’s proprietary wireless protocol.
In fact, after pairing them to your console, all you have to do is push the power button and it will also boot up the Xbox. This might sound neat, but I find it a bit irritating. If I’m using them on PC, it also turns on the Xbox in a different room. There’s no way to turn this feature off and I can’t understand why it is needed when the controller also turns the Xbox on.
Battery Life
The overall battery life is sufficient. You get around 15 hours per charge which will get you through a whole day of gaming. If I have been using them for most of the day I will plug them into the Xbox’s USB port so they can be ready for the next day. Easy.
Again, since this is an Xbox Wireless Headset long term review: Over my 18 months with them, I’ve never had to worry about the battery. There hasn’t been any noticeable degradation in battery life and it still holds a charge well.
Microphone Quality
Microphone performance is good, everyone can hear me clearly whether I am using the headset on console, PC or phone. It’s useful to be able to easily mute the mic directly on the headset and you even get a satisfying beep to let you know you have muted or unmuted.
The end of the mic houses an LED that lights up when the mic is active, which is a feature I wish we saw on more gaming headsets.
Overall, it works great for voice chat and, again, just lets you focus on gaming.
Sound Quality
The Xbox Wireless Headset features a bass-heavy sound signature. They are very boomy. Honestly, it works well for games and movies.
Playing Starfield: you can feel the atmosphere around you, your ship growling as you peruse through space. It emphasises the feelings of adventure and mystery.
Playing Modern Warfare 2: Weapons and explosions sound good if, again, a little boomy. It’s easy to pinpoint enemy locations even with spatial audio turned off.
Many will like the sound profile of these headphones. If you don’t, you do have the option of tweaking the EQ through the Xbox Accessories app on your Xbox or Windows PC. However, manage your expectations here because the headphones excel at producing a lively sound rather than a crystal-clear one.
For games, movies, and even voice chat, they work great. If you want to mostly listen to music on them they sound less clear, and I would recommend a regular set of headphones for this use case instead. Headphones can be directly plugged into the Xbox controller.
Audio Latency Issues
The biggest issue I have found with the Xbox Wireless Headset is the audio latency. When playing Halo Infinite and shooting a weapon, there’s a very noticeable delay between seeing the weapon fire on the screen and hearing it. We’re talking milliseconds here. Looking online, not everyone has noticed the delay but many have, so it may or may not bother you.
These latency issues are not just a limitation of wireless, or even Microsoft’s proprietary protocol. The high latency vanishes when plugging a regular set of headphones into the Xbox controller, and the controller itself is also using the same Xbox wireless protocol as the headset to connect to the console. An annoyance to some, irrelevant to others.
In conclusion though, this headset is an excellent option for gamers and represents a generous balance of features, comfort and sound at an attractive price.
Xbox Wireless Headset Long Term Review: Overall Ratings
Comfort: 8
Features: 8.5
Microphone: 8
Sound Quality: 8
Our Rating: 8.1/10
You can read more about the Xbox Wireless Headset on Microsoft’s official site.