In a market as crowded and competitive as gaming headsets, Logitech has taken up a unique gimmick in the G433, that being fabric.
Instead of the soft plastic or rubber you’d expect on the cans of the G433, you’ll instead find a fabric weave. Looking through the marketing material we’re not exactly sure why this was chosen. If it was to reduce weight, the headset without the detachable cables still weighs 259 grams. It’s not open-backed so it wasn’t for that reason, and the fabric isn’t especially soft so it doesn’t add to the tactile experience either.
We believe that this was simply done to differentiate their product and to add some flair to aesthetics because, the first time you see the G433, you may decide to buy it then and there.
While we’re more partial to the understated, “paint it black” look here at htxt, this soft “Royal Blue” variant is stunning, and we can’t fault anyone buying these for looks alone.
Unfortunately, as soon as you’re finished starring and take it out of the box, the first problems creep in. This headset is well built and feels sturdy, but in your hands and on your head it does not feel at all good enough to justify its rather high R2 199 RRP in South Africa.
The cans, for example, feel harsh and scratchy with their fabric outer layer. We do expect this to get better as you use them – they did improve in the couple of weeks we had to review them – but many people will feel like they’re not getting a premium experience when they’re paying a premium price.
But lets get onto more positive things as there’s a lot of extra stuff in the box. First up is a detachable boom mic that we loved. We got compliments for its clarity when using conferencing software like Skype and it works just as well in games. It also bends without fear of breaking so you can bend it out of the way if you don’t feel like removing it completely.
Next up is the large variety of cabling you have. There’s two 3.5mm to 3.5mm jack cables. One is 2m long for console and PC with mute and volume controls, and the other is 1.5m with an inline microphone for your phone.
Next up there’s a headphone / microphone splitter and then our favourite inclusion: a USB DAC. This thing was an absolute life save after a Windows updated borked our headphones settings causing a lot of mic feedback and this addition helped us avoid that entirely.
These cables have probably the best braiding we’ve ever used. If Logitech sold these on their own we’d pick them up in a heartbeat.
But the extras don’t stop there. There’s also a carrying bag and a set of replacement ear pads. If you like accessories opening the G433’s box is going to be a pleasure.
Once everything is setup (which is really easy and made even better with the software) our first impressions were very positive with a particular strong point being clarity at high volumes. Not only does this let you enjoy music at really high volumes, but it’s really useful in gaming.
We did a lot of our testing in Rainbow Six: Siege where you need to try and hear out enemy movements and other subtle clues amidst explosions and gunfire. The G433 really did excel here and, whenever we needed to change something, the software made it easy.
Unfortunately, after many hours of testing in Siege, we encountered another problem. It takes remarkably long to forget you’ve got these headphones on and, again, we expect this is a teething problem with the building materials. A little less weight would have helped out here too.
After many hours with the G433 it’s going to be a very difficult product to recommend. On the audio side of things, we really can’t fault it. It handled everything from metal to pop with ease and the software made it easy to tune things to our needs. And, if all you want to do is game, you’re in for a good time here.
But when it comes to the physical aspects it falls down, hard. Our best recommendation is to try these at an expo or in store because you may fall in love with the performance or the looks, but you need to be aware of the build problems here.
