CORSAIR - HS70 PRO Wireless Stereo Gaming Headset - Carbon

The Corsair HS70 Pro Wireless headset is the newest addition to Corsair’s extensive lineup of gaming & general PC use headsets, coming in at a pretty darn good price for the features & sound. And while the sound – both headphones and mic – are extremely good, I found some basic corners cut in the design of the device (presumably to keep prices in that mid-range) to be off-putting. Starting with the sound: The sound is one of the best I’ve heard in a headset at this price point. Clear, crisp, with great response and booming bass, I found it very pleasing to use for everything from games to movies and even just simple voice chat. The headphones obviously are stereo, but the true sound is unleashed after installing the Corsair iCue control panel software (free download), giving you the ability to toggle to 7.1 surround sound. The 7.1 was again outstanding both on games that support 7.1 surround as well as movies with the same support. NOTE that you can ONLY enable the 7.1 with the iCue software, otherwise you will be relegated to standard 2-channel stereo. Additionally, with the iCue software you can toggle between 5 different EQ presets, or manually set any of the 10 EQ sliders to the sound options of your choice. Connection with the iCue software was seamless and instantaneous, no wizards or other steps required to add it your PC. The headphones connect wirelessly to your PC with a USB dongle (included). Microphone: The mic produces clear sound, a nice deep bass sound to my voice, although I found that it is bad about picking up surrounding sound. Whereas more expensive headphones have modes that you can toggle to reduce outside noise at various levels, there is no filtering option with these headphones, so gaming in a quiet room may become a must. Gaming in a room full of gamers may be out of the question. More on the problems I have with the mic later… Wireless Connection & Battery: The wireless option gives you a cord-free gaming experience, with Corsair touting up to 16 hours of use without a charge. I found no noticeable lag in the wireless. The frustration with the battery & charge is that there is no way to determine what percentage the battery is at – no “button tap” on the headphones to get the status, no status reported when powering on, and no status listed in the iCue software. This basically means for those who do long gaming sessions you’ll end up having to prematurely charge the battery “to be on the safe side”. CONS: While I do understand that a number of “cons” are going to exist with a headset at this price point, some are odd and inexplicable. Mic: The mic is detachable, but ONLY attaches to the left side and cannot be rotated to the other side (only plugs in in one direction due to the port’s placement and a notch in the connector), so right-sided mic gamers will be annoyed. Additionally, the chunky connector doesn’t allow the mic to be moved fully out of the way, rather it sits out several inches & never really gets out of your way (see photo). Also, as mentioned above, the mic has a tendency to pick up outside noise pretty bad with no way to control that via the iCue software. Mic port: The mic port comes covered with a small rubber plug (see photo) to protect it when the mic isn’t in use (just using them as headphones). The port cover is all of 3/4” x 1/4” at best – incredibly small – and does not have a strap to tether it to the headphones. When it’s removed, it’s removed. Bottom line is that this will be lost in the first 15 minutes of ownership. A simple rubber tether strap to hold it to the headphones when not in the port wouldn’t have been difficult and is almost unforgiveable as a point they likely used to cut costs. Volume Control: Volume control is done on the headset itself with a roller wheel volume control. If you’re moving the mic or trying to hit the mute button, which is right next to the roller, the ability to hit the wheel (thus cranking the volume up or down) is real. Comfort: The headphones themselves are moderately padded and covered with faux leather. The cover leads to a lot of heat build-up around your ears & will likely result in a nice sweat ring (for me that was after about 30 minutes of use). I certainly would have preferred cloth or felt-covered earphones, or at least an option to swap them. The pad on the top band is also of a faux leather and was actually one of the better headband pads I’ve felt. Charging: Can we all agree that it’s time for Micro USB to die? The move toward USB-C is becoming much more universal and ubiquitous, yet they opted for a Micro USB connector, which simply means a return to the old days of having to make sure the connector is turned the right way. There’s a reason Apple converted to an omni-sided connector for all its ports. It’s time that all peripheral manufacturers do the same with USB-C. Additionally, as mentioned above, the lack of any ability to determine battery level is ridiculous. This will either lead to multiple premature charges or getting the dreaded “battery low” in the middle of an all-night gaming session. This, too, is one of those unforgiveable oversights I hope they correct in the next firmware update. BOTTOM LINE: This a great-sounding headset at a good price, but with a lot of engineering cons that come as a side-effect of that price. If you’re willing to look past the smaller engineering shortcomings, you’ll find that this is a nice headset for your gaming or general headphone use.

--- SETUP --- The setup of the Corsair HS70 PRO is quick and simple. A USB transmitter is provided for wireless connectivity. The PS4 recognized it immediately and I was able to use it with no problem out of the box (after charging the headset). On my gaming PC, the PC was able to recognize the driver and installed the necessary files for it to work out of the box. To customize your headset sound and improve its audio, download the iCUE software. --- FEATURES --- The key features of this headset include wireless connectivity on PC and PS4, detachable mic, 50mm audio drivers, leather ear cushions, and powerful software (PC) to customize your sounds through equalizer. --- PERFORMANCE --- The performance of the headset is pretty good. I own well over gaming 10 headsets, and for the price, this is a competitive set vs. pricier units. On PS4, your games will sound better than TV speakers. On PC, that’s when you notice a big difference. The iCUE software allows you to turn on and off the surround sound with a noticeable difference when you flip it on and off. You can create various sound profiles which is helpful if you will share your PC and headset with multiple users. Within each profile, you can create various sound sets, with 5 presets available to you (FPS competition, Clear Chat, Bass Boost, Pure Direct, Movie Theater). Switching between them you can hear the difference and you can change the equalizer setting of any of them. In addition, you can create your own setting from scratch. I like that you can turn off Surround Sound 7.1 and turn the headset into stereo mode, allowing you to use features like Dolby Atmos. --- EXPECTATIONS --- The product meets my expectations for the price. However, owning pricier headsets, I have come accustomed to features on pricier sets that the Corsair lacks. For example, this headset is strictly for the PC and PS4 with no alternative option via an auxiliary port, which many headsets that include that can also work with an Xbox even if it says it’s only for PS4 or PC. The mic is detachable, but few gamers actually detach the mic. It is preferable to have a mic that hides out of view by swiveling it up and out of the way. With this headset, it has a flexible boom mic that will always be visible to you even if you aren’t using it. As far as buttons, it has a simple interface. There is an on button, a mute mic button, and a volume control dial. A button that would have been greatly appreciated would have been one that allows you to switch between presets. The software makes it sound like it has the capability, as when you change between presets, you hear a “1,” “2,” prompt. I looked on the instruction manual but there was no explanation on how to change presets in the headset itself. The ear cushions were comfortable enough for a 4-5 hours gaming session and the battery didn’t drain during that time. You will get a vocal cue if the headset is low on battery or if is about to turn off on it’s own (preset to 5 minutes of inactivity but you can change that), which I like. If you don’t want to hear that, you can turn that off. There are no lights emitting from the headset, which depending on your taste, that can be good or bad. --- VALUE --- The price for the headset makes it a solid entry level headset for PS4/PC gamers that haven’t gotten a headset yet or to replace a broken one. --- APPROVAL --- I highly recommend this product for people who want a better sound than their TV speakers, game without disturbing others around you, and want a better game sound experience without breaking the bank.

Great product it is works just like I had hoped. They are very comfortable and the sound is amazing. Works at my computer and all around the house. So happy to be able to all around on a conference call.

When you consider buying headsets, you need to seek brands because headsets leading companies like Corsair focus on quality of materials used in making its products, sound, accessories, and durability and of course companion software. Corsair HS70 is made of plastic but high quality and no creaking and comfortable, mic is crystal clear, connectivity proved stable and no issues so far after using them for 3 days on my PS4 Pro via transmitter dongle. Battery charge is outstanding for 3 days of use at average gaming time between 3-4 hours a day and still holds more. The stitched leather cushion under the head band is comfy. Make sure to connect to PC and run iCU software by Corsair to enable the 7.1 surround sound. When enabled gaming experience becomes more realistic as I’m able to hear from different directions. At this price point, I think it is logical considering durability and high quality of mic and sound.

The Status LED is NOT colorblind friendly. The light stays solid amber while charging and solid green when fully charged. Many colorblind users cannot tell the difference when a single status LED changes color. If only they made the light pulse while charging and solid when fully charged, it wouldn’t matter what color lights are used. Another option is LED on while charging, off when complete. This easy to implement feature would have made all the difference for colorblind users. I have absolutely no idea if this headset is fully charged looking at this single light. The same two colors are used to indicate charge level when the device is on and charging. Amber = 0%-89% and Green = 90%-100%. I cannot tell the difference between the colors, but I can use the iCUE software to check the battery level when the headset is on. Corsair’s iCUE software works on both Windows and Mac OS. You can use one of the default five EQ presets or define your own EQ presets. I set different profiles for each game and several apps. It is great linking profiles to programs, so the settings automatically switch when I switch apps. I set a profile for Kodi and my web browsers that use the movie theater EQ preset and enables the 7.1 surround. I use FPS Competition in games. The volume control on the HS70 Pro headset is not linked with the MacOS or Windows 10 system volume like my other Corsair headset. When you adjust the sound on the headset you don’t see on-screen feedback. On mac OS, when you select the HS70 device as sound output in the system preferences, the volume slider is maxed at 100%, grayed out and can’t be adjusted. On windows, you CAN adjust the system volume, so you have greater control. While lowering the volume on the HS70 it gets to a certain level and the audio abruptly cuts out completely. The volume doesn’t slowly fade to inaudible while lowering the volume, it gets so far and just cuts out. Slightly increase the volume and it abruptly returns. It does this on both Windows 10 and Mac OS so it is the volume control on the headset. Because the mac OS system volume is maxed and locked it makes it impossible to listen at very low levels. At least on Windows you can adjust the system volume to achieve low listening levels. It doesn’t matter if the headset is set to 7.1 surround or Stereo within the iCUE software. It also doesn’t matter what EQ settings are used. The HS70 is running the most recent firmware and iCUE software is current. Maybe they aren’t all like this and I got a lemon. This is only an issue for very low volume listening, mostly for mac users. The wireless sync LED indicator on the wireless USB transmitter is white and very bright. I use a USB hub on my desktop, so the light is pointing away from me but on my laptops, it is shining straight up. Distracting while watching video full screen. I might cover it with a couple layers of blue painter tape to dim the light. The microphone can be turned off with a button on the headset or you can unplug it, disconnecting the microphone completely. The controls are simple, single power button on the right side and volume control and microphone mute button on the left side. The status LED, micro USB charging port and the jack for the detachable microphone boom is also on the left side. The headset sounds great. It doesn’t have fancy RGB lighting like more expensive Corsair headsets, but it supports voice prompts, auto shutoff, profiles, EQ presets and “7.1 surround”. “7.1 surround” is in quotes because the headset has one driver on the left and one driver on the right. Stereo. You can’t have real 7.1 surround with only two speakers. What you hear in surround sound mode is heavily processed Stereo or “virtual surround”. That said, they still sound great.

Lows seem to get muddled wish their was more adjustability with chat fade but only qhats on the console ps5 btw. Chat worked great comfy and sturdy

This headset is nice and comfortable and sounds great. I only have a few grievances that were worthy enough to take off a star: the microphone is very quiet and pretty bad, and the headset uses micro-USB instead of USB-C so it is annoying to plug in when the device is low on battery. And it seems to have sorta an average battery life, too, so if you are looking for intense 10-hour gaming sessions, you're gonna need to plug it in part of the way through. Otherwise, I definitely recommend this headset.

If you've been looking for a comfortable wireless gaming headset for your PC or PS4 and want clear, all-around sound, great microphone performance, and stellar battery life, look no further than the Corsair HS70 PRO. Everything you need is included in the box, and setup is almost instant on PS4 but only takes a few minutes on PC. You will need to install Corsair's iCUE software (if you haven't already from owning other Corsair hardware, like their family of gaming keyboards and mice) in order to use all functions of this wireless gaming headset and also enable 7.1 surround sound capability. Speaking of which, I'm disappointed that 7.1 surround only works when connected to PC but does not work at all on PS4, you're stuck on stereo at that point. This is the only reason why I couldn't give this gaming headset a 5 star review - I'm not sure if it's a limitation that Sony has imposed on 3rd party gaming headset makers to where only their own proprietary PS4 gaming headsets can take advantage of 7.1 audio, so I apologize in advance to Corsair if I'm holding this against them and they had absolutely no control on their end as to providing 7.1 audio on the PS4 as well. Apart from that, everything about this gaming headset is spot-on. Great quality and comfortable materials, long-lasting battery life, I like that it still uses a mini-USB connection to charge up so that you can use the same cable you already use for charging your PS4's DualShock controllers. The microphone is also detachable in case you decide to change your mind last minute at having voice chat enabled while in a gaming session, but it would've been nice for this headset to have come with a carrying case/bag for easier portability outside of the home and to keep it's microphone and USB charging cable put away altogether. All in all, this wireless gaming headset works well, is easy to setup, and is easily interchangeable between your PC and your PS4.