Corsair HS70 Universal Gaming Headset Review – The Headset That Does It All

We can all agree that some of us have too many devices to carry around—earbuds, phone, wallet, tablet, laptop, Switch, controllers, adapters, etc. The list will depend on your lifestyle, and sometimes, you have to carry accessories for so many devices. Luckily, Corsair is smart enough to see this problem as an opportunity to create a product that can minimize what you need to carry. If you are a gamer, music listener, and cell phone user, the Corsair HS70 wireless and wired universal headset fills a gap, following a trend of multi-platform headsets with the ability to connect to multiple devices simultaneously. The headset comes in at $99.99 retail, and because of what this headset offers, along with its relative quality, you can’t go wrong.

Style / Feel / Build / Hardware

Judging from its external appearance, it would appear as this headset is fairly basic. It doesn’t offer any unique styling, in my opinion, other than the honeycomb texture on the ears, and it is primarily plastic. It is also all black, so if you like the minimalistic look, these will keep you looking clean. The headset brings in 50mm drivers with fairly decent sound quality. You cant expect premium build quality and sound quality at this price with all of the bells and whistles, but I have to say, this has a better sound than other headsets in this price bracket.

I’ll explain in depth in a bit, but a minor disappointment is the cushions on the ears. They were comfortable, don’t get me wrong, but I like when the cushion is softer and “melts” onto my head. I just felt like the cushions didn’t compress, making it feel still and rigid and somewhat frozen in place. I was hoping for more on the comfort spectrum, but I never experienced pain while using the headset for hours upon hours. I can really appreciate headsets that nail long use comfort because I tend to have very long sessions on the computer.

Performance / Hands on Use / Features / User Experience / Analysis / Etc.

Corsair audio, although not the best in the bunch, never seems to disappoint. The headset offers a powerful, loud, and full sound in the stereo format. I appreciate Corsair’s equalizer support through iCUE, allowing any Corsair headset to be customized to your ear’s taste, or you can use the built-in presets. For this review, I usually use my own preset, but I used Pure Direct to get the most accurate results. Surround sound support would have taken this headset to the next level, but it would also take the price to the next level. In most cases, stereo is just fine, but for a serious gamer, surround sound is supported in most games, so you are at a slight disadvantage if you are picky about your win/loss ratio.

I’d imagine this headset is marketed to the more casual and mobile gamer, but it’s always fun to put the headset in situations that someone else may not. My favorite feature is the multi-connectivity. I was able to have my headset plugged into my pc, and Bluetooth connected to my phone. I can speak to my friends on discord, hear my game, speak to multiple chat rooms, actually hear my text messages while blasting music, and more. This feature opened my eyes to the future of headsets and the future of marketing within the technology industry. People have too many devices and not enough cash to blow on headsets that only support one platform, and the Corsair HS70 solves this problem.

Looking into the boom mic of the product and its performance, one can say this headset has another selling point. The HS70 boom mic offers crisp sound quality on top of the headset’s versatile “kit.” If you are an entry or mid-level creator, the headset’s boom mic is arguably clear enough to be used in content and videos. And it doesn’t stop there.

Diving a bit more into sound quality, the headset can be connected via a 3 ring 3.5 mm jack for console controllers, and the switch. Using a 3.5mm jack, especially Bluetooth will offer degraded sound quality compared to the USB-c cable provided. USB-C will be the best solution to using this headset, but unfortunately, not all devices support USB audio. I always listen to how clear the headset is when pushed to about 80-90% volume, as that’s how you’ll see how the headset performs under high wattage output. It puts the headset to the test necessary for me to come to a conclusion, and although there is some clipping, the headset offers powerful volume output with quality. It’s actually insane how much power you can push through this pair of speakers, and it makes me smile when I can blast music. Not enough volume, no buy. Luckily, the HS70 passes this test, and I am ready for a review score.

Honestly, other than the headset’s look being a bit boring, Corsair HS70 kept a smile on my face the entire time. Considering the purpose of this headset, you really can’t go wrong by adding this to your holiday list of purchases or post-holiday pick-ups. The HS70 covers all platform grounds, even next-gen, along with the ability for Bluetooth multi-connectivity. The headset can even transform into my mobile pair of wireless headphones for my day out of the house. This feature is the core selling point of the product, and I can see why. Luckily, Corsair was the first to introduce this technology into my life, and I can’t see myself going back. The HS70 can disrupt the audio market a bit due to the abundance of Switch users looking to chat with their friends on their phone, along with the need to hear your game audio. The headset isn’t for everyone, but it can be used by many people, and they don’t even know it yet.