Great sound, comfort, and flexibility for the price.
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Logitech’s new G433 gaming headset (See it on Amazon) is all about balance. It wants to be better than cheap headsets, and far easier on the wallet at $100 than most “pro” headsets. It wants to appeal to gamers, but not embarrass you if you wear them in public to listen to music. It features 7.1 DTS Headphone:X technology with a USB sound adapter, but also includes extra cables that allow you to plug it into regular 3.5mm headphone and mic jacks. It’s for your PC, but it’s also for your consoles or phone. Has Logitech made a headset that can be everything to everyone? In short... no, it hasn't, but for the price, it’s still an excellent headset.
Design and Features
It is perhaps easiest to think of the G433 headset as the wired, go-anywhere version of the recently launched G533. It has a similar overall shape, only this time wrapped in a mesh-cloth cover. After all, since you’re not confined to having to use a wireless USB dongle all the time with the G433, you can actually wear them out of the house, so they need to look like you’d want to actually wear them around. They’re attractive enough, and successfully toe the line between “garish gamer” and “urban streetwear.” My review unit was black, and it’s also available in red, blue, and a blue camo version that will only be sold at Best Buy. The colors are bold—very bold—as is the style these days. The cans are circumaural, meaning they completely cover your ears instead of resting on them. They’re also semi-sealed: there’s no open back, but they do have a hidden port to allow the Pro-G drivers to move a bit of air.
The result is a comfortable and lightweight design that successfully blocks out a good amount of background noise. If you don’t like the cloth texture on the ear pads, you can swap them out for a pair of microfiber pads that are included.
It’s fairly easy to remove and wash the pads, which is a feature you’ll appreciate after a few months. The cans also swivel 90 degrees to lie flat, both for easier travel or that ‘I just wear these around my neck to show everyone on the bus what a music lover I am” look.
The G433 comes with two interchangeable headphone cables that plug into the bottom of the left earpiece. The PC cable is braided and has an in-line volume dial and mute button. It’s a quality cable that feels sturdy with a good volume/mute clip that feels like it will last a while. The mobile cable is smooth plastic and replaces the volume/mute clip with an in-line mic and command button (tap to pause/play, double-tap to skip forward). The in-line mic works well, but it’s frustrating that there’s no volume control as on most mobile headsets. The boom mic for use with the PC cable is detachable, and made of a pliable rubbery material that easily bends where you want it to go. Logitech also built-in a small, slim pop filter like the one on the G533 so the mic doesn’t have to be covered in a big foam ball.
The headset itself looks pretty good and is comfortable, but the construction feels a little on the cheap side. Being lightweight is good for multi-hour gaming sessions, but the plastic lacks heft and has just a bit too much flex in my opinion. Overall I'd say build quality seems on par with most other headsets in this price range, but it’s a disappointment when everything else about this product punches above its weight.
Software
A key component to the G433’s PC gaming prowess is the Logitech Gaming Software combined with the USB sound adapter. You can certainly use the headset without it, using the included headphone/mic Y-splitter to plug into your PC’s sound jacks. But if you want DTS Headphone:X virtual surround and other features, you have to use the USB adapter and Logitech software, meaning PC-only.
It’s all rather simple, really. Logitech has a single app that serves as the hub to control all its gaming products, from keyboards and mice to webcams and headphones. It’s pretty handy if you’re all-in on Logitech gear. The software controls are simple and intuitive. You can choose from one of six built-in EQ profiles (Flat, FPS, MOBA, Drop the Bass, Cinematic Gaming, or Communications), or build your own custom profiles. You also have control over volume, mic input level, and sidetone (hearing your mic input played back in your earphones). You can set profiles per game, and associate them with specific executables, so your preferred EQ settings load up automatically when a certain game launches.
On the surround settings page you can do the same thing for DTS Headphone:X technology. Enable or disable it, adjust the volume per virtual channel, and set up per-game profiles. By default, each channel is set to 11, because nobody can resist a good Spinal Tap reference.
Logitech’s software is simple, intuitive, and lean. And of course it has the added benefit of controlling all your Logitech gaming gear. I would like to see the Automatic Gain Control toggle exposed here (more on that in a bit), but otherwise it’s hard to find anything to complain about.
Performance
For a $100 PC headset, the G433s sound great. No, they don’t hold a candle to my favorite Audio-Technica cans, and can’t match the clarity of my Astro A50s. But you’d be hard-pressed to find a PC headset at the $100 price mark that sounds much better. The entire sound range is clear without sounding too muddy, and it has enough punch in the low end without sounding like an over-boosted mess (I’m looking at you, Beats). The USB audio dongle produces clean sound free from electrical interference.
The mic sounds quite good, too. It’s tuned for regular speaking range, so isn't recommended for any other recording. It’s clear, and the noise cancelling is fairly effective: nobody ever had any trouble clearly making out what I was saying, even when the clothes dryer was making noise in the other room. The mic volume was a little lower than I’d like, even when dialed up all the way, and there’s no “boost” toggle. I quickly hopped into the Windows settings for Microphone Properties, and I discovered an AGC toggle, for “Automatic Gain Control.” That fixed my minor issue with the mic input level.
The DTS Headphone:X technology does a pretty good job of simulating 7.1 surround through a pair of headphones. Nothing recreates a surround effect like a bunch of real speakers, but it really added a sense of depth and place to the creeping Typhon in Prey, and I could easily locate the origin of distant shots in PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. When listening to stereo sources, the surround technology made everything sound a little echo-y and robbed of all clarity. This is true of basically every virtual-surround technology I’ve ever tried, for what it’s worth. If you’re listening to stereo-only sources on your PC, you’ll want to disable DTS Headphone:X.
Of course, they work great with consoles, too. You don’t get virtual surround (since it relies on the USB soundcard), but just plug the 4-pole connector into your Xbox One or PS4 controller and you get clear stereo sound and mic input. You can use the mobile cable with consoles if you prefer the in-line mic, but the boom mic sounds better and the PC audio cable has a mute switch and volume dial, which come in handy.
Purchasing Guide
The Logitech G433 Gaming Headset has an MSRP of $99.99, and since it is a brand-new product, it is currently being sold everywhere for full price:
• See the Logitech G433 on Amazon
Note that if you click on one of these links to buy the product, IGN may get a share of the sale. For more, read our Terms of Use.
The Verdict
Logitech has a real winner in the G433. It’s a very good value, and provides a lot of flexibility for gamers who want to be able to take their headset over to the console, or out of the house with their phone or laptop. They’re light, comfortable, and sound better than most other headphones in this price range. You even get an extra pair of earpads if you prefer microfiber to Logitech’s mesh fabric.
I just wish they felt as good as they work. The plastic build and mesh fabric have a somewhat cheap feel that seems at odds with the rest of the product’s quality.
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