There are two things that confuse me about the Sades Spirits headset: how did they come up with these colours, and how have they kept the price so low? The Spirits headset is clearly a budget bit of kit, but where it counts – what hits your ears – is very respectable and puts some mid-range headsets to shame.
Firstly, the colours – this is a headset for someone who likes people to know they’re wearing a headset. While the white model looks pretty nice and more akin to a more standard headset, the bright mix of red, orange, pink and various others is accompanied by the set we were sent to review – an intriguing and not-unpleasant mint green colour. But my thoughts on headset colours remain the same as they’ve always been – once they’re on your head you can’t see them anyway, so unless you’re streaming or recording yourself in some other way it’s not really an issue.
Another early thing to note is the build quality, which is fine but not spectacular, and shows where the money has been saved. The headset feels like a low-cost, low-end bit of kit, but still feels sturdy enough and will still last you a good amount of time. There’s some really nice touches with the build though; the padding on the headband and ear cups is really nice and squidgy giving you a nice comfy gaming session (although I did get the dreaded toasty ears after a while), and the microphone is well-positioned and flips up out of the way when you don’t need it. And the upshot of the slightly cheaper materials being used here means the headset is nice and light as well, which again leads to a really nice comfortable experience and almost lets you forget you’re even wearing them for a while.
But we’re always going to focus, quite rightly, on one thing over and above anything else: the sound quality. This is where the Spirits headsets shakes off its budget price tag and delivers a very respectable performance relative to its price bracket. Audio quality is clear with a good range of sounds which allow you to get details and quality over and above what you’d get through some basic headphones or your TV. It’s not the most bassy of headsets, probably down to the lower end speakers used, but if you’re not too worried about shaking your brain loose with some fierce bass thumping through your ears then this should serve you quite nicely.
And that’s the main takeaway thing about this headset – it’ll do. It doesn’t set the world alight with its build quality, sound quality or looks, and the microphone isn’t worth shouting about (although that seems to be the case with more and more headsets, even as we climb the price ladder). But while the sound quality doesn’t match a headset nudging towards the £100 mark, that’s not what this is designed to be. The Sades Spirits is a £20ish headset that would work brilliantly for young gamers, budget-conscious players or someone who just wants to enjoy some gaming without too much background noise getting in the way. The 3.5mm plug opens it up to be used on pretty much any device going (although check your phone first if that’s the plan – most have done away with the headphone port) and the overall picture is one that would suggest this is worth twice what you’d pay for it.
The Sades Spirits isn’t the best headset out there, but it might well be one of the best budget options on the market. Easy to recommend if you want something that’ll keep you ticking over while you save up for something mightier.
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