Review: Logitech G930 headset

We're all familiar with Logitech's product offerings: speakers, mice, keyboards, iPod docks and Webcams, to name the main ones.

Big fans of the brand will also know about its line-up of gaming accessories. Take a normal keyboard, add some backlighting, clever macro keys, and an intelligent layout - now you've got a progamming keyboard of deathmatch domination. Ditto for its mice, with their customisable weights and pinpoint laser accuracy. Even the Logitech racing wheels are very much sought-after by the fanatical sim-racing crowd.

More recently, it's also added a headset to its G-series range. After all, guys who take their gaming seriously do so at competitive events where loud speaker sets are frowned upon - sometimes outlawed - and having a headset offers more advantages, in any case. The G930 is just the latest in that line of audio accessories.

It has all the features its wired cousin, the G35, boasts: 7.1-channel surround sound, macro keys, volume controls and a boom mic. All of this is packed into a hefty, yet comfortable frame with lots of thick padding to make sure it won't be a burden on your skull after a few hours of non-stop gaming.

It works well, too. Audio quality is fantastic - although, at R2 000 it had better be - and the surround-sound system, even though it's just processed sound, makes for a more believable virtual sound stage.

For wireless cans, they also have an excellent range. The box says 12 meters, and in our testing that seemed quite generous - but it's academic, because you'll never be that far away from your computer during a gaming session. It could be handy for hands-free Skype calls, while walking around the house, perhaps.

Battery life is impeccable. Logitech's claimed 10 hours, depending on use, is almost honest. I only managed nine and a bit hours at average volume levels.

There's just one thing that grinds me: the wireless receiver. Logitech thoughtfully supplies the G930 with a sort of 'base' station, which is just a USB extender. This has a USB port for the wireless receiver and a USB charging cable for the headset.

Of course, if you're on the go, you want to take just the receiver and this is one of those huge ones, the size of a USB flash stick. Logitech prides itself on the nano-receiver for its other devices, yet bundles a more mobile product with an unsightly, ungainly thing.

This is probably a huge outlay for folks who don't game a lot. For the hardcore guys, the portability and lack of another cable to get tangled in are good benefits, but perhaps not essential.