The game industry is growing day by day, with thousands and thousands of people playing for hours in different types of games. Millennials as well as Gen-Z find solace in gaming, especially during these difficult times. At the start of the 2020 shutdown, we’ve seen multiplayer games like Among Us grow in popularity, and into 2021, the next-gen game. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Line WILL control panel has been launched.
This is an ever-evolving industry and one of the many companies that have made their mark here is Logitech. The Swiss manufacturer is well known in the gaming world for products such as gaming mice, headsets and keyboards. Company recently released Logitech G435 gaming headset in India, priced at Rs. 7,495. Are these the best pair of gaming headsets you can buy under Rs 10,000 right now? I spent about two weeks with the headphones and here is my full review.
Logitech G435 Lightspeed’s design embodies the casual gaming aesthetic but nothing too flashy
Image credit: Robin John / Gadgets360
Logitech G435 . Lightspeed Specifications and Design
The headset follows your usual gaming aesthetic for ear cups and headbands, but without much glitz. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of RGB on headphones, but many buyers want the feature and may be disappointed to find it absent. The headphones are available at online retailers like Amazon India and Flipkart, and come in three color variants – White and Lilac, Blue and Raspberry, and Black and Neon Gold. I have the Black and Neon Gold color variants for review. The entire headset is black, while the buttons are neon yellow.
The left earcup has all the buttons and controls built in, including a power on/off button located just below the battery level indicator, followed by a Volume Up and Down button and a Mute button. You also get dual microphones on the left earcup. Unlike most gaming headsets, Logitech used a beamforming microphone instead of a swingarm. There is also a USB Type-C port on the left ear cup for charging. The right earcup has only the Logitech logo and nothing else.
Gaming peripherals, especially headsets, are notoriously heavy and in some cases, almost as big as your head. The G435 aims to be the opposite of that. This is probably the lightest gaming headset I’ve ever used, weighing in at 165g; for context, HyperX Cloud Core 7.1 weighs about 300g without the boom microphone.
The entire headset is made of plastic and that’s what helps keep the weight under control. Logitech also states that a minimum of 22% post-consumer recycled plastic content has been used in G435. It has a frequency response of 20Hz to 20KHz with an impedance of 45 Ohms. Inside the box you can find a Lightspeed USB dongle, a USB A to USB-C cable, some user manuals, and the Logitech G435 headset itself.
Neon yellow and black give the Logitech G435 Lightspeed a very minimalist look
Image credit: Robin John / Gadgets360
The ear cups are adjustable and are installed on the rails, so they can be adjusted up and down for a comfortable and snug fit. However, there is no rotation. It’s worth mentioning that these rails feel a bit rough and flimsy. The headset survived some accidental drops from a reasonable height, but I’m concerned about whether it will hold up for long.
The memory foam on these earcups is very comfortable, and I didn’t face any problems with them during extended gaming sessions. The inner plastic covering the drivers isn’t cloth-wrapped and has large openings, so you’ll need to be careful about dirt getting into them. The frame of the headband is made of plastic and doesn’t have any padding, just a smooth fabric covering for light cushioning.
While this can be an issue if it’s a heavy headset, I never faced any discomfort during my time using the Logitech G435 Lightspeed. It works for me and I don’t have any comfort issues.
The memory foam on the earcups is soft and comfortable, especially during hours of gaming
Image credit: Robin John / Gadgets360
The controls on the Logitech G435 Lightspeed were a bit confusing for me the first few hours I used it. Holding down the power button will turn the headset on or off, while a single click on it will show you the estimated battery percentage. If the light is green, the battery percentage is between 31 and 100 percent, if it is red it is between 15 and 30 percent, and if it flashes red for about five seconds, it means the battery level is below 15 percent. It’s a guessing game because there’s no voice prompt to provide the correct battery level.
The mute button also functions as a connection button. The Logitech G435 Lightspeed can be connected to your device using Bluetooth or the company’s own Lightspeed dongle. Lightspeed is Logitech’s proprietary technology that uses the 2.4Ghz frequency channel for wireless devices including keyboards and mice. When it comes to gaming and wireless devices, one of the major concerns is latency, and to address that the G435 comes with a speed of light guard included in the box. Pressing and holding the mute button for three seconds or so switches between these two connection options.
All controls are located on the left earcup of the Logitech G435 Lightspeed
Image credit: Robin John / Gadgets360
If the indicator lights up with cyan, it means the device is currently in Speed of Light mode, and if it shows in blue, it means Bluetooth is enabled. Lightspeed, when compared to Bluetooth, has lower latency. Lightspeed can be used with game consoles and PCs, while you can use Bluetooth for smartphone gaming or just for watching movies and listening to music.
During use, I generally prefer the Lightspeed connection because of the lower latency, although I did encounter errors. If you have two USB ports side by side with one used by the Lightspeed dongle and the other used by anything else, you can sometimes hear a lot of distortion in the output. In my case I always have an external hard drive connected, but after I unplug it, no more distortion is heard. This issue aside, connecting the device is easy, and switching between Bluetooth and Lightspeed is pretty seamless as well.
Logitech G435 Lightspeed Performance and Battery Life
In terms of sound quality, the Logitech G435 has 40mm drivers that can sound good with good highs and lows for the most part. The sound quality isn’t unusual, but it’s not bad either. It will fulfill all your gaming needs.
I tested the headset with a large number of games like Valuable substanceApex Legends, CS GOBack 4 Blood, Tomb Raider, and Forza Horizon 5. In first-person shooter games, any audio cue can be the difference between life or death, and the Logitech G435 has done a great job on that front.
The soundstage is quite balanced. You can hear explosions and rumblings even when the volume level is not too high. I can understand where all my goals are and whether they are rotating from site to site in Valorant and CS:GO.
It’s also important to understand where the sound effects are coming from, and headphones can reproduce that neatly. There is a little bit of sound leakage if you keep the volume above 85 percent. There’s no active noise cancellation, and the memory foam earpads let some outside sounds in, providing inadequate passive noise isolation.
Logitech G435 Lightspeed comes with beamforming microphone on left ear cup
Image credit: Robin John / Gadgets360
Logitech used a beamforming microphone on the G435 Lightspeed headset instead of a traditional swingarm, and I’m not sure that’s a wise choice. The sound quality is good because the two microphones are close to your mouth. However, they tend to get a lot of background noise and fellow gamers on Discord not satisfied with that. The boom microphone is a much better option, but that adds weight to the headset.
Logitech claims that the G435 Lightspeed can run for 18 hours on a single charge, and I was able to get close to that during my time working with the review unit. I got about 17 hours of use per charge with the volume usually around 80%. I was also able to switch to Bluetooth and connect to my smartphone and take some calls during this time.
The Logitech G435 Lightspeed has a USB Type-C port for charging, and it takes about two hours to fully charge. There’s no 3.5mm audio connection, which is a bit disappointing for a gaming headset. If the power runs out in the middle of a match, you have no choice but to switch to another device or wait for it to charge.
Logitech G435 Lightspeed has a dedicated mute button
Image credit: Robin John / Gadgets360
The Logitech G435 Lightspeed also doesn’t support G-Hub, proprietary software provided by Logitech for PC users to search for settings on their devices. Essentially, this means you can’t adjust the equalizer settings, boost the bass, or boost the volume on this pair of headphones. You will have to depend on your control panel or your PC’s output settings for that.
Identify
Logitech’s vision for the G435 Lightspeed was clear from the start; The company wanted the device to be affordable for entry-level smartphone and console gamers, while also being light and comfortable enough to wear for long periods of time. The headphones do some things right, but miss the mark completely in other fundamental respects.
Integrating the speed of light is a smart move as it reduces latency while allowing for convenient wireless connectivity. However, the microphone is not ideal for gaming headsets.
Logitech G435 Lightspeed is priced at Rs. 7,495 in India
Image credit: Robin John / Gadgets360
Overall, the Logitech G435 is a decent pair of headphones and might be worth considering for low-end users. There are several other options in this price range that might be worth considering, such as the Razer Nari Essential which retails for Rs. 8,341 and also act as a wired headset, or JBL Quantum 400 There is a USB connection for boom sound and microphone.
