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Roccat ELO Air wireless headset deals<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n
The Roccat ELO 7.1 Air appears to hit a crowd-pleasing sweet spot in the world of gaming headsets. Not only can you experience freedom from cumbersome wires, but you can now do so with the audio quality you get with wired hardware, and at an affordable price to boot.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Everything about the Roccat ELO Air feels nicely balanced. The detachable microphone is great in comparison to mics on rival headsets that simply bend out of the way or stiffly retract into the headset, and the battery life is better than expected for the cost.<\/p>\n\nThe Bluetooth compatibility is PC-only due to a USB 2.0 connection, and the hardware needs either Windows 7,8 or 10 to run, so you can\u2019t use it with consoles.<\/p>\n
At just $99.99 \/ \u00a389.99 \/ AU$199.99, this is at the budget end for a wireless gaming headset, putting it in competition with the Corsair HS70 Pro ($99.99 \/ \u00a389.99 \/ AU$180). It\u2019s not going to perform like high-range headsets such as the Astro A50 ($300 \/ \u00a3300 \/ AU$480), but given that it\u2019s around a third of the price the difference in quality is negligible, especially if top-end sound quality isn\u2019t a major consideration.<\/p>\n\n\n
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<\/picture><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>The RGB lighting is on both sides, and very bright, even in a well lit room. <\/span>(Image credit: Future)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\u00a0Design<\/h2>\n The Roccat ELO Air sports a typical gaming aesthetic, albeit muted enough that it won\u2019t look like you\u2019re about to open Counter-Strike when you\u2019re supposed to be on a work call. The Roccat logo is emblazoned on one side and provides the obligatory RGB lighting effects, although these can be switched off in the settings should you want a more professional or inconspicuous look.\u00a0<\/p>\n
You can control the RGB lighting via the Roccat Swarm software, but you won\u2019t be able to sync with non-Roccat hardware. The headset also features Roccat AIMO (AI motion) lighting, which allows you to sync your peripherals to respond to whatever visuals are playing on your screen \u2013 which is nifty, although you won\u2019t be able to enjoy it yourself, as you\u2019ll be the one wearing the headset.<\/p>\n
The headband is the increasingly popular elasticated \u2018self-adjusting\u2019 suspension strap seen on products like the Razer Nari Ultimate headset, so you won\u2019t have to mess around with sizing \u2013 just stick it on your head and you\u2019re good to go. The frame is also metal, which gives some assurance in terms of build quality, although we experienced some issues with \u2018creaking\u2019 noises with rapid head movement and enthusiastic walking. This may bother some folks, but it didn\u2019t prove to be a real issue in our experience, as you can only hear this when the headset isn\u2019t playing any audio.<\/p>\n
The earcups are a leatherette covered memory foam and they\u2019re satisfyingly squishy, so users who wear glasses or hearing aids shouldn\u2019t experience any discomfort. We reviewed the Roccat ELO Air on a medium head size, so anyone with a larger head may find the fit a little tight, but a solid eight hours of wear didn\u2019t cause us any discomfort.<\/p>\n\n\n
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The detachable mic is very easy to plug in and pull out when required. <\/span>(Image credit: Future)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe controls on the Roccat Elo 7.1 Air are a little awkwardly arranged, with the in-game and voice-chat volume controls placed right next to each other. The buttons for mute and power are also awkwardly placed, but we found that after a few accidents it’s easy to develop some muscle memory for the control locations, so you\u2019re not accidentally muting yourself in the team chat (lest your friends think you\u2019re AFK).<\/p>\n
The software for the Roccat Elo 7.1 Air has some fun settings, like the Turtle Beach \u2018superhuman hearing\u2019 feature, which, assisted by the 7.1 virtual surround sound and 50mm audio drivers, boosts in-game audio such as footsteps to allow for enhanced security against fragging and sneak shots. You can also mess around with various settings to distort your voice into monster, cartoon, male or female. The results are super-fun, and while the gendered settings aren\u2019t entirely accurate, they can help you to hide your identity and provide some anonymity in online games should you require it.<\/p>\n\n\n
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The two scrolling controls are placed very close to each other, which is a bit of a pain. <\/span>(Image credit: Future)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWe did notice that the audio isolation isn\u2019t as good as on some other gaming headsets that promise noise cancellation, and you\u2019re still able to hear some muffled background sounds if you\u2019re in a loud environment, but as you\u2019re only going to be using the Roccat Elo 7.1 Air in the comfort of your own home this shouldn\u2019t be a deal-breaker (unless you live somewhere particularly noisy).<\/p>\n
The microphone quality is also surprisingly good for a headset in this price range, and features something called TrueVoice technology. This enables you to hear yourself in playback, and actually relays an accurate sample of your own voice, rather than sounding like a bizarre echo. Having the option to fully remove the mic also means that if you choose to upgrade to a USB mic in the future, you can still rock the Roccat Elo 7.1 Air headset as a set of wireless gaming headphones.<\/p>\n\n\n
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The overall finish of the headset is lovely, with embossed lettering on the headband and plush earcups. <\/span>(Image credit: Future)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nRoccat promises up to 24 hours of battery life, a claim we found to be accurate when testing the device, and even after a night flashing RGB lighting to itself when we forgot to plug it in to charge, still managed a solid few hours of gameplay. The headset charges via a standard USB-C cable, which is much faster than older micro-USB connections, so you\u2019re likely to have one lying around if you misplace the provided cable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Roccat Elo 7.1 Air provides lots of small comforts, from the Roccat Swarm software for audio and lighting adjustments, to the earcup mechanism swiveling to softly rest on your collarbones when not in use. The Bluetooth range is fabulous, allowing us to walk around a house whilst maintaining audio, even when downstairs making coffee. Save for a small few issues with creaking metal and oddly placed controls, this is a fantastic buy for anyone looking to rid themselves of pesky wires during gameplay.<\/p>\n\n\n
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The Roccat ELO Air gaming headset is a great budget-friendly option for anyone looking to ditch wired audio. <\/span>(Image credit: Future)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n