The gaming industry continues to grow, with people spending thousands and thousands of hours playing different types of games. Millennials and Gen-Z alike have found comfort in gaming, especially during these tough times. At the start of the lockdown in 2020, we saw a rise in popularity of multiplayer games like Among Us, and in 2021, moving to the next generation. playstation 5 And xbox series x And Series S Consoles launched.
It is an industry that continues to grow and is one of the many companies to make a mark here. LOGITECH, The Swiss manufacturer is well known in the gaming beat for products such as gaming mice, headsets and keyboards. company recently launched Logitech G435 gaming headset in India, priced at Rs. 7,495. Is this the best pair of gaming headphones you can buy under Rs 10,000 right now? I spent about two weeks with the headphones on, and here’s my full review.
The Logitech G435 Lightspeed’s design sports the usual gaming aesthetic but nothing flashy
photo credit: robin john/gadgets360
Logitech G435 Lightspeed Design and Specifications
The headset follows your usual gaming aesthetic for the ear cups and headband, but without the excess shine. Personally, I’m not a big fan of RGB on headsets, but many buyers want this feature and may be disappointed to find it absent. The headset is available from online retailers such as Amazon India and Flipkart, and comes in three color variants – Off White and Lilac, Blue and Raspberry, and Black and Neon Yellow. I have Black and Neon Yellow color variants for review. The entire headset is black, while the buttons are neon yellow.
The left earcup houses all the buttons and controls, including the power on/off button, placed just below the battery level indicator light, followed by volume up and down buttons, and a mute button. You also get dual microphones on the left earcup. Unlike most gaming headsets, Logitech has gone for a beamforming microphone instead of a boom arm. There is also a USB Type-C port on the left ear cup for charging. The right earcup only houses the Logitech logo and nothing else.
Gaming peripherals, especially headphones, are notorious for being heavy, and in some cases, almost as big as your head. The G435 aims to do just the opposite. It’s probably the lightest gaming headset I’ve used, weighing in at 165 grams; for reference, HyperX The Cloud Core 7.1 weighs around 300 grams without the boom microphone.
The entire headset is made of plastic and this helps in controlling the weight. LOGITECH It also states that the G435 uses at least 22 percent post-consumer recycled plastic material. 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 documentation, and the Logitech G435 headset.
Neon yellow and black give a very minimalistic look to the Logitech G435 Lightspeed
photo credit: robin john/gadgets360
The ear cups are adjustable and installed on rails, so they can be adjusted up and down for comfort and a proper fit. However, there is no rotation. It is worth noting that these rails seem a little too finicky and delicate. The headset survived a few accidental falls from a reasonable height, but I’m concerned about whether it will last that long.
The memory foam on these ear cups is very comfortable, and I didn’t face any issues with them during long gaming sessions. The inner plastic covering the drivers isn’t fabric-coated and has large openings, so you have to be careful of dirt entering them. The headband frame is made of plastic and has no cushioning, just a sleek fabric that slightly pads it.
While this could have been an issue if it were a bulky headset, I didn’t face any discomfort during my time with the Logitech G435 Lightspeed. It fit well for me and I didn’t have any comfort problems.
The memory foam on the ear cups is soft and comfortable, especially for long hours of gaming
photo credit: robin john/gadgets360
Controls on the Logitech G435 Lightspeed were a little confusing for me in the first few hours I spent with it. Holding down the power button will turn the headset on or off, while a 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’s red it’s between 15 and 30 percent, and if it’s flashing red for about five seconds, that means the battery level. is below 15 percent. It is a guessing game as there is no voice prompt to provide accurate battery level.
The mute button also serves as a connectivity button. The Logitech G435 Lightspeed can be connected to your device using the company’s own Lightspeed dongle or Bluetooth. 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 tackle that, the G435 comes with a Lightspeed dongle, which is included in the box. Pressing the mute button for three seconds or more will switch between these two connectivity options.
All controls are located on the Logitech G435 Lightspeed’s left earcup
photo credit: robin john/gadgets360
If the indicator lights up in cyan, it means that the device is now in Lightspeed mode, and if it shows blue, it means that Bluetooth is enabled. Lightspeed has less latency than Bluetooth. LightSpeed can also be used with gaming consoles and PCs, while you can use Bluetooth for smartphone gaming or just for watching movies and listening to music.
During my use, I generally preferred LightSpeed connectivity due to the low latency, though I did encounter a bug. If you have two USB ports side-by-side, one is being used by a Lightspeed dongle and the other is being used by another, there may be times when you hear a lot of distortion in the sound output . In my case, I always had an external hard disk attached, but once I unplugged it, there was no more distortion to hear. That issue aside, connecting the device is a breeze and switching between Bluetooth and Lightspeed is also quite intuitive.
Logitech G435 LiteSpeed Performance and Battery Life
As for sound quality, the Logitech G435 has 40mm drivers that are capable of producing good sound with good highs and lows for the most part. The sound quality isn’t exceptional by any means, but it’s not bad either. It should satisfy all your gaming needs.
I have played a large number of games such as . Headphones Tested With ValorantApex Legends, CS:GOBack 4 Blood, Tomb Raider, and forza horizon 5, In a first-person shooter game, any sound cues can be the difference between life or death, and the Logitech G435 did very well on that front.
The soundstage is quite balanced. You can hear explosions and rumbles even when the volume level isn’t too high. I was able to understand where all my targets were and whether they were moving from site to site in Valorant and CS:GO.
It’s also important to understand the direction of origin of the sound effects, and what the headset was able to reproduce neatly. If you keep the volume above 85 percent, there is a slight sound leakage. There’s no active noise cancellation and the memory foam ear cups allow some outside sound to come in, leaving insufficient passive noise isolation.
Logitech G435 Lightspeed comes with a beam-forming microphone on the left ear cup
photo credit: robin john/gadgets360
Logitech has gone with a beamforming microphone on the G435 Lightspeed headphones instead of the traditional boom arm, and I’m not sure that was a wise choice. Voice quality is good as the two microphones are close to your mouth. However, they pick up on a lot of ambient noise and fellow gamers. discord Wasn’t happy about it. Boom microphones are a better option, but this would have added to the weight of the headset.
Logitech claims the G435 Lightspeed can last up to 18 hours on a single charge, and I was able to get close to that during my time with the review unit. I got about 17 hours of use per charge, with the volume typically around 80 percent. I was able to switch on Bluetooth and connect to my smartphone and take a few calls in the meantime.
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 connectivity, which is a bit disappointing for a gaming headset. If you run out of power mid-game, you have no choice but to switch to another device or wait for it to charge.
The Logitech G435 Lightspeed Has a Dedicated Mute Button
photo credit: robin john/gadgets360
The Logitech G435 also doesn’t support Lightspeed G-Hub, the proprietary software provided by Logitech for PC users to tamper with the settings on their devices. This basically means that you cannot adjust the Equalizer, Bass Boost, or Volume Boost settings on this pair of headphones. For this you have to depend on the output settings of your console or PC.
Decision
Logitech’s vision for the G435 Lightspeed was very clear from the start; The company wanted the device to be affordable enough for entry-level smartphone and console gamers, while also being lightweight and comfortable to wear for long periods of time. The headset fixes a few things but completely misses out on other basic aspects.
Lightspeed integration is a smart move as it reduces latency while allowing for the convenience of wireless connectivity. However, the microphone is less than ideal for a gaming headset.
The Logitech G435 Lightspeed is priced at Rs. 7,495 in India
photo credit: robin john/gadgets360
Overall, the Logitech G435 is a good pair of headphones, and may be worth considering for entry-level users. There are a few other options in this price range that might be worth considering, such as the Razer Nari Essential which starts at Rs. 8,341 and also works as a wired headset, or JBL Quantum 400 Which has USB connectivity for audio and a boom microphone.
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