Logitech G435 Headphones Review: Colorful Dilemma
Purchase Price: $79.99
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When it comes to gaming headsets, the wide range of products on the market occupy just about every price segment imaginable. From my experiences with these types of headsets, there isn’t really a perfected type of material layout that gives gamers the ideal experience. If an OEM designs a headphone with high quality materials, it might be too heavy on the head and strain the user during gaming sessions. If an OEM uses lighter plastic material, it offsets that issue but makes the headset feel cheap. Logitech has a wide range of gaming peripherals and one of their newest products are these G435 wireless Bluetooth headsets. With a rather charming identity and an affordable price tag at $79.99, has Logitech finally figured out the perfect gaming headphone configuration for the masses?
Color and weight
The first thing you’ll notice about the G435 is just how lightweight they are. They are by far the lightest over ear headphones I have ever held in my hands. Weighing in at 165 grams, it’s so extreme that sometimes I feel like I’m using a toy instead of a near $100 gaming headset. The second thing you’ll immediately be drawn to are the playful color palette choices that Logitech chose to go with. The set I purchased consists of a sharp blue with a variety of pink shades to compliment the base color. They’re eye-catching and kind of an eye sore as well after a while. Oddly enough I do dig them for some reason. The hot pink ear cups pop off the charts from a distance surrounded by a 1980s workout party vibe aura. Obviously to make something as light as this, there’s a lot of plastic that ends up around your head. It does feel cheap in that regard, but the overall quality in which the headset was assembled together is quite solid. The memory foam cushions feel comfortable with a plushy absorbent clasp around the ears. I’ve gamed for a few consecutive hours with them on and I have yet to have any fatigue in that area.
Accenting the uniqueness of the design are a set of coiled cables (matching the accent color) connecting the headband to the ear cups. I’m actually not sure if that cable actually has any mechanical uses or if it’s strictly a design choice, but they scare me. It’s just a sharp corner of the desk away from tearing off. The headband part invokes more cognitive dissonance in me as I love the carbon neutral choices of material Logitech chose to use on this set, but once again I can’t seem to ease away from the fear of tearing a hole through the delicate sleeve.
Optimized for smaller heads
This whole review is essentially an internal (uh external) dilemma between the benefits of an extremely lightweight product and the perceived lack of durability due to that said lightweightness. Regardless of all that I just mentioned, I do find the G435 to be quite comfortable on my head. Logitech advertises that these headphones were “optimized for smaller heads” (which I find hilarious as a selling point). My head is quite big thanks to all that hot air, but the headset does sit flush just about fully extended on my skull. I’m a pretty big fan of the fluid sliders that serve as a means to adjust the length of coverage on my head. It’s such a smooth and fluid motion that is illustrated by seeing that aforementioned coil— well coil!
This whole review is essentially an internal (uh external) dilemma between the benefits of an extremely lightweight product and the perceived lack of durability due to that said lightweightness
Two additional things I liked about the design are the removal of the mic arm and USB-C as a charging port. This is strictly a Bluetooth wireless headset, so that port is only used for charging purposes. Logitech claims you’ll only need to plug it in every 18 hours of use, but I’ve been seeing somewhere between 12-15. That’s overall still quite solid for a true wireless (what Logitech calls LIGHTSPEED) experience that can be used up to 32 ft away from its receiver. As for the armless microphone, it blends the image of a gaming headset with an all-purpose one. I personally like that more than the call-center look of a headset with a microphone arm. The microphone doesn’t pick up the cleanest audio even by lowered gaming standards, but at least it does a decent job of isolating the voice as its main source of wavelength pickup. There’s a mute button located under the volume rockers and power button. Always great to have an easily accessible microphone shut off button.
How’s the Sound?
I’ve been using the G435 not only for gaming, but for all my media listening functions this past month. When listening to music, I hear a warm tone with balanced distribution throughout various spectrums. It surprised me with a pretty full sounding palette of audio that I wasn’t expecting based on its toy-ish appearance. One thing I do dislike is the high volume of sound leakage being emitted with the headset on your head. I don’t think there’s a need for noise cancellation on gaming headsets, but the amount of sound leaking out of these headphones even at 50% volume is considerably more than many of my other headsets. If I’m playing a game with them on, someone in the same room who may be working would find it distracting for sure.
Final Thoughts
I find the Logitech G435 to be many differing things at the same time: charming but quirky, lightweight but cheap feeling, nice sounding but disturbing, put together nicely but fragile feeling. If this was a $50 piece, I’d be more likely to swallow more of those potential worries to pocket the benefits. At $80, I can list off at least a handful of headsets that I find to be higher quality in feel, but not necessarily in comfort. There are obvious trade offs with the G435. When you consider that the G435 is smushed right into the middle of the lineup between the cheaper Logitech G335 and the more expensive G733 and it makes considering this for a purchase even more difficult as they’re all separated by a mere $50. I’d recommend looking at the G435 if you want something that has a bit of charm that values form factor over anything else. They really do sit more comfortably for longer periods of time than just about any headset I’ve used. I just hope they last awhile.
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Alex
Caught in between the conundrum of his fascination with retro and the future, Alex has a very unique taste in technology. Never one to follow trends like his millennial peers yet constantly desiring to get ahead of the curve, he sees technology like he does his other love: comic books. Always looking for the best value or a hidden gem, his collector mindset reflects on some of his favorite gadgets: the Moto X (2015), HTC U11 and the Google Pixelbook. If there’s a good tech deal out there, Alex is on the hunt!