Overall and Final Verdict
I’ll be the first one to admit that when putting together a new setup I will sacrifice on a lot of areas to get the best possible GPU. One of those areas that I’ve cut back has been with peripherals and headsets. It’s a little ironic because I also know that the only three things that you actually touch on your system is your mouse, keyboard, and headset and cutting back in those areas can mean less comfort and poor performance. Lucky for me companies like Corsair have been working on keeping the budget a little more friendly with things like the HS35. Now I would never say that the HS35 is competing with high-end headsets, in a lot of ways you do still get what you pay for. But what I found in my testing was the HS35 manages to maintain long term comfort even without using more expensive leathers or velour on the headband and earcups or a suspension headband. The HS35 is as simple as they come, an old school full-sized headset with oval earcups that fit completely over your ears combined with extra thick memory foam for comfort. Audio performance was great for this price range though there are limitations, I wouldn’t blast them at full volume. Lots of bass and highs should make most people happy though I would have preferred a more flat EQ.
The four color options give a few options without having to pack in RGB lighting that not everyone would like not to mention the cost that adds. Beyond that, I would have liked the HS35’s to have a side to side pivot on the earcups to help form to different head shapes. But overall I think the HS35’s are simpler, more comfortable, and better performing than headsets like the Viper 361’s that I took a look at a few years ago. Not forcing people to use a built-in USB sound card also helps keep the price down and opens up the option to use the HS35’s on game consoles as well.
Obviously, as I’ve hinted at a lot, the price for this headset is what makes or breaks it. Corsair isn’t trying to make the worlds best headset here, just a good performing option that is affordable. The MSRP of the HS35 is $39.99 and at that price, I think they did a good job. If you are looking to spend more I think there are a few options like the Arctis 3’s that could be a better option. But Corsair has found a nice sweet spot here for comfort, price, and performance.
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