More than a year ago, we told you about an affordable and high-quality wired headset ASUS TUF Gaming H3, and recently a wireless version of it came to our editorial office ASUS TUF Gaming H3 Wireless… We have tested it and are ready to share our impressions. The expected cost of new items will be about 8-9 thousand rubles.
PACKAGING AND COMPLETE SET
The headset comes in a gray-black double-layer cardboard box. The printing looks quite strict and striking. In addition to the product image and the ASUS and TUF Gaming brand logos, the front of the box also mentions certifications from TeamSpeek and Discord, as well as a PlayStation support note.
Behind the packaging, the manufacturer posted information about the main features of the ASUS TUF Gaming H3 Wireless. The box opens from the top – inside the headphones and all accessories are packed in a formatted transparent blister.
In the kit, in addition to the wireless headset itself, you will find a wireless dongle with a Type-C connector, a compact Type-C to Type-A adapter, a Type-C to Type-A charging cable, a brief instruction and a warranty.
APPEARANCE AND CHARACTERISTICS
Externally, ASUS TUF Gaming H3 Wireless looks identical to its wired version, only instead of a protruding wire from the left bowl, there is a Type-C connector for charging the headset.
The headphone weighs 313 grams, the dongle weighs another 4 grams (10 grams with the Type-A adapter). Unlike the wired version, which was available in four colors (Gun Metal, Gray, Blue, Red), the wireless model is content with Gun Metal only. The headset is actually black, and only the stainless steel frame stands out against this background.
On the inside of the metal, there are notches for adjusting the height of the headset. Black bowls are attached to it at a slight angle, and it’s worth noting right away that the headphones sit very comfortably.
Most of the metal is covered with a black soft headband, covered with eco-leather and has a memory effect. TUF GAMING is embossed on the top of the headband. The cups and headband are connected by external wires that have a black fabric braid. Between the soft headband and the metal frame there are small plastic inserts, on the inside of which the manufacturer not only depicted the embossed TUF Gaming logo, but also designated the channel name in the form of the letters L and R.
The cups are made of matte plastic, which is highly resistant to fingerprints. The outer part of the bowls in the middle is made in the style of brushed metal, and the embossed ASUS lettering flaunts in the middle.
Directly next to the ear cushions on the cup, the manufacturer uses a small glossy plastic insert around the circumference of the cup.
The ear cushions are made of eco-leather with the use of soft memory foam in the form of filler. The inside of the ear cushions has a small mesh to prevent dust and dirt from getting from the ears to the speakers.
Directly in the bowls themselves are hidden 50mm ASUS Essence speakers with sealed acoustic chambers. The frequency range of this headset is 20 – 20,000 Hz, and the impedance is 32 ohms.
The manufacturer decided to place all the connectors and buttons on the left bowl at the back and bottom. Above all is the on / off button for the microphone. Behind it is the volume control, which looks like a wheel. However, the sound is not adjusted by twisting it, but by deflecting the wheel from a position in the middle up or down. If you click on it, you can turn off the sound. Next is the button for turning on and synchronizing the headset with the dongle. The Type-C connector is located exactly at the bottom, and next to it there is a diode that notifies about the charging and operation of the device.
Closer to the front there is a non-removable microphone. A leg made of a bending metal tube allows you to bend the microphone in any direction by about 200 degrees, but if it is strongly bent, the tip automatically returns to the 180 degree position.
ASUS TUF Gaming H3 Wireless does not have a complete windscreen. It is equipped with a unidirectional microphone with a frequency range of 50 – 10,000 Hz with a sensitivity of -40 dB.
CONNECTION AND SOFTWARE
ASUS TUF Gaming H3 Wireless has the only connection option using a 2.4 GHz radio channel, which is carried out using a small complete USB Type-C dongle.
According to the official information, ASUS TUF Gaming H3 Wireless is compatible with PC, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch and smartphones.
We tested the connection on PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and Android 10 smartphone. The headset connected to all of the above devices without any problems. On a Windows 10 PC, the drivers were automatically installed by themselves and ASUS TUF Gaming H3 Wireless could be used even without proprietary software.
Since there is no Bluetooth connection here, the connection to the smartphone is carried out only using the complete dongle. Naturally, the smartphone should have a Type-C connector and OTG support.
ASUS TUF Gaming H3 Wireless fully unleashes its capabilities on a PC in conjunction with the official ASUS Armory Crate app. This application allows you to use all the functionality of the headset, including virtual 7.1 surround sound and microphone noise cancellation.
The settings menu of the headset itself is divided into three sections: sound, power and firmware update. The main section is sound, where both standard volume controls for speakers and a microphone are available, as well as additional ones in the form of a 10-band equalizer, which also have pre-prepared profiles for different musical genres. There is also a bass boost function, maintaining a constant volume level, improving the clarity of the voice of the reproduced content and a reverb function. The latter simulates the reflection of sound in different locations, for example, allows you to feel how the reproduced content would sound in a stadium, theater or studio. In addition, there are prepared general settings for different situations, such as listening to music, watching movies, playing games of different genres, or just talking on an audio chat. The microphone settings allow you to adjust the noise filter and voice enhancement. The remaining sections (power and firmware update) speak for themselves. In the first, you can monitor the battery charge level in percent, and in the second, a standard firmware update takes place over the air, if such an option is available.
SOUND, MICROPHONE AND BATTERY
And now we come to the most important indicator for this device – sound. Since this is a gaming headset, we first tested it in several games on PC (Forza Horizon 4, Death Stranding), PS5 (Demon’s Souls) and Nintendo Switch (Astral Chain).
ASUS TUF Gaming H3 Wireless offers great sound panning. In Forza Horizon 4, there was not much difference when using virtual surround sound and simple stereo, but in Death Stranding, the difference was very noticeable, especially during heavy rain, where the soundstage became much richer. Good surround sound also showed up in Demon’s Souls on PS5 when the 3D sound setting was turned on.
On the Nintendo Switch, we got excellent and very loud stereo sound from the ASUS TUF Gaming H3 Wireless. No distortions were observed at maximum volume in games during testing. True, the signal quality deteriorates if you go to the next room and there is a reinforced concrete wall between the headphones and the transmitter.
As for the quality of music playback on a PC, everything is very good. No distortion was noticed when listening to tracks in FLAC format at the default settings at maximum volume, unless, of course, you use the options “voice clarity” and “compressor” in the application. The first distorts the voices, and the second seems to clamp down on the sound, making it harder. Boosting the bass is a good idea to add depth if you are a big music lover with an emphasis on it. In general, I liked the way both medium and low sounded, but the high expression is a little lacking.
The microphone does its job well when communicating on mobile phones and while hanging out on PS5. The interlocutor clearly hears a voice, but still sometimes especially bright sounds in the background leak out during a conversation and insert their own word.
The battery is capable of providing about 15 hours on a single charge. In 7-8 hours, I managed to discharge the ASUS TUF Gaming H3 Wireless by half when used at a volume of 50 to 100% in different situations. I dare not say more precisely, since ASUS Armory Crate does not very informatively indicate the battery charge in increments of 25%.
TOTAL
ASUS TUF Gaming H3 Wireless is an excellent development of the budget H3 model, devoid of the shackles in the form of an interfering wire. In general, this is the same H3 that we tested a year earlier, that is, a solid headset with a good full-time virtual 7.1-channel sound, which is comfortable to play not only on a PC, but also on the PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch. And it was pleasant to listen to the music in it.
Author: Sergey Dyakonenko (Madnfs)
Photo: Alexey Olkin
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