Headset Review: Gioteck TX50 Premium Stereo Gaming Headset
The Gioteck TX50, I’m going to start straight off with saying, is a decent budget headset. I’ve been using the same headset and mic for a good few years, which is testament to the quality of that particular brand (Turtle Beach P11 if you’re curious). Being essentially the same price as those ones, I feel they are a good comparison point, and overall I think I would rate them the same – though there being things I like and don’t like about either. I’m not going to go into any detail about the other headset, but just know I’m not comparing this to your expensive, professional setups.
The first thing I rate about the TX50 is its visual design. While this is clearly the most subjective element of the device, personally I like its colours and the shape of its ear muffs. They’re sleek and mechanical enough looking without being too much or tacky, which is a look I appreciate and fits well with the designs of modern devices and peripherals. It’s also very comfortable, which is something it does better than my current/previous headset – providing enough padding with a material that isn’t itchy or too heavy. It fits well on my head, doesn’t slide off, and is adjustable enough that those with big noggins can adapt.
Sound quality is what you might expect from a headset of this calibre. This isn’t intended as a criticism, as actually I expected the headset to be of good quality anyway, and it’s a good device for, not just immersing yourself in games, but also listening to music, watching videos and movies, etc. The levels set well with each other at default with no obvious discernible weaknesses to, say, bass or treble – it’s not harsh or muffled or too quiet, it’s just about right. If you’re wanting something more modifiable or to experience a real high quality of sound, despite the “premium” in the title, the TX50 isn’t really going to offer that, but again, I don’t think you can really expect that of this particular headset.
A big bug bear for me with headsets is whether or not they ‘contain’ sound well. Wanting to listen to music in privacy, or to not bother your family or housemates is quite important and unfortunately most headsets seem to fail at this. The TX50 isn’t going to revolutionise on that pattern, but it does do an okay job of not letting too much sound escape – and it’s certainly better than my other headset in this respect. It works well for playing games or watching videos as long as you haven’t got the sound set too high, but if you want to listen to music at a decent volume, others are not going to be protected from hearing it. I wouldn’t recommend using these on the bus anyway, mostly due to its size, but if you were so inclined this won’t prevent you from annoying those around you.
The noise cancelling aspect, however, is of a decent degree. You can keep yourself properly immersed in whatever you are doing – not being distracted or bothered by conversations or other media playing around you – while also not be utterly oblivious if your attention is needed. A bit of a dramatic example, but you’re not going to be unaware if your fire alarm goes off.
Installation of the device on your hardware is essentially non-existent (the PC might do a little install, but it’s nothing that requires any input on your part), and with the benefits of modern hardware and peripherals, the headset proves quite useful and versatile. The instructions provided explain clearly how to make the headset operate fully on your consoles, and essentially you can just use the headset straight out of the box. It comes as standard with a short cable which is compatible with your PS4, Xbox One and PC, and this can be plugged into the controller (with a 3.5mm jack) of either of the mentioned consoles. It’s clear that this was designed for input into devices that are in your hands or on your person, and for this purpose it is brilliant. If you aren’t going to use with a controller however, and want to use with your desktop PC, you will either have to input into a compatible keyboard or into your desktop. The latter is unfortunately unmanageable, unless you’re sitting on your computer, and even with my desktop right next to my chair I found the headset starting to disconnect every 5 minutes. Using with your keyboard could also be clunky unless you have one with a jack on the bottom end of it so the cable doesn’t get in your way. On this basis I probably wouldn’t recommend for desktop PC users, and as standard I think PC headsets need to be either wireless or come with longer cables. Laptop use should be fine though.
The microphone is flexible and can be bent to adjust distance from your face, however as default it can’t be put too close to your mouth. I didn’t use this all that much due to not being a prolific online gamer, but I have no complaints with this feature. It does its job, though I wouldn’t recommend using it to record sound at high quality.
Despite the minor criticism however, I am impressed with the TX50. You will find it in some of the other reviews of the headset online, and I tend to agree that what is offered for the price is very good indeed. The going rate for this is about 30 quid, and with a sturdy, comfortable design and good sound quality you can’t really go wrong if you just want a decent headset without breaking the bank.
The only thing I might have to wait and see about is if the cable lasts the long run as this is the only part of the headset that feels a bit flimsy. Going back to my Turtle Beach headset, that device has a thick, hard cord that feels like you’d have to take shears to it in order to tear, whereas the TX50 feels like I could tear its cord with my teeth. Hopefully this is more a sign of flexibility than flimsiness, and that the cord will experience no issues if you take care of it. Otherwise though, it’s a definite recommendation for console players (and PC players with applicable controllers or laptops) if you are in the market for a simple, easy, good quality new headset.