Alienware 510H - Review

Headsets are fast becoming my favourite piece of hardware to review, they not only manage to combine a functional piece of tech, but lately they have started to lose the everything has to be shaped the same way look and each seems to bring their own flair to the table. Alienware are well known for their bulkier hardware, but how do they fair when they take that knowledge and apply it to something much smaller, like a headset.

As always a headset is broken down into two parts, the first is the function, does it perform as advertised and form, does it look good and feel nice to wear, because if it fails either, it fails as a headset, so let’s start with form, basically can you wear it? The simple answer is sort of, but that is going to depend on the individual, let’s start off with the ear cups though, as they are the most important part. The shape of the cups are taller more than they are round, to allow for a snugger fit over the ear, a shape that many are adapting to lately. The padding around the cups is a little weird, it is foam, but has a faux leather wrap around the outside, with a mesh covering on the front and while it is soft and is comfy, the inner wall also contains a faux leather wrap as well, which feels odd. The upside is that wearing them for an hour or more, isn’t a problem due to their softness, they just provide an odd sensation at first, so there is some adjustment.

The cups are connected to the headband by a side panel, their connection to that panel is more of ball joint, allowing for freedom for the cups to sit as they need on your head. There is some movement up and down, so finding a position where it sits well on your head should be pretty simple, the issue lies with the headband. The band itself is a solid piece of plastic on the outside and a soft padded inner, the issue is that the headband is completely inflexible, and because of that, if you give it too much in either direction, it starts to feel like it might break. Even going to put the band on, can provide that sense that you are about to break it, which is not a great design element for a headset and when it is on, whatever shape your head is in, the band will try and force itself back to the shape it was made at.

In terms of external options, there are very few, there is a port for your cord connection, of which there are a few choices and the microphone, which lives inside the left ear cup. That is it, there are no volume controls, no on/off switch, nothing that you might expect to find on a modern gaming headset. This is a bit of a blessing and a curse; the blessing is that there are no random things that may mess up your gaming experience. The flip side is that the volume control is located on the cord, which if you are using the 3.5mm connection is just a wheel, if you go USB, you get the ability to mute the mic and while the USB offers firmer options, you still run the risk of changing settings without meaning too. The issue I had with the cable placement, was that every time I would move my head in any direction, the bottom of the cable, as it extended out from the headset, would rub against my shoulder. This was really distracting and I am sure after months of use, I might not have any problem with that, but it was just so weird to feel something on my shoulder, should I move my head.

Now though, we come to the sound, the main reason to get a headset and thankfully Alienware have done a remarkable job with the quality of the audio. No matter what it was, gaming, music, movies or even chatting, the audio came through crisp and clear, which is a good thing, though there are some concerns for that true audiophiles out there. The basic headset audio does a solid job in almost every setting I could throw at it, the problem comes from music or really any source where bass is considered a must have and it boils down to the headset has none. If you were only going to be using this headset for music, I would tell you not to and look elsewhere and again, while the quality of the sound is really good, it just sounds hollow, compared to dedicated music headsets.

The headset doesn’t offer any noise cancellation, but with how the earcups are shaped, outside noises feel like they are cut down pretty significantly, which helps the headset. Even when used at a low volume, it was rare to hear noises from outside of the headset, due to the seal that the cups provided, but they are not meant to stop noise, so really loud sounds will still make their way through. When the headset was cranked up, there wasn’t any distortion to the sound, nor any crackle in the speakers, and while you wouldn’t have a headset up that loud for too long, if you choose to, the levels are still fine.

The only real downside to the audio for me, comes with the microphone and that is for two reasons, one is that it is a retractable microphone, which never feel right to me. When not in use, the microphone can be pushed back inside the left ear cup, though this is not the first headset to offer it, the problem is when you use it, you need to position the microphone itself, pretty close to your mouth. The issue stems from the fact that the headset doesn’t like to stay put as it will try to adjust back to its former shape and this is not a major move, but it was enough to require me to readjust it a lot and when I was trying to chat with folks, having to do that was frustrating.

Alienware have built a solid headset, the sound quality is excellent and while it does favour games over music, it is a gaming headset, so that is totally expected. The shape of the earcups are great and while the cold leather around the outside and in, takes some getting used to, the softness of the foam is wonderful and shouldn’t bother you during any lengthy gameplay session. The headband is a little in inflexible, so you need to be sure you can wear it comfortably, because there is not a lot of give there and while the 3.5mm jack connection is in a weird place, it may not bother you as much as it did me. It has a solid range of volume, with clean and crisp sounds, no matter the level and the microphone can pick up your voice, without needing to shout. If you are looking for a quality, all-rounder headset, the Alienware 510H is one to consider, it offers enough connection types, to allow for use on almost every device you can think of.

The Score

8.5

Review unit provided by Alienware

The Pros

+Comfortable to wear, no matter how long you do

+The quality of the sound is excellent in games, movies and more

The Cons

-When used for music from a phone, the bass levels are a little low

-The connection port is oddly placed, and will likely rub against your should when using the headset