Sennheiser GSP 370 Wireless - Review
It seems that every few months, a new headset rolls onto the market, promising something crazy, that while drawing in people, will usually under deliver. Sennheiser have been quietly plugging away in the market for gaming headsets, but they made a splash with their first wireless headset earlier in the year, the GSP 670 but they did not stop there, they have the 370 and promise 100 hours of battery life, the question is, does it live up to the hype?
If you have seen, or own a set of the GSP 670, then stylistically the 370’s won’t look that different, they are very similar in both look and feel. The headband, across the top of the device, is made from a solid plastic, but contains gaps for airflow and the padded underside has been split, to allow for a more even distribution of comfort, as heads are not the same shape all the way around. The earcups, one of the most crucial parts of any headset, features a twin design in materials, on the outer of each is a leather like material, which gives more durability, but on the inside you get a suede like material instead, which breaths a lot more, meaning you can keep the headset on as long as you want, while remaining cool around the ears. The cups are elongated shapes, meaning that they will fit most ears without issue, in fact on my head the cups fit almost perfectly, without any excess in cup around the ear, something I am grateful for, as it meant that they were unlikely to move during gaming. The other thing to consider is weight, as a wireless headset, there is more packed inside than most and longer sessions with it on it can be awkward, but the 370’s are light, not the lightest I have ever used, but very light indeed, weighing a staggering 285g, they are just over 30g lighter than my iPhone.
Of course, looks aside, the other crucial aspect of any set of headphones is how they sound and much like the 670’s, they sound amazing. Sennheiser have managed to balance the audio levels that are generated, without the need for human modification, meaning that if you plug and play, you will be set, perfect for the PlayStation 4. On the PC, you can install the Sennheiser suite and mess around with the balances and such if you choose to, but I felt there was no need, across the board, music, movies and games, the default suited perfectly, if I was going to use them exclusively for one, I might have spent time in there, but I honestly didn’t see the point. Throwing on some music and just listening, without worry about cords or the battery dying, was honestly one of the best parts, which speaks to the witchcraft that Sennheiser must have done, in order to accomplish the 100 hours of battery.
When I got the headset, the first thing I did was charge it for a few hours, once it was done, I started to use it, played through some games on PC and PlayStation 4, watched some Disney+ and some episodes of Amazon Prime Video and even after dozens of hours of content, I had not heard any sounds indicating that the battery was getting low, it was still just chugging away. There is a small light on the left earcup that provides a visual indicator of how much charge is left, dark green means fully charged, and the lighter green means over 50 hours still and there is where it was. In fact, I was able to watch all of Jack Ryan Season 2 and three of the Star Wars movies, before the battery went to yellow, which means there was still over 20 hours left, that could be 21 hours or 49, there is no distinction on that. In fact, I never got it down to the less than one hour, which looking at the manual, states it will flash red, before I decided to charge it up again, so the short answer is yes, the battery life is as promised.
As this is headset designed for gaming, it comes with a microphone built onto it and it offers the basics that all do, lift to mute and such, but the mic does offer noise cancelation on itself, which is a nice touch. With the ability to move the mic around, with the flexible portion of the arm, located in the middle, you can get the best spot for yourself, but with the active noise cancelation, you need not worry about external factors, I tested it in game and just attempting to pick up background noises on the PC and it worked quite well, sounds that were close by, but already soft did slip through, but that were few and far times between.
Sadly though, we must now talk about the issues with the headset and there are two, one is a gripe and the other is a big deal, but let’s start with the smaller of the two, the mic arm. The middle portion of it is flexible, giving you some control over where it sits, but it is not that flexible and in addition, much like the 670’s you are not able to remove it, leaving you stuck with it on at all times. The other downside, which is a far bigger problem is that of the volume adjuster, located on the right earcup, the wheel is large, matching the design of the left side, where the microphone is attached. The problem is that the wheel is so large, it barely clears the headband connection point, which when attempting to modify the volume during gaming becomes an issue. The issue is that when dialling down or even up the volume, my finger would move around the wheel, taking it along, only to then get wedged inside the little gap between the wheel and connection point and making state that this is the first time I have had a headset that bites.
Sennheiser have crafted a headset that is comfortable, delivers on the audio side of things, but most importantly, delivers on its major advertised point, that insane battery life. There are some issues, but if you are looking for a headset that will see you through for months and years to come, this should be at the top of your list.
Headset provided by Sennheiser for review