Reviewing hardware is always a great time, because not only are you interested in function, but also form and style, the Stealth Gaming range has been around for a while and they have amped up there efforts in order to create an affordable range of gaming headsets that can suit everyone and that is where the XP range comes in.

The first thing that you will notice, in the Conqueror series is the striking Artic Camo look, which is a black and white colour scheme, with the black being splotchy in appearance, just to break up the white, this is the same effect that military use when they want to operate in the snow. The casing of the headset has very little else to its look, there are the Stealth logo on the outer of the cups and the Conqueror logo, on the inside of the band, it is a minimalistic approach and works quite well for them. Located only slightly above each cup is a solid black band, that acts as the divider to the headband and the adjustable portion of the band. The headband itself has a very large and soft padded portion, which stretches across the top, between the two black band and while there is very little resistance on it, as it regains it default shape soon after taking it off, there is enough comfort found that is will not bother in long sessions.

If there was a downside to the look and build of the headset, it comes in two parts, the first is that the ear cups are quite rounded, which is something that the headset makers have been moving away from, over the past few years. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but the size of the inner portion of the cup was a little too small for my ears, which meant leaving them on for longer periods left me with some sore helix, the top part of your ear. The other issue with the build, is that the headset felt loose on my head, not enough for it to fall off or anything, but if I shook my head in any sort of emphatic manner, the headset always felt like it would slide around, adjusting the band provided no fix to this. Of course, this could be due to the size of my head, or the ear cups not sitting comfortably on my ears, but it is something to keep in mind, when you are looking to get one for yourself.

Of course, looks can be important in a headset, but the more decisive indicator on how good a product is, comes when you use it, and the sound quality is quite nice. The 40mm drivers provide enough bass, as I found out when playing Control with them on, in the dark, to help sell larger moments in games. The range that the drivers can reach is quite impressive and while there are headset that sound clearer, they cost significantly, and as this is entry level product, the quality that you get, is pretty amazing. The microphone that is included, can actually be removed, so you can use the headset anywhere and not look a little weird for having the microphone sticking out and speaking of the microphone, it provided a very clear sound and was able to avoid the tin effect that I have encountered on other entry level headsets before.

Taking them to a music source, the output became a little weird, but only in a specific situation, connecting it to my iPhone, I kicked up Spotify and started to listen to some classic Australia rock, using the volume control on the cable, I found that when the volume is set to low, one ear is louder than the other. What was happening was just above off, the volume was equal on both sides, however a little higher and the left ear became the louder of the two, another notch up on the wheel and the right side took that spot. Eventually, at around 30% volume, they equalled out and sound came from both evenly, however I honestly thought it might have been the songs, as they were quite old, so I tried it with more modern music and the same issue happened again. As I thought it might be my adaptor, I used another and the same issue was happening there as well, so I can only conclude that it was the headphones. This is not something that you should take as a negative, as who would listen to music, with the volume to set to almost nothing, but it is a concern that it happens at all. Of course, back in the world of gaming, I was not able to replicate the issue, as for whatever reason, the games were able to keep enough loud noise going, to hide this.

The XP range of headset cover a wide variety of looks, the basic functions of them however are the same, so if you don’t like the Arctic camo and would prefer another colour, or pattern, you can do that. As one of the most affordable options for getting a good quality gaming headset, there is very little holding this back, the size of the ear cups will not impact everyone, so you need to take that into consideration, when it comes to your use of the headset. However, the lack of grip when wearing it, could be a problem and as the band has no real flexibility on it, this could be a deal breaker, especially for those that are enthusiastic about their gaming experiences.

Review unit provided by ABP Technology