Corsair HS70 SE Wireless Review: Our new favorite wireless cans?

What’s the gold standard for headphones? How can you review something so subjective and say. unequivocally, that it’s good, that it’s worth investing in? Us humans are all weird creatures, made from our experiences, nurture, our environment. Our senses are equally as unique. They can be fresh, they can be worn out. they can be flat, or tightly tuned, or they can simply prefer something different. So how on earth can any reviewer—be it us or any other publication, for that matter—go out and say. without a doubt, that these are some of the best headphones we’ve ever listened to? Well, we’ve got a simple test: Crank up the volume, listen to your favorite track, and see whether those cans make your hair stand on end. If that tingling sensation shoots across your shoulders and along your arms, if that track evokes an emotional response, we know we’re on to a winner.

That should give you a good idea as to where we’re heading with this review. Let’s start with a little preface, though: We re quite the connoisseurs of wireless headphones here at the mag. After all. when you spend your days using multiple machines at any given time, being wire- free makes your working life far more comfortable. Sure, they have their drawbacks—finite battery life is certainly the biggy. and sound quality over the wireless medium almost always suffers— but in contrast to the alternative, the improvement to your quality of life is just too tempting to pass up. even against some of the silly pairs of headphones we have in the office.

AIR STYLE

This is a set of Corsair’s newest HS70 SE Wireless headphones, and well be straight-up with you: They’re incredible. By far the best wireless headset…. Scrap that—we’ll even go so far as to say the best Corsair headset we’ve ever tested. Aesthetically, they’re a breath of fresh air. There’s no RGB here, the minimal amount of plastic is soft to the touch, the leather memory foam headband is embroidered in an array of different colors, and the overall feel of them is sturdy. These can take a hit.

that’s for sure. There’s the usual height adjustment on them, but that’s it.

It’s the audio, though, that carries these beauties: 50mm neodymium dynamic drivers drive both earcups, and although they only come packing a 20Hz-20kHz frequency response, they’re some of the most well-balanced coils we’ve ever seen from the gaming market. Equal even to HyperX’s now legendary Cloud series. Everything is crisp, everything is clear, they’re not too bass heavy, there’s very little distortion, and the mids don’t fall flat—it’s all very nice. Jump into Corsair’s CUE software to access the EQ presets, and you’re graced with a grand total of five separate profiles, all of which make quite a dramatic difference to the overall feel of the audio. But. again, nothing here is too harsh, and nothing leads to any distortion. The Bass Boost is our preferred EQ setting, because it pumps up that low end whilst also raising the treble just enough—you end up gaining clarity in the top end whilst securing that fat feel on the bottom. Simply glorious.

So. then, drawbacks? Well, apart from the lack of rotational movement, and no RGB for the, er, enthusiasts, you’re still limited to a 16-hour battery life before you need to recharge, and there’s no dock or the like. On top of that, the 7.1 virtual surround sound still kind of sucks, even in films and games. It’s just too synthetic, and you can tell—but. then, that is an optional extra; you don’t have to enable it. Ultimately, for the price, these cans are classy as hell, sound incredible, and are comfortable to boot. It’s hard not to love them. -zak storey

Corsair HS70 SE Wireless

Perfectly balanced; awesome price; aesthetically pleasing; good mic.

The 7.1 virtual surround sound sucks.

SPECIFICATIONS

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