You’re spoilt for choice when it comes to purchasing a headset for gaming these days.
Chances are though, you’re going to want to buy into a brand you can rely on. A brand that balances build quality with features and affordability. A brand like Turtle Beach, or ROCCAT. And so here we are with the ROCCAT Elo 7.1 Air, a wireless headset for PC that provides 24 hours of aural pleasure on a single charge. Priced at £89.99/$99.99, we think it’s rather good. Exceptional, in fact.
In the box you get the headset (of course), along with a mic that can be easily attached whenever you need it, a quick start guide, a charging cable, and a USB dongle. If you have a Windows 10 PC, getting the ROCCAT Elo 7.1 Air up and running is as easy as can be – you simply plug in the USB dongle, turn on the headset, and away you go. Windows installs all the drivers you need to get up and running, and the headset and dongle sync automatically.
The headset itself looks fantastic. Aside from some LED lighting on each of the cups, it’s quite understated; it’s sleek and not too flashy, and feels like a premium product. It’s cleverly designed, too, with a self-adjusting metal headband allowing you to fit it on your head perfectly without any hassle. The only caveat is, if you have a particularly small head, you might find it a bit loose. It merely snuggles your ears, rather than holding on to them for dear life. On the left cup, you’ll find a volume dial, a dial for variable mic monitoring, a button to turn the mic on and off, and a power button. There’s also an LED indicator that quickly gives you an idea of the charge level amongst other things, and a USB charge and update port.
The real magic happens when you turn the headset on, however. The ROCCAT Elo 7.1 Air provides sound that is crystal clear, and it also has a wonderful fullness to it. At default settings, everything’s nicely balanced. Whether you’re sitting down to play a video game or listen to music, you’ll be more than happy with it. Thanks to it being wireless, you’re not just confined to your chair, either. I was able to roam the house with the headset connected to my PC, and in only one small area did the connection begin to stutter. If you stay within 5 metres of the dongle, chances are you’ll have no issues whatsoever.
If you want to get the most out of the ROCCAT Elo 7.1 Air, though, you’ll need to install some software. With ROCCAT Swarm installed, available for free from ROCCAT’s website, the headset’s 7.1 surround sound feature becomes available, allowing you to become more immersed in your games. A Superhuman Hearing setting can be enabled as well, bringing to the forefront certain audio cues that will help gamers gain the upper hand. Both 7.1 and Superhuman Hearing settings work well, though audio purists won’t want to enable the latter as it does interfere with the natural balance of things.
There are other benefits to installing the Swarm software, too. You can control the lighting of the ROCCAT logos on each earcup for example, because why not? And you’re also able to access EQ and microphone settings. It basically allows you to tweak your headset to your personal preferences. Many will probably never touch these settings, but they’re there if you need to.
While the ROCCAT Elo 7.1 Air is designed and marketed for PC, it can also be used with the PS5, and presumably the PS4. I plugged the dongle into my PS5 and the console picked it up without any issue. Then, turning on the headset, I was happy to find that the sound worked flawlessly. The only caveat is that you can’t use the headset’s built-in volume control. Setting the volume to max within the PS5 settings results in a decent volume level that should suit most users, but those who like to assault their eardrums won’t be impressed.
For the asking price, I don’t think I’ve been as impressed with any other headset as I have the ROCCAT Elo 7.1 Air. Other headsets come close, such as the Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 2 which I also reviewed recently, but the ROCCAT wins out on both build and sound quality. So, if you’re after a wireless headset for your PC gaming needs and more, the ROCCAT Elo 7.1 Air comes highly recommended. If there’s a better headset in its price range, I’ve not tried it yet.
