Let’s get this out of the way first: a pastel pink headset with cat ears that you can stick on to it isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea.
But if it is your cup of tea, then you’re in for a treat. I initially wasn’t sure what to expect of the quality of the Edifier G2 ii headset; after all, it’s hardly a household brand name like Steelseries or Turtle Beach. But based on my time with the headset, it probably should be. It’s quality-built, exceedingly comfortable to wear, and even has additional features like RGB lighting to boot.
I was a little disappointed to find that I had to stick the cat ears on myself. They come pre-backed with double-sided sticky tape (along with a spare set of stickers, if for some reason the first loses its stickiness). It’s not a major issue – and means the headset fits in the box better – but it allows for a bit of wonkiness when applying them yourself. Thankfully, I think I did a decent job and now, when I’m playing my favourite game, I can don cat ears. Meow. My own cats didn’t look too impressed with my impersonation of them, however.
The headset itself is very light, which means it’s very comfortable to wear. The ear cups are soft and large enough to encompass your whole ear, and the band, although sturdy, has a soft inner so it rests softly on your head. The mic detaches, so if you don’t want to use it, you don’t need to worry about it sitting idly besides your face. Simply connect it when you want to use it; otherwise, you have a very nice audio-only headset.
On the sides of each earcup is a ‘H’ logo for Hecate – the gaming brand Edifier uses on certain products. These light up, cycling through a rainbow of RGB colours. That’s nice for the people around you, but unless you’re going to be on camera you’re not going to get the benefit of them yourself, but it’s a nice touch all the same. Even nicer is the fact that the inline controls – built into the cable – allow you to toggle the lighting on and off, so if you’d rather not be too flashy that’s fine.
The inline control also has a volume wheel, allowing you to adjust the volume up and down independently of the device the headset is connected to. There’s also a light, indicating whether your microphone is on or off (if you’ve got it connected, of course), and a control switch to toggle it on and off. It’s a fairly chunky in-line control box, so it’s easy to put your hand on.
There’s one major downside to the Edifier G2ii headset if you’re a console gamer: it has a USB connection. Xbox consoles don’t let you use USB headsets at all, and while PlayStation consoles should work fine with it, it means you need to be sat close enough to your console to plug it in. It’s been designed with PC connections in mind, so if you frequently game with a PC at a desk or a laptop, then it won’t be a problem at all for you.
The most important thing, though, is how the headset sounds – and I’ve been pleasantly surprised. For a headset that retails for $60, the sound quality here is excellent. It might not rival the very top end of the market, but for its price point, it’s superb. Sounds are crisp, there’s a nice range of tones, and I never experienced any distortion. The 7.1 surround sound effect works admirably too, with sounds appearing to come from different directions.
Overall, then, if you’re looking for a budget headset with excellent sound and a few bells and whistles to boot, you can’t go wrong with the Edifier G2 ii. The pink cat ears are merely a nice bonus. Though you can get it in boring black or white if you’d prefer. No cat ears with those though, so what’s the point?
