Afterglow products have taken the budget gaming market by storm. Taking the products that you love, such as Xbox One Contollers and headsets and making a quality, more affordable version for the masses.
The newest AfterGlow product, the Xbox One Karga Wireless Headset was sent to us to review from parent company, PDP. How does it stack up against its competition or a regular set of headphones? Lets find out...
It must be noted for the sake of this review that our review unit we were sent actually snapped in half after three hours of use. This could very well be an isolated issue however, and PDP have sent us a replacement unit. The issue did not occur with the replacement unit so far, so I think we can give them the benefit of the doubt and say this was a one off issue. PDP does offer a limited warranty on all devices purchased which you can find more information about at their website.
The newest Karga headset is quite comfortable, with very large padded ear cups on each side that are covered in a soft faux leather material. The larger ear cups, combined with the soft padding make extended use for play sessions a breeze, as I experienced no discomfort over my prolonged use unlike other headsets. The adjustable arms connected to each ear cup are quite generous and can fit every shape/style of head with ease. I was surprised at how weightless the headset is, especially with the lighted outter ears and the higher quality drivers built in to the headset.
The headset sports high quality "custom built 50 mm drivers...and finely tuned acoustics" along with what is billed as a "flexible, noise cancelling mic" which was engineered for crystal clear communication.
I can say that while using the microphone over game sessions, I noticed my voice coming through a lot more clear than the previous AfterGlow headsets I have used. The microphone is flexible, but not totally plyable as to break or have the wires inside of it become broken with repeated use. It also slides into the headset when you're not using it which is a nice feature. I wish more companies would adopt the collapsable/slide in microphones so it doesn't look like a giant stick on the end of a headset when you're not using the mic (I'm lookin at you, Turtle Beach).
Sound quality was quite good in both games, movies, and using the headset with the included 3.5mm jack adapter to listen to music on my phone. I was quite pleased with how the sound was divided over each ear when playing games such as Battlefield, and I noticed small things like footsteps or bullet shots much more than I had with with my previous headset, a Plantronics Gamecom. My only real complaint is that it always felt like i need to turn up the volume just a little bit more to get the desired sound level I was looking for. I suspect this will easily vary by user, and can't knock it too much.
Overall the headset performed quite well. I was pleased with the sound quality both coming into the headset, and coming out of the microphone. It's a great addition to the AfterGlow line up and at $99 USD, it is worthy of consideration when looking at an Xbox One headset this holiday season. If you're interested in picking up this headset don't forget to use the code SENSHUDO for 22% off the price, saving you $21.
