The Gioteck HC4 amplified stereo headset is an excellent piece of accessory design and an absolute necessity if you’re in need of a new way to chat with your friends, and listen to game audio. The headset is perfect for the gamer on a budget who wants an upgrade, with high quality audio and a striking design.
The headset is designed to work with PS4, Xbox One (for which you’ll also need an adapter), PC and Mac, as well as other products, though its aesthetics have clearly been created with the foremost machine in mind. The design is sleek and jet black, with a soft blue glow illuminating the casing while turned on – much like the PS4. The overall look of the headset itself is appealing, if a little chunky-looking.
The mic in particular looks perhaps larger than necessary, giving it a rather inelegant look though it can be moved out of the way of your mouth if you’re so inclined, and while the headset is mostly comfortable, wearing it for long periods of time can be a little painful. Believe me when I say I am talking about quite an extended amount of time here though – I tested out the headset extensively, and it was only towards the end that I felt any real discomfort. On top of that, the band of the headset can prove overly rigid, but it’s a very minor point. Gioteck have made a stylish headset overall, one that is thankfully free from a mess of wires, which brings me nicely onto my next point.
The headset’s set-up is remarkably simple and quick, which is an absolute joy to behold. A previous gaming headset of mine was a tangle of non-descript wires. Gioteck’s accessory on the other hand consists of two wires – one plugs into the controller or headset port of choice, allowing you to use the headset like a normal device. Pretty simple so far. However, things get cool. The second wire is a USB charger, which plugs simply into the bottom of one of the headphones and then into a USB port (in the case of the PS4, which I tested the device on, at the front of the machine). The headset emits an orange glow while charging, which proves to be a useful indicator.
By charging the headset, you suddenly gain access to a bunch of remote features accessible via the headphones themselves. Large buttons on the side allow you to change the volume of both in-game audio and chat, as well as mute the microphone and turn it off, rendering it a simple headset once again. Charge time was a few hours, and while I don’t quite think the headset lasted eight hours before it needed charging again, it was lengthy enough. These additional features are great – the volume buttons work especially well, and don’t need much force applied, though some form of indication to let you know the mic has been muted would have been appreciated. It might take a little while to get used to the button placement as well, if you don’t want to have to take the headset off to do anything with it.
Now, onto the most important aspect – the sound. I’m pleased to report that the HC4’s sound quality is exceptionally high, especially for the price. When listening to my PS4’s audio through the headphones, I was enormously impressed at the quality of the sound. In fact, the headset amplifies the sound, allowing numerous layers to be heard clearly. Chat audio is good as well – I could hear my friend clearly and they could hear me, though they complained about minor feedback at points when I wasn’t talking. Whether this is down to the headset or possibly some background interference is unclear, and can’t really be held against an otherwise stellar product.
When playing online, you can hear sounds dependent on their direction – a sound to the left of you will be heard primarily in the left cup for instance, giving you something of an advantage should you be playing a twitch-shooter, or something akin that requires quick reflexes, often based on sound. There’s also quite a bit of leaking audio at higher volumes – you can definitely hear it a lot when you take the headset off, but if you’re just gaming in your house, it shouldn’t be much of a problem. Bear in mind however that this is an entry-level headset for a gamer on a budget, and you can see we’ve got something special here.
Overall, Gioteck’s HC4 headset is an excellent piece of gear, especially when you consider it to the bundled headsets. There’s no way I could go back. In-game audio is amplified and sounds phenomenal, while chat is perfectly fine. The design is stylish for the most part, and the price is incredibly reasonable. You can pick one of these up for about £33, which is incredible value for money. In fact, you should do just that.
Pros:
– Excellent sound quality, both in-game audio and chat
– Stylish design
– Budget price
– Cool features available after a short charge
Cons:
– Minor design points, including slight audio leaks
Rating: 9/10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&list=PL18yMRIfoszFLSgML6ddazw180SXMvMz5&v=ONsp_bmDYXc
Originally published March 27, 2015. Updated April 14, 2018.
