Today I have the Edifier G4 gaming headset. I know these are pretty old (about a year old now, I think) I thought since I like to talk about affordable gaming gear, that I should write about this too. Although to be honest, I would really consider these to be mid-range rather than “affordable” (I personally class any peripherals below RM200 as affordable).
My only exposure to Edifier’s sound has been with the W570BT headphones that I love to take around with me, especially when I’m traveling. When these landed on my lap, I was rather curious to see how their gaming series fare against the rest of their products.
The Look
The G4 looks pretty cool, to be honest, with its metal mesh and coloured lights. I got mine in black/green though black/red and white/blue options are available. The headband cushion, inner ear pads and wires are green too, and it looks pretty cool.
However, it doesn’t seem very sturdy with its plastic casing and is very prone to fingerprints, so clean-freaks beware! It is also only available with a USB connector so don’t expect to be able to use it with everything. The remote control is quite confusing at first, having four different kinds of buttons/triggers with almost no indication as to what does what with what I think is an unnecessary headphone on/off button, but you’ll get used to it in no time.
The Feel
At first glance…it looks really comfy. The G4s come with thick “leatherette” ear padding, that’s removable to boot. The headband is padded too, and they’re fairly flexible. The headphones’ ear pads had come circe-shaped, which is an issue for my “tall” ears, so after a little over an hour of usage, my ears got quite uncomfortable. I’m not too sure if they have oval padding as an option, I can’t seem to find any info on that but from what I’ve seen, store-bought G4s seem to come with circular padding only.
Despite all that, the thick foam padding and flexible headband meant that the headphones don’t squeeze against my head so if it wasn’t for that, I bet I’d get uncomfortable quite instantly. For someone who wears glasses for most of her life (because screw wearing contacts everyday), this kind of headphone is a big plus.
The Sound
From my personal experience with Edifier, listening to music has never been a bad experience and it’s no different with the G4. The sounds comes through loud and clear, with my laptop only needing to be at volume level 4 and the headphones up on max. It seems that you can add some bass to the sound with the ‘vibrate’ function turned on, otherwise it’s quite dull. Since my only other pair of Edifier headphones are wireless, I can’t compare for gaming experiences (unless you want me to talk about mobile gaming?).
Playing Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice allowed me to test the headphones’ surround sound quite effectively but I may have given myself nightmares in the process. Each individual voice was heard loud and clear, and at a specific point you have to use your ears to find someone, the surround sound works well. However…I was sad to discover that while my Xbox controller was vibrating, my headphones weren’t. So it turns out that the built-in vibrate functionality of the G4s are basically “bass on-bass off”, possibly a mistranslation there.
Then again… I’m not sure how I’d feel if the headphones actually vibrated on my head every time I get shot, spooked or die.
The mic comes retractable and is flexible which I always find is a plus, rather than one that’s detachable. You’ll be heard loud and clear, it’s sufficient to use for online voice-chat and basic streams but it’s not that great so I don’t think you’d want to rely on it to record your diss track.
My conclusion…
If it wasn’t for the round ear pads, I think I’d like these headphones more. Sounds come through loud and clear though it does need a bit more work with bass, but that’s just the music lover in me talking. I’m a bit sad that the ‘vibrate’ function doesn’t work the way you think it does though ultimately for gaming and watching videos, it fairs quite well. If you’re looking for a headset under RM300, this is one to put on your list.
The Edifier G4 is priced at RM259 and is available to purchase at some electronic stores and on Lazada. I got my review unit thanks to Inter-Asia, the distributors of Edifier peripherals in Malaysia. This review was originally written for Gamehubs but went though extensive editing – this is the more personalised piece I had originally written. All photos taken by me, in a rush (just incase you were wondering why my head’s all messy)
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Plug/Play by Blaise 