Logitech G - G733 Lightspeed Wireless RGB Gaming Headset product reviews

Whether you just love gaming in your own zone, being blingy while broadcasting or shining while streaming, the Logitech G733 headset is an impressive option. From its comfortable fit to the removable boom mic, this headset is going to surprise and impress. Mostly. Full disclosure: it has a couple of key drawbacks that won't diminish the functionality and appeal for many, but will take it out of the running for those who value multifunctionality.

I'll start with the most obvious stuff first - the headset is designed to be comfortable to wear for hours on end, and they nailed it. I can't wear earbuds, find over-the-ear clip-ons won't stay secure, and headsets with small drivers just keep me waiting for them to slide away. I can, and will, only ever wear full-cup headsets. So, while I don't spend very much time in front of a camera when sitting at the PC, I do love to have the music thumping when I am in a creative groove, without needing to blow out the neighbours' ears as well.

Because of that, I don't really have a lot of need for a boom mic, which is why this design is perfect for me since the microphone boom plugs into the headset using a regular 3.5mm jack - so if you have a microphone you prefer to use, you can... as long as it plugs into a 3.5mm audio port, of course. That said, when I do need to have an audio pickup - when I want to record narration on a video or the rare skype call - I found that this microphone performed extremely well for a small boom mic. One thing you will notice though is that while the boom itself is quite flexible, it seems reluctant to stay where you put it, instead slowly drifting back to straight. An odd design decision, I must say, but a small thing really - these are not really designed to be uber-pro gear after all.

Undoubtedly the most eye-catching aspect of this headset are the colour strips on each ear cup. Split into two zones, you can install the Logitech G-Hub app and customise the colours to suit your scene. The zones are sync'd so that in effect you only need to set two colour choices, or just the one if you prefer a more consistent look. Then again, if you simply can't decide, there are a number of presets you can try out, or just set it to shift through the spectrum as it sees fit - the perfect setting to sync to your soundtrack while you play, cast or just chill to some good tunes. While you are in the G-Hub app, you can also remap the "G-Shift" button, located on the rear of the left cup, right about where your thumb will rest if you grab the headset as though you were taking it off. Such placement may cause you to tap it accidentally while putting the headset on or taking it off, so it can be a bit of a mixed blessing. By default it is set to toggle the MUTE function, flashing the colour bars red for mute on and green for mute off, but there's a number of other ways you can reconfigure it in the app. Worth noting that the visual notification works even if you have opted to switch off the colour strips to increase battery life.

While the headset is, technically, wireless - being that it connects to your PC or PS4 via the (oddly bulky by today's standards) Lightspeed USB transceiver - it still requires a cable for charging. There are no worries about what plug is on the charger-end, so you can use your phone cable or a generic 3rd party one if you need to, as long as the headset-end is USB-C you are fine. Charging is pretty quick, but by far the easiest option is to simply plug it in to charge overnight. I didn't encounter any overcharge issues, heat build-up or any obvious signs of negative performance from this. One thing you can do but I recommend you don't, is have it plugged in to charge while you are using it. Not only do you place the hardware under a parasitic load, but it's also just plain awkward and totally defeats the purpose of being wireless. After all, with a battery that promises 20 hours of regular usage, it's only a matter of smart timing of your usage to ensure you will never get a low-power warning while in-play.

When it comes to fully immersing yourself in your gaming or recording, it is worth noting that this unit has no active noise-cancelling onboard. However, the design of the full-enclosure cups does a pretty good job of keeping external noise away from your ears, within limits. The cups have a double-layer lining of foam, giving you superior comfort and a bit extra sound dampening, but they won't block out any significant noises. Probably not a bad thing actually, as you won't need these out and about, and if there's a loud crash in the house, you probably want to know about it sooner rather than later. Still, adding some sound dampening to your environment may be in order if you have a dedicated casting studio setup.

The quality of sound was surprisingly good; from the lightweight construction (less than 300g) I was expecting plenty of tinny and not much thump. The choice to use quality 40mm drivers gives you quite a lot of push for very little mass, ensuring that you will get full, crisp sound from the high- and mid- ranges of the sound spectrum, and the low-end bass is pretty good even at fairly high volumes. Naturally, the more strain you put the speakers under, the more likely it is that something will give way - be it the hardware of your hearing - so be smart about the volume setting - if you find yourself grooving to some nice tunes and suddenly one song is set louder than the rest, you can easily and quickly adjust the volume on your PC, or on the headset directly using the thumbwheel located on the bottom-back corner of the left cup. Because it is placed right on the corner, your thumb has easy access from the rear or the base, whichever is most comfortable for you. If you dive into the G-Hub package, you will find a number of presets but they are quite weak, needing tweaking to make them more effective. Get stuck in and experiment with the advanced sliders to really dial them to your hearing profile for best results.

Which brings me to a bit of a sticking point for me. If there's anything I would point out as "the one thing you're going to hate", it has to be the G-Hub software. It can behave a bit erratically at times, not always showing you every option. On the 'portable office' laptop under Windows 8.1, I had very little functionality at all - lights and some basic options. On the 'bigger' laptop with Win10 I got a lot more choices, but some of them didn't seem to want to work at all. The desktop rig on Win10 seemed to be more acceptable to the software, giving me all the options I am aware of and they actually did stuff when I tweaked them. However, I do wonder/worry how this will perform when I get Windows 11 next year.

Overall, they are pretty good headphones and definitely look stylish and modern, available in multiple colours. However, they are a mixed bag and not everyone is going to love them. It could be worth checking out the higher end models if you want all the best goodies - bluetooth, mobile-compatible, superior lighting and configuration controls, etc. - but if you are looking for something that does the job without all the expensive bells and whistles, the G733 is a worthwhile option to consider. The biggest fishbone in your throat will definitely be the G-Hub package, so I can only hope that Logitech has plans underway to improve that software in the very, very near future. If you can get the G-Hub to behave, these are definitely the right headphones for users of Discord - not only is the audio Discord Certified, the expanded features of the G-Shift button are brilliantly compatible with such services.