Creative Sound BlasterX H7 Review
Manufacturer: Creative
UK price (as reviewed): £124.99 (inc VAT)
US price (as reviewed): $154.99 (ex tax)
The Creative Sound Blaster range is pretty large with a total of 19 headsets currently available to buy from the company's website. With so many, we thought we would take a look at the flagship model, the Sound BlasterX H7. This headset can be used via USB or analogue, making it perfect for PC, Mac, phones, and also consoles. Priced at £125, it isn't the cheapest of headsets, but there are many that are more expensive.
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Inside the packaging (which wasn't the easiest to remove), we have the headset with an inline control, a 3.5mm jack cable, a micro USB cable, and a microphone attachment.
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The headphones themselves have many similar features to the HyperX/Qpad series; the brushed metal band is very familiar as are the mounts and sleeved cables protruding from the headband to the earcups. This is by no means a bad thing, as the HyperX Clouds have done very well. The sides of the closed earcups also have the same brushed metal finish, which does feel rather nice and also adds a little bit of weight, giving them a feeling of a quality product. The 'X' on the side glows red when plugged in via USB and can be controlled through the software. The removable microphone is also very similar to the one used by Qpad/HyperX; this attachment is highly malleable and rubber coated down to the tip where there is a sponge wind-shield.
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Inline controls are always a handy feature to have, but this one could have been done better. It feels a little cheap and plasticky, and the controls can't be removed from the headset and are located at the end of a 35cm wire. Although this isn't weighty, with it swinging around your chest area it does get somewhat annoying. Volume control, microphone mute, and call control buttons (the latter only works on mobile phones) are featured on the inline control, and on the front there are the ports for the 3.5mm jack and the micro USB cable.
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The Sound BlasterX H7 is rather comfortable; there is foam surrounding the metal headband and then a faux leather material covering that, and it does feel comfier than other headsets that use a similar style band. The adjustable headband allows the headset to be used by people with very small heads as well as those with a somewhat larger head too. If, however, you have a lot of hair or an unusually large head, you might struggle, as it doesn't go as wide as some other headsets I have used. Inside each earcup is a 50mm driver, and both earcups again have faux leather covered foam surrounding them to ensure comfort.
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Overall, physically, the headset sets a good standard, Okay, the inline controls could do with a bit of work, but other than that it is comfortable, well built, and made from materials that feel a little more premium than usual. We would be disappointed if this wasn't the case, though; it is a £125 headset, after all.
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