Logitech G Pro X 2 Review: A Gaming Headset Champ - CNET

Logitech’s update to its most performance-focused wireless gaming headset, the Logitech Pro G X 2 LightSpeed, wins at almost everything that matters from precise sound to all-day comfort to terrific battery life. It’s slightly more expensive than before at $250 (£250, AU$450) — not cheap, but while the feature set is a bit narrow compared to other headsets in the same price range, some of the tradeoffs make a lot of sense in light of the intended audience of serious gamers.

Its popular predecessor is still around if you want something a little cheaper, currently at $160.

One of the biggest, most novel changes from the G Pro X is the driver construction. Logitech switched the diaphragm material from Mylar to Ora’s GrapheneQ, a more rigid membrane — graphene is an atom-thick sheet of carbon atoms bonded into hexagons — and a matching, more rigid suspension mechanism. The combination theoretically provides more precise control over the vibrations; since the vibrations create the sound waves, in theory more precision means better accuracy and less distortion. 

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Logitech G Pro X 2 LightSpeed

$283 at Walmart

$250 at Amazon

$250 at Best Buy

Like

• Comfortable
• Excellent battery life
• Really good mic and headphone sound quality
• Supports analog wired operation
• A ton of mic settings in software
• Surround sound works without the software running

Don’t like

• Have to toggle Bluetooth to use it
• All the indicators are on the earcup

While it’s possible that the power of suggestion colors my experience, I do think I heard a different, sharper attack (not in the shooting sense, in the “hits peak volume fast” sense) than other headsets. That seems to deliver extra clarity for noises which is really the point for this headset. 

But it also seemed like there was longer decay — again, not in the zombie sense, in the “sounds persist longer than usual” sense — almost like a leadfoot on a piano’s damper pedal. It is especially effective for horror, though, and makes the soundstage seem larger (or at least I do, because persistence can help convey distance).

Logitech says it also delivers a bigger soundstage (how big the audio bubble around you sounds), and in that respect it didn’t seem a whole lot larger than any other headset with 50mm drivers and decent construction. But it does sound really good, and I couldn’t hear any distortion on either the lows or highs. 

The headset supports DTS Headphone:X for surround, though like its predecessor, it can’t work with the DTS Sound Unbound app. Instead, you control it via Logitech’s G Hub software. The best thing about the controls is the ability to adjust the volume of each of the 7.1 channels separately, which effectively can let you make noises sound nearer or farther away. Overall, the directionality is pretty effective, though I do wish I could adjust the HRTF for location as well as volume to distinguish position of sounds coming from the rear. (As with all things related to sound, YMMV.)

The mic hasn’t changed, but you can make adjustments and process the sound with Logitech’s extensive Blue Voice built into G Hub. It only has a three-band equalizer, but you can create your own ranges for the bands, which is nice. Its noise reduction is less than stellar, though. It’s good at blocking noise entirely — unless you’re talking. Then it doesn’t seem to be able to filter out noise while keeping voice in, or it just doesn’t try. The mic sounds really good, though; crisp and precise, exactly what you want for chat. 

Though you can’t cycle through different headset profiles in hardware, it does remember the last settings that were activated in the software, including surround.

Design

The Pro X 2 is also lighter than before, with rotating earcups, better battery life and Bluetooth 5.3. At 12.2 ounces (345g) the headset doesn’t fall on the feather-light end of the scale, but thanks to its very HyperX-like ear cushions and rotating cups, it feels similarly comfortable for all-day wear. And speaking of all day, the battery life is one of the best I’ve encountered: After at least 24 hours of use, it still hasn’t dropped below 75%.

There are some tradeoffs for weight and battery life. For instance, it doesn’t support simultaneous Bluetooth and PC wireless; you have to toggle devices via an on-ear button. That’s not unusual, at least at lower prices, and is similar to the approach Razer takes with its competing BlackShark line. But I still miss at least hearing notifications and reminders on my phone, and prefer Turtle Beach’s method for its (significantly more expensive) Stealth Pro wireless — the ability to mute notifications while gaming.

It connects almost instantaneously to the receiver, though — it doesn’t try to automatically reconnect to Bluetooth unless that was the active connection when you turned the power off — which is a benefit of the toggle-only Bluetooth. There’s no built in mic for using on calls, but that’s common in this class of headsets. 

Switching between the two connections is fast as well. Logitech rates the wireless range up to 98 feet (30m). Through pretty solid walls I got about 30 feet before the signal started to break up, though it never fully disconnected. 

There are a set of fabric-covered ear cushions in the box if the leatherette gives you the ear sweats. The leatherette isn’t very sound isolating; you don’t really give anything up if you switch. But because I didn’t expect them, I didn’t look and now there’s probably a recycling machine picking them out of its teeth. If you need to re-pair the headset with the receiver, though, you have to remove the earcup and apply the paperclip-pinhole method.

There’s also basic analog input through a 3.5mm jack, but there’s no splitter in the box. You can also mix in another audio source via a 3.5mm jack on the dongle. You can charge the headset while in use, but you can’t listen via the USB connection.

My only quibble with the design is that there are no tones or voice prompts; all the connection and battery indicators are LEDs on the left earcup. Since I tend to put the headset on before powering up, which is when you would see that the power is low (the LED glows red for 5 seconds when it’s down to 10%), it’s annoying. Then again, see exceptional battery life. Or connect to your phone if you’re not in front of your PC.

There’s very little I don’t like about this headset; I don’t even have a lot of nitpicks. I wish it had a flip-up mic instead of removable, but that’s a personal preference and can even be a point of failure. Everything in the Logitech G Pro X 2 seems to focus on comfort, reliability (both physical and audio) and battery life for its esports and enthusiast gamer target demographic, and it succeeds — at least as far as I can tell without another year of use.