The Force H5 is a plug-and-play virtual surround headset that features 50mm drivers and features a touch control panel with an embedded soundcard.
Product on Review: GIGABYTE Force H5
Manufacturer & Sponsor: GIGABYTE
Street Price: £115 UK – $129 US
It has been a while since we had a good look at a GIGABYTE branded headset. This time we have a look at the SRS virtual surround powered Force H5. It bears a similar sleek aesthetic as the earlier Force H3X, and is a relative lightweight 288g (without cable). The earcups are ergonomically designed and padded with soft memory foam, they can also swivel 360 degrees to ensure a comfortable fit. The Force H5 is equipped with 50mm drivers that are acoustically inclined to ensure the the best quality audio is received by the gamer. For communication there is a retractable, flexible microphone.
As the Force H5 fills the role of the virtual surround, USB gaming headset, GIGABYTE have come up with an interesting solution for the built in audio processing and interactive controls. Rather than a traditional mechanical remote featuring buttons, we are presented with a touch controlled panel that lights up.
Overview by GIGABYTE
The FORCE H5 incorporates dual 50mm neodymium drivers with the SRS surround sound engine to present a vivid 360° sound field, allowing gamers to accurately identify the direction each sound is coming from. The speakers are acoustically inclined for a much enhanced audio perception with rich detail. The onboard USB sound card requires no software and lets gamers get straight into action with the easy plug-and –play connectivity.
Technical Specifications
Type: SRS Virtual Surround
Driver Diameter Headphone: 50mm
Microphone: 4mm
Impedance: 32 Ohm
Frequency Response
Headphone: 20Hz-20KHz
Microphone: 100Hz-10KHz
Sensitivity
Headphone: 118+/-3dB
Microphone: -44 +/-3dB
Maximum Power Input: 50mW
Cable Length: 3m
Weight: 288g
Mic Pattern: Unidirectional
Connector Type: USB 2.0
Driver Diameter Headphone: 50mm
Microphone: 4mm
Impedance: 32 Ohm
Frequency Response
Headphone: 20Hz-20KHz
Microphone: 100Hz-10KHz
Sensitivity
Headphone: 118+/-3dB
Microphone: -44 +/-3dB
Maximum Power Input: 50mW
Cable Length: 3m
Weight: 288g
Mic Pattern: Unidirectional
Connector Type: USB 2.0
Packaging & First Look
The packaging is clean, informative and gives clear indication of what the product is and what it looks like.
At the back there is further information about its features including the SRS surround, the comfortable fit and the control panel.
The box opens up like a little chest filled with foam padding, inside the Force H5 is folded up with the control panel in its on protective area. Underneath all that we find the little GIGABYTE box containing the quickstart guide and a microfibre cloth to wipe down the touch control panel.
The touch control panel is housed in a brushed aluminium box that has a fair amount of heft to it. it can control master/microphone volume, mute, mute mic, and enable/disable SRS surround. The inside of the control panel is where the embedded audio processor is located.
The headset itself is fairly slim and has an elegant, minimalistic design with a hint of aggressive gamer styling thrown in. There are no modular cables, so it is a total of 3m hard-lined braided cable, which is a shame as it would have been nice to have a break in the chain somewhere.
Closer Look
The headband features soft fabric over memory foam padding, ensuring good comfort for the top of your head.
The side of the earcups have a stylised hexagonal look, a running theme with the Force headsets, though here towards the base we see a small mesh grill. This grill doesn’t seem to be functional however so is may purely be aesthetic.
The earcups are large, and are shaped to fit ears perfectly and have a thick dose of super soft leatherette covered memory foam.
The Force H5 is foldable, which is a nice feature for storage, though considering the length/size/weight of the cable and control panel it seems a bit redundant, but some may find the feature useful.
The retractable microphone seems rather short, but it is flexible and returns neatly back to where it came from.
Performance Testing
Setup, Design & ObservationsThe Force H5 is a plug-and-play design and doesn’t come with any software support, so once it is plugged into a free USB port, it will be ready to go.
The cable is long and braided and is non-modular, which is a shame because if the control panel featured a 3.5mm/4pole jack input for the headset, it would have made the headset more versatile in regards to its platform use. Also it means that the headset is permanently tethered to a rather heavy control panel. This will not be a huge problem for those that are avid PC gamers where the headset will remain static at the desk for the entirety of its life, though having a modular design, its life span (either the headset or control panel) would likely be extended.
On wearing the Force H5, my head immediately appreciates the carefully calculated clamping force/ pressure combined with the soft memory foam padding. Large ears shouldn’t have too much problem with fitting inside the earpads comfortably. Long sessions gaming sessions were no problem at all.
The touch panel was a little confusing at first as I started by touching the lit areas, but turns out the volume/microphone adjustment is linked and you can only swipe up and down in the central blank reserve to adjust them. The microphone sensitivty can be adjusted in Windows however. The panel features mute/mute microphone controls as well as being able to enable/disable the surround mode.
Multimedia
The headset had a nice amount of bass, and sounded awesome across various music genres, though seemed a touch lower in the mid tones. Overall characteristics were pleasant and made for enjoyable listening. It’s maximum volume is reasonable but is a little lower than most, so those that enjoy super loud headsets may find it somewhat limited. Though it remains at a comfortable, distortion free level that is enjoyable regardless of the audio source. Wait, it gets better? Turn on the virtual surround for a wider, clearer and generally better all round audio experience. It is here, where I found the disadvantage in not having a basic GUI/software backing as I would liked to have tweaked the EQ a little.
Games were enjoyable, and the deep tones of the Force H5 made gunshots, explosions sound beefy and exciting. The weaker mid-tones showed in CS:GO as the footsteps were less pronounced than what we have experienced with other headsets. The SRS surround gave reasonable spatial awareness, though, other than giving a marked improvement in all round audio quality, it gave no real added benefit over what one would experience from a standard stereo surround option anyway. So the virtual 7.1 rendering didn’t necessarily give an additional benefit. Though it is easy to overlook that considering the enjoyable sound quality.
Microphone
The microphone is a lot shorter than one would expect, coming out to mid-cheek and stopping. This made voice pickup difficult and quiet. Combined with a huge amount of background noise and whining, it sounded fairly tinny. Rather than implementing actual noise reducing technologies, it seems to have an auto-voice detection mode, where it will reduce the sensitivity when you are quiet, then increase the sensitivity when you speak. So conversation was rather inconsistent in volume and quality. Overall, it is quite disappointing.
Conclusion
GIGABYTE show us again that they can make great gaming peripherals that rival some of the big contenders out there. The Force H5 powers some highly enjoyable gaming audio in a frame that is very comfortable for long periods. This is very reminiscent of our experience with the Force H3X.
There are however, a few things that causes some confusion. Such as the SRS Surround that seems like enables ‘standard’ stereo mode rather than a virtual surround, thus boosting the audio quality and soundstage to that which you would have expected to be normal. Thus making the surround mode a must in all scenarios. In game, the surround capability and spatial awareness is about what you would expect from a standard stereo surround option. What I mean by this, is it does give good directional awareness, though not quite up to the same standard other virtual surround headsets provide for a similar price. Another source of confusion is the lack of versatility, and modularity. GIGABYTE state that the robust build quality and foldable design is for portability or music/listening on the go, yet state that it is only compatible with the PC. When you consider that it has a hardlined 3m cable with a hefty control panel strapped to it, it makes me wonder if this was even something worth stating.
These points could be over looked if it wasn’t for one of the fundamentals of a gaming headset dragging its heels a little. The microphone isn’t great. It is too short, doesn’t pick up the voice well, doesn’t sound great and so if voice communication is important to you, this would be a strong deterrent. If voice communication isn’t important to you, the Force H5 is otherwise an awesome headset that delivers in the sound and comfort departments. Though its premium price will hinder it against the strong competition.
The Force H5 is a sleek headset that gave us long lasting comfort and an enjoyable gaming performance.
Pros.
+ Very Comfortable
+ Solid build quality
+ Great gaming audio
+ Interesting touch controls
Cons.
– Microphone could be better
– Long Fixed cable (non-modular, limited versatility)
– No supporting software
– Price
+ Very Comfortable
+ Solid build quality
+ Great gaming audio
+ Interesting touch controls
Cons.
– Microphone could be better
– Long Fixed cable (non-modular, limited versatility)
– No supporting software
– Price
Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.
