Logitech G has been very popular in the upper segment of the gaming peripheral market since their inception and have competed fairly well against other brands during their golden era before newer companies started offering budget products that shifted the market focus from the top end to a more conservative mid- and entry-level segment.
Logitech G’s audio peripherals are famed for their appearances in global FPS competitions and non-gaming folks know them from their extensive audio products outside of gaming. That said, Logitech G also has a considerable entry-level lineup for gamers to welcome them to the gaming audio market.
This week, we’ll take a look a two gaming headsets from Logitech, the Logitech G331 and G431. In this review, we’ll take a closer look at the Logitech G331 stereo gaming headset. You can check out our Logitech G431 virtual surround headset review here.
Specifications
- Height: 172 mm
- Width: 81.7 mm
- Depth: 182 mm
- Weight: (w/o cable): 259 g
- Cable Length: 2 m
- Driver: 50 mm
- Frequency response: 20 Hz-20 KHz
- Impedance: 39 Ohms (passive), 5k Ohms (active)
- Sensitivity: 107 dB SPL/mW
- Microphone Pickup pattern: Cardioid (Unidirectional)
- Size: 6 mm
- Frequency response: 100 Hz–20 KHz
Closer Look
Logitech packages their G331 in a more Logitech than G-style packaging with the bright blue, company color box and a shot of the product in the front. Not much is written on the front so going over the back we see some detail highlights of what the headset offers.
Opening up the package we have a look at the content which includes the Logitech G331 gaming headset, a Y-splitter and some documentation.
Here’s a view of the headset from the sides. As you can see it is a traditional headset featuring moderately sized earcups which feature Logitech’s signature squarish look for their gaming series headsets. A red lining on the earcup breaks up much of the uniform black look and adds a slight hint of character to this cans.
The cups feature DJ-style hinges which lets them move 90* on their axis. This is perfect for laying the headset flat on the desk or hanging off your neck.
The Logitech G331 gaming headset features a non-detachable microphone with a flexible boom. The boom can be adjusted via the flexible middle part. The Logitech G331 features an auto-mute function for the microphone. Tilting the mic boom all the way up will automatically mute it.
The cord itself is 2 meters long and features a rather thin cable which is does not feature sleeving. The material is relatively soft and features an inline velcro strap for management. Logitech includes a Y-splitter as the main cable is a TRRS type or a phone cable, to put it simply. That means the Logitech G331 is compatible with mobile phones.
Focusing over at the back, the rear of the left earcup features a volume wheel. Its a tad smaller than I’d really like but depending on your volume settings you may need to swipe a lot or little to adjust it to your liking.
Logitech installs removable faux-leather pads on the earcups and headband. The inner lining uses their more traditional fabric lining with the signature Logitech stitching. The fabric is done in red and I’m not really sure if there are other colors for this headset. So far we’ve only seen it in red.
As mentioned the headset is lined with the same faux-leather-lined cushion on the headband.
The headband slides for adjustment and there are noticeable notches but there is no satisfying click when adjusting the headset.
User Experience & Conclusion
Let’s talk about price and build quality first. As this is Logitech G’s entry-level offering, its quite simplistic in its feature set. The main idea here is to offer the best balance of performance, build quality and price for gamers that don’t discern about audio quality or feature but want something dependable and useful. With that out of the way, the Logitech G331’s build quality differs heavily from its more mainstream counterpart. The build is very plasticky and light overall.
This lends itself nicely for comfort but we’ll talk about that a bit later, but in general, the plastic quality is decent but it just feels its gonna break due to the lighter materials in this headset. The headband extension, while metal, is quite loose and slides easily. It won’t really move around when you wear it but if you’re like a lot of people that tilt the other ear cup back and forth to hear outside noise, it may be an issue.
Usability-wise though, its a very functional headset. The auto-mute on the mic is always a welcome feature and the volume knob on-ear is really a must-have instead of inline ones so less fumbling for it. We mentioned the G331 being a light headset and it does shine in this aspect as it is quite comfortable. This makes it easier and comfortable for longer gaming sessions so marathon gamers can really enjoy the G331.
Now let’s talk about sound: this is a gaming headset but to be fair, we’ll still judge it as an overall audio device. Talking about gaming performance, the Logitech G331 is a bit oriented to be bassy to bring out a more booming experience in gaming. Its not a gut-busting bass experience but gun shots are decent and spatial rendering is decent as well. The details aren’t that rich though so picking out footsteps in busy encounters may need a bit of getting used to when the audio becomes more audible meaning a bit closer than you’d want unless you ramp up the volume. Overall gaming performance is acceptable. If that’s your sole use for this headset, we can end this review right now and its definitely going to get good marks.
My gripe though is in overall audio. We tested on a Creative Sound Blaster Recon 3Di and put volume on 50%. All effects are disabled. Music experience on the Logitech G331 is similar to entry-level earphones as its lacks detail and much of the audio borders being muddy with the lower frequencies a bit smooshed with the mids. A good FLAC recording will probably bring out better audio but listening to Youtube videos is pretty a situation where you get what you pay for. Its not that bad but these are not audiophile grade headphones so if you’re looking to save a few bucks to get some grade-A listening experience, these are not the cans you’re looking for.
Ultimately, as a gaming headset and a price point of Php2599 these are easily competitive to the market’s dominant HyperX Cloud but almost twice the price, the G331 has a bit of an edge if you’re looking for a purpose-built, gaming headset. If this is your first option, you do have a richer and wider market but we highly recommend Logitech for those people need that peace of mind that they’ll be getting a well-designed, well-built and decent performing product for their money not to mention backed by a 2-year warranty.
As mentioned, Logitech backs the G331 gaming headset with a 2-year warranty. We give the Logitech G331 our B2G Recommended Seal!
