Turtle Beach–perhaps the biggest name in console gaming headsets–recently acquired Roccat, a German company known for esports-ready PC gear. The latest result of this union is the Syn Pro Air, a wireless PC gaming headset with a simplified design, rich sound, and tasteful RGB integration. It’s also the brand’s most expensive headset at $149.99. Does it earn that asking price? For the most part, yes, but it’s got competition.
Read any of TheGamer’s Roccat product reviews, and you’ll quickly learn that I’m a big fan. They strike a nice balance between affordability and performance, with comfort packaged in a general aesthetic that matches my taste. Roccat even managed to make me appreciate RGB with its measured approach, when it used to be a feature I couldn’t care less about. All that to say I was expecting great things from the Syn Pro Air. But it also had big ear cups to fill, as the Roccat Elo Air 7.1 has been my go-to PC headset since it was released almost a year ago.
The two biggest things the Syn Pro has going for it are the two things that matter most: sound and comfort. Bass comes through strong even at lower volumes, and the more layered sounds are quite tasty. That might not be the most professional descriptor, but that’s how I felt when listening to my work playlist. This translates just as well to gaming, allowing the full suite of ambiance and vital audio cues to share the stage. 3D Audio is available, an upgrade over previous Roccat headsets.
On the design front, the Syn Pro goes for an all plastic frame with memory foam mesh for the parts that touch your head. When I first opened the box, I thought it looked a little cheap. But this plastic is a step above that used in cheaper console headsets, allowing it to bend without breaking. The mesh ended up being a smart choice – it keeps my head cool without itching or chafing, which is always my fear when I see mesh instead of pleather. All this and it maintains a tighter (but not too tight) fit over the Elo Air. Overall, it leads to a very subdued design that betrays its quality.
There is one drawback to the type of plastic used on the Syn Pro, however. The back of the earcups is made of some sort of semi-transparent material, I’m guessing because this is where the RGB effects can be seen. My issue with this is that this plastic shows fingerprints very easily. Not like you’ll see it as you’re wearing it, but it’s annoying that the very part designed to look cool ends up working against the aesthetic. This could be especially frustrating if you don’t even care about having RGB on your headset.
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Related to the RGB integration is Roccat’s new software, Neon. Neon replaced the Swarm software and serves the exact same function of giving you control over RGB and sound profiles for your Roccat devices. Neon on a conceptual level is an improvement – the UI is much more user-friendly, putting the more crucial menus upfront and presenting them with more clarity. However, Neon had some bugs at first use. It’s also only compatible with the Syn Air Pro at the moment, with support for the whole Roccat suite promised for later. What that boils down to from a consumer standpoint is that you might have to wait a bit to get full control over your headset and matching accessories, or use the less friendly older software.
The Roccat Syn Air Pro is an all-around great headset for $150. It delivers booming 3D audio, has a flip mic that actually gives clear sound, sits comfortably on your head without making you sweat, and will eventually have robust RGB and game profile options with the Neon software. That all said, other headsets in the price tier offer much the same. Sister brand Turtle Beach has some wireless sets that give comparable sound quality. The area where Syn Air Pro wins is the RGB and customization, the value of which is hard to gauge until Neon has more time to get going. I can still recommend Roccat’s Syn Pro Air, but whether you want it or not will come largely down to aesthetic preferences.
A Syn Pro Air headset was provided for this review. More information can be found on the Roccat website.
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