Ozone Oxid Headset Review

Gaming headsets are becoming increasingly popular and are now considered by many an essential piece of kit in their gaming arsenal. Not only are they ideal for really immersing yourself into a game, they’re also great for barking instructions at your mates via built-in microphones.

One of the latest headsets to hit the maket is the Ozone Oxid, aimed at gamers who want plenty of features but don’t want to spend a fortune. It just so happens that I’ve got a set here to review.

Ozone Oxid USB Headset

Opening The Box

The Ozone Oxid arrives in a black and red cardboard box. The transparent front gives you a good look at the headset inside while the back introduces you to the various features on offer. Opening the box reveals very lttle in the way of goodies – you get the headset and … nothing else. No driver CD, no manual and no advertising leaflets.

It’s obvious from the start that Ozone Oxid is a corded headset that uses a pair of closed earphones. On the left earpiece is a microphone and midway down the cable is a control unit.

The earphones are nicely padded, as is the headband, and are also light at just 310g. They don’t feel as solid as some of the headsets I have tried, but they’re also a fraction of the price so you can forgive them for that.

The microphone is retractable and can be pushed back into the earphone housing. When extended its position can be adjusted to suit – close to your mouth if you’re a whisperer or further away if you can’t help but shout. There’s also a red LED on the end to show when it’s active, fitting in with Ozone’s brand colours of red on black.

The control unit might be a slightly odd shape but it packs in a number of features. There are separate play, pause and mute buttons, a switch to turn off the microphone and a mini-joystick to control volume and skip tracks in your audio player. There is also a bass boost button which, when pressed, illuminates a LED in red and gives a noticeable improvement in the bass output.

Plug’n’Play

Installation is a breeze. Just plug the Oxid’s USB socket into yor PC and you’re off, with no need to install drivers and mess around with your audio settings. You see, there was no need for driver CDs or manuals after all.

Straight away I was impressed with the quality of the sound. I’ve played with some budget headphones in the past and they were awful, but the Oxid delivers clear sound right through the range. You will probably find yourself leaving the bass boost button on whenever you’re gaming as it gives the bass some necessary oomph.

The microphone is surprisingly sensitive. I moved it away from my mouth and still got told off for shouting, but after a bit of fiddling in control panel with the microphone volume I reached a level where my team-mates could hear me clearly. A couple said they had trouble hearing me at times as the sound went slightly crackly, but on the whole it worked.

Sweaty Ears

The material used in the padding of the earpieces and headband is a synthetic that is supposed to allow your skin to breath, reduce sweating and improve comfort. On one occasion I had the Oxids on for about four hours and they were so comfortable that I forgot I was wearing them. It was only when I caved in to the demands from my bladder that I remembered they were there, and the only sign of discomfort was a pair of slightly clammy ears.

Forgetting the Oxids were on my head actually turned out to be a bit of a hazard as I managed to knock over a cup of coffee when I got up from my desk, forgetting that I was still tethered to my PC. That’s not the Oxids fault though, just the idiot wearing them.

Listening Intently

The quality from the headphones was excellent. The Oxids are a basic set of stereo speakers with none of the surround-sound shenanigans that other more expensive headsets try to pull off. The thing that people often forget is that stereo speakers are more than capable of giving you positional information and when it comes to first-person shooters you’ll be able to pinpoint the location of incoming fire with great ease, despite there being only two speakers.

The Oxid headset is also great for music and films. You won’t get the crystal clear quality that would please a true audiophile, but these speakers will be more than enough to satisfy 90% of listeners. The bass boost is best left off in these cases as it can muffle the higher frequencies.

So Is The Ozone Oxid Any Good

The answer to this question is an emphatic yes. Ultimately the Ozone Oxid loses out in terms of quality – compare it to a set of Sennheisers and you’re going to be disappointed – but seeing as you’d be spending five times the £30 asking price it’s not a fair comparison.

The Ozone Oxid gives you everything you need from a gaming headset without breaking the bank, and in these times of austerity that has got to count for a lot.

Ozone OXid Specifictions