Last week, Logitech G announced the Aurora Collection: a set of gaming peripherals with women in mind. While the size of the headset and mouse are a welcome change for my tiny head and even more tiny hands, this woman wears a lot of makeup and the white and pastel aesthetic wasn’t made to handle it.
According to Logitech G, the Aurora Collection has been designed to be gender inclusive, not gender exclusive, “addressing the needs and wants of women gamers while also appealing to all gamers who are looking for a playful design and curated experience”. I get marketing a gaming range at women, absolutely, but the makeup thing has really annoyed me.
The Aurora Collection
The Aurora Collection is very white and very pastel. The range comprises a wireless headset, both a wired and wireless keyboard, mouse, a mic and a handful of accessories. The white colour is a base, with Pink Dawn and Green Flash key caps and top plates available for the keyboard and the same coloured ear pads for the headset.
For this review, we’re drilling into the G735 Wireless Gaming Headset.
The G735 Wireless Gaming Headset
The headset is probably my favourite from the Aurora Collection, which you’ll think is odd once you read on. As an avid over-ear headphone fan, I’m constantly pulling them back to the top of my head due to the weight and making sure the arms are all the way in (they are, my head is just small). The G735 Wireless Gaming Headset fits perfectly, even over earrings (all eight of them) and while I’m wearing glasses. They didn’t give me a headache like other headsets do when they push the ears of my glasses into the side of my head with such force.
They’re light, but don’t feel cheap. And they’re very comfortable. Did I mention they’re super cute?
My ears also didn’t sweat, although I didn’t take them for the run test as I do with other headphones, given these aren’t designed for all-around use. I figured it was setting them up to fail. Besides, I don’t want a mic flapping against my lips while I run. Speaking of, the mic is detachable. More on that in a sec.
Good, not great battery life
Logitech G reckons you get 16-plus hours of battery from the G735 Wireless Gaming Headset, my experience was a little less, at 12 hours (100 per cent this is because I was playing with them a tonne to get the most out of the review and that my volume was mostly at max). If you turn off the RGB lighting functionality and don’t max out the volume, you can expect to hit around the 50-hour mark.
For comparison, the Sony MX5s last around 30 hours and they boast some of the best noise-cancelling I’ve ever experienced. I’d like a little longer, but if you’re sitting at your computer, there’s no harm in quickly plugging them in when you get up to leave to make sure they don’t die on you. Charging is really quick, too. I kept plugging the G735s into their USB-C charger with the intention of telling you how much percentage the headset had jumped by a certain time, but I kept getting distracted and every time I returned to them, they were full (I was never much longer than an hour and charge was 100 per cent each time).
Worth noting, however, is that if the headset is inactive for 10 minutes, it will automatically shut off to preserve battery.
Slipping into RGB mode
Who doesn’t love some RGB. The coloured halo around the ear cups is definitely not necessary, but I love it. Especially when you’re sitting at your desk and don’t realise the sun has gone down and you’re almost in complete darkness, except for the pretty lights. To turn off the cosmetic lighting, double press the power button on the left ear cup.
There’s not much to it, but it’s a sweet feature and I wanted to mention it.
How do the G735s sound?
They sound clear, but not brilliant. Again, I can’t help but compare them to the Sony MX5s.
Noise cancelling is a bit of a luxury on a gaming headset. While PC gamers prize immersion, there’s not always a huge need for noise cancelling in a desktop gaming environment. So I’m not going to fault the G735s for not having it – it actually isn’t needed. Audio was pushing through without distortion, and the closed-ear design of the headset does exactly what we’ve all come to love Logitech headsets for. I had difficulty hearing noise around me over the headset, but the noise wasn’t blocked out completely, causing me to occasionally think someone was trying to get my attention. In an office environment, this was much the same.
There are 40mm audio drivers inside, which are pretty substantial for tuning in to music and games. The headphones can get loud enough that anyone nearby will hear what’s playing when you take them off your ears. This also meant it was rare they were up to max. The controls on the headset are also handy, with a wheel to turn the volume up or down easy to use and hard to get wrong. I kept defaulting to using the G735s purely because they were so comfortable. But, noise-cancelling would elevate them to fantastic.
The G735 mic is also bomb
Audio was reported as coming through clear, even when using them for a work video chat. No requests to speak up, no “pardon me’s” and no complaints that I was too loud or that outside noise was leaking through. Using the G735s during the day while I was working, the mic didn’t get in my way – when I noticed it was there, it was easy to push up and to the side, and it stayed in place no issues. You can detach it if you want, so all good things to say about the mic, really.
Plugging in the LIGHTSPEED wireless USB receiver, I was able to walk away from my laptop and I didn’t once lose connection (you get up to 20 metres, Logitech says).
The problem(s) with white
When choosing a colour for anything that touches my face or hands, white is probably the last on my list. This isn’t necessarily because 90 per cent of my wardrobe is black clothing, it’s because makeup doesn’t exactly love white.
It’s a beef I first wrote about when reviewing the Bose QuietComfort 45 headphones. Within the first hour of using the over-ear headphones, I had stained them. The pads touched my face, and my face was covered in Rihanna’s Fenty. That issue quickly followed with the Dell XPS 15 laptop. A beautiful laptop that had an even more stunning white finish. While I didn’t exactly fingerpaint on the keyboard and trackpad with makeup, random face-then-keyboard touching resulted in a layer of shade 210.
This is what happened after wearing the new G735 Wireless Gaming Headset for two hours.
Makeup wipes worked a little, but it was hard to really get into the grooves as well as brush cleaner did. The makeup removed well enough, but there’s still a noticeable skin-coloured stain. I don’t have the pink or green ear cups to see how they handle foundation, but this is definitely worth considering before you, potentially also a makeup wearer, drop $400 on a pair of essentially magnets for makeup.
While makeup can be somewhat removed, I’d hate to see what happens when my hair is freshly dyed black.
White is cute, but the point I’m making is that it’s just not realistic for everyone. If Logitech G hadn’t made such a big deal about the Aurora Collection being for women, I’d probably be less mad. But, makeup needs to be considered if you’re pushing a product straight to women.
The verdict
The Logitech G G735 Wireless Gaming Headset is a light, soft and ultra-comfortable headset that sounds great and actually fits snug. They look gorgeous, but unfortunately, this is a short-lived enjoyment, as the white is well and truly asking to get dirty (or makeuppy). The RGB lighting is so unnecessary, but it’s fun. The G735s hit the brief of being more inclusive (read: suiting smaller heads) and if Logitech needed something to do, I’d suggest trying to find a makeup-shielding squishy material to make their next batch of headsets out of. If your head is on the smaller side of the scale, you wear a headset for hours on end, a little bit of makeup stain doesn’t bother you and you have $400 to drop on a headset, it’s hard to look past the latest from Logitech G’s Aurora Collection.
Where to buy the G735 Wireless Gaming Headset
The Logitech G G735 Wireless Gaming Headset is available from August 29, 2022.
Pre-order from Logitech G for $399.95 | JB Hi-Fi for $399
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