Logitech G933 Artemis Spectrum Review
Logitech’s G933 Artemis Spectrum wireless gaming headset is an incredibly flexible accessory that easily justifies its $199.99 price tag. Its build quality and audio performance are excellent, and thanks to a combination of a wireless USB receiver and a selection of included wired connection options you can hook it up to your PC, mobile device, or nearly any game system easily. Plus, if you connect it to your PC, you can customize it with extensive EQ settings, game profiles, and even colored lighting. It beats out the slightly less expensive Skullcandy PLYR 1 and the pricier Astro Gaming A50 as our new Editors’ Choice for gaming headsets.
Design
When turned off and folded, the G933 looks like an imposing, futuristic set of over-ear headphones. The earcups and headband are entirely black plastic, with foam padding on the ears and under the headband covered in black cloth. The earpads are roughly rectangular, with the backs of the earcups shaped like uneven pentagons to create a stark, sci-fi appearance. The right earcup holds all of the controls and connections, including Mic Mute, Power, and three programmable G buttons, along with a volume wheel, a micro USB port, and a 3.5mm aux port. A flip-down boom mic sits hidden along the front edge of the left cup, flush against the rest of the earcup when it’s not in use. The pentagon-shaped panels on the back of each earcup are magnetically attached, and can be removed to reveal the RGB lights that illuminate each panel’s translucent G logo. The left panel also hides the headset’s wireless USB receiver, while the right panel hides the removable battery.
When you turn the Artemis G933 on, the headset looks a bit friendlier and much more Tron-like. The G logos on the outside panels glow, along with otherwise invisible lines of lights that run along the back edge of each earcup. These lights are programmable with Logitech’s software (for Windows machines only), letting you light them up with your favorite color or rotate through various colors with different color-shifting animations. If you have other Logitech G-series peripherals with RGB lighting, you can synchronize your lighting schemes across them.
Connectivity
The G933 includes a micro USB cable for charging the headset, a four-pole 3.5mm audio cable with inline mic and one-button remote for using the headset with your smartphone or the headset connectors on the Sony PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Xbox One ($200.00 at eBay)(Opens in a new window) controllers, a stereo RCA-to-3.5mm cable for hooking up the headset to your Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, or any other audio source with RCA outputs, and a 3.5mm-to-2.5mm adapter for connecting the headset’s mic input to your Xbox 360 controller. Unfortunately, no case or stand is included.
Thanks to the numerous cables and adapters, the G933 offers a remarkable selection of connectivity options for both PCs and game consoles (though you can only adjust the customizable lighting with a PC). The wireless USB receiver can work with a PC or PlayStation 4 directly. The receiver also has a 3.5mm audio input designed for use with the RCA cable for accepting audio from the stereo RCA output of a Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, or other home theater device (though this limits the wireless connection to output-only; the microphone needs a separate, wired connection in this configuration). The 3.5mm cable can connect to a smartphone or tablet, or the ports on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 controllers for full headset functionality. I had no problem plugging the USB receiver into my PlayStation 4 and getting the headset to work immediately, wire-free. The headset’s 7.1-channel support requires a PC connection; when used with a game system it functions as a stereo headset (which is not a big loss, as explained below).
You can even connect the headset to your PC just through the 3.5mm cable, though if your 3.5mm input doesn’t support a four-pole connector for headsets, you might need to get a separate 3.5mm splitter. The G933 doesn’t require power when connected with a 3.5mm cable, though the lighting and various audio modes are disabled.
Surround and Gaming
The G933 supports 7.1-channel Dolby and DTS surround sound, and the channels are individually adjustable through the Logitech G app when the headset is connected to a PC (these options are disabled when connected to a game system, though the headset will still light up). Audio mixing can produce some very compelling effects, but the G933’s surround sound (and any surround sound on any gaming headset) won’t be mistaken for a full 7.1-channel speaker system; without the space for the sound to bounce around to produce the proper acoustic effects, the different channels can only produce a general sense of direction at best. The left/right, left/right surround, and left/right rear channels all produce a subtly different effect to the ear that can give the impression of positional imaging, but it’s not a sound where you can readily pick out a bullet fired from your two o’clock or your five o’clock.
Whether or not you find the surround sound effective, the G933 sounds excellent. The constant gunfire and driving rock in Serious Sam 3: BFE is forceful and exciting. Rockets, bullets, shells, and general carnage all sound distinct through the G933 on top of the electric guitar track. The 7.1-channel surround doesn’t help much to locate screaming kamikaze enemies running toward you any better than just looking around with your mouse, but it gives an appreciable sense of enemies getting closer as they approach.
Bloodborne on the PlayStation 4 also sounds very good. Even without surround sound, the G933 produces an immersive sound field. The game’s melancholy soundtrack and creepy sound effects surround your ears oppressively, even if you can’t pick out if a monster groan is coming from your left or right.
Music Performance
Gaming headsets need to sound very good with all audio, not simply gaming. The G933 handles music very capably across multiple genres. It presents the deep sub-bass of the bass synth notes and kick drum hits in The Knife’s “Silent Shout” at maximum volume without a hint of distortion. The bass is forceful, but not overwhelming even at very high levels; you won’t blow your ears out, but you’ll definitely feel the music.
Pantera’s “Cowboys From Hell” sounds great across the board on the G933. The low bassline has plenty of presence, while the higher frequency guitar shredding stands at the front of the mix with plenty of energy. The headset’s audio profile is clearly sculpted to highlight both the lows and highs, even with the flat EQ setting, but it’s a balanced and even sound.
Miles Davis’ “So What” also benefits from the G933’s sound profile. The low notes of the upright bass sound full and prominent, but the higher frequencies get enough sculpting to let the finer textures of the string plucks come through, giving the piano enough space to stand out in the mix.
Conclusions
The Logitech G933 Artemis Spectrum is one of the best wireless gaming headsets you can buy. The comfortable, sturdy design and excellent sound profile justify its $200 price tag, and its extensive connection options mean you can hook it up to nearly any gaming device you use. The programmable colored lighting is a nice bonus on top of a very capable headset that’s ready for your PC, game system, or mobile device out of the box. It unseats the Astro Gaming A50 headset as our Editors’ Choice for its notably lower price and extensive customization options. If you’re looking to spend a bit less, the wired Plantronics RIG 500 offers a variety of configuration options ranging from $60 to $150.
Logitech G933 Artemis Spectrum
4.5
Editors’ Choice
(Opens in a new window)
Check Stock
$159.99
at Amazon
(Opens in a new window)
MSRP $199.99
Pros
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Cons
The Bottom Line
The Logitech G933 Artemis Spectrum is a great-sounding, comfortable wireless gaming headset that supports a startling number of platforms.
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