Published , by Bill Lavoy
Published , by Bill Lavoy
Finding the perfect gaming headset has been an ongoing ordeal for me over the last several years. I’ve tried high-end options from multiple companies with just about every variation of features and specs. The latest headset I’ve taken for a spin in this quest for audio greatness is the Sennheiser GSP 370 Wireless Gaming Headset. As someone who has enjoyed Sennheiser products a great deal, I was excited to find out what the GSP 370 had to offer. While the results were good, and perhaps perfect for some, the overall experience just wasn’t quite right for me, and that’s a shame.
I come from the school of thought that headsets shouldn’t require much setup. You plug them in, and you are largely ready to go, right? Well, that’s not entirely realistic when you’re going wireless, but the initial setup for the GSP 370 was straightforward. It required an install of the Sennheiser Gaming Suite software to handle things such as firmware, monitoring the battery life, and some advanced playback and recording options, but it was as painless as one could expect. The software itself has a slick UI which makes any of your customization needs painless.
The rest of the setup for the GSP 370 was related to the provided GSA 370 Wireless Dongle. It looks exactly like any USB thumb drive you’ve used, connects to a USB port effortlessly, and once connected is the final step in your GSP 370 setup. Well, minus flipping the switch on the headset itself to turn it on, but close enough.
Once you’re using the GSP 370, everything is intuitive. There’s the switch to turn it on and off, micro USB port to charge it, and a dial on the right ear to adjust the volume. It feels sturdy enough and, at 285 grams, maintains a light and low profile.
My first experience with the GSP 370 was almost entirely good. The playback sound quality, for example, was on par with other high-end gaming headsets, and there were no instances of connection wonkiness due to the wireless functionality. Other than not feeling tethered to my PC, I often forgot I was wireless, and that’s about as high a compliment you can pay a wireless headset.
The mic was up to standard for my daily uses. I made sure to get plenty of feedback from friends I chatted with on Discord, and there were zero issues hearing me, and no adjustments needed with the output volume. They noted it didn’t stand up to my Audio Technica AT2020, but that’s not a knock against the GSP 370. Headset mics and standalone mics are rarely in the same league.
When that first session ended, I took notice of the battery life in the Sennheiser Gaming Suite. I own the Astro A50 headset for my PS4, and those are nearly dead in about 10 hours, if not less. The GSP 370 is advertised as having up to 100 hours of battery life, and this is no exaggeration. It may last more than 100 hours. I have yet to charge this thing. I can go through a couple of hours of gaming and see the battery dip two percent, and I’m not kidding. I’m sure to lose the micro USB charging cable long before I need to charge the GSP 370. It is, by far, the best battery I’ve ever seen on a wireless headset.
My gaming time with the GSP 370 included titles like Destiny 2, Red Dead Redemption 2, The Long Dark, and even theHunter: Call of the Wild. I put it through several different games and vibes to get a good sense of the sound and it's a quality experience. If you’re playing an FPS title, you’ll get the finer details, such as footsteps behind you letting you spin and fire. In The Long Dark, I was able to tell the footsteps of a wolf from a deer over the crest of a hill, and that right there is what I call a life-saving detail in my gaming audio.
These details are possible because the headset is classified as closed with earcups that fit around your ear. Basically, you won’t hear sounds around you. If you game in an office with your back to the door, folks can sneak up on you, as you’ll have a much harder time hearing things going on outside of your gaming experience. I prefer to use a headset that fits around my ear but is open, which is what you’d get from the Sennheiser GSP 500. With an open ear, you hear the environment around you and your game. Closed is better for details, so this comes down to need and preference. My preference is an open ear, but if yours is closed the GSP 370 is right up your alley.
My biggest problems with the GSP 370, and what will likely result in me not using it much further beyond review purposes, are all unique to myself and other folks with larger-than-average heads. It just doesn’t fit me with a level of comfort required for extended use. It’s smaller than my current go-to option of the Sennheiser GSP 500, and that’s both in headband and earcups. My ears fit into the cups, but barely. The headband fits on my head, but barely. By the end of a couple of hours of gaming I’m not rocking a headache, but I can tell I was wearing a tight headset. The GSP 370 fits me like a shirt that’s just a bit too tight. You might endure the slight discomfort for a day, but it isn’t something you want to be rolling out repeatedly when there are options that fit better.
That said, I’m not at all under the impression I have a small head. The GSP 370 is going to fit most gamers without any issues. However, those of us with big heads know it, and we’re more than a few, so I feel like expecting a headset that fits comfortably is reasonable. I mean, the Sennheiser GSP 500 fits me just fine.
Give me the comfort (and open-ear design) of the GSP 500 with the performance and wireless capability of GSP 370 and I’ll buy 10 of them to cycle through over the next decade. There’s simply not much missing from the GSP 370, and most of what is comes down to preference based on how it feels on your head. For the average user, the GSP 370 looks like a big winner. It stands with other high-end headset options and does so with wireless capability. If you’re shopping in the large end of the hat spectrum, though, you might want to pause and get out the measuring tape before buying.
This review is based on a Sennheiser GSP 370 Wireless Gaming Headset provided by Sennheiser. It's available in retail and digital stores now for $199.95 USD.