Aukey GH-X1 RGB Gaming Headset: impressive audio on a tight budget

Welcome to T3’s Aukey GH-X1 RGB Gaming Headset review. Giving you access to affordable tech, the Chinese brand Aukey, has branched out into the world of gaming accessories. A relatively young company, they were founded in 2013 and since then they have gone from strength to strength. Previously, they impressed us with their budget keyboard, the Aukey KM-G12 which featured in our best gaming keyboards guide. 

So is it worth trusting Aukey with more of your gaming peripherals? We took the Aukey GH-X1 RGB Gaming Headset for a test run to find out if it will take a slot as one of the best gaming headsets. 

To summarise what we found, this headset is excellent value for money, and we cannot stress that enough. Keep reading to find out what it was about it that earned the Aukey GH-X1 RGB  its spot as one of the best budget wired gaming headset.

 Aukey GH-X1 RGB Gaming Headset review: price 

 At the time of writing, the Aukey GH-X1 RGB Gaming Headset cost just £24.99 on Amazon in the UK. They aren’t currently available in the US. Take a look at the widgets for the most recent price.  

Aukey GH-X1 RGB Gaming Headset review: design and setup  

Straight out the box, the Aukey GH-X1 RGB Gaming Headset does look like a budget pair of headphones. Predominantly covered in plastic, the headset has the Aukey logo on the earcups placed on the grills with RGB lighting underneath, with cushioning on the inside of the earcups and headband. The omnidirectional microphone on the left earcup sits inside a flexible metal casing making it easy to push aside when you aren’t using it. To control the volume or to turn the microphone on and off, you can use the in-line controls which are placed on the wire. The plastic remote felt very hollow and sits a little too far down the wire, but that’s just nit-picking. 

The headband can be adjusted by a few inches on both sides, it’s a little clunky but you can get it to fit your head well. They had quite an average comfort level, overall there wasn’t quite enough padding on the headband or earcups so they did get annoying to wear after a while. What the plastic design does mean though, is that at 310g, the Aukey GH-X1 RGB Gaming Headset feels very light. This will definitely make them more comfortable than they would be if they were heavier. 

To set up the headphones, there’s no wireless connectivity so you’ll need to plug them in using the braided 2.2m cable. You connect to your games console using the 3.5mm cable, or to your PC using the adaptor which splits the cable in two.

Connecting using a 3.5mm audio cable does make this a pretty versatile headset that will work with most games consoles and computers. Although probably quite unlikely, if you did want to use it with your smartphone, you may need an adaptor to connect it if it doesn’t have the right port.

Quite a major downside is the RGB lighting which will only work with the USB on the end of the cable plugged in as well. So if you plan to use the headset with a games console, the RGB lighting could be more hassle than it’s worth if you tend to sit further away than the length of the cable. You also don’t get any control over how the lights look.

Aukey GH-X1 RGB Gaming Headset review: audio and performance 

Though the design of the Aukey GH-X1 RGB Gaming Headset felt a little cheap, the performance and audio quality was quite the opposite. 

During gameplay, the 50mm drivers gave you the kind of 360-degree audio you might get from a headset three times the price. It was easy to pinpoint where objects or people were located. On top of that, the sound was sealed in well, exterior noise was dulled enough not to be distracting. For gaming, they do give you a great experience overall. If we were to criticise the headphones, we would say that they did lack slightly in the low end and the clarity was slightly lacking too. 

When it came to listening to music, we were impressed by how accurate the headset was considering the price, there was very little distortion even though these are clearly tuned for gaming. You wouldn’t want to use the Aukey GH-X1 RGB Gaming Headset as your regular pair outside the house, but they will do a decent enough job inside. The only frustration was that the volume didn’t reach massively high levels. 

During calls or while gaming online, we found the quality of the microphone was surprisingly good. Those on the other end noted how clear we were and how well sounds like the TV playing in the background were blocked out, especially in comparison to other affordable headsets.

Aukey GH-X1 RGB Gaming Headset review: price and verdict 

You may not be keen on spending £100 or more on a gaming headset, but why should that mean you have to be cursed with terrible sound quality? Well now it doesn’t, the Aukey GH-X1 RGB Gaming Headset had the audio quality we would expect from a much pricier set, and a microphone to match. 

Far from flawless, the Aukey GH-X1 RGB Gaming Headset does feel a little cheap and it's a shame not to have wireless connectivity. It's also a pain to have to power the RBG lights separately. So you do sacrifice on the design-front but considering the headset’s audio performance and modest cost, we think it’s a small price to pay. 

The Aukey GH-X1 RGB Gaming Headset is the best headset you will find at this price point, it’s really excellent value.

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