These headsets are literal game changers – Corsair HS60 Haptics

So headsets are basically the same as always, yes they get better drivers which will enhance the immersiveness and microphones to make you sound better, they sometimes get new designs, like RGB or they swivel and adjust. But they rarely get something that changes the way you use the headsets. 

Well Corsair has tried doing just that, with their new HS60 with haptic feedback, now haptic feedback isn’t new at all, there have been headsets that already have it,but this is Corsair’s first try at haptics. Did they succeed or is this just another gimmick? 

Price

Now the HS60 haptics is not cheap at all, especially considering that these are more like HS50, cause they are stereo unlike the HS60 Pro which are 7.1. At the time of writing the HS60 haptics was on special and was retailing for $112, normal price is $130, which is more than double the HS60 Pro at $50. Is the haptics really worth more than double the price? Here in South Africa they retail for about R1900 and the HS60 Pro is around R1300. 

Luckily with software you can now make all stereo headsets virtual 7.1, which means you can even make the HS50 and HS60 haptics 7.1, with the help of windows sonic software. But that still brings me to the same point, is the haptics really that good that you need to pay more than double the price. 

Specs wise the HS60 Pro and Haptics are about 95% the same, the color on the haptics is a arctic camo, Which I personally do like a lot, but the HS60 Pro comes with a USB adapter to make it 7.1. The Haptics, like mentioned before, does not come with the adapter and needs windows sonic software to accomplish the virtual surround sound.

Build quality

Now Corsair almost always has very good build quality and the Haptics are no different, they use a combination of aluminum and plastic that makes it a decently durable headset. The headband is an aluminum frame, with a decent amount of foam padding  and is quite flexible. It does adjust a little bit to fit different head sizes, which is a standard thing nothing special there. 

The earcups have a tiny amount of swivel, but they won’t be able to rest on your shoulders comfortably, they can also tilt up and down a bit, but we have found this tilting point to be a weak point on the headset as it is very thin. They are constructed from plastic, with a leatherite memory foam padding, which are not very deep, the driver wall does scratch against my ears, and it’s only a thin cloth material covering the driver wall. 

On each ear cup there are controls that control various things, the left earcups controls, adjust the volume and you have a mic mute button there. The right earcup has the haptic gain wheel that adjusts the amount of haptic feedback that you get. 

Comfort

Now the ear cups is the part that determines how comfortable a headset will be, now like all the other HS range headsets, the HS60 Haptics are decently comfortable, like mentioned before they do scratch my ears after a while of use. Because of the haptics they do get a bit hot after a while, especially because of the leatherite that can’t breathe properly.  

Cable

The HS60 haptics come with a braided USB cable that is unfortunately not detachable. The cable is about 1.8 m or 5.9 feet long. 

Mic

The mic used is exactly the same as the mic on the HS70 Pro, which is the detachable, bendable mic, that comes with a little pop filter. The mics sound good enough, they are a bit nasally, but they are clear and do a decent job with noise cancelation.

Sound

The HS60 Haptic has the same 50mm drivers as most of the newer HS Pro headsets meaning it will have the same great tuned sound quality with sharp highs and clear mids while the separate haptic system makes you literally feel the bass. You can adjust the levels to suit your preferences which can go from there being an actual lack of when turned off, to feeling like there is a subwoofer on each ear when turned to max.

Haptics

So what is haptics? It basically uses a motor to vibrate the headset in response to the sounds that focuses on the bass, which means more bass equals more vibration. For instance with music you can boost it to vibrate your ears off. With action movies you can feel the explosions like it’s happening on your head. But after playing around a bit the perfect amount was around 30-50%

Gaming

Now when it comes to gaming, I actually realized what the haptics are capable of, as this is where haptics really starts to shine. Each ear cup will actually vibrate on its own, making it very pronounced as to where the shots or explosion came from. Now with something like racing games they can be very cool as well, especially with a throaty car like a V8’s bellow and rumble. It feels like you are actually there next to the car. But then again a game like F1 which has more high pitched cars, won’t be that effective with the haptics.

Conclusion

Now although the HS60 Haptics are very good and the haptics does do a proper job, I just cant justify the price jump to more than double the HS60 Pro’s. Maybe if they were $100 I would consider them, but you would really really have to like the camo look and the haptic feedback to be able to justify buying these. I would rather go for the HS70 Pro, which are really good headsets and also wireless and they are around $100.