Sunday 6 March 2016

Turtle Beach Ear Force Stealth 420X Wireless Gaming Headset

Turtle Beach Ear Force Stealth 420X Wireless Gaming Headset

In past months we have seen some very impressive products from the likes of Logitech and Plantronics, and now we get to see a similarly great product from Turtle Beach – the Ear Force Stealth 420X.

The 420X is made specifically for the Xbox One. And it’s properly wireless – of course, any headset that plugs into the Xbox One controller is sort-of wireless, because it doesn’t connect to the console, but this one doesn’t need to hook up to the controller either. That means no need for a headset adapter (along with its uniformly dodgy controls). It also means a better battery life on the controller, because no juice is being sapped by a headset. And it means, most of all, great chat and game audio, without a single wire.

Razer Wildcat Xbox One / PC Controller

Razer Wildcat Xbox One / PC Controller

Why is the Razer Wildcat controller for Xbox One not wireless? Well, the main reason given by Razer is that the controller is designed for eSports, and that means that a stable connection and minimum latency are top priorities… and you need a wire for those. Besides which, keeping a wire handy also makes it easy to use with a PC (which it can be) but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be wireless as well. And (to be all glass half full) the generous 3 metre cable means never having to change batteries…

Roccat Isku FX Gaming Keyboard

Roccat Isku FX Gaming Keyboard

Having the right mouse and keyboard is essential in PC gaming – you need something that is comfortable, effective and, preferably, similar in design approach. This last idea comes into play if you use, for example, Roccat’s Kone XTD mouse with the ISKU FX keyboard. Why? Because the devices work together – the Easy-Shift [+] technology used by the devices means that the shift key on the mouse is taken over by the one of the keyboard, freeing up an extra mouse key and essentially two new potential functions. But we’re not talking about the Kone XTD (it’s reviewed elsewhere in this issue). Rather, let’s take a look at its partner in crime, the Isku FX keyboard.

Asus QM1 Stick PC

Asus QM1 Stick PC

We live in a wonderful age… technology is moving so wonderfully quickly that it’s almost like being in a sci-fi movie. Every day something new crops up for us to marvel at and, as long as we don’t become jaded to the fast pace of technological advancement, we can remain awed at the scope of human ingenuity.

Xbox Elite Wireless Controller

Xbox Elite Wireless Controller

A lot has been said about the differences between the official Xbox One and PlayStation 4 controllers – sometimes even the choice of console comes down to the shape and comfort of its primary input device. But what happens when you compare the official Xbox One controller to the… well, official Xbox One controller. Microsoft have recently upped their controller game (a move pretty uncharacteristic to a firstparty manufacturer) with the Xbox One Elite controller.

Bang & Olufsen Form 2i Stereo Headset


Sometimes great performance comes from unlikely sources. Not that I am saying that Bang & Olufsen is an unlikely place for great audio – far from it. This company didn’t get its sterling reputation by producing lacklustre audio products. But there would probably be very few gamers who would consider their Form 2i headset as a source of personal audio. Hell, even Bang & Olufsen say that it is designed specifically for music.