Not everybody who enjoys blowing away demons or petting the local wildlife through the safety of an LCD Screen has the option to throw $100 at a headset. That’s where the Venom Sabre Stereo Headset comes in and we got a pair to find out if it’s a sound buy.
Coming straight out of Uk peripheral manufacturer Venom, the Sabre is an all round gaming headset intended to arm competitors for whatever creeps up over the parapet. Whether it’s blasting through DOOM Eternal on PC or pocketing Pokemon on mobile, the Sabre looks set to work across PC, Consoles, and mobile platforms. The striking looking suspension design seemingly apes far more costly equivalents, so what can it offer for a pocket money pricing?
Specification
· 50mm speaker drivers
· Fully retractable flexible microphone
· Self-adjusting cushioned headband for the perfect fit
· Soft cushioned ear cups for maximum comfort
· In-line controls with microphone mute function
· 1.2-metre braided cable with 3.5mm jack
· Includes splitter cable for PC users
Coming in at Just under £30, or local equivalent, the Venom Sabre certainly looks like it is worth the money. Pulling the Sabre out for the first time reveals a respectable looking headset for most gamers. While this isn’t going to win any style awards, the black and white aesthetic that Venom has settled on for the Sabre is understated enough for gaming peripheral. The white accents dotted around the earpieces, and the pattern adorning the 1.2m braided cable that runs from the right ear presents a slightly more refined look than you might expect from a pair of cans that you’ll pick up out of the local electronics store shelf. This aesthetic continues around the two rubberised ear cups attached to a solid plastic frame and connected by an aluminium scaffold that rises up over the crest of the Sabre. Between the two ears sits a cushioned pleather headband that comes connected by wire tethers, just to ensure that there aren’t any headaches incoming with enemy artillery. At first glance, the Sabre sends a message that it doesn’t need to distract you with RGB, it will let your ears do the talking.
Comfortably Run
Put on the Sabre and it’s clear that these are built for comfort. The suspension headband design that really came to prominence thanks to Steelseries, makes for a particularly light-headed experience. This is accompanied by a set of plush foam earpads with a decent amount of padding to reduce the pressure where the Sabre clamps around your ear. For the right user, the Sabre is going to be a fantastically comfortable device and Venom have really considered user enjoyment when putting together this piece. Unfortunately, I am not that user, if but for the smallest of margins. The Venom Sabre comes with plenty of padding all round, matching other suspension headsets I own with just as much cushioning as something twice the price. Where things didn’t fit for me was the Venom’s earcups. While perfectly comfortable, I found my ears pressing right up against the Sabre’s speakers. Given a little more lateral movement between the cups and the headband or a few more centimetres of padding this wouldn’t have been noticeable at all. While this means that for teens and young gamers, the Venom Sabre is going to go unnoticed, do be aware that an average adult gamer might be best grabbing this one where it can be tested and returned as it is a little less roomy than my daily drivers, the Corsair Void Pros.
The Sound
Feeling like an over-eager festival attendee, I parked myself as close to the Sabre’s speakers as possible and got started. The Venom Sabre comes with a set of 50mm drivers, meaning that this headset should be able to pump out some serious noise from the 3.5mm jack, whatever the gaming device. While many gaming headsets are amped up for bass responsiveness, I found the Sabre had fairly flat tuning, not overhyping the bass but only just about immersing me in the battlefield. This is likely due to the cramped conditions inside the earpieces, as described earlier. Dynamic range and overall responsiveness of the speakers was adequate and windows sonic or Dolby virtual surround felt only somewhat effective when trying to pinpoint anything creeping up on me in Amazon’s new Crucible brawler. The 50mm drivers feel a little underpowered, even when I pushed them through a separate amp, but this could, again, also be a reflection of my own issues with the fit of the device. Largely, this adequate performance is typical of overall sound reproduction in the Sabre. It isn’t going to blow your mind and anybody with the money to pick up a pair twice as nice will do so. If you can only afford one pair to rule them all then this sits squarely in the middle for all types of gaming.
The microphone is, again, good enough and while it doesn’t have the ability to cancel background noise or make your raid commands sound any more convincing, it is what I would ask for form a budget headset. The option to retract the mic into the headset interior is very welcome feature which I miss from many headsets. Additionally, in-line volume controls allow the mic to be muted as required. For this price range, you can’t expect much more from the Sabre’s microphone
Ready For All Occasions
What the Sabre might lack in mind blowing audio, it makes up for in flexibility. Aside from the comfort, the Sabre is designed to go all day on any device. There are no issues with connectivity, batteries, or signal lag to worry about and it doesn’t feel cheap by any means. I wouldn’t expect to drag the Venom Sabre Stereo headset onto the daily commute but whether it’s in the PC, laptop, tablet, or console controller, the 3.5mm jack and included splitter cable provide huge interoperability for this all in one solution. Where USB headsets might do well for just PC gaming, these will serve you on any battlefield. Between a good enough mic, some really quite thoughtful design choices and a sound reproduction that is above average for this price range, the Sabre is unique in its price point. Teens and gamers that this fits will find a go-to piece of kit, suited for extended encounters and flexible enough to serve well in anything from Fortnite to World of Warcraft. If you aren’t Tony Stark then this might still let you play Square’s new Avengers title without annoying the neighbours late this year. The Venom Sabre Stereo Headset is available now across major electronics retailers right now.
