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GIGABYTE AORUS H1 Gaming Headset Review – Is GIGABYTE’s noise-cancelling headphones all that?
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GIGABYTE AORUS H1 Gaming Headset Review – Is GIGABYTE’s noise-cancelling headphones all that?

by March 5, 2021
Overview
Highlights

Lightweight, comfortable to wear for long periods, decent sound quality, RGB, reasonable price tag

Warranty

1 Year Local Manufacturer Warranty

Price

RM249

Positives

+ Lightweight
+ Attractive, minimalist design
+ Large earcups
+ Comfortable to wear long periods
+ Reasonable price
+ 7.1 surround sound

Negatives

- Slightly subpar build quality
- Creaky
- Microphone performance is terrible
- Bass is unsatisfactory

Pokde Scoreboard
Pokde Rating
Appearance
8.1
Features
7.3
Materials
6.7
Performance
7.3
Portability
7.5
User Experience
7.9
Value
7.7
Bottom Line

GIGABYTE AORUS H1 is a gaming headset that's comfortable to wear with decent sound quality that features noise cancellation but hampered by the subpar build quality and terrible microphone quality.

7.5
Pokde Rating
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The GIGABYTE AORUS H1 gaming headset is GIGABYTE’s latest pair of gaming headphones that feature noise cancellation and 7.1 virtual surround sound. Not only that, the AORUS H1 carries a very affordable price tag and an attractive but minimalistic design.

Unboxing

The GIGABYTE AORUS H1 gaming headset comes in a rather nice black box with an image of the headset featured on the front. The image also showcases the AORUS H1’s RGB lighting. The box also features the name of the headset at the top left as well as some highlights of the headset specs. At the back of the box, you can see another picture of the AORUS H1 headset but this time together with its controller. You can also see some of the specs and features in multiple languages.

You will find a side-profile image of the headset on one side of the box while on the other side, you will see a description of the headset’s connectivity, which devices it is compatible with and the AORUS H1’s specifications.

GIGABYTE AORUS H1 Gaming Headset Review - Is GIGABYTE's noise-cancelling headphones all that? 27

In the box, you will find the GIGABYTE AORUS H1 gaming headset itself as well as a manual. That’s all you will find inside the box.

Appearance

GIGABYTE AORUS H1 Gaming Headset Review - Is GIGABYTE's noise-cancelling headphones all that? 28

The GIGABYTE AORUS H1 gaming headset’s overall design is a bit of a mixed bag for me. At first glance, it looks pretty nice with a minimalist design that’s both very gamer-esque and quite accessible to mainstream audiences. 

That minimalist design, however, is not perfect and has its flaws. Some of which we will touch upon later. 

The GIGABYTE AORUS H1 features an overall plastic build with a sturdy aluminium band running over the head. It also has a cushioned and stretchy faux leather band with the AORUS brand stamped at the top of the band. The headset also features large earcups with soft spongy material wrapped in more faux leather. You will also find small RGB strips on the outside of the earcups and the AORUS logo on the outside of the earcups. The AORUS H1 also has a non-detachable microphone encased in a dark plastic tube that lights up at the end. 

GIGABYTE AORUS H1 Gaming Headset Controller Front

The headset also features a controller that can be used to control the volume, the RGB lights, the microphone as well as the ENC function.

GIGABYTE AORUS H1 Specifications

Driver Diameter 50mm
Frequency Response 20Hz~20KHz
Impedance 32Ω ±15%
Sensitivity 112 ± 3dB at 1KHz
Headphone Type Closed-back, over-ear
Microphone Unidirectional pick up, non-detachable
Connector USB
Cable length 2.2M
Noise-cancelling Microphone: Electronic Noise Cancellation (ENC)
Colour Black

User Experience

GIGABYTE AORUS H1 Gaming Headset Review - Is GIGABYTE's noise-cancelling headphones all that? 29

The first thing that struck me when I first held the GIGABYTE AORUS H1 is how incredibly light the headset is. I remember thinking to myself as I picked up the headset still sealed in its box whether GIGABYTE actually forgot to include the headset when they shipped it to me. 

Coming back to the minimalistic design, I have to admit it does look very attractive. However, it does lend itself to some very slight issues. My first gripe with the AORUS H1 is that the headset is very creaky when you try to wear it. It might not bother some people but to me the creaky nature of the headset makes the whole thing feel a little cheap and brittle. Not to mention it makes me worried that I could just break the damn thing every time I try to put it over my head.

My second gripe is more towards the overall build quality of the headset. The GIGABYTE AORUS H1 features a lot of matte plastic that is very light which helps with the AORUS H1’s overall weight. This, however, proves to be a bit of a double-edged sword (for me at least) as the plastic build of the headset contributes to the overall cheap feeling of the AORUS H1. 

GIGABYTE AORUS H1 Gaming Headset With Head 2

Not everything in terms of the build quality is terrible though. The lightweight build of the AORUS H1 makes the headset one of the most comfortable headsets I’ve ever worn. I have a pretty big noggin which is why I don’t really like using headphones while I game. They tend to feel heavy and clamps down on my head too hard which causes unwanted headaches though that’s not the case here.

The clamping force of the GIGABYTE AORUS H1 is not hard either and the large-sized earcups really contribute to the overall comfort of the headset. This is a god-send for me as I have pretty big ears in addition to a big head. The earcups can get a little hot though at times which makes your ears all sweaty although this doesn’t really bother me all that much.

The sound quality of the AORUS H1 is pretty satisfactory. The headset features 7.1 surround sound technology which works very well. In-game sounds are clear with directional sounds easily pinpointed which creates a very immersive sound experience. This feature is particularly good for FPS games as the 7.1 surround sound makes it easier to detect enemy footsteps. I might also add that the AORUS H1 is incredibly great to play horror games with as it pretty much helps you distinguish even the smallest of sounds. Safe to say Phasmophobia has never sounded scarier.

Despite this, the sound quality is not perfect though. There is a notable lack of bass with the headphones which is very noticeable when you listen to music. The music quality lacks that punch you’d expect especially when you listen to bass-heavy music. Even music that isn’t necessarily bass-heavy can sound a little lacklustre at times.

The biggest letdown I found with the GIGABYTE AORUS H1 is the microphone quality. For me, the headset produced the worst microphone quality I’ve ever experienced on a pair of headphones which is then rendered worse when you turn the ENC function on. My voice became muffled and at times sounded like I was going through a cold. Turning off ENC helped but not by much. My friends had trouble hearing me while gaming and I can’t tell you how many times I had to shout just to talk over the microphone. I tried playing around with the gains which yielded no improvements whatsoever.

Here are a couple of audio samples recorded with the GIGABYTE AORUS H1’s microphone.

With ENC function turned on:

With ENC function turned off:

The AORUS software used to control the various functions of the GIGABYTE AORUS H1 is pretty clean, straightforward and fun to use though. Through the software, you can control the EQ functions of the headset as well as toggling the preset effects, microphone gains, and the ENC function. It also comes with a really fun voice modulation feature though, the AOURUS H1’s torrid microphone performance does hinder the fun factor a bit.

Conclusion

GIGABYTE AORUS H1 Gaming Headset With Head

Despite its issues, I have to say that the GIGABYTE AORUS H1 gaming headset is a pretty good pair of gaming headphones especially for the price it’s going for which is RM249. It’s got an attractive design and it’s comfortable to wear for long periods of time. The sound quality is pretty decent too barring its slight lack of bass. However, I wish that the microphone performance would’ve been better and for the headphones to sound less creaky. You can find the AORUS H1 for sale on both Lazada and Shopee.

And with that, I award the GIGABYTE AORUS H1 gaming headset a respectable bronze Pokdeward!

Pokde-Bronze

A big thank you to GIGABYTE for providing the GIGABYTE AORUS H1 for the purpose of this review. 

About The Author
Syed Hassan Algadrie
Just a guy who loves Star Wars, Transformers, tech, 90s nostalgia and all things geek. Is in a constant battle with procrastination.

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