The Logitech G Pro is the rare gaming headset iteration that’s clearly built to improve on its predecessor.
Speaking of which, I really liked last year’s Logitech G433.
It took the formula of the HyperX Cloud II, and expanded on it with a removable cable, a more stylish look, and patent-pending drivers made out of a cool mesh material that lowers distortion. And it did all that months before the Cloud Alpha came out trying to do the same thing.
But its cloth ear pads, heavy clamp, and cloth outer covering meant it had some slight problems in the comfort, build, and isolation departments.
Logitech has fixed those problems, refined every material used, and added a better microphone..and BAM we have the new G Pro gaming headset.
Not to be confused with the G Pro gaming keyboard or G Pro gaming mouse…all of which use the exact same packaging and branding.
OVERVIEW
The Logitech G Pro gaming headset retails for $89, which is 10 dollars less than the original G433 MSRP.
It comes in black and also black.
It’s a closed-back gaming headset with nicely-isolating leatherette ear pads, and a second included pair of “Microsuede” ear pads for those of you that prefer the lightness and sweat reduction of cloth.
Just like the G433, the ear pads are a little bit hard to change out thanks to their dual-lip design which has a bit of a learning curve.
The extras package is not as robust as the G433, but that’s okay. There’s no included case, only one included cable and PC splitter, and no included USB surround sound dongle. But those extras might not matter to you as much as they would have a year ago…and if they do, then the G433 is still on the market as of this writing. And sometimes it’s on discount.
SOUND QUALITY
The G Pro headset uses Logitech’s Pro- G drivers, which aside from having a name that’s directly inverted from the name of the headset, use a mesh material to deliver low distortion sound performance. These drivers still have a patent pending on them, even though they first launched three years ago in the G633 headset.
I guess the patent office is a little backed up, huh?
Just like on the other 8 million headsets that Logitech has stuffed these drivers into over the last few years, the sound performance here is very good. The drivers are tuned for a just-north-of-neutral frequency response, with little accentuations here and there that make them more fun to listen to.
The bass is nice and tight and enjoyable, but in no way bleeds into the midrange. Mids are forward in the mix and clean, with good natural vocal timbre in music tracks. Highs are a touch rolled off so as not to be fatiguing, but still precise.
It’s really hard to find something to complain about with the sonic performance here.
I’ve mentioned this before, but Logitech first showed off these drivers to the gaming press against a Sennheiser HD650, so confident were they in their performance. That took guts.
The G Pro retains the acoustic chamber design and bass porting of the 433. The driver is suspended in the middle of the cup, and angled…and both of these things are supposed to improve soundstage. I didn’t totally love the soundstage of the 433 when I reviewed it…but I’m really noticing the width this time. Maybe my ears or brain have changed, or maybe I’m just reading into it too much…but either way, these have a very nice soundstage for a closed-back pair.
ISOLATION
The one major fault of the G433 was its ho-hum isolation. One of the biggest advantages of a closed-back headphone is isolation, usually. Both of the included ear pads on the G433 used a cloth material that was breathable, but not the absolute best at blocking out outside noise or keeping in bass frequencies.
With the G Pro, Logitech has finally relented and included leatherette ear pads on a gaming headset for the first time ever in their product line.
They had a dogged determination to only ever use cloth before, and while I can respect that (and indeed they still include optional cloth pads here), the isolation performance on the G Pro is dramatically better.
These have proper isolation now!
You can use these in a louder environment, no problem. The design was focus- tested with pro gamers, and they often find themselves in noisy tournament scenarios. While that’s not the sort of environment I’m usually in, I do like noise isolation when I’m writing in a busy coffee shop or just want to block out the noises of my apartment and its surrounding area.
The enhanced isolation here will allow you to more easily enjoy the wonderful sound performance of Logitech’s drivers without cranking the volume as high, and get a touch more bass performance in the process.
A wonderful decision!
COMFORT
Comfort is also improved from the G433. The padding in the ear pads is still the same strange-feeling non memory foam…but the headset is a little more flexible, and a little less clampy on the head out of the box. It took about a week of use before the G433 was comfortable on my head, but these felt comfy after about 15 minutes.
Some of that’s down to the new material of the headband.
And the rest is due to the gargantuan size of the ear cups.
These have very wide openings for your ears, and they’re fairly deep also. If your ears really stick out, they might still touch the mesh material inside the angled cups…but they shouldn’t be touched at all by the edges of the pad.
In spite of the switch to leatherette for the default pads, Logitech has still cut some little venting holes into the inside of the material. They heat up like most leatherette pads, but they don’t do so as quickly.
The cups rotate out flat for easy neckability, and the cups don’t run into each other in this position so they shouldn’t grab your neck too hard.
DESIGN/BUILD
The overall design of the shell is 100 percent identical to the G433, down to the keying on the microphone port. You could shove the older mic into this headset and it’d fit just fine.
Fortunately, that design was decent.
It sits halfway between the aggressive gaming headsets of the past and modern style headphones, and you can wear these out and about without anyone thinking you must be a DJ or esports pro.
On the build-side, almost every material here has been tweaked or upgraded. Logitech has gone so far to list the exact metals and plastics used on their web site, which is a nice touch.
The headband is plastic-y at first glance, but on closer inspection it’s quite robust and flexible. The new materials make a wearing difference. It’s not as clampy on the head as the G433, but I also can shake my head around without the headset flying off.
The headband pad has a really nice leatherette covering over it, as opposed to the basic cloth on the G433. The backs of the ear cups are rubberized, taking a cue from the Arctis series, and they feel very nice. The old model used a special hydrophobic-coated fabric on the cups, so that you could wear them outside in the rain without worrying.
I’m not sure I’d want to wear the G Pros in the rain. They look too nice.
The two sets of included pads still use the slightly-awkward-to-change-out plastic ring design, but once you get the hang of it it’s not the worst thing in the world. These should be compatible with old G433 pads, in case you really miss the “Sports Mesh” fabric and want to swap back to some you have lying around.
The adjustment sliders are nicely solid, and have 13 clicks of adjustment with little lines to show what click you’re on.
I normally have to open headsets almost all the way, but like on the G433, I only have to open these halfway.
That’s very good. These should fit a large variety of head sizes and ear sizes with zero issue.
Every material here is a little more premium than on any other Logitech headset, even the most expensive ones. The soft touch rubber material is nice. The headband is solid. It’s a proper upgrade, and not just a difference for the sake of a difference.
I’d love to see Logitech overhaul the 533/633/933 line with similar material choices.
The 633 and 933 in particular are weirdly prone to developing creakiness over time, and have a thinness to their plastic that isn’t at all present on the G Pro. I’ve spent several days with them as my sole headset, and they sound and feel just as good as they did out of the box. I’ll update if any of that changes over time.
FEATURES/EXTRAS
This is the one area where the G Pro takes a step back from the older model. However, I think Logitech has made some smart choices here…and they’ve passed those savings on to you with a slightly cheaper MSRP, so it’s a bit easier to swallow.
You get one 6.5 ft cable in the box with a 5 pole connector for the headset end and a 4-pole connector for your PC/game console/phone. The 5-pole connector is the same length as a standard 3.5mm plug, and the extra pins are used to give you a cleaner microphone connection.
The cable is nicely braided, and the source end has a robust textured plug that I really like the feel of. The cable has an in-line volume control and mute switch, with a little shirt clip on the back of it.
This cable is the same main cable that came with the G433. You also get a PC splitter in the box if you want to use separate microphone and headphone connections.
And that’s it.
Gone are the carrying bag, secondary shorter cable with in-line microphone for mobile phone use, and USB surround sound card.
I don’t think any of these are huge losses. But it depends on your personal needs.
I like getting a carrying bag with headphones. But I frequently get a lot of flack online for enjoying these…so I guess many of you aren’t as excited about this accessory as I am.
The mobile phone cable was cool in theory but could be cumbersome in practice. It didn’t work with the boom microphone, so you had to switch back and forth if you wanted to have full functionality. Its materials weren’t as nice as the main cable. I carried the both around with me all the time when I had a G433, but mostly just used the main cable.
Still, if you need that cable, you could buy one and use it with this headset without issue.
The USB dongle that comes with the G433 is very nice, and it’s a little sad to see it go here. But the world we’re living in is different than the world of Q1 2017. Windows Sonic has brought free high quality object-based headphone surround sound to all PC gamers, with the option to also get Dolby Atmos for 15 dollars more, no special hardware needed. And more and more hardcore gamers are investing in dedicated headphone amps for their sound needs.
The dedicated headset dongle is probably in its twilight. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re totally gone in another…two years or so.
I’m glad that Logitech lowered the MSRP by 10 bucks. It’s a bummer to get a few less extras, but the better materials more than make up for it.
And hey, the mic is a little better too.
MICROPHONE
The final slight improvements to the G Pro are in the microphone. The bendy bit is fully exposed metal now, and it’s more flexible. The pop filter is full-sized, and covers the entire capsule of the microphone, unlike the tiny mini pop filter from the G433.
Now, the older microphone was pretty darn good, and this new one is even better.
It offers a clean, natural tone, with a good bit of background noise cancellation.
If you click on this link you can pop over to my personal site where I can actually upload audio, and hear both a quiet room and a loud room microphone test. This old review I did of the G433 has a test of that mic too, so you can compare.
The G433 has a more resonant, and slightly more artificial, tone, and I think the new one is a definite improvement.
The mic performs in the very top tier of headset mics, and I’m very happy with it.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Logitech took the G433, improved the materials, improved the isolation, improved the mic, trimmed a couple of extras, and lopped 10 dollars off the suggested retail price.
That’s a win in my book.
The isolation was the only lacking thing about the original headset, and Logitech could have taken the easy route and just slapped leatherette pads on the G433. That they took the time to tweak several other things shows a level of care that doesn’t always exist in the gaming headset space.
I’m also really impressed that Logitech has continued to evolve their own headset lineup in spite of now owning Astro. They could have just cut their product line down to only the Astro stuff, if they’d really wanted to.
Logitech made just the right changes to make the G433 worth putting out again under a different name. And it’s priced well.
This one has a home in my permanent collection, no question. It knocked the Takstar Pro 82 off my shelf.
Please clap for this if you made it this far. You can find my other writing on Medium and also clap for it here, ask me annoying headphone questions on Twitter here, and find my personal site here. Headphone selfie.
