ASUS ROG Fusion II 500 Headset Review

How Much Does it Cost?

The ASUS ROG Fusion II 500 Gaming Headset is available right now from most major retailers. However, keep in mind that it’s packing some pretty high-end audio technologies, and that is certainly reflected in the price. It’s currently £199.99 on Amazon, and while that’s about the same as the Wireless Razer Kraken V3 Pro and HyperX Cloud Alpha, ASUS does have them beaten in terms of processing quality. The SteelSeries Actis Pro is a real contender at around £150, offering Hi-Res audio too, but again, for the more enthusiastic audiophiles out there, ASUS once again has the edge in terms of processing.

Overview

This headset certainly isn’t for everyone, and at this price range, it’s likely just out of the range of most people’s budget. That being said, if you can afford it, it’s a very nice headset indeed, with some of the most impressive processing on the market today. Admittedly, it’s suffering from the rule of diminishing returns though, so may only appeal to the more enthusiastic audiophiles out there. Do you really need quad DACs? Not really, and some more affordable rival models that “make do” with one DAC sound bloody fantastic. Does this headset sound better than theirs? I think it does, but only marginally, but then again, if you want to go even higher than this quality, you’ll be spending exponentially more money yet again.

The ergonomics are excellent on this headset, it feels superbly comfortable even after a long gaming session. I spent way too many hours on Battlefield V last night, and this headset didn’t feel like a burden, albeit sitting up till 3 am did. I even prefer the leather pads for the longer sessions, but I love that they’ve included some softer fabric pads too. Unfortunately, there are no quick-release mounts for them, so you have to pull the leather ones off, and then feed the trim back into the groove… it’s a hassle, so don’t expect to be changing them on the fly, ever.

I love a bit of RGB customisation in my PC hardware, but I still can’t bloody fathom why we’re seeing such a thing on headsets. I can’t see it when I’m wearing the headset, so what’s the point? eSports teams may like the extra option to customise their team look perhaps, but that’s not the market this headset is gunning for. Even then, I think the RGB design they’ve chosen looks tacky. Albeit, that is very subjective, and you may love the look of the RGB.

Should I Buy One?

This headset is expensive, but it’s exceptionally well made, it’s very comfortable to wear, and while it may have more audio hardware than most people need, there’s no denying its performance abilities. Plus, having a 3.5mm jack option that makes it somewhat compatible with other devices is a nice bonus too. The drivers, the quad-DACs and the beamforming microphones are in a league of their own, and it doesn’t matter what you’re doing, it’s going to sound absolutely astonishing. While I would love to tweak the RGB, maybe make it wireless, and even bring the price down, I can’t fault the raw performance of it, it’s one of the best sounding headsets out there.