MadCatz F.R.E.Q.5 Red PC Headset Review

It’s not often I get to revisit a product that I have reviewed, in fact it’s only happened about 3 times in the last year but it gives me a great chance to reflect and see if my own opinion of that product has changed over time, especially as there is a chance that something new, better or simply cooler may come along and change my original opinion.

As I said I’ve been using this headset for quite some time now and I’ve enjoyed using it so much that we now have two of them in the house, one for me and one for my girlfriend. They make perfect gaming headsets for teamwork as they allow us to communicate well not only with each other but with the rest of our team, something that is vital in a frantic team game of Battlefield 3. Not only that but it means that we can both enjoy the audio of our own game without filling the house of the sounds of two people in the heat of battle. Having a pair of these headsets has also given me another perspective on their performance, especially when we were both wearing the headset to communicate on Skype when I’m away on business and on both sides of the conversation the audio has been crystal clear.

Since my original review of this headset the price has dropped a little too, seeing some £25 drop from the RRP at many popular online retailers that goes a long way to making this headset better value for money. While the headset still comes in at around £90, which is still quite a big investment for any purchase you make, they retain their value for money thanks to the very durable build quality and excellent all round performance.

The style of the headset may not be to everyone’s tastes and the strong angles, extreme looks and now the bright colours of the design can be a bit much for some, I personally think they look fantastic and it is obvious that MadCatz have put a lot of time into the design and ergonomics of the set, something that is apparent across their entire peripheral range. The style of the MadCatz headsets are very unique and when you see one there is no doubt that you’re looking at a MadCatz product, it’s this kind of brand awareness that has worked well to reinforce their growing popularity over the last couple of years and it’s easy to see from its performance, style and build quality why they are proving ever more popular with the gaming community and consumers in general.

While our Gamer’s Choice Award would be very appropriate for this headset, given that the gaming scene is clearly its target audience, the all round performance for voice communications, music and movies, mobile compatibility and more go a long was to justifying why this is truly an Editor’s Choice Award worthy product.