To win a game, many factors will affect a gamer during playing. Therefore, choosing the right gear to play the game competitively is not something that can be done carelessly.
In addition to the mouse, keyboard, and monitor, the headset is also one of the most important gear for gamers. You see, using a headset with good quality can sometimes determine someone's win or loss.
OIeh because of that, ASUS has a new gaming headset aimed at gamers called ROG Fusion II 500. They claim, this headset has good sound quality that is suitable for gamers. And this time, we will discuss our experience in using this one gaming headset. In our opinion, the position of this headset falls in the category between mid-level to pro gamers.
Design and Product Quality
By design itself, this headset at first glance does not appear to be a gaming headset. You see, ASUS gives matte black accents without any RGB accents in unused conditions.
However, this gaming headset will look very bright when you plug the USB cable into your device. Only then did this headset look like most ASUS gaming headsets.
The body of this headset also feels solid. The plastic housing of the ROG Fusion II 500 feels premium, and doesn't appear to break easily. They also use a metal material that is quite sturdy for the headband of this device.
What makes us praise ASUS a little bit about this device is that they are very attentive to the little details in this device. You see, when you pull the headset down, the headband of this device has the ROG logo engraved on it.
The foam on the headband of this device is also very comfortable. The foam feels thick and premium. This makes us feel not like wearing a headset even though the weight of the ROG Fusion II 500 is not light.
While the foam earcups on this device also feel very soft. The cushioning material also feels premium. Although worn for a long time, it did not cause the outside of our ears to hurt or sweat.
Specifications and Features
In the sales package, ASUS also provides spare earcups. In addition, there are also several cables, such as a 1.5-meter-long USB Type-C to Type-C cable, a 1.5-meter-long 3.5mm cable, and a Type-C to Type-A adapter.
ASUS claims, ROG Fusion II 500 can easily connect with a variety of devices, including PCs, smartphones, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch with great ease.
However, in our testing experience, even though it is compatible with various consoles and smartphones, this headset is most optimal for use on a PC or laptop. You see, users will get full access to existing settings.
On the other hand, speaking of sound quality, we have to admit that this gaming headset has good sound. The sound is clear and has high precision, because they use a 50mm driver.
They also use Neodymium magnets to provide the best sound quality. As a result, this headset has an impedance of 32 Ohms with a frequency response of 20 to 40000 Hz.
For gamers, maybe they will be content to just use a USB C to C cable directly to their laptop or gaming PC. What's more, in this day and age, hardware manufacturers have included high-end audio components in their motherboards.
In addition, this headset is also claimed to have an embedded DAC. Indeed, we have to admit that the sound staging of this headset when using a USB C to C cable is quite good. Bass sounds quite loud and not excessive.
The low-mid quality is also quite balanced. However, we feel at the top feels a little lacking. However, you can adjust the EQ of this headset using the Armory Crate application. In this application you can also adjust RGB and several other features.
ROG Fusion II 500 also comes with a virtual surround feature of 7.1. This feature is quite interesting especially for some FPS games, because we can clearly guess where the enemy is from from where the sound is coming from.
Likewise when we tested this headset for watching movies. The headset's software can pinpoint where the sound is coming from, providing a more immersive viewing experience.
And because the ROG Fusion II 500 is a gaming headset, this Taiwanese company also embeds a pretty good mic. The mic present in this device uses an omnidirectional type with excellent AI noise canceling features.
This mic can also work well in some voice chat applications as well as video conferencing applications. The AI noise canceling feature of this device is very good when used to make Zoom meeting calls.
The sound of construction around the test site can be well muffled. This is quite important because when playing games, we need to communicate very well between one player and another.
Now for ease of use, ASUS has also pinned a few shortcut keys on the ROG Fusion II 500. On the left there are shortcuts to increase and decrease the volume, turn off or turn on surround sound, as well as a mute button to unmute the mic.
While on the right, there is an option to change the audio mode from game mode to chat mode. Meanwhile, to change the adjustment of the device used, you can make settings by clicking the button on the right side of the device.
Conclusion
It's actually a bit difficult for us to decide that the ASUS ROG Fusion II 500 is more suitable to fall into the mid-level or pro gamer category.
However, it must be admitted that this gaming headset is more suitable for use on a PC. One of them is because we will only get full control of this device through the software on the PC.
For the sound quality and the mic itself, we have to give it two thumbs up. The sound produced is very good, especially when simulating 7.1 surround. Noise canceling for the mic itself also works well.
The drawback we feel is that with this price range, ASUS should make the ROG Fusion II 500 a wireless headset. You see, more and more gamers are choosing to use wireless headsets while playing games.
The Review
ASUS ROG Fusion II 500
It's actually a bit difficult for us to decide that the ASUS ROG Fusion II 500 is more suitable to fall into the mid-level or pro gamer category. However, it must be admitted that this gaming headset is more suitable for use on a PC. One of them is because we will only get full control of this device through the software on the PC.
PROS
- Good sound
- There is a mic with AI Noise Canceling
CONS
- Price
- More suitable for PC