As someone who probably spends just as much time gaming as I do breathing, I’m always looking for a leg up on the competition. For months I had been using the Razer Kraken headphones, and I enjoyed them right up until the moment they died. I was devastated, my favorite pair of headphones magically stopped working and my iPhone earbuds definitely were not cutting it. Enter the G.Skill Ripjaws SV710 Virtual 7.1 Gaming Headset (which, full disclosure, were given to me by G.Skill to review).
The first thing I noticed when taking them out of the box was the weird shape. They have a top band that does not move, but underneath there is a more comfortable band that actually rests on your head. It’s a weird look, but I don’t typically take my gaming headphones with me to fashion shows. I don’t love the look, but the performance should make you forget about that.
According to G.Skill, the 710’s boast “virtual 7.1 surround sound through certified Dolby Pro Logic IIx technology and dual 50mm neodymium audio drivers”. If you’re an audiophile, that will definitely mean something to you, but for the average gamer it means “hey, these sound really good”. I used them while playing Battlefield 1 and was able to clearly hear enemy movement, detecting some flanking Germans with ease. I did not find a noticeable difference between them and my old Razer Kraken headset, which is a good thing.
The most important thing for any gamer, though, is price point. Unless you are a hardcore player with an infinite supply of money to spend, gaming on a budget is a necessity. The 710’s can currently be found on Amazon for $74, making them $25 cheaper than the Razer Kraken set I was using before.
If the look of the headphones isn’t a make-or-break issue for you, and you want good headphones on a budget, the G.Skill Ripjaws SV710 Virtual 7.1 Gaming Headset are definitely worth checking out.
