SteelSeries Tusq Review: Cheap and good

The SteelSeries Tusq is a no-frills wired in-ear gaming headset targeted at mobile gamers on a budget priced at only $75 (promotional price now at $69).

SPECS
PRICE: $75
FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 20Hz to 20KHz
IMPEDANCE: 18 ohms
WEIGHT: 21g

While the Tusq is built for gamers, it is quite suitable for many WFH people who needs to be in endless video conferences. It is cheap and with its wired connectivity, there is no hassles about pairing or worrying about break in Bluetooth connection.

The Tusq features a flexible ear hook design on each earbuds, which allows you to easily fit and secure them into your ear. Its silicone ear tips, which come in three sizes, further ensure it will not fall out of your ears when you battle.

As the Tusq is really lightweight, you can wear it for hours and there are no “warming” of ears.

In terms of looks, it probably will not turn heads but it is not bad-looking either. I like the silver accents with the SteelSeries logo on exterior of each earbud.

It comes with two microphones – an inline microphone and a detachable boom microphone. The inline microphone is sited on the inline control that lets you play or pause a track as well as a mute switch for the microphone.

The detachable boom microphone attaches to the left earbud. This is probably the better option to me, as you can adjust the boom closer to your mouth so your team-mates can hear you better. I end up using the boom microphone all the time.

When the boom microphone is attached, the headset will automatically switches over to use it and ignore the inline microphone. The headset will switch to the inline mic when the boom microphone is detached.

FOR
+ Very affordable
+ Good sound quality
+ More suitable for video conference
+ Dual microphone

In terms of sound quality, the Tusq offers pretty punchy bass that makes every explosion and gun shots sound terrific.

But the loud bass tends to drown out any mids and highs if you are listening to music. But during gameplay, you can still clearly hear your teammates shouting at you.

Your teammates will also able to hear you quite well regardless whether you are using the inline or boom microphone.

All parties said they can hear me loud and clear during gameplay. The microphones work even better when I was using the Tusq for video conferencing.

While it is supposed to target at mobile gamers, I think it is more suitable for those with gaming laptops.

This is because most smartphones these days do not come with a 3.5mm jack. And the Tusq only has 3.5mm connectivity. Unless of course, you have a 3.5mm-to-Lightning or 3.5mm-to-USB-C adapter.

Plus, the 1.2m cable is a tad short. So, this makes it more suitable to be used with laptops than on desktop machines.

In addition, the build of the gaming headset is a tad “plasticky”. But given its low pricing, it is understandable.

VERDICT
If you are looking for a no-frills affordable wired in-ear headphones for gaming or video conferencing, the SteelSeries Tusq is a good choice.