Mic, Wireless, and RGB Lighting
Microphone
The mic on the G933/G633 is a fold-away, boom style that features noise cancellation.
“Ensure you are heard with a crystal-clear noise-cancelling boom mic. The boom has an indicator LED so you know when your microphone is on mute. When not in use, the noise-cancelling boom mic can be folded back into the headphones and is nearly invisible.”
Unfolding the mic from left ear cup
In addition to folding down from the body of the left ear cup, the end of the mic can be extended for better positioning.
The extension is also flexible, allowing you to further customize the mic position. In practice this felt pretty solid, and it held its position well as long as I didn't try any sharp angles. And when you don't want the mic active an easy way to mute it is by simply raising the mic boom, which does so automatically.
To test the mic I first tried it out during some online gameplay, but I wanted a more critical analysis of the performance. To this end I used the mic to record my voice, and varied the level of background noise to test the cancellation effectiveness. The results were good, but not exceptional. Expect a sound closer to a mobile phone than a dedicated mic, though it was quite clear – if a little tinny. There was some noticable background noise rejection, but your environment will still be audible if sound around you is very high.
Wireless Performance
The G933 features 2.4 GHz wireless support in addition to a wired USB or 3.5 mm connection. The included USB dongle is actually stored behind a door on the outside of the left ear piece, which is convenient for travel (if you remember to replace it).
Wireless adapter is stored in the left ear piece
Wireless range was very good, allowing me to walk to the next room without losing connection. Moving two rooms away I found the limit of the wireless range; though range will be dependent on many factors, including position of the USB transmitter.
By default the G933 will put itself to sleep after just 5 minutes of silence, to prolong the battery life. However, if you are running the latest version of the Logitech software and headset firmware, this has been changed to allow full customization of the timer, from 5 – 30 minutes; or you can set it to "never" to keep the headset on until you choose to manually put it to sleep.
There is a drop down menu to change the sleep timer on the audio settings page
What about the sound? To my ears there was no discernable difference between 2.4 GHz wireless sound quality, and the audio with a wired USB connection. The headset is handling the digital-to-analog conversion onboard, so this makes sense. In any case, wireless sound is excellent. If you have a high-end DAC and/or dedicated headphone amp you'll probably be using the 3.5 mm analog input for audio, but the onboard system does a great job on both the G633 and G933 (including wirelessly).
An interesting feature is that the USB wireless adapter also has a 3.5 mm input, allowing analog passthrough. This can be used to mix audio from both the computer and another device. I tried this out using the included 3.5 mm cable to connect my smartphone, and in addition to allowing me to hear music and other audio from my phone through the G933, it also allowed me to hear alerts while gaming.
This feature is a pretty big deal if you're waiting for an important call or text (or need to hear alerts from your baby monitor app, for example). The headphones do a good job of sealing out external noise, so having this ability to stay 'connected' is a must for many people, myself included.
One important note: the volume level of audio being passed through will be dependent on your device's output level. I had my phone set to 100% volume during my testing, and even so I could barely hear it over louder content from my PC.
The battery is accessible from the right ear piece
As to battery life, Logitech rates the G933 at up to 12 hours with LEDs disabled, and up to 8 hours with lighting enabled (volume at 50%). I found these numbers to be accurate, and the battery life was sufficient for a day's worth of music and gaming. I used the headphones for 4 – 5 hours at a time (with LEDs enabled) typically during longer sessions, and the battery status was still at 50% when I finished. In fact, I only completely drained the battery after two days without charging, followed by a photography session for the LED lighting.
RGB Lighting Effects
As we saw in the controls and software section, the Logitech Gaming Software program allows the full customization of lighting effects in two zones, with the lighting strip and logo able to be controlled separately if desired.
The lighting can be set to a fixed color per zone, and there are also breathing and color cycle effects to choose from. With 16.8 million possible colors there's plenty of room to tailor the color to your personal preference, and to give you an idea of what at least a handful of the basic colors look like I created this composite image:
The colors are bright and vibrant, and overall the RGB effects are very well implemented. Not everyone is enamoured of RGB lighting, which seems to be offered on just about everything these days, and the lighting can be switched off if desired.
do we need lights on
do we need lights on everything…
They’re easy enough to turn
They’re easy enough to turn off.
with software
with software
Do we NEED lights on
Do we NEED lights on everything? no. Do we WANT lights on everything. Hell yeah
Nice review! I always love
Nice review! I always love your pictures. I’ve had the 933 set since September of last year. They were my only “speakers” on my system until just about a week ago (in between houses). The sound quality is beyond amazing (unless you’re a super picky audiophile). I walk around my entire house with minimal signal drop (2200 sqft house). They are pricey, but really cool. And as cliché as the buttons seem, they’re handy for skipping, pausing, etc when listening to music. And although the mic isn’t what I usually use — I go for a blue yeti — but the quality is decent and I like the mute function as you lift the mic arm.
Again, great review as always.
Thanks! Glad you liked the
Thanks! Glad you liked the review. I was really impressed with the sound myself, and I'm one of those "super picky audiophile" types you mention. 🙂
I’ve been using these for
I’ve been using these for about an hour and the sound is ok but my friends tell me that the mic is terrible, and that it sounds like I’m speaking into a cup. so I’m not sure if I should return them or not. Any thoughts?
I actually have the G633’s
I actually have the G633’s and I wouldn’t buy another set ever. The software/driver is broken. I have constantly had issues with the headphones just crashing where I need to reconnect them to get them working again. Also parts of the EQ’s functions in the software don’t even work. If you take a look at their support forums they are filled with people having issues with the headsets, both types. When they work, their nice, but that’s the issue… when they work.
What games did you test with?
What games did you test with? In the short time I owned a pair I found out about their fatal flaw, that they only appear to Windows as a stereo headset, instead of a 5.1 device. A lot of games read the speaker setting from Windows and output based on that. This meant that for a majority of the games I played, virtual surround simply didn’t work right because the driver was just upmixing a 2 channel signal from the game. In my experience 60-70% of games didn’t work right, including new stuff like Witcher 3.
The Logitech forums are filled with people complaining about it, and logitech’s response was simply to shrug and say “This is how Microsoft says to do it now.” Whether or not that’s true doesn’t change the fact that they’re incompatible with most games, so I returned it and never looked back. There’s lots of other headsets and/or sound cards that don’t have this issue.
Windows will always display
Windows will always display these as a 2-channel device, which is how they would operate without the LGS software installed. The software is approximating surround without dedicated multi-channel input, but that doesn't mean it ignores content mixed in multi-channel surround. You must be running the software and have one of the surround effects enabled before launching any content to hear these effects.
As to games, I tried out Witcher 3 myself, and directional surround effects worked as expected. Other games I tried while wearing the headphones were DiRT Rally, Project CARS, and Shadow of Mordor. Mordor was a standout, and as I moved voices and other effects would pan around the virtual mix as if there were dedicated channels. Witcher was easy to test as well. An example was dismounting walking away from my horse, and as I moved I could hear it drift from front, to left, to my rear; turning around placed the sounds from behind me back to the front.
Turning in a circle with your character where there's a lot of ambient noise (in a game mixed in surround) will give you a quick dose of the 3D effect. I was very skeptical going in, and it worked for me.
To verify that surround was working with encoded content I downloaded some Dolby demos, including the new Atmos stuff (though of course the height channels were not available), and played them back with VLC. In home theater setup material (where the channels are called out one by one), the center, front L/R, and L/R surround channels were all distinct. The only channel I found less convincing was rear L/R surround in a 7.1 mix.
Checking their forums today
Checking their forums today it looks like they finally recognized and fixed the issue.
Do the 933s still have the
Do the 933s still have the issue of turning off after 5 mins of no activity or has that been fixed, its really the only thing holding me back from buying these.
Great question! I did some
Great question! I did some research, and it turns out Logitech just fixed this. I'm running the newest version of the Logitech Gaming Software (8.79.77), and on the "Customize Audio Experience" settings page there is a dropdown on the bottom right corner to change the timer.
I clicked on this with the G933 headset connected, and was prompted to update the firmware of the headphones. I had to connect them via USB, and the update finished in about a minute. Now I can set the timer anywhere from 5 min to 30 min – or choose "never" to keep them on all the time.
I wouldn't have discovered this without your question, so thanks! I'll update the wireless page on the review.
I hope that these don’t have
I hope that these don’t have the quality issue that my 930’s have with the pieces that hold the speakers on breaking. I bought these on Ryan’s recommendation and love the sound on them, but worry about the quality of the build.
If these break I’ll never buy Logitech headphones again.
The only con that I have with
The only con that I have with these headphones at present is that the USB connection is kind of difficult to plug in when in a low light environment.
This is why micro USB should
This is why micro USB should always have been a reversible connector! Think of all of the time we waste trying to plug in a smartphone; fumbling in the dark. Apple got this right with the Lightning connector, but the USB Type-C connector should become standard soon enough. Fingers crossed.
I had a set of G930’s that
I had a set of G930’s that were great; but the usb port on the headset wore out and they refused to charge. Apparently this was a fairly widespread issue with the soldering. I wonder if they’ve solved that issue.
Why can’t we get a headset at
Why can’t we get a headset at this end of the spectrum that also has wireless charging or at least a charging cradle. While the battery life is commendable there is a likely chance you will forget to plug it in after a long session of use at some point in the future.
Thank you very much for the
Thank you very much for the review Sebastian, i have been seriously looking at the 933 for a wireless option that covers all my various audio needs. Your review has all but sold me on the product as it seems within my price range and is starting to look like the best option for me.
I have a few issues with
I have a few issues with these headphones: turning the headphones off won’t release control of the audio to listen to speakers- I need to unplug the dongle, the range can easily be disrupted by large appliances (sound gets spotty when I am 20 feet away in the kitchen, with the dishwasher and fridge in between), and they slide off when I sit back in my recliner.
Sounds like your just a lazy
Sounds like your just a lazy sod
Thanks for the informative
Thanks for the informative review and I’m glad it’s from someone with experience with other audio products. That being said, I wish you would have dedicated a section to comparison to the older Logitech headsets. I’ve been using the G35s for six years and I’m curious how far Logitech has come in comparison with these brand new headsets vs the ancient G35 – leaps and bounds?
G933 is garbage because when
G933 is garbage because when I plug in ASUS Xonar DX Sound Card, it produces static noises, and bass sound was very weak! So therefore, I returned it, and bought Logitech G230 Stereo Headset which has excellent stereo mix and bass was loud and clear, and it’s much cheaper than G933! So I am very disappointed for paying over $150 including tax of G933. Luckily, I bought G230 Headset for $30 with discount promo code.
Hi is there a way to get any
Hi is there a way to get any tyoe of surround sound out of the G933 on ps4 doesnt have to be 7.1 .. at least 5.1 dolby is it only 2.1 stearo on ps4 ?