PC & Console Peripherals

Roccat Elo 7.1 Air in the test: Infinitely comfortable

In 2019, Turtle Beach took over the competitor Roccat. Competitor in the sense that the German manufacturer has headsets in its portfolio in addition to mice and keyboards. And one of them is the Roccat Elo 7.1 Air. At just under 100 Euros, the Elo 7.1 Air is even within a comfortable range as a wireless headset with RGB lighting and 7.1 surround sound. We test the headset for you.

Technical data

Driver 50 mm neodymium magnet
Type Around-the-ear
Frequency range 20 ~ 20000 Hz
Impedance n.a.
Sound pressure level n.a.
Weight without cable 345 g
Cable length and type USB-C charging cable (2m)
Battery life 24 hours
Radio range 2.4 GHz, range n. a.
Price € 76.99

Packaging & Accessories

Impressive packaging is not always necessary and often also drives up the price by a few unnecessary euros. The Roccat Elo 7.1 Air lies in a plastic tray including the accessories. A small document with important information is also included in the box. The accessories include the USB dongle for wireless connection (USB 2.0), a detachable microphone and a USB-C charging cable.

The setup is very simple: Plug & Play. We get even more configuration options via the accompanying software Roccat Swarm, so install it quickly as well. We will get to the software in the later part of the test.

A little info on the side. According to the manufacturer, the headset can only be used on the PC, but in our test, the wireless connection also worked on the PlayStation 4 with minor drawbacks. With respect to other reviews, the Nintendo Switch also seems to work without problems. Maybe a hint that Roccat should put on the box?

Design & Workmanship

The Roccat Elo 7.1 Air is really sleek. It is definitely not plain, as the curved shape of the holders, as well as the headband give the design that certain something. On top of that, there is the RGB lighting. On one side we find the manufacturer’s lettering, and on the other side is the logo. We can adjust the color via the software, even with effects if desired.

Plastic is of course the choice of all things, and so it is here. However, the earcups and their accompanying mount are the only places where plastic is used. The headband is metal (presumably aluminum) and otherwise faux leather or fabric is used. In general, the headset makes a high-quality impression – and looks good. There are no sharp or protruding edges.

Comfort

We rarely had a more comfortable headset in the test. The headband adapts to any head shape by means of elastic. So there’s no need for the ear cups themselves to be adjustable. But even these are provided with a movable joint for more comfort.

The rest for the right fit is then taken care of by the padding of the ear cups. In addition to memory foam, Turtle Beach also uses a technique to relieve pressure on glasses wearers. For this, a different type of foam is used at the height of the glasses temples. Long gaming sessions thus pose no challenge to glasses wearers with the Roccat Elo 7.1 Air.

Recording and playback quality

In actual all the gaming headsets we tested, the bass comes off way too strong and drowns out almost everything else. With the Roccat Elo 7.1 Air, it’s exactly the opposite. It feels like it has no bass, but trebles and mids sound okay, albeit a bit imprecise. This is the situation if you use the headset via Plug&Play, but fortunately there is Roccat Swarm. With this software you can get a lot more out of it.

The built-in equalizer lets you adjust the sound to your liking. The mentioned, much too low bass can’t be completely compensated, but the situation can definitely be improved. The same is true for the other areas. However, we can’t achieve a splendid sound even with the support of Swarm.

We can’t neglect the 7.1 surround sound, though. As with so many manufacturers, this is virtual surround sound. Enemies’ positions can be located better after activation, but the already mediocre sound suffers even more. Everything sounds tinny, empty and without volume. However, this is very often the case with virtual surround sound.

Click here to display content from www.youtube.com

We can’t complain about the microphone of the Roccat Elo 7.1 Air either. The voice is transmitted clearly, even if it is a bit quiet again. Although we pushed the slider in Windows as well as the associated software to the limit, our conversation partners still have to readjust it on their side. Since the headset also offers monitoring, we can also hear our own voice. We hear a slight hissing, which is also audible with noise reduction. However, this did not become noticeable with our conversation partners.

Software

Roccat Swarm is a really good addition for the Elo 7.1 Air. The software is comprehensive, allows for many customization options, and can even be used flexibly. On the one hand, we can determine the sampling rate of the headphones and the microphone ourselves, and on the other hand, we also find the equalizer for some fine tuning.

However, there are still a few gimmicks like “Magic Voice”. The function acts like a voice distorter. Maybe funny for the other person, but we ourselves can’t hear ourselves over it – even when monitoring is activated. Superhuman Hearing” can also be activated. This emphasizes certain frequency ranges to make steps, reloading or other important sound effects more present. Unfortunately, this also affects the sound quality.

Of course, the mentioned equalizer is also found in Roccat Swarm. In addition to predefined settings, you can also completely customize your sound yourself. You can save your settings and save them to one of the five profiles.

Conclusion

The Roccat Elo 7.1 Air is a great headset. The best part is actually the comfort, because the headset is really comfortable. Especially for spectacle wearers, the headset is suitable due to the two different types of foam. The workmanship is also good, and Roccat delivers a really great product here.

However, we have to cut back on the most important part of a headset – the sound. Here everything is really much too little, even the bass. Fortunately, we still have the Roccat Swarm software at our disposal, so we can still get a lot out of the headset. However, we are not completely satisfied with the final result.

We can thus say that the Roccat Elo 7.1 Air is not perfect, but it does its job really well and is very comfortable.

Roccat ELO 7.1 AIR

Workmanship
Comfort
Sound quality
Recording quality
Features
Value for money

90/100

Top headset, with weaknesses in the sound, which is actually the most important part of a headset.

Simon Lüthje

I am co-founder of this blog and am very interested in everything that has to do with technology, but I also like to play games. I was born in Hamburg, but now I live in Bad Segeberg.

Related Articles

Neue Antworten laden...

Avatar of Basic Tutorials
Basic Tutorials

Neues Mitglied

3,251 Beiträge 1,471 Likes

In 2019, Turtle Beach took over the competitor Roccat. Competitor in the sense that the German manufacturer has headsets in its portfolio in addition to mice and keyboards. And one of them is the Roccat Elo 7.1 Air. At just under 100 Euros, the Elo 7.1 Air is even within a comfortable range as a … (Weiterlesen...)

Antworten 1 Like

Back to top button