Audeze Penrose review: "Audio that's hard to beat" - palmerdianted

Our Verdict

The Audeze Penrose could well follow the only PS5 headset you of all time demand to buy: information technology has an excellent form, esthetic audio, and a solid mic - just all for a price.

Pros

Excellent sound character and detail
Comfortable
Peachy battery life
Solid intent and build

Cons

More expensive than most top PS5 headsets
Incessant buzzing when using it while charging

GamesRadar+ Verdict

The Audeze Penrose could well be the alone PS5 headset you ever motivation to steal: it has an excellent build, beautiful audio, and a solid mic - but all for a price.

Pros

+
Excellent sound quality and point
+
Comfortable
+
Good assault and battery life
+
Solid design and build

Cons

-
More high-ticket than most top PS5 headsets
-
Unremitting buzzing when using it while charging

The Audeze Penrose headset comes in at the elevation end of the PS5 radio headset stray that's acquirable now. And patc it's hush comparatively early days in the PS5 peripherals market, additions like this do pretend it like a sho richer. With the pedigree under the hood and in the name, I knew that this would be a competition for our best PS5 headset list - but is IT actually worth the entrance mone?

Instantly, the Audeze Penrose is a $300 / £300 headset and that will make roughly folks take a sharp intake of breath. But there is a market for such premium headsets; the Astro A50 is another at that end of the scale, and information technology justifies its Leontyne Price mark down entirely by beingness one of the best wireless gaming headsets going, and unitary of the outright world-class play headsets too. Potty the Penrose do the same?

Aim &A; Features

Essential info

Audeze Penrose PS5 — (Image credit: Future)

Type: Wireless, Over-capitulum, sealed-circumaural
Drivers: Audeze 100mm planar magnetic drivers
Microphone: Clastic, broadcast lineament
Compatibility: PS5, PS4, PC, Mobile
Frequency reaction: 10 - 50000Hz

Sharing the same design and aesthetic language as the Penrose X headset (the Xbox variant), the headset has a chicness black design with blue accents. IT's a pretty inoffensive look and should be at home in any setup - there's nary garish operating theatre overly 'gamer-y' flourishes Here. The earcups are leatherette and comfy, and the padding in the cover third of the headband makes for an overall snug yet comfortable able.

All the controls are happening the far left earcup which makes it tardily to control and figure that muscle memory up for quick alterations. On the outside of the left earcup, you stimulate the power button and the mic walk-on switch, while on the underside (the usual rank) you have the go button, the mic loudness dial, and the master bulk dial, accompanied by the USB-C port, the audio jack connective, and the detachable mic's housing and port. Listing them all come out of the closet makes it sound a bit incommodious, but they are spaced out enough and easy to engage with in praxis.

The USB-C association is for charging and data so adds or s flexibility, while the audio jack connection is great for this also. But, don't get me vicious, information technology's clearly designed to be a neat wireless headset and that's the main draw here.

The key to that is the USB dongle. It's your modular USB stick, only it is very sesquipedalian so testament stick out annoyingly from any USB slot you utilization. Something to bear in mind should your PS5 cost at dog height, OR if it has footfall nearby it. Loosely, though, the dongle volition be set up in peerless of the back USB ports and nigh there always, so I am carping a bit.

The wireless connectivity on volunteer is great, too, as you can link up over Bluetooth to your phone piece likewise connected wirelessly to the dongle. This is a neat feature article and adds an unnecessary string to its bow.

The strength and range of the wireless connectedness are also effective, with the connection ne'er dropping out even when I walked to different parts of my house.

Performance

The main feature of the headset, yet, are those 100mm drivers inside. These famous drivers sure wealthy person the chops on paper, and knowing what we know from the Penrose X, merely how does it sound in really-world performance? Excellent is the answer to that question - and one that I'm joyful to report along a headset with this price tag.

The circumvent level-headed is marvellous, and distinctly presents audio from whol around gimpy worlds and environments with accuracy. The audio performance is exceptionally elaborated, rich, rounded, and asymptomatic balanced in every section meaning that enemies forthcoming from any direction are placed, world noises such A weather and wildlife take over a new clarity, and you can hear your friends nicely ended even the most intense firefights. Traversing the world of Assassins' Creed Walhalla was a existent joy, for instance, and performin online with my friends in Remnant: From The Ashes was illuminate as day, equal in the most disorganised of gaffer fights.

The boom mic is vitreous silica clear and makes for pleasing communicating, though just same any boom mic, you'll need to arrange information technology in such a way that's not impairing your comfort or vision, but stern still institutionalize orders and tactics clearly to your pals.

The headset also operates marvellously when you turn the volume right down (the detailed audio silence comes through) and when it's on liquid ecstasy volume. I bring up this as IT's intelligibly a do good of being a PlayStation-centralised headset; the volume levels on the PC-centric Mobius headset were moderate on soothe, which hindered it greatly.

The battery lifespan is good, nonmoving at about 15 hours or so, simply it does take a while to charge thusly this is something to bear in mind. This was a factor in my testing sessions as the Penrose revealed to me that you absolutely cannot use information technology while charging as there is an audible droning when the headset is on and connected to charge. This buzzing is not just audible to yourself; your teammates can get wind IT too, with my friends complaintive that they could literally hear my electricity.

Overall - should you buy up information technology?

The Audeze Penrose headset gives forth or s of the best audio on PS5 that I've older so far in the console table's life. Rich, careful audio, directionally robust, and fit harmonious, information technology really is as close to the full package American Samoa information technology gets for in-game audio.

IT's also well built and offers flexibility by being a great PC headset for gaming too, if you were on the lookout for something that you could use seamlessly and easily for both platforms.

But the sound quality, peachy mic, and connectivity come at a cost. Yep, you just can't look past that price tag. For context of use, and roughly speaking, you could stimulate 2 SteelSeries Arctis 7P sets for that, three PS5 Pulse 3D headsets, surgery nearly three Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2s. I jest a little, but the reality remains that you could vex one of these aforementioned headsets and then reinvest the balance into a PS5 SSD or PS5 external Winchester drive and probably consider yourself in a put up of net increase, rather than blowing it all on one headset.

That aforementioned, if you have the budget, and strive for some of the champion audio frequency going, then the Audeze Penrose could very well be for you as its audio is seriously hard to beat.

Audeze Penrose review: "Audio that's hard to beat"

The Audeze Penrose could well make up the only PS5 headset you ever need to corrupt: it has an excellent build, beautiful audio, and a solid mic - simply completely for a price.

Much information

Disposable platforms

PC, PS4, PS5

Less

I'm one of the Hardware Editors for GamesRadar+, and have been for just about three long time; I've besides been a writer on games - freelancing and the like - for four or so years for the likes of Eurogamer, RPS, PCGN, and Sir Thomas More. Day to day, I take care of a whole host of gambling technical school reviews, purchasing guides, and intelligence and deals content that pops up across GamesRadar+. I'm likewise a qualified landscape and garden designer so do that in my unembellished time, and usage IT to write of games' landscapes and environments likewise, including an forthcoming book on the topic!