Sades A2 Headset Review

Manufacturer : Sades
Where to Buy: Sades
RRP: £25.99 (or region equivalent)

Sades are back with another solid headset that won’t break the bank. The Sades A2 are a superb set for just £25.99, and offer easy to use volume control, great comfort and most importantly excellent sound and mic work.

I’m fairly lucky when it comes to headphones and have had chance to try out sets from across the price spectrum. While the A2 might not match the big boys in terms of features or sheer body to its sound, it still manages to do an incredibly solid job. I’ve been using this in place of my usual pair this week and despite being a fraction of the price I’ve more often than not hardly noticed the change.

The audio is excellent, from the booming bass to the higher frequencies coming across clearly. The maximum volume is incredibly high too – make sure the rocker is dialled down before you turn the game on! As I mentioned, those who really know their audio will detect a slightly ‘muddier’ feel when there is a lot going on (a lot of gunfire, explosions and shouting, for example will muffle some elements)  but across the handful of games I tried this was rarely an issue for long. Resorting to my go to Battle Royal, Fortnite, I was still able to hear other players around me, or distant gunfire alerting me to battles going on ahead of me. The tell-tale hum of a chest or XP coin was easy to detect, and again it was only really in a heated battle that some elements became a little fuzzy, though never to the extreme that it affected the gameplay too much.

Chatting with friends worked well too, with the built-in mic providing great clarity and pick up. Muting is a simple as swinging the arm up until it clicks into place. It isn’t detachable, and the only issue I had with it is that I couldn’t quite get it to sit where I wanted it to. The arm is flexible but it never felt quite right, either close enough to get knocked by a cup as I had a drink, or too far out of the way that I felt like I needed to raise my voice, even though again the mic rarely failed to pick it up. My only other nit-pick here is that there is no in-built balancing of voice and game audio. Instead we need to rely on the Xbox guide Audio options to do so. Hardly a deal breaker, but those who’ve seen my other reviews will know I’m a sucker for this feature.

The A2’s design I think out performs its price tag. This is a great looking – and more importantly very comfortable – set. The black and orange tinted colour scheme is very cool (also available in a pastel pink and white), and the three large foam pads on the headband are nice and soft. The ear cups are large enough to fit over even my big ears comfortably, and even long play sessions don’t exhibit any discomfort. They connect to the controller via a standard 3.5mm jack which is attached using a nicely flexible braided cable. This obviously lets us use them with any console, PC, or mobile device too, and a conversion cable is included for use with those who require that functionality on PC.

Conclusion

Those looking for a new (or secondary) pair of headphones should absolutely check out the A2 from Sades. For such a fantastic price they do an admirable job of delivering clear, punchy audio alongside a good, quality mic. It loses a little kick when there’s a lot going on, but for the most part they stood pretty tall compared to my daily use pair of headphones, and for a fraction of the price!

Hardware provided by the manufacturer for review purposes.