For this reviewer, one of the biggest factors in a headset peripheral purchase is comfort. For too long these ears have been covered by uncomfortable, itchy ear muffs. Looking to buck the trend is the EKSA Air Joy Pro Gaming Headset. Can it provide the holy trinity of style, comfort and sound quality or will it become lost in the sea of headsets flooding the market at the moment?
ESKA is most likely a relatively new name to the UK, having released only a few products so far into the market, but in no way should be dismissed for that fact. From the initial opening on the Air Joy packaging, there is a distinct whiff of quality to it. It’s the little things that matter when differentiating yourself and from the initial opening what first impresses is a high quality bag sure to keep your purchase safe for the duration. With most competitors at most giving a basic cloth bag, it’s incredibly refreshing to see some effort put into protection and sets the precedent for quality from the outset.
Focusing on the headset itself, the question is with ultra-light in the name, just how light is it? With research of the current market, the lightest rival that this reviewer could find was still nearly 60g heavier than the Air Joy. What this translates to in real world terms, is that within ten minutes of play, it’s completely forgotten that these headsets are on your head.
The importance of this cannot be stressed enough, if ESKA had dropped the ball on this then the whole sale premise goes out the window. The brief is nailed and hits one of the biggest necessities for long gaming hours: that you don’t notice you are wearing them. Unfortunately, some aspects of the design make you grateful that you can’t tell.
Black is always in fashion, but the choice to emblazon the earpieces with some very questionable design choices is a bizarre one. What would have been the height of fashionable in the early ’90s does not hold weight in 2020, and the Claw-like decals and baffling tagline of ‘No Burden Just Joy’ demote a quality product in all aspects to something most consumers wouldn’t leave the house wearing. A massive shame, as with the vast connection options available out of the box, these would function perfectly for outdoor music appreciation through a smartphone or MP3 player for the purists.
Whatever is your preferred choice of use, the EKSA Air Joy Pro Gaming Headset has you covered. With USB-A and 3.5mm straight out of the box you can hook these up to just about any device with minimal issues, and with no real difference in sound quality between each device. The 7.1 Surround Sound is available on the PC with access to the drivers on the ESKA website, however this reviewer is yet to find the same drivers for Mac users.
The microphone included is detachable form the headset itself, and on first impressions feels a little frail to the touch but does succeed in providing a good, functional piece of equipment. Both bi-directional and noise cancelling features ensures that under a hail of gunfire you are still going to be able to clearly scream in frustration and blame your controller in front of team mates and enemies alike. For such a lightweight headset, there is a real thump to the audio feedback which certainly impresses for the price point. Both high and low ends are clear, and using the minimalist controls on the right ear bud can really pump out the volume to ear bleeding levels with no degradation or crackling.
