The technological arms race forever churns, turning today’s top-tier wonders into tomorrow’s bargain bin bundles. Whatever state your setup is in, we can all agree that the march of time is thoroughly annoying, isn’t it? Well, that has clearly been on LucidSound’s designer’s minds as their latest headset, the LS100X, which packs a ridiculous 72 or 130 hours of battery life, depending on modes. While that might not slow the inevitable creep of your electronics towards obsolescence, it does mean you can spend more time drowning it out with your gaming headset on.
There’s very little to distinguish the LS100X design from the LS15X that we reviewed earlier this year. There are plenty of headset designers who do much the same – Astro in particular – but I can’t help but yearn for something a little visually different. It’s best to remember then that you won’t be looking directly at your own headset all that often, and it’s in the build, comfort and controls where it really matters.
The LucidSound LS100X is built from sturdy black plastic, with a white inner coating that marries up with the memory foam of the headband cushioning. It’s smart and distinct, and thoroughly understated. There’s the LucidSound logo on each earpiece, and the company name embossed across the headband, both of which are picked out in gloss plastic to stand out against the matte surfaces elsewhere.
At a glance you could almost mistake them for something like the Sony WH-1000XM4, and that’s certainly a bonus, particularly when you can use them on the go via Bluetooth. When you’re gaming you’re more likely to be using the proprietary USB-A dongle, with it working quite happily on PC and the Xbox family of console. It should be noted that there’s no 3.5mm jack, so you can’t sneakily plug into a PlayStation controller.
As we’ve come to expect from LucidSound, the controls are simple and intuitive, with the master volume housed in a dial on the outside of the left earpiece, while the chat mix dial lies on the right-hand side. The right dial also doubles as a track selector when you’re using Bluetooth, with its central button switching between mic monitoring and mic mute. You’ve also got a power button on the outside edge of the left earpiece, and an EQ button on the right that doubles up for activating Bluetooth. All of the controls are easy to access, and perfectly responsive, meaning you can find and operate them in the heat of the action.
The 130-hour battery life carries one major caveat: that figure is based on Bluetooth usage. If you’re playing on mobile, Nintendo Switch or Steam Deck then that’s what you can expect, while using it via the wireless dongle’s Game Mode drops it to a still ample 72 hours. That is still around three times what you can expect from the majority of wireless headsets in this category.
Fortunately, the LS100X is comfortable enough to wear for that length of time. The LucidSound commitment to its original design philosophy means that their headsets are now tweaked and trimmed into the most comfortable form possible, with the memory foam padding of the earpieces and headband providing ample support. Despite that, it’s not got much in the way of passive noise cancellation though, which is worth considering if you’re planning to use them in a loud environment.
You could always crank them up, and the LS100X can get pretty damn loud. Audio quality is clear and full-bodied, though they are relatively bass-heavy as standard, particularly accentuated by the Bluetooth mode. The onboard EQ gives you access to the Signature Sound, First Person Shooter, and Bass Boost modes – frankly the last one will knock your socks off with something explosive like Battlefield 2042. In terms of gaming they offer a great level of immersion, particularly for action titles, though you’ll need to tweak external EQ to get the clarity you want from the top end. That’s easy on mobile or PC, less so on your Xbox.
The LS100X has a dual microphone setup, which is, arguably, the best you could hope for. There’s a removable boom arm, which is adjustable and rigid once you’ve put it in place, as well as a pin-hole mic for all those poorly-timed calls you’re going to take via Bluetooth. It’ll come as little surprise that the boom arm mic is the more accomplished of the two, though its response is still a touch on the thin side. The key thing is that your teammates will be able to hear and understand you, and that’s the case whichever mic you use.
The LS100X’s key competitors in this sub-£100 bracket include the Official Xbox Wireless Headset, which definitely has better audio, but feels flimsier in the hand. Alternatively there’s the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2, which again boasts superior output, but depending on the size of your head may prove uncomfortable for long sessions.
