Cooler Master MH710 Gaming Earbuds Review

Cooler Master is better known for their PC cases, with the odd gaming peripheral here and there. Their most recent gaming mice, the MM710 and MM711 were really well designed and performed better than expectations, so the brand has it within them to deliver. 

Audio is a whole different kettle of fish, but today we are looking at the Cooler Master MH710 gaming earbuds. These are technically some of the best “gaming” earbuds on the market, with a plethora of adapters meaning you can get these working with your PC, and obviously console. These may not stack up against the best gaming headsets but this latest iteration comes with new technology, Focus FX 2.0.

Let’s see how these get on.

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Pros

• Adapters –  Can use these with PC, console, mobile, and they come with a USB-type-C connector as well as an airplane adapter
• Affordable –  Very reasonable price
• Build Quality – Well constructed and the brushed aluminum looks excellent

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Cons

• Sound quality – Average sound performance
• Focus FX 2.0 – Technology doesn’t really add much

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Specifications

When using these with your console or mobile, setup is as straight forward as plugging them in. I wanted to test these on PC for online multiplayer so I used the 3.5mm jack splitter allowing me to utilize the microphone too. The PC instantly recognized these and I was good to go.

Inside the box, we see:

• Cooler Master MH710 Earbuds
• Carry case
• Extra ear tips
• 3.5mm splitter cable
• Type-C cable
• Airplane adapter plug
• Quickstart guide

Headphone Frequency Response	20 – 20,000 Hz
Microphone Frequency Response	100 -10,000Hz
Wireless?	No, Wired
Battery Life	N/A
Pick-up Pattern	Omnidirectional
Weight	16.7g
Cable Length	1.3m

Design

The design on these is quite nice, we’ve got long aluminum encased earbuds with black plastic accentuating the metallic material and they are very visually pleasing. On the Focus FX 2.0 button (which we will cover shortly) is the purple Cooler Master log; it’s subtle and looks great. The ends feature the black rubber tips, which, if you remove, kind of makes these look like little metal milk bottles. These feature a black braided 1.3m cable and it is very slim and lightweight. It isn’t anti-tangle like the HyperX Cloud or Razer Hammerhead Earbuds but it mostly unravels itself.

Build Quality

The overall build quality is pretty good and up there with the Razer Hammerheads. The Aluminium casing feels tough and like it could withstand your bag, pocket, or the occasional drop. What’s interesting is the model below these, the MH703’s offer a similar level of build quality and yet share the same price as the rather cheap-feeling HyperX Cloud Earbuds. 

The earbuds feature a slender fine-braided cable that won’t get caught as much as your rubber alternatives but it does tangle a small amount. As the cable enters the earbud, it is encased with plastic that has a slight flex to it but remains reliable. The only small area for concern is the control box that houses the functional button and microphone. The control box is a simplistic looking plastic box that definitely wouldn’t stand the test of someone’s boot. Obviously, you aren’t going to be standing on these but this isn’t as robust as the Razer Hammerheads control box.

Unfortunately, there is nothing to tidy up the cables when you are wearing these as we saw with the HyperX Cloud Earbuds, so they will occasionally get caught on your jacket, door handles, cat claws, etc.

Towards the bottom, we have an angled 3.5mm plug that has been rubberized. This is often the area my in-ears will tend to break, through excessive use with my phone and it going in and out of pockets. I have to say though, this feels durable and it has plenty of flex to it so it should stand the test of time well.

The first bit of hardware controls we see with the Cooler Master MH710’s is on the earbuds themselves. The ends where the logo sits, where there are clicky buttons that activate/deactivate the Focus FX2.0 tech. Whether the technology adds anything to the listening experience we shall see a little later on but the functionality of the buttons is great. You can’t really see if they are activated or not but you can find out by lightly applying pressure. If the buttons have some give, then they are activated and if they feel a little tighter before actuation then it is deactivated.

Lastly, on the control box is the singular function button for use with your mobile devices. It is a basic play button that will play, stop,  answer, and hang up with one press, change to the next song after two clicks, and go to the previous track after three. While being extremely simple, the design is quite clever and allows you to actuate the button whichever way it is situated and when pressing the majority of the casing.

Comfort

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The earbuds feature your standard three sizes fits all rubber tips, with the medium-sized option already on there. This type of earbud just doesn’t stay in my ear regardless of what size I use but this is more my issue than Cooler Masters. Regardless, while playing, I didn’t have to re-adjust these too often but I wouldn’t be able to use these on my commute or anything that involved moving.

Comfort does lose out to the HyperX Cloud Earbuds though, they remained fully in my ear with their more angular design, this straight design just pops out due to the weight of the aluminum bud. That being said, these were much comfier than the Razer Hammerheads, that felt hard and hurt my ears.

Despite feeling more durable than the HyperX Cloud Earbuds, these are still quite light at just about 17 grams. That’s two grams lighter! Not as stable in the ear though, which is unfortunate. 

Overall I was happy enough with the comfort and there is plenty of length in the cable but these still need to be plugged into the front of your PC case as the back was a bit of stretch.

Performance

Overall, these performed similarly to the HyperX Cloud Earbuds, offering an above-average sound quality for in-ears of this price. That being said, this set of earbuds comes with a bit more versatility and can be used with a few more devices thanks to its included adapters. There is still a lack of controls with these earbuds though, so no mute or volume but we can forgive this for the price.

Sound

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Out of the box, these sound a little flat, with little to no bass at all. The Cooler Master MH710 earbuds feature your standard frequency response range of 20 – 20,000 Hz and loses out to the HyperX earbuds in terms of audio. That being said the difference is minute and aside from bass, you are probably going to get a similar gaming experience from either pair. The soundstage is tiny, with the audio coming from the 10mm drivers being funneled directly into the ear canal.

For music, these were average and remind me of a cheap pair of earbuds. If you just like to listen to something and aren’t particularly bothered about the quality then you may like these, as the build quality is spot on. For music lovers who can’t wear headsets, you may want to check out some in-ear monitor alternatives and be prepared to spend a lot more money.

These are marketed towards gaming and for once, they work with PC properly. Loading up a variety of game titles, I was finally able to play some online multiplayer thanks to the microphone and included splitter to get that working with my PC. These were fine for gaming but noticeably worse than a dedicated gaming headset or the more expensive in-ear monitors but functionally quite good.

I would definitely say I preferred the way the HyperX Cloud earbuds sound and for single-player gamers out there, the MH710 are not the way to go but they offer you sociable gamers more and are the more versatile pair.

I tested out the Focus FX 2.0 and it was a bit lackluster but it is supposed to switch between two preset EQs, one for gaming and one for entertainment but the difference is negligible. Its a step in the right direction for gaming earbuds though and the button design is great, so we could see better hardware controls with gaming earbuds in the near future.

For cinematic games like Squad and your general single-player AA games, these aren’t going to bring the best out of that audio and you may not feel as immersed as you would with a more powerful audio product. That being said, the stereo imaging was good enough to get some good use out of these in games like CS:GO. I could easily pick out where enemies were stood and these didn’t negatively impact my general play at all, so a viable option.

Features

There are never many features to a pair of gaming earbuds, but these come with some nice little extras that make them stand out against the competition. They come with a nice little carry case, ringed with a purple zip. The case can hold your buds and little connectors without fuss and its a fairly inexpensive inclusion but better than nothing.

Microphone

The microphone works like any other in-line mic, it’s clear and works. The mic has a frequency response of 100 – 10,000 Hz and its omnidirectional pickup is great for gaming and taking calls from your mobile device.

While in Discord it was noted I sounded different and I was asked if I was using a phone but the quality was good enough to get clear calls out. Recording quality isn’t the best, this similar to a phone mic than anything else, you aren’t going to want to use this on your next YouTube video, obviously.

Focus FX 2.0

Focus FX 2.0 technology gives you on the fly adjustment for your gaming earbuds. It is supposed to allow you to change between two EQ presets, movie/ music mode and game mode. You switch between the two by using the button at the end of the earbud itself. This is a great feature on the surface but the audio quality wasn’t really great to begin with, so it was quite difficult to notice any difference or benefit.

Our Verdict

Thanks to the included adapters you get with the MH710, there is a place for these as one of the better gaming earbud options. They are never going to compete with in-ear monitors or gaming headsets but its good to see a product that will work seamlessly with PC for those that cant wear over ears.

These are comfy, in fact, much comfier than the Bluetooth Razer hammerheads but far behind the HyperX Cloud earbuds. These fell out of my ears occasionally but the brushed aluminum could be to blame. The build quality is great on these, they feel like they could withstand some abuse over time, especially compared to the HyperX alternative but the Cloud earbuds fit the ear much better and are the way to go for those who don’t need PC compatibility.

The bottom line is, these come with an array of connection options meaning you can pretty much use them with a lot of different devices and platforms, however, with the Focus FX technology spoiling the price it may be better to go for the MH703’s instead.

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