GIOTECK TX50 Gaming Headset Review

Over the past ten years or so, the gaming headset marketplace has seen a real influx in budget offerings – giving consumers a massive buying headache when it comes to the lower end of the price spectrum.

With that in mind, today we’ll be taking a closer look at one of the cheapest headsets available in 2020 – the GIOTECK TX50s. The console gaming headset from GIOTECK is simple in design, yet effective in performance. It may not have all the flashy features a more premium gaming headset has, but it still provides everything you need to get things up and running.

We’ll be looking at how the TX50s stack up in price, performance, and design, comparing it to similarly priced alternatives as we go.

So, all being said, let’s waste no further time and dive straight into it!

Check out the GIOTECK TX50 Gaming Headset here.

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Pros

• Excellent Price – At under $30, you have to say this headset showcases decent value for money
• Decent Bass Audio – The TX50s provide plenty of bass that sounds great for music and gaming
• Firm Design – Even though plastic in design, the TX50s feel quite robust

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Cons

• Microphone quality is below average
• Comfort is very questionable
• Lacks any premium features

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Specifications

The TX50s come housed in a fairly basic box that offers a glimpse into the headset’s design. The materials used are extremely thin and wouldn’t really offer any protection if the headset was dropped during transit.

Inside the box, we see:

• GIOTECK TX50 Gaming Headset
• User Manual

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Check out the GIOTECK TX50 Gaming Headset here.

Design

The first thing we noticed when unboxing the TX50s was just how gamey they looked – shock. Whilst a lot of gaming headset manufacturers are steering away from the gaming aesthetic, this is most certainly not the case for GIOTEK.

They’ve opted for an orange-on-black color theme which, if I’m being honest, isn’t the worst thing I’ve ever seen. Edgy shapes can be found throughout the design of this headset, including rhombus-shaped earcups which do encase your ear in their entirety.

The headset has a rubberized finish which does feel a little strange. Having said that, I do prefer this over the more generic plastic feel that most budget headsets come equipped with – the Acer Nitro headset for example. A decent amount of cushioning can be found on the earcups and the underside of the headband, providing decent levels of comfort during long gaming sessions.

The microphone is extremely basic in design but does offer a lot of flexibility which is a big plus. The cable is probably the worst part of the design, comprised of a thin rubber material that doesn’t feel anywhere near as robust as you’d like. The inline volume controls can be found halfway down the cable, providing volume adjustments and a microphone mute switch. Whilst this is handy, again, the build quality feels pretty poor. At $30 though, its what we’d expect.

Build Quality

That leads us nicely onto the overall build quality of this headset. Usually, at this price point, build quality is often an area manufacturers sacrifice. Having said that, with the TX50s, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Whilst the majority of this headset is designed using plastic, the TX50s still feel very robust none the less. Steel has been introduced in both earcups for added strength, but that’s about as far as GIOTECK has stretched in terms of reinforcement. Everywhere else seems to be comprised of hard, brittle feeling plastic.

That being said, some good positives can be found in the earcups themselves. The padding feels well designed and offers decent comfort and support. The bulky earcups feel well connected to the yokes, offering very little wobble or rattle when aggressively shaken. The headband adjustment feature also feels very well-designed, providing a stiff mechanism that feels like it could definitely stand the test of time. The headband as a whole isn’t perfect, but for general use, it feels more than equipped to handle years of use and a few rage outbursts.

For the most part, this headset feels pretty well-made – especially when you consider the budget price tag it comes equipped with. That being said, it isn’t all praise in the build department. As mentioned above, the cable is far from perfect. It is the weakest part of the headset and is, unfortunately, an area that is unforgivable as far as build quality is concerned. The inline controls also feel a little tacky and cheaply made.

If I was being real nit-picky, I’d also say that the TX50’s frame doesn’t offer nearly as much flexibility as you’d like. They would almost definitely snap if bent in the wrong manner. I’ve seen it happen to more expensive headsets in the past – the Corsair HS35s being a prime example – so this design failure doesn’t come as any real surprise.

Ultimately, however, when you consider its price, I feel the build quality of this headset is a definite thumbs up.

Comfort

Comfort was a bit hit and miss for me personally, however, there were a few in the office that actually thought the TX50s felt quite comfortable. Let’s start with the positives.

Firstly, let’s give credit to the padding used throughout this headset. Whilst the padding isn’t anywhere near as comfortable as the memory foam used in more expensive alternatives, it still provided a soft feel during gaming. The earcup itself encased the ear in its entirety, with more than enough space for individuals with bigger than average ears.

The headband offered the same level of comfort as the earcups thanks to a well-positioned cushion found on the underside of the headband. The TX50s also sat nicely on my head thanks to a swivel feature found in the earcups. This could be altered accordingly to suit your requirements when in-game – a nice touch.

However, all being said, there are some glaring issues to be had with this headset’s design when referencing comfort. Firstly, the inner ear padding. One of my biggest annoyances when it comes to headsets is when your ear touches the inside of the earcup. Not only does it feel weird, but it actually accelerates the heating process that occurs when gaming for long periods of time. Sadly, my ears became very hot, very quickly, making the entire experience a little sweaty. Furthermore, because the headset cable provided with the TX50s isn’t the longest, I felt a little restricted as to where I could position myself during gaming.

That being said, the lightweight design of the headset did make long gaming sessions more pleasurable – applying very little strain to my neck whilst doing so.

Performance

So, we’ve had a look at the design and build quality of this headset, it’s now time to put it through its paces in some audio performance scenarios to see how it stacks up against similarly priced alternatives.

Let’s waste no further time and get straight into it.

Sound

Check out the GIOTECK TX50 Gaming Headset here.

I’ll not lie, my first impressions of the GIOTECK TX50s were not what I thought they’d be. I was expecting them to sound utter trash, but that wasn’t the case. I started off by loading up my favorite fast-paced shooter, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Like I’ve said before, this is the sort of game that relies heavily on the understanding of your opponent’s whereabouts. Having a good headset really can be the difference between winning and losing.

So, with that in mind, I fired up some deathmatch to get warmed up. Straight away I noticed how bass-heavy the sound profile was. I mean, the bass these cans provide is right up there with anything I’ve tested. Having said that, how were they for gaming? Well, it’s safe to say that immersion was definitely heightened when wearing these. Explosions sounded impactful and really quite realistic. AWP shots sounded boomy as did most weapons actually. That’s when I started to take a closer look at the sound as a whole.

Unfortunately, the bass was just too overpowering. Everything had a wild bass undertone. If like me, you’re into your competitive gaming, this is probably the worst characteristic you could hope for in a headset. To accurately pinpoint gunshots and footsteps you need your mids and trebles to cut through the bass – something that just wasn’t happening with this headset. Sure, I could tell where the player was, but when compared to say the HyperX Stingers, the GIOTECK TX50s sounded quite washed out and unsure.

I played CS:GO for a good couple of hours and came away feeling a little shaken if truth be told. The bass is unrelenting in these headphones. I came to a very similar conclusion when playing a number of other game genres, with my final impression being, is this much bass really necessary? I suppose this will suit some gamer’s needs, however, for me, I prefer a more rounded, well-balanced sound.

With that being said, I am a fan of bassy music – I was intrigued to see what music sounded like through these things. I loaded up some electronic music to see how the TX50s performed. As expected, the sound was pretty chunky. I played a few trance tunes first up, and whilst the sound was bassy in the right parts, I just felt the overall sound lacked a little in the mids and treble department.

Overall, for the price, I’d have to say the sound was probably a thumbs up. I mean, for $30, you can’t really argue with the quality. Whilst they aren’t the best for competitive titles, they will provide a decent amount of immersion for an extremely cheap price tag.

Microphone

As with most budget hardware offerings, at some stage, sacrifices need to be made to ensure the price doesn’t suffer. On the GIOTECK TX50s, I feel the microphone is definitely the area that has seen the least love.

The TX50s offer an extremely basic microphone that doesn’t really have any notable features apart from it swivels around 60 degrees. The main pro is the extremely flexible design it comes equipped with – making positioning very easy regardless of your requirements.

As far as the recording quality is concerned, it’s definitely on the tinny side. It doesn’t really offer any bass or warmth to the recorded sound. It sounded quite harsh on recordings and picked up a decent amount of background noise and breathing during use – something my teammates were less than pleased with. At this price range, however, it’s pretty much what we’ve come to expect. You simply can’t purchase a sub $30 headset that offers good sound and recording quality.

For general purpose use, however, I feel the microphone is absolutely fine. It isn’t spectacular, but it’s easy to use and gives you a portal to communicate with your teammates in-game.

Features

As we’ve already mentioned above, the GIOTECK TX50s don’t really come with any features. They have clearly tried to put as much effort into the sound quality as possible and left gimmicky features to other brands. To be honest, I respect this. After all, the most important factor in a headset is the sound quality.

The features this headset comes equipped with are subtle, not really effecting user-experience a great deal. It has a mute button for the microphone and inline volume controls. The microphone swivels out of the way when not in use and offers good flexibility for in-game comms. It also works well with mobile, Switch, XBOX, and PS4.

For me personally, I could lose all the features of a headset as long as the sound quality was up to scratch. That being said, whilst the sound isn’t perfect on this headset, it’s by no means the worst I’ve ever heard.

Check out the GIOTECK TX50 Gaming Headset here.

Our Verdict

So, there you have it guys, our full rundown of the GIOTECK TX50 gaming headset. Overall, whilst this headset wasn’t the greatest thing I’ve ever used, it was by no means the worst either. When you compare it to other headsets of this price point, it does have some good qualities that might make it worth your time and money.

I decided to run a small comparison with the Corsair HS35’s and Hyperx Cloud Stingers to see how the GIOTECK TX50s stacked up. As far as sound went, it was a hard one to call really. The GIOTECK TX50s definitely offer the most bass. That being said, they were probably the worst for competitive gaming, not offering amazing spatial awareness if truth be told. Comfort was a little hit and miss for me, with the other two just edging it in my opinion. A few people in the office did enjoy the feel of this headset, however, so I suppose that comes down to personal preference. And whilst the GIOTECK TX50s also offered the least amount of features out of the three headsets, they were by far the cheapest of the three options.

So, the bottom line is this. If you’re in the market for an extremely budget headset that offers OK sound with a bass-heavy profile and a value for money build quality, the GIOTECK TX50s might be exactly what you’re looking for. However, if it was me, I’d invest a little bit extra and splash out on something more premium that offers a more balanced sound and greater comfort levels.

Check out the GIOTECK TX50 Gaming Headset here.