Sennheiser Game One Gaming Headset Headphones Review

The Sennheiser Game One look similar to the Sennheiser HD 598 or an open Sennheiser HD 380 Pro. They come in two color schemes: an all-black variation and a two-tone black-and-white scheme that's more flashy. The microfiber padding on both the headband and the ear cups give them a more high-end appeal, although they do not have the versatility of having a detachable mic. If you're looking for a headset where you can remove the mic for a more casual look, the Corsair VIRTUOSO PRO feature a cable design where the mic is attached to the cable itself, and you can swap it out for a mic-less 1/8" TRRS cable.

The Game One headphones are similar in fit and size to the super comfortable Sennheiser HD 598. They're a bit tighter on the head than the 598 but the ear cups are large and fit well around most listeners' ears. The headband and the ear cups are also well-padded and covered in a microfiber fabric that feels soft and pleasant on the skin. They're not as comfortable as the HD 598 but you can wear these headphones for hours and not feel any fatigue, making them suitable for long gaming sessions.

The Sennheiser Game One have a very basic but easy to use control scheme. They have a volume dial and a mute switch embedded in the Mic swiveling mechanism (i.e. placing the mic in the upright position will disable it). Unfortunately, the volume dial doesn't have any distinct notches to better set your preferred volume level, and the overall control scheme feels a little lacking in features when compared to other gaming headsets and more casual everyday headphones.

These headphones are fairly breathable thanks to their open-back design and porous ear cup pads. They won't be the ideal choice for sports since they are not designed for that use case and will make you sweat during intense exercises. However, for gaming and casual listening, they are a lot more breathable than most gaming headsets.

The Sennheiser Game One, like most gaming headphones, are not really portable. They're bulky and do not fold up into a more compact format. The ear cups also do not lay flat, making for a cumbersome and difficult to carry headphone. Unfortunately, they do not come with a case or pouch, which is slightly disappointing.

These headphones do not come with a case.

The Sennheiser Game One headphones feel sturdy enough that they won't break from a few accidental falls. The headband is flexible and has a wide metal frame for support but it's also a bit creaky. Also the plastic casing covering the headband looks and feels a little cheap. On the upside, the ear cups are dense and durable and the padding material used in their build quality feels high-end. However, like the similarly designed HD 598, the hinges are the most susceptible points and may not be as durable as the rest of the build quality.

The Sennheiser Game One headphones are slightly more stable than the HD598 because they are tighter on the head but have the same issue. They should be fine for gaming and casual listening sessions but they will easily move and sway if you wear them while doing physical exercises. This makes them not suitable for sports but on the upside, they have a detachable cable that easily disconnects if it gets hooked on something.

• Sennheiser G4me One Headphones
• Audio cable
• Headset Adapter

The Sennheiser Game One has a great frequency response consistency. Due to the open-back design, and unlike closed-back ones, these headphones don't rely as much on an air-tight seal for their bass delivery. Therefore, they performed quite consistently across our human subjects. They are also quite consistent in the treble range across multiple positions, likely due to their small ear cups.

The bass is good. Low-frequency extension (LFE) is at 53Hz, which is about average. Also, low-bass, which is responsible for the thump and rumble common to bass-heavy genres and video games, is lacking by more than 5dB. This tends to be a common shortcoming among most open-back headphones. Mid-bass, responsible for body and punch is well-balanced, but the 2.5dB bump in high-bass adds a bit of muddiness to the overall sound.

The mid-range is very good. The response is virtually flat, which is great for vocals and lead instruments. However, it is consistently over our target by about 2dB, especially in low-mid. This adds a little bit of clutter to the mix and makes the overall sound a tad mid-rangy.

The treble performance is excellent. The overall response is rather uneven, but quite well-balanced. Low-treble is within 1dB of our neutral target, and mid-treble is within 0.3dB of our target. This suggests a well-balanced reproduction of vocals, leads, and cymbals.

The imaging performance of the G4me One is excellent. Weighted group delay is at 0.16, which is excellent. The GD graph also shows that the entire group delay response is below the audibility threshold. This ensures a tight bass and a transparent treble reproduction. Additionally, the L/R drivers of our test unit were very well-matched in frequency, amplitude, and phase. This is important for the proper placement and localization of objects (voices, instruments, video game effects) in the stereo field.

The soundstage is about average. The PRTF response shows a decent amount of activation, but the pinna interaction is not very accurate as there's not a 10KHz notch present. This results in a relatively small soundstage that is perceived to be located inside the listener's head. However, the open-back design of these headphone could make them feel more open sounding than closed-back headphones.

The isolation is poor. These are open-back headphones so they don't isolate well. In the bass range, they will let in all the low rumbling noises of your environment. In the mid-range, important for blocking out speech, they also don't achieve any isolation. In the treble range, occupied by sharp sounds like S and Ts, they reduce outside noise by about 11dB, which is inadequate. For gaming headphones with better noise isolation, check out the EPOS Sennheiser GSP 600.

The leakage performance of the Game One is poor. The significant portion of their leakage is between 200Hz and 20KHz, which is a very broad range. This means that their leakage will sound a lot fuller than that of closed-back headphones, and in-ears. The overall level of the leakage is quite loud too. With the music at 100dB SPL, the leakage at 1 foot away averages at about 62dB SPL, and peaks at 77dB, which is quite higher than the noise floor of most offices.

The recording quality of Game One's boom microphone is great. The LFE (low-frequency extension) is at 20Hz, which results in the recorded/transmitted speech to sound full-bodied. The HFE (high-frequency extension) of 8KHz, suggests a speech that is clear and present, but lacking slightly in airiness and brilliance. The response between LFE and HFE points is very good, and results in a natural speech.

Update 11/24/2021: These headphones have been updated to test bench 1.5. In this update, we made changes to the way we test noise handling. We now use a subjective evaluation of our audio clips. This new method has resulted in different results than what we had reported in our previous test bench. As a result, the scoring of this box has changed, and we have updated our results.

The boom microphone has good noise handling. They can separate speech from ambient noise even in the most demanding situations.

These headphones are passive and have no battery life.

These headphones do not have any compatible software for added customization. If you like wired headphones but want a headset with a bit a more customization options then check out the SteelSeries Arctis Pro GameDac.

These headphones are wired and do not have a Bluetooth connection. If you want a gaming headset that supports Bluetooth, check out the Turtle Beach Stealth 700.

These headphones have negligible latency thanks to their wired connection. This makes them suitable for gaming and watching movies but they are limited by the range of their relatively short cable.

The Sennheiser Game One have a wired connection that provides volume control and microphone compatibility support for consoles as long as you plug them into the Xbox One or PS4 controllers. They also come with Y-splitter headset adapter for PCs.

This gaming headset does not have a dock. If you need a headset with a dock that also has a wired connection for gaming or watching movies, then consider the SteelSeries Arctis 7 2019 Edition.