AOC GH401 review: professional gaming doesn’t have to be expensive

Better known for its Gaming monitors, AOC seems to have decided to gradually broaden its sights towards the creation of a whole line of gaming peripherals, in which it certainly seems that great success awaits. And it is that with products like the new AOC GH401 Wireless headphonesthe company demonstrates its goal of offering us high-quality peripherals at remarkably affordable prices, without sacrificing basic qualities such as design, comfort or durability.

Specifications AOC GH401 Wireless

Microphone

With some leather and red metallic paint finishesthe pins that join both headphones with the headband are made of aluminum, which gives it greater robustness, resistance and durability compared to other models that opt ​​for plastic materials.

Surrounding the headband, inside we find a memory foam band covered in synthetic leather, which will help us to rest and seat the headphones comfortably on the head. On the outside we have a more hardened leather strip, and adorned with the AOC logo in reverse relief, a finish that joins both parts of leather by means of a red nylon thread seam.

Going down to its pads, we find an already standardized design, with some synthetic leather materials that will cover a viscoelastic padding. However, it should be noted that the clamp tension of these headphones allows us great comfort, without being too tight or heavy even after the longest gaming sessions. In addition, thanks to the padding itself and this lighter design, we can avoid the annoying effect of “floating glasses”as well as pressure marks from sideburns behind the ears.

The absence of RGB lighting indicates that the AOC has opted for a more sober and elegant design in which only the small touch of color of the metal structure itself stands out. Something that, far from being a problem, gives us various advantages, increasing its autonomy while offering us the ease of inserting these headphones into any configuration.

Thanks to its Stereo 2.0 sound, the AOC GH401 headphones create multidimensional sounds that amplify the feeling of immersion during the game. Stereo means that the sound “envelops” the listener rather than coming from a single source. 2.0 refers to the two separate channels, one left and one right, creating a sound experience coming from two different directions. Something that will allow us to have the option of creating a virtual 7.1 surround audio output, with a really well achieved result.

On the other hand, the fact that its flexible microphone is also detachable, will allow us to maintain greater comfort by allowing us to be ready to communicate with your teammates in a matter of seconds. In addition, this microphone has an omnidirectional pickup pattern, which means it picks up sound waves from any direction so you’ll always be heard; that together with its sensitivity and frequency range configured to prioritize the clarity of the voice, will allow us to avoid much of the background noise input without the need to use software additions.

And it is that in fact, although the brand has the G-Menu software for its peripherals, it never ceases to amaze us that the AOC GH401 do not have this possibility of customization or equalization. A quality that, if added later in the application, would undoubtedly be a great point in favor of the headphones.

Given its cross-platform orientation, we wanted to test the AOC GH401 on all compatible devicestrying a good variety of games and genres in all of them, going through titles with a wide variety of ambient sounds like The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild on Switch, soundtracks and rich effects like Final Fantasy XIV on PS4, and of course , competitive PC titles such as League of Legends (currently more alive than ever with the celebration of Worlds this year), and Call of Duty Warzone, where the orientation or relative distance of our entire environment takes on special importance.

On the other hand, we did not want to stop taking advantage of their cable connectivity to give them additional use with smartphones, in games and other tasks. We’ve also tested it out and about, showing really good playability even in noisier environments on transport like trains or on public roads.

Although these headphones stand out mainly for their wireless section, with a USB dongle that will allow us to easily connect them to any PC or both generations of PlayStation and Xbox consoles, the fact of having a second method of wired connectivity with a 3.5-millimeter jack output It gives these headsets much greater versatility, making them compatible with practically all other devices such as the Nintendo Switch or smartphones and tablets.

Although the battery will not be a problem either, since we will have up to 17 hours of autonomy per charge, more than enough to last several full gaming sessions. Even so, another great advantage lies in the cable charging method, which will allow us to continue using it without having to interrupt our games. In our tests, we have stayed very close to the figure indicated by the manufacturer, more than 15 hours.

In summary. We are faced with off-road headphones, with great build quality, high comfort and good sound, although it is true that we can still find some small details to polish, such as better equalization or the absence of customization software (or rather compatibility with it). Although without a doubt one of the greatest strengths of these headphones is the option of being able to use them both wirelessly and analogically, adding a connector as common as the jack, and a tremendous ease of installation and use.

The AOC GH401 are available on the manufacturer’s website with an official recommended price of 85 euros. Cheaper we can find it in retailers such as GAME (75 euros) or Amazon that offers it for a cost tremendously economical 69 euros.