Who says your headset can’t be an accessory? Coming in at $79 (currently $59 on sale), the Logitech G435 Lightspeed offers a variety of colorful designs to suit any form of fashion that best fits you. The best part? It offers great battery life. The headset is also eco-friendly, made with a minimum of 22% recycled plastic.
Though it offers some pretty cool features and an expressive design, it also comes with a few downsides. The headset lacks good sound performance at times, which will dampen your vibe. The microphones, though they are hidden beamforming mics, are extremely sensitive and pick up a lot of background noise. I would hesitate to put this anywhere near the best gaming headsets list.
Logitech G435 Lightspeed design
The bright and lively design of the G435 model I received makes it possible to see this headset from a mile away. The model I reviewed is made with a vivid blue and neon pink color, but don’t worry, you can tone it down with a nice white and lilac purple color, or go for a black and neon yellow (neon yellow is only located on the coils near the cuffs, so it’s not too bold).
For those of you trying to go green, I’ve got some great news for you. The Logitech G435 consists of at least 22% certified post-consumer recycled plastic. Besides that little fun fact, there isn’t too much that stands out with the design. It feels very cheap, since it is made with mostly plastic. I’m almost a little afraid I’ll break the band if I bend it. With that being said, the headset is a little more affordable, costing $79 on Logitech’s website (currently $59 on sale).
The pink padding on the cuff has a hexagonal pattern all throughout, and in the middle of the cuffs lay the exposed plastic that houses the audio drivers. On the outside of the left cuff is the power button, the volume buttons, and a mute button. At the bottom of the blue cuff is the Type-C charging port and two microphones. Meanwhile the right cuff has nothing. Both cuffs also feature a nearly hidden, glossy Logitech symbol, as well as “G435.”
On either side of the headset, going up towards the headband, are pink coils that lead up to a pink-and-blue stitched band that blends into a near purple.
Logitech G435 Lightspeed comfort
Unlike other chunky headphones, the G435 provides a slim earphone cuff, with pretty stiff cushions. It’s bearable, but it's a tight fit, and for those of you who may have larger ears or sensory issues to tightness, you may find it to be a bit uncomfortable.
The top band, which is covered in elastic, has prominent plastic pieces that rest entirely on the top of your head, once again making it incommodious.
The best part is that you don’t need to use a wire to make the headset work; it has wireless capability with the use of a USB receiver. If you decide to use the cable, it won’t work with your laptop, meaning that you can’t charge the headset and use it at the same time.
Logitech G435 Lightspeed gaming performance
While playing Dungeons and Dragons on Foundry and talking to people on Discord, my friends boasted about how well they could hear me and how crisp my voice was. However, I constantly had to adjust the music/game volume in Foundry and the volume of Discord in regards to how well I could hear them. Loud sounds like explosions made the speakers vibrate, causing a shaky and muffled sound.
While playing Fortnite (ahaha don’t judge me), I noticed that it was harder to hear and distinguish footsteps compared to the loud banging of gunshots and explosions. When I was one-on-one with someone, and there was another person shooting at me, I wasn't able to distinguish the direction the other person was coming from, putting me at a huge disadvantage.
Hopping onto God of War, there was a noticable difference with sound performance, where it seemed like there was a better proportion to the left-to-right ratio. The sounds of weapons clashing and all of the attacks never outbalanced the sounds of the vocals from Kratos and Atreus. Definitely a better suiting game for the headset.
Logitech G435 Lightspeed music performance
Hitting me right in the feels, the first song I listened to while using the G435 was “Glimpse of Us” by Joji. I was originally skeptical by how much the speakers could handle because of how it managed gaming. Once the piano intro hit my ears, I was soothed and immersed into the beautiful melody. Even when the piano picked up in a louder tone, the speakers did a beautiful job of playing the music and balancing the vocals.
Okay, so it passed a nice and soothing song test; lets try something with more of a beat. While listening to “Squash” by Lil Dusty G, I was interested to see how the headset handled the low bass and combination of beats the song produces. Again, I am not disappointed. Playing the song as loud as I could, the G435 again handled the sounds with ease, playing each set of cues with precision and crisp quality.
When trying out the song “I’m Ready” by Jaden Smith, which is filled with many different instruments and tunes, there was a noticeable difference with the vocals where it was more congested. It seemed like the G435 had a harder time equalizing the vocals with the background music.
Logitech G435 Lightspeed microphone
The G435 takes an interesting approach when it comes to the microphone. Located on the left cuff are two built-in beamforming mics, which make it so that you don’t have an annoying boom microphone waving around in front of your face or getting shoved into your mouth or nose.
Though Logitech claims that the dual beamforming mics are able to dull out sound, it didn’t seem to do that for me. While playing D&D with a group of friends, my pup chewing on her treat could be heard in the background as if she was the one wearing the headset. I constantly needed to mute myself so background pitter patters of her paws, or the chewing noise, wouldn’t get picked up.
Overall, it picked up my voice very nicely. It was crisp and clear, but I’d recommend being in a closed off room and not a public space that is shared with other people — or even pets.
Logitech G435 Lightspeed features
The Logitech G435 can be paired with any device with Bluetooth audio connectivity, macOS, and the Nintendo Switch.
The thing that makes the G435 stand out is definitely the fact that it doesn't have a cabled mic flopping around in front of your face and mouth. Instead, it has beamforce mics (two in total) that pick up your voice (as well as some other sounds around you) from the side of your headset.
The headset is also said to last up to 18 hours of life, which I could attest for. I was able to get in a few D&D sessions, which can range from four to six hours per session.
Bottom line
This Logitech G435 Lightspeed offers some pretty nifty features, but may not be the greatest thing if you’re looking for more of a professional set up. Its colorful and unique designs make it stand out from other headsets — it’s a fun-looking pop compared to the usual headset design.
With the starting price being at $79, it might be a good headset for young children or teens who are just getting into gaming. There would be no concerns with wires being everywhere nor the microphone breaking — and having it paired with a phone makes it extremely useful for a younger person. For a better headset within the same price range, I’d recommend the HyperX Cloud Alphas – and it’s only $70 on Amazon (opens in new tab) as of this writing.