Sades Spellond Pro Gaming Headset Review – TheSixthAxis

I love it when a new headset gets dropped through the door – well, where it’s left on the doorstep and the delivery guy stands a suitable distance away, at least. Gaming is at the centre of the lockdown for many people, and now, with the likelihood that your neighbours are all in, above, below and every direction humanly possible, it’s never been more important to get yourself a good gaming headset to drown them all out. Enter the Sades Spellond Pro, an unusually named PC gaming headset that is capable of shaking your eardrums to within an inch of their life.

Coming from Chinese manufacturer Sades, the Spellond Pro is a chunky piece of hardware fashioned from sturdy black plastic, with a few slightly cheap-looking metallic blue highlights to set it off. Sitting towards the mid-budget portion of the headset spectrum – the Spellond logo uses the Harry Potter font – you probably don’t expect it to feel as well put together as it does, but there’s no hint of creaking or cracking, even when put through some pretty severe twisting tests. Its solidity means it’s perhaps a touch heavier than Turtle Beach’s similarly priced and constructed offerings, but not to any meaningful level.

It definitely sets out its stall as a gaming headset, with aggressive angles and lines accompanied by a light up Sades logo on both earpieces, which are red or blue depending on which audio mode you have selected. This is a USB connected headset though, so you likely won’t be heading anywhere further than your desk. That said, if you make the jump to an esports arena, you certainly won’t be missed, as those logos are incredibly bright. They’re practically blinding me right now while I write this.

There’s a handy in-line controller boasting the same stylistic lines as the earpieces with fully lit buttons that’ll keep you in control in a darkened setting. Featuring controls for volume, muting your mic, muting the entire headset and switching audio modes and enhancements, it and the cabling feel robust enough that they’ll put up with plenty of audio button-pressing action, and are fully compatible across both PC and Mac platforms.

Whatever your feelings on aggressive-looking gaming headsets, the Spellond Pro is at least comfy to wear, with both ear cushions proving soft and durable, and a similar mesh cushion on the headband. The headband does look a bit strange, as it’s basically two separate cushions rather than one complete piece, but it’s accommodating enough to ensure you can wear the Pro for an extended period of time without it becoming uncomfortable. If you prefer leatherette ear cushions, there’s a set of those included in the box.

The Spellond Pro features two audio profiles, Default Mode – AKA “blindingly blue shiny light mode” – and Multiplayer Mode – “subdued red light mode”. In Default, the Pro turns in a warm, bass-heavy response that has some serious heft, on top of boasting the ability to go louder than Satan’s subwoofer when he’s trying to annoy his upstairs neighbours. The downside to that ability is the fact that the 50mm drivers aren’t capable of keeping up, and if you’re brave enough to turn them all the way up there is noticeable distortion.

Along with all that bass and ridiculous volume, the Spellond Pro also has a vibration function, with two levels of intensity. If you put everything on maximum and stick some dance music on it’s like wearing a nightclub. It’s a surprisingly useful set-up for gaming though, with explosions and powerful soundtracks tickling your ears as the vibration kicks in. It’s not going to be for everyone, and it’s not as refined as Razer’s haptic-feedback enhanced Nari Ultimate, but at this pricepoint it’s a unique offering.

It’s a shame that the so-called Multiplayer Mode doesn’t prove to be anywhere near as useful. Emphasising the mids and treble in a way that you could only really consider tinny, it does make it easier to communicate with others, but at the detriment to everything else you’re listening to. I suppose if that’s the reason you’re donning a headset, then maybe you’ll be willing to put up with lesser audio quality to make sure you don’t miss one vocal cue, but I couldn’t see myself ever using it.

It’s also not helped by the Spellond Pro’s worst design decision. Featuring a foldable mic arm is perfectly reasonable, but sticking a glowing blue light at the end of it is not. If you’ve got it folded down and angled in front of you, as you will when you’re using it, the light is large and bright enough that it will reflect off your monitor, proving to be incredibly distracting. It’s no good using the Multiplayer Mode to enhance communication if you’re then beset by a glowing blue lightbulb to hamper your vision. Muting it doesn’t turn the light off either, instead just adding a red glow to the centre.