In a time where everyone’s bored staying at home, gaming had turned out to be a big boredom killer and the industry is booming. And so are gaming peripherals, which leads me to bring to you guys a review of the EKSA Air Joy Pro gaming headset. It’s a lower mid-range gaming headset coming at around 49.99$ and was just launched last month. If you are someone looking for an affordable option to game with, then read further as I break down my review of the Air Joy Pro.
The Air Joy Pro ships in a black cardboard box which also holds all the necessary accessories. In the box, you get 1 x USB Type C to USB cable, 1 x USB Type C to a 3.5mm audio cable, 1 x splitter cable for separating audio and microphone inputs, 1 x detachable microphone, a ruler(can be used as foldable wrist band), a carrying pouch and the obvious user guide.
DESIGN
I must say, I love the aesthetics on the Air Joy Pro. It’s got a modern design and has a red-black combination going on that adds up to its gamery feeling. The red lights on the side are a nice addition as well. Air Joy Pro really stands up to its name. Weighing at just 162 grams, it’s the most lightweight gaming headset I have ever held in my hands. But being this light doesn’t take away anything from its design or that premium feel. When I had these headsets on, I didn’t even feel like I was wearing anything on my head. The breathable material on the headset makes it comfortable to wear for a longer period of time. My ears never got sweaty even after wearing them for 6 hours straight.
The Air Joy Pro has a solid fit and won’t fall off while shaking your head. The headband is thin, and I know the purpose behind it is to reduce the weight of the headset but I would have loved to see them a bit wider. Despite that, my head never felt hurt and I can still game on it for hours. Personally, I prefer wider headbands and I know most of the people do too since not only it’s aesthetically pleasing, but wider headbands mean bigger padding which increases the comfort level. The headband is made of metal and it’s quite flexible. I have a big head and I use glasses but Air Joy Pro accommodates my head size very well supported by a good clamping force. Both USB and 3.5mm audio cables are about 7 to 9 ft long and do come with velcro ties if that’s too long for you.
AUDIO
The Air Joy Pro comes with 40mm drivers and supports both 7.1 surround sound and stereo modes. It has a frequency range of 20hz-20Khz. The audio quality isn’t phenomenal but considering the price, it’s great. I tested both stereo and surround sound modes in games like PUBG and Darksider Genesis. One thing to note is that the 7.1 surround sound is emulated through software which in this case is the EKSA Audio Center. The highs and mids are great whereas the lows tend to be overpowered at higher volumes. To be clear, the bass is there but it lacks an open stage. In simple words, audio is a bit above average. However, when it comes to gaming, the audio outshines itself, especially in the surround sound department. I have always been a stereo guy but the surround sound execution on Air Joy Pro fills up my expectations. I tested the surround mode in PUBG and I was able to pinpoint enemy footsteps much accurately compared to my other stereo headset. That being said, the quality of either of the two sound modes on this headset is identical.
One complaint that I had was the lack of loudness, even at 100 volume, I still felt that the headset was a little quieter. However, you can solve this by using the EKSA Audio Center software. All you need to do is turn on 7.1 surround sound and then turn on the surround max option in the software. But note that you can use this software only when you are plugged in via the USB port. This also means that you can use surround sound only with the USB mode and since loudness issues can only be fixed with the software, the 3.5mm audio mode is left out with no surround sound option and a volume problem. However, there’s no need to worry. You can get around that by using a free software called ‘Peace Equalizer’ which allows you to bump up the volume as you wish.
I face the same problem with the microphone and it was super quiet even at full volume. I know this is an affordable headset but the microphone is barely average. You do get a volume boost option in the EKSA software and it doesn’t help much but again it’s not going to be useful for 3.5mm audio mode. So, this can be fixed by fine tuning some Peace Equalizer settings. On the other side, the metal cable on the microphone isn’t very rigid and it tends to sag down. No matter how many times I set the mic to face me, it would just face down eventually. That was a little annoying to set every 30 minutes.
The EKSA Audio Center comes with some cool features like Equalizer, Environment effects, Xear SingFX, Surround Max, Voice changer, Xear SingFx(for microphone). Using it is pretty simple. Just download the Audio Center software from EKSA’s website, install it and then plug in your headset through the USB cable. Once inside, you can just turn on/off the things you like or set up your own Equalizer curve.
FEATURES and CONNECTIVITY
Eksa got their priorities straight when it comes to features and connectivity options. One cool thing about Air Joy Pro is the ability to connect such a wide range of devices which including PCs, Xbox One S/X, PS4, Switch, smartphones, and tablets as well. I was surprised when I saw a USB Type C port being used as an audio input. Even some of the higher-end headsets still use micro-USB, so extra points for that to you, Eksa. Connecting these headsets to any devices is pretty simple, you just plug in the respective cable on the respective port and voila, you are connected. The detachable cables are a huge plus as its easy to swap them and it makes the headset mobile. Other important features are the onboard microphone mute button and the volume control dial which is rare to see at this price. One easily forgettable but very useful feature is the rotation ability on the headset as you can rest them flat on your shoulders while not using them.
VERDICT
It gets really to give a score when the pros outnumber and out shadow the cons but in the end, you can’t ignore the faults too. So despite being aesthetically pleasing, ultra-lightweight, packed with a ton of features, the EKSA Air Joy Pro does face issues like low loudness and microphone issues. Although these were fixable, the fact that they existed in the first place will take away some points from my score. So, my final score for the Air Joy Pro is 8.7 out of 10. So, if anyone wants an affordable gaming headset with plenty of features but is ready to do some fine-tuning in the audio and microphone department then I would definitely recommend buying the EKSA Air Joy Pro. Usually, these are sold for 49.99$ but if you are interested, click here and use code EKSAE3Z20 to get them for just 32.99$. In my opinion, you won’t find anything that comes closer to Air Joy Pro for 33 dollars.