A couple of weeks ago, we received another gaming headset to review from ASUS. The headset is called Orion and it's one of the devices created by ASUS under their own gaming brand ROG (Republic of Gamers). ASUS' ROG devices are usually built with high quality materials and offer very good performance. You can imagine that we were quite curious to see if that's also true for the ASUS ROG Orion Gaming Headset. Read our review to learn more about this gaming headset, and find out if it's worth buying:

Unboxing The ASUS ROG Orion Gaming Headset

The headset is packaged in a cardboard box painted in a dark, reddish color that very much resembles blood. On its right side, the box is partly transparent, so you can see how the headphones look before unpacking them.

On the back side of the box you will find plenty of information about the features and specs of the headset.

Inside the package you'll find the ASUS ROG Orion Gaming Headset, together with its user manual.

Hardware Specifications

The ASUS ROG Orion Gaming Headset uses 50mm neodymium magnet driver units and large 100mm over-ear cushions.

The headset cable is 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) long and it's fully braided. The drivers have a 32 Ohm impedance and a frequency response range between 20Hz and 20KHz, while the ear cups isolate you from noises of up to 30dB. ASUS ROG Orion weighs 268 grams (9.45 ounces).

The microphone is retractable, bidirectional and has a 50 ~ 16000 Hz frequency response range, with a -30dB sensitivity level.

After seeing all the hardware specifications of the ASUS ROG Orion Gaming Headset, we were surprised to find that these headphones are very similar to another ASUS gaming headset, the Echelon Forest Gaming Headset. While there are a few things that differ, like the paint colors and the microphone specs, these two headsets are pretty much the same.

If you'd like to check all the advertised features and specification of this headset, see the official webpage: ASUS ROG Orion Headphones - Specifications.

Using The ASUS ROG Orion Gaming Headset

In terms of design, the ASUS ROG Orion Gaming Headset isn't something we'd call jaw-dropping. The headset has a classic look, with a black matte finish and red accents on its speakers and microphone. On the outside of the ear cups, the headphones also feature the ASUS Republic of Gamers brand and logo.

The ear cups are very comfortable but, unfortunately, they don't rotate on a horizontal axis. However, we don't consider this to be a big minus, because the over-ear cushions are large enough to cover your ears completely. They also isolate some of the background noise around you.

We used this headset for multiple hours of gameplay and they always felt pleasant and comfortable. One of the key reasons for this is the light weight of the headset. Even if the headphones are pretty large, they only weigh 268 grams (9.45 ounces).

The ASUS ROG Orion Gaming Headset does great when it comes to the audio quality in games. However, when it comes to listening to music or watching movies, the headphones are rather average. Don't misunderstand us, the headset is more than decent even in such situations, but it doesn't impress.

Living up to their brand, the headphones do very well when it comes to delivering loud or high sounds, which is exactly what you expect in most games. However, the sound details are lagging behind and that is a thing easily noticeable when listening to complex music genres, like rock or symphonic music tracks. The audio resolution is not that high.

The retractable microphone is quite good and does its job perfectly. Not only does it do great in games but it also does really well when it comes to other, more mundane tasks, like chatting on Skype. No matter what you're doing, the microphone sound is both clear and loud enough for the others to hear and understand you with no issues whatsoever.

Another aspect worth mentioning is that the headset offers a volume rocker and a mic on/off button mounted on its cable cord, which can be easily clipped on your t-shirt or jacket.

Ant that's pretty much it! The ASUS ROG Orion Gaming Headset works right out of the box, so there's no software you have to install for it.

Verdict

The ASUS ROG Orion Gaming Headset is a device any gamer should have. We liked that it offers exactly what a gamer needs: great in-game audio experience, a simple and classic design and a plug and play experience. If you're searching for a good set of gaming headphones, you can't go wrong with the ASUS ROG Orion Gaming Headset.