Review verdict: The Logitech G435 Lightspeed is an extremely lightweight and comfortable headset you could wear for hours on end. Some could say that its fabric/plastic construction is cheap, but the carbon-free and colorful design somehow work out in its favor. Apart from that, everything else about it is average – the good thing being a good option for its price.
Pros
- Comfortable and lightweight on the head
- Good audio playback for both music and calls
- Flexible connectivity options
Cons
- Weak passive sound isolation
- Not the best build for its price
- Below-average battery life
Design
The Logitech G435 Lightspeed review unit we received features a dominant off-white color with lilac accents. Based on what we’ve seen online, it’s the second tamest of the three color options – with the other being a simple black (with neon green wires) and the third version looking straight up like it would find a place on a streamer cosplay outfit. Hints of pastel are found on the buttons, earpads, headband, and wiring.
Without a doubt, this was built with a younger audience in mind. It’s made almost entirely out of plastic–Logitech has boasted the use of recycled materials and other environmental means to ensure that the device has zero carbon footprint. They’ve even gone the extra mile to acquire certification for this claim.
Due to this, the headphone is a featherweight. People think a small difference in weight doesn’t matter for a peripheral like this, but they will immediately change their mind when testing out a pair of AirPods Max headphones versus something like the Sony WF-1000XM5.
Instead of notches within the headset itself, the G435 has a sliding stem mechanism that runs through the earcups, much like the Bose NC 700.
The only other things on the outer side of the earcups are the G435 branding, an array of buttons, and the beamforming microphone–which we’ll get into later.
The headband is made out of simple plastics with a flexible fabric wrapping. Despite the lack of bulky padding, it’s shockingly comfortable which can partly be attributed to the weight (or lack thereof). Connecting the band to the cups are twirly wires which stand out due to their bright colors on every iteration of this headphone. It definitely injects a bit of personality into this device.
Found on the inside are the earpads, which are claimed to be constructed out of memory foam for the purposes of comfort. While they serve their purpose, it’s quite obvious from the first look that they’re quite porous. Your ears will sweat less at the expense of noise isolation.
User Interface and Fit
You have two connectivity options with the Logitech G435 Lightspeed. You can choose the conventional Bluetooth route for your smartphones, Nintendo Switch, or other devices. There is also a wireless dongle that is compatible with PC, Mac, and PS4/5. A 3.5mm jack is nowhere to be found.
The first method we tried was how we believe most people would be testing these: a basic Bluetooth connection to our mobile device. Shockingly, the experience was a little confusing because there were no detailed quick start guides in the box. A small diagram indicating that the G435 WAS capable of Bluetooth was seen, but no indication of how to trigger its pairing mode was in sight. It took a short YouTube session to learn that it is activated by holding the power and microphone buttons at once. The moment we figured this out, everything connected seamlessly.
There was no noticeable latency when playing videos or playing games using this headset–which is a relief since it’s what they were created for in the first place.
Dongle connectivity was then tested by plugging it into a PS4 Pro. Everything was effortless this time and the console immediately recognized the Logitech G435 Lightspeed for testing in this review. All we had to do was switch to Lightspeed mode by holding down the mic button again. As seen in the images, a quick Genshin Impact daily commission run was enough to prove that lag is a non-issue here.
Wearing the Logitech G435 Lightspeed during our review made one of its strengths immediately apparent. All complaints and doubts about its questionable build quality flew out the window.
Despite the thin headband, pressure on your head is minimized by the very fact that this headset doesn’t weigh much. In a country like the Philippines where your ears will heat up rapidly with over-ears, mine stayed relatively cool due to the airiness of the memory foam pads. Clamping force was also just enough to get a secure fit but not enough to give you a migraine. We could wear this for hours without complaints – which is high praise for our team members.
One thing to keep in mind is that the headphones are a little on the smaller side. Children and teens may be the perfect audience for this gadget, although it still fits us quite well at the maximum possible headband/earcup adjustment.
Audio Quality and Battery Life
When a mainstream gaming company makes any kind of audio device, you expect all aspects of audio quality to be thrown out in favor of bass. After all, countless casuals on the audio scene use the quantity and quality of bass as the metric for musicality. Their reference point is often the earbuds that came complimentary with their mobile phones; especially for an entry-level device such as our review unit.
We came into this review with zero expectations, and we’re glad that we did. It was eye-opening how the standard has risen. It seems that even at this level, muddy 2010s Beats quality is now rendered obsolete.
It wasn’t only decent, but it was actually good. They’re expectedly warm. The music feels lively but what’s interesting is that this effect isn’t actually achieved through overpowering bass. Vocals/instruments still get some spotlight on the soundstage. Detail retrieval isn’t the best, but it was more than enough to blow our expectations out of the water.
These don’t have any ANC and considering the material of the earcups don’t block out too much noise either. The pads are advertised to be made out of a “sound-isolating memory foam” but you can’t outdo basic science. You may be better off using these in quiet environments or keeping them at home. What goes in must come out, so leakage in EXTREMELY quiet environments could be a problem if you’re the type to listen at maximum volume. This would only be a problem if you had zero long-term concern for your hearing.
Another possible concern is the lack of cloth or foam over the driver. Those with larger ears may be worried that these parts would touch the drivers directly leading to discomfort. While we have personally experienced this issue with other headsets before, none of us felt our ears make any contact with the hard plastic components.
Microphone quality is another point of interest due to the technology Logitech has developed. The team calls it a “virtual boom arm” wherein dual-beamforming mics are marketed to outperform a physical boom mic. They also claim that this “reduces background noise,” which is a bold statement for a budget headset such as this. We wanted to put their ludicrous claims to the test.
The microphone tech here performed exceedingly well, fooling our test callers into thinking that we were using a much more expensive headset. That’s an instant win in our books!
After you consider the fact that these don’t have RGB lighting anywhere, 18 hours on a single charge is a bit underwhelming. If you think about it though, no single gaming session or sound trip lasts that long. Since these are rechargeable with the same USB Type-C as most other devices including Android smartphones, you won’t struggle to find a connection for this while on the go.
Wrap Up and Conclusions
The Logitech G435 Lightspeed is a reminder of the good old days when we only had one headphone for everything. With its quirky colorways and durable plastic construction, it may seem like it was designed for children and teens who tend to be more reckless with their tech. If we owned one of these, it would certainly be the top-of-mind headset that we could lend to our younger relatives with utmost confidence. Looking beyond the surface though, it is an extremely comfortable headphone that one can use with almost any device and actually sounds terrific for the price.
Logitech G435 Lightspeed Review Price Philippines
This headphone currently retails at Php 3,999 on Shopee but is set to go on sale for a price of Php 3,170 on 6.6. At that price point, it’s worth a buy.
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