Promate Valiant
Is it worth saving money?
Aimed at those on a budget, the Promate Valiant is available for under $60. The headset looks the part, sporting a chunky over the ear style, metal headband and self-adjusting support strap. It’s also available in black or white. While relatively solid, the Valiant is built quite lightly, and is missing a few bells and whistles compared to the competition.
For a start, the microphone is integrated into the left earcup, and while sensitive enough, does not provide the same clarity as a boom mic. Sound isolation is decent, but the design means a lot of cable / movement noise, and it’s loud, too. Sound is provided by dual 50mm drivers, with a 20 – 20,000Hz frequency response.
While providing a nice full sound with plenty of bass well-suited to gaming, the Valiant lacks precision in the mids and highs when listening to music. At least it’s comfy to wear.
The Valiant includes a single 3.5mm input, but no splitter, so can’t be used out of the box with all gaming setups. The non-removable cable is long at 2.5m, and a volume control wheel is incorporated into one earpad. The headset includes a USB plug, but it’s not actually for audio. Instead, it powers RGB LEDs in each earpad, though they just cycle and fade between colours and can’t be controlled.
For the price, the Promate Valiant is fair at best, but doesn’t exactly stand out from the crowd.