LucidSound LS25

Beats, not by Dre

The design of the LS25 and LS30 headset may look a little familiar if you’ve ever seen people with more fashion sense than common sense. The headset may look a fair bit like the Mixr and EP Beats headsets, but for our money the LS25 delivers better sound quality than either for a substantially more reasonable price. That said, for the asking price, you’d expect a little more from a headset than just looking good and sounding better than something from the Beats range.

Let’s start with the good. The LS25 is a fantastically constructed headset that sits very lightly on the head and can be used for hours on end without discomfort – a rather important feature considering that the headset was designed for esports. Each of the earcups houses a 50mm driver capable of delivering some excellent sound quality at a good volume. In keeping with the esports focussed design, the LS25 features volume and mute controls on the earcups so theoretically players can make changes quickly and intuitively rather than having to search for inline controls.

The headset features two microphones – one built-in and one detachable boom mic, but for the most part both of them are underwhelming to say the least. The mics work adequately in a relatively quiet setting but anything louder than a little background noise renders voice communication flat and muddy.

If the LS25 headset was around $30 cheaper we’d definitely recommend them, but given how many excellent headsets are available for around $120, LucidSound just haven’t included enough features to justify a higher price point. DANIEL WILKS