Audeze Maxwell Wireless Gaming Headset for Xbox & Windows

Product Information

They also have an exceptionally longer continuous battery life and support LDAC, which is nice if you want to stream Hi-Res content. There have been firmware updates since the headset launched, and I’m sure there will be more, but this is something to keep in mind. I’m all for simpler designs that aim to eliminate sources of frustration, but this needs a trip back to the drawing board because of long-term durability concerns.

Gaming headset apps can be a colossal pain — we’ve had to reinstall operating systems over particularly crappy ones — but at least Audeze’s app seems stable on Windows 10 and 11. But this goes a bit further, and it’s in a way that used to drive me bonkers in Team Fortress 2 back in the day.

That said, each time you readjust the headband, it leaves behind leathery residue, and there are only three adjustment levels, which can make it harder to get a good fit. The display of third-party trademarks and trade names on this site does not necessarily indicate any affiliation or the endorsement of PCMag. There's also supposed to be a five-band equalizer for the mic, so you can tune it "to sound just right" except again the software doesn't give you access to that.

These headphones aren't the most stable; although they have a high clamping force, they weigh a lot.

If you look at the side of the left ear cup, you’ll see an LED indicator that tells you about your device’s status. Sarah Jacobsson Purewal is a senior editor at Tom's Hardware covering peripherals, software, and custom builds. The app has four customizable EQ presets that, once configured, save to the headset itself — so you’ll only have to do this once. Previously, such headphones might sound a little too detailed out of the box, and potentially that made them a little sharp and spikey.